1933 Russell Street, Berkeley, CA, USA, 94703 info@clearviewproject.org +1 510-882-5244

Assorted Matters

Just trying to get a few things on the page this morning.  They are not particularly connected.

1.  Reading & Celebration for my recent book

The Bodhisattva’s Embrace — Dispatches From Engaged Buddhism’s Front Lines

at Diesel Books Sunday, February 13 at 3pm, 5433 College Avenue at Kales (near Manila) in the Rockridge neighborhood of Oakland

I will read from and discuss this new collection of essays from Clear View Press. Books will be available for signing. For information contact: <alan@clearviewproject.org>.

2. Thinking about the amazing uprisings in Egypt all this week.  The rising of democratic yearnings and opposition to autocracy is really inspiring.  The violent pushback is not surprising, nor is the volatility of the situation.  I can’t help reflecting on the stalled democracy movement in Burma as I watch these images from Cairo.  At the moment I am just watching, reading, and thinking.  More later.

3. The last bit of Jarvis Masters’ hearings will take place on February 15.  I know that Jarvis is encouraged about the way the hearings have unfolded.  After waiting so long for the legal process to go forward, it is a relief to feel it has gone so well.  Meanwhile, I have mildly edited all my previous blog pieces on the hearings and put them together on the Clear View Project website <clearviewproject.org>

4. I spent a while yesterday doing some long-delayed edits, additions, and revisions to the Clear View Project website.  As mentioned above, there is now a Jarvis Masters page on the site.  And updates to the Burma/Adopt a Monk page.

In light of the recent forced retirement of Eido Shimano in NYC — for reasons of grievous ethical and sexual violations — and other issues of authority, boundaries, and morality in western Buddhist communities, I also posted a downloadable PDF (and a Paypal link for those who wish to purchase a hard copy) for Safe Harbor: Guidelines, Process, and Resources for Ethics and Conduct in Buddhist Communities, a book I put together in the 1990s, while I was working at Buddhist Peace Fellowship and fielding calls from numerous practitioners who were experiencing these problems with their teachers and in their sanghas.

And, of course, there is still a link on the site where you can purchase a copy of my recent book The Bodhisattva’s Embrace.

More thoughts in the next few days.

— Alan

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