today is international stand up to bullying day. students and lots of other people all across canada and the world wear pink to mark the day. last year, two students in nova scotia (canada’s east coast) donned and distributed pink shirts after a classmate fell victim to homophobic bullying for wearing pink to school. this… Continue reading bullying stops here!
Category: peace, environment, social justice et al
meditation in an indian prison
yesterday at the meditation meetup, we watched a film, doing time, doing vipassana – a moving documentary of how meditation can change life in prison. this is the story of an ancient meditation technique named vipassana, which shows people how to take control of their lives and channel them toward their own good. it is… Continue reading meditation in an indian prison
a gallery of compassion
you may remember that a little while ago, i participated in the compassion project put together by the three monks. we were all asked about presenting our unique thoughts, definitions and views of compassion. i wrote about compassion and social media. this group writing project has come to an end. i’d like to present to… Continue reading a gallery of compassion
frank paul: guilt, truth and reconciliation
there have been times when i’ve pointed out the sometimes not-so-stellar record of our police. this post here about the sad story of frank paul could be another one. frank paul was a first nations man who lived here in vancouver. “lived” not in the sense that most of us do; he didn’t have a… Continue reading frank paul: guilt, truth and reconciliation
merry christmas, spammers!
a few years ago on easter, first united church in vancouver’s downtown eastside carried a cross through the neighbourhood. it was a big, simple cross – and there were needles stuck all over it. the christ of the drug addicts. an image i will never forget. there is much about the message of the new… Continue reading merry christmas, spammers!
compassion and social media
the three wise men the three monks are inviting us to write about compassion. compassion: literally, to suffer (passion) with (com-) another. in latin, this suffering did not only refer to the suffering that occurs in pain, it also generally refers to things that we don’t actively instigate – things that happen to us, things… Continue reading compassion and social media
let’s remember jane doe, not willy pickton
there is a sad mystery in the trial of william pickton, the trial of canada’s most gruesome serial murder. dozens of women disappeared between 1997 and 2002 from vancouver’s downtown eastside, and today william pickton, a pig farmer from coquitlam, a city part of great vancouver, was charged with second degree murder of six of… Continue reading let’s remember jane doe, not willy pickton
thanks, violeta
the other day, i came across pensieve, who is challenging the blogosphere to come up with a thanksgiving limerick. since i’ve been digging back into my chilean songs lately, i came up with this harebrained idea of trying to turn violeta parra’s gracias a la vida into a limerick. it doesn’t do justice to violeta’s… Continue reading thanks, violeta
robert dziekanski’s death: excessive force or excited delirium?
police officer mo cho used to hope paramedics arrived at some scenes before he did. those were the “M-1s,” the calls involving mentally ill people. “i had no idea what to do,” cho said. that’s the beginning of an article by deedee correll “training helps cops deal with mentally ill“. did the RCMP at vancouver… Continue reading robert dziekanski’s death: excessive force or excited delirium?
a buddhist carnival – 1st edition!
this is really exciting – our first buddhist carnival! the plan is for this carnival to feature first and foremost articles that directly and specifically talk about buddhist practice, reflection and ideas. however, there will also be room for posts that may not explicitly mention buddhism but touch on concepts intrinsic to it. as adam… Continue reading a buddhist carnival – 1st edition!