Categories
nepal on traveling

Kathamndu and the Beautiful Demons

Kathmandu is not necessarily the easiest place to spend time, but it’s awe inspiring none the less. A bustling sprawl of shops, pedal rickshaws, Suzuki taxis, motorcycles, and vendors of vast amounts of stunning metalwork. It’s a blend of people from many different ethnic groups within Nepal and many religions including Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, […]

Categories
ethics

Prop 34 and Ending the Death Penalty – an Act of Spiritual Evolution

Although most people are paying significant attention to the presidential race here in America, most people I talk with in California are not aware that there is a ballot proposition (Prop 34 – aka the “Repeal the Death Penalty” proposition) which would ban the death penalty in California, thereby converting the sentences of the 724 […]

Categories
family life

Dust in the Wind – The Impermanence of Memories

Places don’t have memories. Memories of places belong to the people who hold those memories. When they forget, or die, the memories which they hold die along with them. This doesn’t have to be a glum realization, but there is something about it which feels a little disappointing. A story. After the visit, my uncle […]

Categories
family favorites speaking the truth spirituality

You Never Know

Strange how time flies.  Today would have been my mother’s 90th birthday, were she still alive today. I’ve been listening to Michael Franti music when I run along the ocean lately.  Actually, since I listen to his music as I run, it usually turns into more of a dance in a general direction than a […]

Categories
favorites speaking the truth spirituality

Delcaration of Theistic Independence

I don’t believe in God. I don’t believe in a higher being. I don’t believe in True Nature, The Absolute or any of the other mystical names atributed to God-like capacities. I don’t believe Jesus was the son of God any more than you or I might have been, should God have existed in the […]

Categories
life poems & stories

The Wish to Be Generous – Wendell Berry

I ran across this poem and somehow it touches something deeper in me, something about making peace with all that is. Not being at odds with reality. Being perfectly content in moving forward in life, and even in death. Wendell Berry is perhaps one of my favorite humans on this planet, even though we’ve never […]

Categories
family poems & stories

Must Be Found Again in a New Whole

I’m back at my home now in California and I’ve been feeling very tired since my return. I think it is a combination of a few things: Jet lag and not sleeping enough this past week A little bug I picked up on the plane Travelers emotional exhaustion It’s the last item on the list […]

Categories
family

Mom’s Ashes

As I mentioned in my last post, part of the reason for this trip is to dispose of my share of my mom’s ashes. It’s something I’ve never dealt with and it’s time. Yesterday, July 1st, was the 11th anniversary of her death. She died in 1998 from cancer which had spread to her liver. […]