I’ve been reading Jenny Odell’s How to Do Nothing lately. I will no doubt have more to say about this book as I continue reading it, sitting with it, thinking about her perspectives on the attention economy, the capitalist impulse toward progress and growth at all costs, how to translate that into my own life andContinue reading “Relaunch: part two”
Author Archives: Scott
Relaunch: part one
Five years ago, I had every intention of writing more often, of keeping this blog-space active. Life got in the way. The pandemic got in the way. I got in my own way to the extent that I wasn’t sure what, exactly, I wanted to do with this space in the first place. I amContinue reading “Relaunch: part one”
Angry Asian Buddhist
As many long-time readers probably know, a little over two years ago we lost an important voice for critical reflection on race and representation in American Buddhism — Aaron Lee, the man behind the blog the Angry Asian Buddhist. Aaron blogged anonymously as “arunlikhati” for nearly a decade on his own blog as well asContinue reading “Angry Asian Buddhist”
#humanehumanities
Pierce Salguero organized a meet-up at the AAR last month, bringing together folks interested in specific strategies and resources for how to make academic life more humane, compassionate, and just. One specific outcome of that meeting was the desire to formalize in some way this “movement” (if it is a movement), and so Pierce andContinue reading “#humanehumanities”
AAR-eve
So. I promised “more soon,” and it’s been a month. Does a month count as soon? I suppose, in the grand scheme of things. It is the eve of the AAR — “nerd Christmas” if you will. My AAR schedule has been dutifully added to the official AAR app. I have a dozen meetings scheduledContinue reading “AAR-eve”
dusting off the shelves
It’s been well over a year since the last time I posted on this site. The past five years have been rather full. Part of that time was consumed with the completion of my book (and then another book); and the rest of the time was filled with institutional obligations. In short, the Institute hasContinue reading “dusting off the shelves”
this is not the end: this is america
This is not a call to arms. Hat tip to Richard Payne for alerting me to a post (now nearly two months old) by Glenn Wallis regarding the Mindfulness Living Week and the “tipping point” of American Buddhism. You should read Wallis’ piece while listening to Childish Gambino’s “This is America.” As Payne reminds us,Continue reading “this is not the end: this is america”
on the passing of friends
For several years, back in the waning days of Bush II and the rise of Obama, I blogged incessantly. It began as a way of letting folks who lived far and wide know what I was up to, since these were pre-social media days. It developed into a way to collect my thoughts about allContinue reading “on the passing of friends”
doubt and the manifesto
*Note: spitting this out during a bout of writer’s block was rather cathartic. Hopefully it will be entertaining for others as well. Sometimes, you agree to write something because you’ve been invited, or cajoled, or downright ordered to, by someone (quite possibly a mentor or someone you owe very nearly everything to). You are invited, andContinue reading “doubt and the manifesto”
all/nothing
You are you who are. You are not a bombthrower. You value friendship over allyship, collaboration over partisanship, civility over cruelty, cocktails over asceticism, and you’ve used this space to argue repeatedly for those things. Not everyone will agree that you’ve made the right decisions, or that these approaches are the rights ones in our dystopianContinue reading “all/nothing”