C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

Zen Budo and the Path of Striving for Achievement      “Decay is inherent in all compounded things. Strive on with diligence.” ~the final words of the Buddha       “The image of Buddhism has gone through quite a lot of change over the years. Nowadays people don't tend to associate Buddhism with striving so much as with peace and withdrawal, with being rather than doing. Whatever would old Shakyamuni think of that?       “Buddha pointed out that things are impermanent and you might take it from that that he was suggesting that it is futile wasting effort on things that are not going to last. However, the original moral was probably just the opposite. Buddha put a new spin on the idea of karma, remember. Karma had been taken to mean that you are what you are because of what you did in your last life so there is nothing you can do about it. This logic underpinned the caste system and it still does. This was a ...

Fudo Myoo, the "Patron Saint" of Many Japanese swordsmen. Some History and Stories from the “Warrior Saints” of the Martial Ways      Looking back on my life, I often think of my first loves as a child.  Without a doubt, the first thing that I fell in love with was cinema.  In the ‘70s, my dad worked as a film critic for a local newspaper, so he saw everything that came out at the theaters—not as many movies were released back then—and often took me along with him if he thought it was something I would enjoy, sometimes for early screenings before the film was actually released.  I have the fondest memories of the drive-in movie theater only a block away from our house in the Ozark mountains of Farmington, Arkansas.  I can recall seeing Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Star Wars in 1977 there as if it was yesterday, along with every single Roger Moore led James Bond film to hit the screen.  It may be hated by critics, but Moonraker...