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Introducing My New Substack: Otium Intentionalis (Intentional Retirement)

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Greetings! I hope everyone is healthy and looking optimistically to the coming new year. I know I am! The minor maladies that plagued me this past year are healing nicely, and {trumpets!} my retirement from “gainful employment” is on the calendar. I’m looking forward to a period of unprecedented authenticity coupled with the wisdom of my advancing years. New writing projects are calling as well. Look for posts here to hew more closely to Dogen Zen . I’ve already posted on Dogen’s Shobogenzo and other writings, although it’s been a while, but I anticipate doing so much more frequently in the coming year. As such, my Power, Practice, and Peace blog series will be put to rest, at least for a time. Power, Practice, and Peace has had a good run. It’s allowed me to add my unique voice of resistance to the authoritarianism that’s been creeping forth over the course of this past year. No, I don’t intend to become silent, but my inspiration is no longer gushing forth as it was, and I don...
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Age and Power

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Let me begin by saying that this post is likely not about what you might think it will be about given the title. I’m not going to discuss the world’s predilection for geriatric and patriarchal leadership—although that is a subject worthy of exploration. I’m also not going to discuss how some older people feel as though they’ve become invisible in our youth and beauty-oriented culture—although that’s also a worthwhile topic of exploration. Strangely, both realities are true. We have many aging and aged people in power, and they’re keeping the world stuck in ways of being that no longer serve us. We also tend to eschew the true wisdom of the elders in favor of what is young and energetic, and exciting. However, what I really want to talk about in this post is how aging can give us power to serve this world in meaningful and productive ways rather than self-serving and destructive ones. The author and his spouse at a vigil for Alex Pretti. Photo by Hayley Jarman For the most part, I came ...
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Faulty Logic, Lies, Hypocrisy, Hatred, and Schadenfreude: The Toxic Stew Simmering in the Wake of Renee Good’s Murder

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  The ICE murder of Renee Good in Minneapolis this week has served up a big batch of the toxic stew that this current administration is known for. No, the investigation is not wrapped up and, given our country’s history of letting agents of the state kill our fellow citizens simply by claiming they “feared for their lives,” I’m not confident that justice will ever be served. And yet, video clearly shows the ICE agent stealthily maneuvering into position in front of Good’s car—the position he will no doubt claim is such a dangerous and fearsome place to be—and then fire three rounds directly at her head and upper body. A recording exists of an ICE agent referring to Good as a “fucking bitch” while she’s bleeding and dying. A witness who claimed to be a medical doctor also reports that he was kept from giving aid to Good during what turned out to be her final moments alive. Reportedly she died at a hospital after critical first aid was delayed. This absolute disregard for human lif...
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The Power of Words

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A monk presented himself to a Zen master. “I come seeking liberation,” he said. “Who has enchained you?” the Zen master replied. “No one,” answered the monk. “Then why seek liberation?” the master responded. This is one of those conversations in which a teacher provides a so-called “turning word” to a student, thereby clarifying their understanding and perhaps even nudging them toward realization. Merriam-Webster definition of word Yes, words can have great power. We might think we have a great problem (needing liberation, for instance) only to suddenly realize that the problem doesn’t really exist at all. We only think we have a problem. Many people consider themselves “broken” these days and in need of “healing.” Sometimes, though, it’s only a matter of being stressed from the busyness and chaos of contemporary life. Nonetheless, they seek out “cures” and “healing practices” which, in reality, are merely rest and relaxation. On the other hand, there are those who’ve experienced d...
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Power, Wisdom, and Will

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Wouldn’t it be great if the wisest among us were the ones in power? Sadly, though, that’s not the case. And wouldn’t it be great if the wisest among us were also the ones with the strongest will? Then the will to power would be informed by deep and reflective wisdom. But that’s not the case either. There appears to be no positive correlation between wisdom and strength of will, and the correlation may even be a negative one. In fact, if Socrates was correct, and "the only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing,” then the wisest among us may deem themselves unworthy of leading! Edward Crawford throws a teargas canister shot by police at Black Lives Matter  protesters in Ferguson, Missouri. Crawford was later found dead under suspicious circumstances that may have been homicide or may have been suicide. Might this explain the federal government we presently have in the United States? We seem to now be led by the stupidest of individuals who are cocksure of themselves and a...
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The Power of Lies

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“A lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth can get its boots on.” Supposedly Twain said this, or maybe it was Churchill, or perhaps neither. Maybe it’s simply a truism passed down in various forms since who knows when. The Quote Investigator notes that, before Twain or Churchill were even born, Jonathan Swift is known to have said in 1710 that “falsehood flies, and the Truth comes limping after it.” Yes, lies seem to have a certain power all their own. A truth meter Our POTUS and his supporters have harnessed this very human reality to great effect. No amount of fact-checking, countervailing arguments, outraged responses, shame, or, um…, truth seems to make any difference. Lies work. Lies sway opinion. Lies help their unethical, unscrupulous, and immoral purveyors to gain and maintain power. Keep in mind, though, that the real power of lies resides in the frequency with which they are told. A single lie might not be so difficult to rebut. Multiple lies, however, tol...
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The Power of Evil

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If you’re inclined to believe in evil as a supernatural force that’s been unleashed upon this world, you’ll not have to look very hard. Everywhere we look these days we see evidence of its existence: self-serving executive leadership that appears constitutionally incapable of telling the truth, that uses the levers of power to reward friends and punish political foes instead of improving peoples’ lives, that celebrates people losing their jobs, healthcare, and food assistance; a government that enables and empowers such leadership contrary to our constitution and the needs of the people, that allows the murder of children to continue in mass shooting after mass shooting, that revels in the suffering and abuse of immigrants at the hands of masked agents seemingly accountable to no one; and a populace that cheers all this on, perhaps even engaging in violent action to take their leaders’ talking points to their suggestive conclusions or, at the very least, enabling the whole evil mess wi...
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