CALL ME MAGGIE

Whatever

  • Zen Anarchy

    And nothing is fixed! The famous master Hyakujo wanted to find an abbot for a monastery. He put a pitcher on the floor and asked what it was, adding, “Don’t say it’s a pitcher.” Some of the smarter monks came… Continue reading

    Zen Anarchy

  • #MAHATMA – Life of Gandhi (abridged)

    This is the abridged version (2hrs 15min) of a 5hrs 10min documentary biography of Mohandas Mahatma Gandhi. All events and principles of Gandhi’s life and thought are viewed as integrated parts of his truth-intoxicated life depicting permanent and universal values.The… Continue reading

    #MAHATMA – Life of Gandhi (abridged)

  • Bhakti

    Beginning to gather up different pictures of the god Hanuman for my research. Hanuman, a key figure in the Ramayana and totally dedicated follower of Sri Rama, represents the deep devotion (bhakti) of life to the Divine. Continue reading

    Bhakti

  • Your Own Historical Jesus

    Who was the historical Jesus of Nazareth? What did he actually say and do, as contrasted with what early Christians (e.g., Paul and the Gospel writers) believed that he said and did? What did the man Jesus actually think of… Continue reading

    Your Own Historical Jesus

  • Whatever, Etc. 0037: Justice and the Tripartite Soul

    I was asked to drop by and engage in Dialog this evening, Mar 03, at 6pm, with some of my compatriots who are doing a close reading of Plato’s Republic. Live-streaming this for those who want to watch at home… Continue reading

    Whatever, Etc. 0037: Justice and the Tripartite Soul

  • Three Articles, One Post, One BEING

    Like many classes these days, my graduate courses have an online discussion component that encourages students to respond to the week’s readings in a central location so they can come to class already interacting on the topic. My Indian Religion… Continue reading

  • A dancing star in a constellation of lies

    Am I decent man? Perhaps. I would use this opportunity to speak about myself with some pleasure (Dostoevsky 7). But I am not sure it is such a pleasure. Does decency really only allow me to speak about myself? Certainly,… Continue reading

    A dancing star in a constellation of lies

  • Sun – Line – Cave, Part 1

    A dear colleague has invited me to discuss a few of the metaphors at the heart of Plato’s Republic. So I’ll be live streaming from his class Friday, 26 Feb 2016 @ 1pm… if you are not busy at work… Continue reading

    Sun – Line – Cave, Part 1

  • Mind Walk 17 Feb 2016

    N. and I go wandering around Denton thinking about Carlos Castaneda and letting the thoughts wander with us. Continue reading

  • Global climate change, local hard choices

    “Development” multiplies desires and transforms them into needs. But we are the ones who are under-developed – spiritually shallow, debilitated by needs, distracted by things. I wonder about climate change and children. How and when to tell them the bad… Continue reading

    Global climate change, local hard choices

  • Evaluating broader impacts

    Part of my research assistantship this semester had me helping to complete the organization of a workshop in Washington, DC – Feb 10 & 11, 2016. I had been involved with this project since the grant was originally received 18… Continue reading

    Evaluating broader impacts

  • Surrealism: I am all yours

    A new video from a local Denton talent, Julian Patrick Quinn. Continue reading

    Surrealism: I am all yours

  • eating oats

    Well… I need to write something. Odd that I do not care to write but can be spurred by watching the beginning of a film—Mr. Holmes—after eating a bowl of steel cut Irish oats… suddenly this desire to “record something.”… Continue reading

    eating oats

  • Is the age of globalization also a new era for protests?

    A spate of studies and meta-analysis in recent years depict how large-scale citizen mobilisations have been intensifying for more than a decade, reaching a new peak in the past five years. According to the conclusion of an extensive study examining the complexities of… Continue reading

    Is the age of globalization also a new era for protests?

  • The Junkie Deva at 102

    Here is to the author who gave Gilles Deleuze the nomenclature for the Society of Control; the man who became for me the DEVA of the Cut-Up, the Process by which I sublimated my melancholy in the  mid-90s. Happy birthday Mr. Burroughs. How do you write a… Continue reading

    The Junkie Deva at 102

  • Millennials, Struggle, and Bernie 

      Corey Robin does an excellent response to a piece by Alexandra Schwartz at the New Yorker concerning the hope millennials find in Bernie Sanders. I want to thank my buddy-friend-guy Chris for talking over these things with me last… Continue reading

  • The Only Animals With Chins

    Pigs don’t have chins. Nor do any animals, except for us. The lower jaw of a chimpanzee or gorilla slopes backwards from the front teeth. So did the jaw of other hominids like Homo erectus. Even Neanderthal jaws ended in… Continue reading

    The Only Animals With Chins

  • Nootropics or Smart Drugs

    Important caveat for those thinking smart drugs can make a person more intelligent: Like any performance enhancer, there has to be a core level of intelligence or athleticism to be augmented. Welcome to the world of nootropics, or smart drugs.… Continue reading