So I wrote a book. A book about Japanese American Buddhists in the 1950s & their possibility-making labor that helped make American Buddhism a thing. I came up with a title that’s exceedingly clever. And that title’s been nixed by my editor. A thread 🧵 and a plea for help 1/ — scott mitchell (@djbuddha)Continue reading “The book: the Making of American Buddhism”
Category Archives: Notes
Posts written mostly after the 2022 re-launch of the blog. Tags may be a better index of the site honestly.
bookshop
I am fairly convinced that Amazon is, or will become, Buy-n-Large. When Wall-e first came out, my sense was that the filmmakers were not-so-subtly critiquing big-box chains like Walmart. But, let’s be honest. If the future were anything like that movie (and to be clear, it wouldn’t be, because if there was no ongoing photosynthesisContinue reading “bookshop”
the ride
I have officially signed up to participate in the AIDS LifeCycle ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles in June 2023. Participating requires me to raise at least $3500. And one of these things they tell you to do is to let people know why you’re riding, what the ride and the cause means to you.Continue reading “the ride”
Kisa Gotami
One of my favorite contributors to the Berkeley Bussei is Hiroshi Kashiwagi. I don’t talk about him nearly enough in The Book, but only because I don’t talk about anyone nearly enough. (Turned out to be not that kind of book, but that’s a different story.) But lucky for us, I can talk about himContinue reading “Kisa Gotami”
Everything is awful
Everything is awful. Here are some things that aren’t. For starters, here are my cats. It’s my unbiased opinion that there still are not enough cat pictures on the internet. We have yet to reach peak cat-picture internet. So here is my contribution. I want to point out that the black-and-white, Beezus, is the newerContinue reading “Everything is awful”
The Book: Mid-Century Modern Buddhism
As I’ve hinted at in several posts over the last six months, I wrote a book. (If anyone can find that version of the “this is fine” dog meme but he’s saying “I wrote a book,” please drop a link in the comments.) And I’ve promised more details. So, here they are. I wrote aContinue reading “The Book: Mid-Century Modern Buddhism”
Some thoughts on social media
[update: given the ongoing train wreck that is the bird site under its new management, I’ve updated my “how I use social media” post.] [update number 2: it’s a slow-sinking ship to be sure; regardless I seem to have fallen out of the social media habit so here’s another update post.] Over the past severalContinue reading “Some thoughts on social media”
Dispatch from Hawai’i (Oahu actually)
Some brief reflections on my time so far in Hawai’i as the 48th annual Buddhist Studies Center Summer Session speaker: I am learning so much. Being in another part of the world, talking to real live three-dimensional people, engaging in conversation — this is all good stuff. The most important thing I am learning —Continue reading “Dispatch from Hawai’i (Oahu actually)”
Summer plans
I’m honored to be the invited speaker for this year’s Summer Session at the Buddhist Study Center in Honolulu. The Center was founded in 1972 when Rev. Kanmo Imamura was bishop of the Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawai’i. This is the 48th year in a row they’ve hosted a Summer Session, and the first oneContinue reading “Summer plans”
Grief is a thing
So grief is a thing. I am not sure why I am particularly surprised that the loss of my brother has hit me quite so strongly. But, in addition to that, the last couple of months have been changeling in other ways. It turns out, when you take a couple months off from work, evenContinue reading “Grief is a thing”