Books
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BOOKS & ARTICLES
Initially, my work was academically and philologically oriented, concentrating on Sanskrit and Tibetan sources. I focused on various aspects of medieval Indian Buddhist literature related primarily to ritual. My first book and earliest articles reflect these interests.
In my second phase, I studied and translated from the ancient Indian Buddhist canon as preserved in the middle Indic language known as Pali. I was particularly interested in the liberal humanist "cultural translation" project of enabling the "wisdom" of Buddhism to speak to twenty-first century westerners. My next three books reflect this approach.
In my third phase, I expanded on that interest to include the interface between ancient Buddhist literature and practice and modern psychology. These expanded interests were reflected in my teaching position at that time, which combined the training of professionals (psychologists, physicians, social workers, educators, and so on) in meditation practice and theory along with continued scholarly research.
In my fourth phase, I abandoned the philological, liberal humanist, and applied meditation projects. My interest was, however, a result of working in those sympathetic modes. I was interested in developing a critical model for understanding the identity of Buddhism, particularly in its current western presentation, as something like a critique subsumed within an ideology subsumed within a faith. My contribution to Cruel Theory/Sublime Practice is an example, as well as my fuller treatment in A Critique of Western Buddhism Ruins of the Buddhist Real.
Somewhere along the way, I became acutely interested (i) in creating texts, communities, and practices that embody the non-buddhist/anarchist spirit, and (ii) in encouraging other thinkers to employ non-buddhist ideas toward their own ends, interests, desires, and talents. The educational project, Incite Seminars, is a prime example, as well as my books An Anarchist's Manifesto, and my Non Buddhist Mysticism are examples.
Most recently, I have completed my return to the triumvirate (together with the Buddha and Emma Goldman) who set me off on my particular life path, Friedrich Nietzsche. My most recent book, Nietzsche NOW! The Great Immoralist on the Vital Issues of Our Time, is the result.
Selected Articles
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Twenty years ago, my daughter, Mia, had a shattering revelation at the age of 4. We were watching one of those nature movies about sea life. Out of the blue, a school of tunas appeared.
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Anarchism names a quite specific species of social violence. This species, however, is radically distinct from the variety assumed by liberals and conservatives alike.
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At the very root of anarchy is a simple idea: social organization without (an) a dominating figure or controller (archos). Though simple, realizing such a form in our daily lives is virtually impossible. Though virtually impossible, this idea, when pursued, is profoundly constructive.
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IteBased on my personal observation, I think it’s generally fair to characterize the student-professor relationship in higher education as: perverted. I mean this in the sense of twisted, contorted, abnormal, corrupted. Picture an image in a hall of mirrors. That grotesque figure captures that of the generic person mutated into the institutional role-player.
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The non-buddhist heuristic.
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In the form of reader response criticism, I offer my reaction to Repetti's criticism of the mindfulness critique.
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Looks at the ideological assumptions of this Buddhist formation.
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A reflection on intra-Buddhist communication using Jacques Lacan's four discourses and Ludwik Fleck's thoughts on incommensurability.
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Weil believed it demanded virtually all that we had to give: "always do what will cost you the most.” Her unflinching commitment to activism on behalf of "the afflicted" was a factor in her early death.
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Debating the supernatural in Buddhism.
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In The Revolution of Everyday Life, Raoul Vaneigem writes:
People who talk about revolution and class struggle without referring explicitly to everyday life, without understanding what is subversive about love and what is positive in the refusal of constraints, such people have corpses in their mouths.
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This article explores the course of training for a newly initiated Buddhist practitioner contained in the collection of works by Advayavajra (ca. 1007-1085) known as the Advayavajrasagraha. The
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Speculative non-buddhism is a way of thinking and seeing that takes as its raw material Buddhism. It is a thought-experiment that poses the question: shorn of its transcendental representations, what might Buddhism offer us? Speculative non-buddhism is thus a critical practice.
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Übersetzt und mit Anmerkungen versehen von Matthias Steingass.
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Is there any theme in the history of the world’s religions or in the contemporary study of religion that even approaches the pride of place granted the discourse on ‘God’? The Buddha, in contrast to the discipline that studies him, was unimpressed by the supposed importance of this issue, and thus refrained throughout his life from posing the very question of ‘God’s’ existence. It
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In this article, I trace the idea of the mantra as a vehicle of enlightened presence as it was presented to Indian Mahāyāna Buddhists in the medieval period.
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What does "the all" signify in early Buddhism
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In an age of despair. . .
The practice of “concrete utopia” might offer a glimmer of hope.
Despite the brutalist Soviet-era images it evokes, the term “concrete utopia” has nothing to do with architecture.
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A translator is a passionate and obsessive reader. Like a connoisseur, he or she longs to savor each and every word. A text, as Umberto Eco says, is a lazy machine—it requires work from a significant collaborator: a reader. When these three—translator, text, reader—come together, horizons are fused and worlds are born.
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Hundreds of essays and log-form commentary.
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View dozens of articles.