Who does this?
This is Bill's blog about Zen, which is to say, everything. He lives in New Jersey with his wife and children, and two very Zen cats.
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Author Archives: Bill Merklee
Interview with an agnostic Zen Buddhist
A student friend of a friend was doing research for a comparative religion class, and I was asked if I would represent Zen Buddhism and answer some questions about my practice. I said I didn’t think I was a good … Continue reading
Posted in Zen, Tao, Quotes, Thoreau, Emerson, Watts, Compassion, Religion
Tagged Zen, agnosticism, Stephen Batchelor, Religion, Buddhism, Tao, Mindfulness, Books, Compassion, Quotes, Meditation, Death, Thoreau, Emerson, family, rebirth
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On Happiness
From the wonderful Zen Pencils site:
22 Things Happy People Do Differently
I found this on PositiveWay.me by way of Successify.net after a friend posted it to Facebook. Isn’t social media grand? It’s a great list. I would only add this: “Watch far less TV.” _________________________________________ By Chiara Fucarino There are two types … Continue reading
Posted in Compassion, Minimalism, Zen
Tagged Compassion, culture, Meditation, Mindfulness, Minimalism
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Rebirth reconsidered
As if on schedule, my soon-to-be-seventeen-year-old daughter was having an existential crisis. “What’s the point of living?” she said. “We’re just going to die anyway. And we’re not going to remember any of it.” I was actually proud of her, … Continue reading
God is a loaded term
I’m a regular reader of CNN’s Belief Blog. More often than not, the blog’s contributors have refreshing takes on the role of faith in American life. They also don’t shy away from addressing the subject from the point of view … Continue reading
Teenage Wasteland rears it’s ugly head
I was a bit surprised that some chatter about the book “Teenage Wasteland” cropped up in my Facebook feed this morning. I’d hoped this sorry bit of scholarship would have quietly disappeared by now. It had been an attempt to … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Compassion
Tagged Bergenfield, Books, Compassion, Death, family, high school, Music
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We are what we consume
WHEN MY daughter was very young, we were watching TV together. I don’t recall the program, but it wasn’t a cartoon, and at a certain point, one character hit another. It wasn’t slapstick; it was mild TV violence by my … Continue reading
Posted in Compassion, Parenting
Tagged culture, Death, guns, Mindfulness, Newtown, Parenting, Religion, violence
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Politics, religion, and The Great Pumpkin
We were relatively lucky in our confrontation with Sandy: Two days without power and a vent cap torn from the roof. My wife and I work from home, so gasoline is not an issue for now. Far too many people … Continue reading
Posted in Compassion
Tagged Ayn Rand, Buddhism, Compassion, Democrats, election, hurricane, Jesus, Obama, Religion, Republicans, Romney, Sandy, Thomas Jefferson
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The Cabin
My Uncle Harry would have been 100 years old today. This is my short film about a cabin that means a lot to me, built by a man who means so much more.
Buddhism’s Charlie Brown Moment
Not long ago, I received an e-mail from some group out of Indonesia asking me to submit a photo to a contest they were sponsoring for the best Buddhist altar. I kid you not. Big money prizes, too. My first … Continue reading
