Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Scoop, tell us a bit about Inquiring Mind, where your journalism and Buddhism
intersect.
  

    
>adopt the story of evolution as our contemporary mythology

I'll take off my lurker's cloak to ask for more on this angle. What do
you mean? How can this be done? I'm something of an armchair
evolutionist and I've given this sort of thing some thought. Contrived,
modern mythologies can be a hard pill to swallow, difficult to suspend
disbelief for long (which is why I'm drawn to Zen and its minimalist
approach). On the other hand, what evolution teaches about life, human
origins and humanity's role in nature (i.e. not a very central one and
not one with much purpose as commonly defined) can be a hard pill for
many to swallow as well.
  

    
<importance of embracing our nature "as" nature>

Can you please explain?
  

    
It's hard to believe two weeks have already gone by, and I want to thank
Scoop for joining us here in Inkwell.vue. This has been a great
conversation, though our virtual spotlight is now turned on a different
discussion, you're more than welcome to continue here indefinitely, Scoop.
The topic will remain open and we'd be delighted to have you say as long as
you want.

 Thanks, and carry on!
  

    
Hi David,
The Inquiring Mind is an international Buddhist journal, primarily
serving people who do vipassana (insight) meditation. I am founder and
co-editor, and happy to say that we are preparing our 20th anniversary
issue. (Our 1st issue listed about 10 weekly vipassana meditation
groups in America in 1984, and today there are that many in the Bay
Area alone. The dharma lives!) We try to cover the Buddha's path as it
meanders into the New World, and how it gets changed by our scientific
materialist culture and vise versa. It's a very exciting project, and
fills me with hope. It also gives me the opportunity to interview some
of my cultural heros -- the Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh, John Cage,
Gary Synder, Joanna Macy, etc. 
     (Note the paragraph break!) A couple of you asked me about
realizing our nature "as" nature, and adopting the story of evolution
as our contemporary mythology (the story that defines us and gives
meaning and purpose to our lives). I explain what I mean by these ideas
in my book "Buddha's Nature," and give a summary in my new book "The
Big Bang...." Basically, modern science has given us a whole new
perspective on who we are and where we came from, and even though most
of those reading this will already believe in the truth of evolution,
we don't yet have a way of turning that evolutionary knowledge into
wisdom. If we could truly integrate the evolutionary understanding that
we are tightly interwoven with the rest of nature -- inseparable from
the air, plant kingdom, mammalian ancestors, sun, etc. -- then we would
have a whole new felt sense of ourselves. We would be "self-liberated"
into our true identity as part of the life of this planet. If that
happened we might begin to treat life itself as the divine, rather than
looking vaguely somewhere in the sky. As far as I can tell, it is the
philosophical paradigm shift that we need, and I'm part of a growing
group of people trying to make it happen. (Check out a group called
"The Epic of Evolution Society.") Blessings to all..
                                             Scoopji
  

    

Scoop, how about some contact and subscription info so our friends here can
check out "Inquiring Mind"  I have enjoyed very issue I've seen.
  

    

> we might begin to treat life itself as the divine, rather than looking
> vaguely somewhere in the sky.

Yes!  I think one of the most dangerous concepts of western religion is the
notion that we are apart from nature and divinely indended to have dominion
over it.
  

    
David and gang,
    It's been fun doing this well conference for the past two weeks,
and I'll probably keep checking it out and sometimes adding my two
cents. Thanks to David Gans for the invitation! If people want to get
the Buddhist journal that I edit, Inquiring Mind, just write and send
your name and address to Inquiring Mind, P.O. Box 9999, North Berkeley
Station, Berkeley, CA 94709. The next issue is our 20th anniversary
bash with a special parody section. The journal is run on donation so
no subscription fee is necessary. Otherwise, if people want to order a
cd of my comic monologue "The Big Bang, the Buddha and the Baby Boom"
can go to my website wnisker.com  Blessings to all... Keep the faith!
We've got a year and a half to stage a coup! Remember, if you don't
like the news, go out and make some of your own!!!
                                               Scoopji                
                   
                                             
  

    
And if you don't like the universe, go out and create one of your own.

Thanks much, Scoop.
  

    

I do hope you'll continue to visit, Scoop.  You;d be a great addition to the
media conference, among other zones.
  

    
ahem! the buddhism conference for example!