Contents

Generally speaking, Crossing Nebraska might be described as a “Buddhist blog.” However, since Buddhism for me is more a lived experience than a religion to follow, it might be more accurate to say that I’m writing from a certain point of view that is very much influenced by Buddhist practice. As such, it makes perfect sense to me that I might provide commentary on a sutra in one post and then discuss climate change, for example, in the next. When we tug at a single thread the entire universe unravels!

Keep in mind that in addition to the categories below you can search for specific topics using the keyword list on the main page. Regardless, I hope you’ll peruse the entire contents list below. There is a little something for everyone, and a lot for some! Oh, and I’ll be adding links to the individual posts to make them even easier to access.


Buddhist Topics

Meditation
Now, In Entering Into Zen – 2/26/11
Mind Is What the Body Does – 2/15/11
Walking Meditation and the Principles of T'ai – 9/23/12

Self, No-Self, and Dependent Origination
Four (More) Views of No-Self – 6/8/12
A Gestalt View of No-Self – 6/2/12
Too Big For Any Sticks or Stones to Hurt Us – 5/26/12
The Three Conceits (and My Own Subtle Arrogance) – 12/21/11
Glimpsing the Buddha Through Johari's Window – 7/16/11
Seamlessness and the Self – 7/9/11
The Self That Is Not Other – 6/25/11
Dependent Origination - A Structural Interpretation (Part 5 of 5) – 6/15/11
Dependent Origination - The Wheel of Becoming (Part 4 of 5) – 6/9/11
Dependent Origination - Past Life and the Twelve-Fold Chain (Part 3 of 5) – 6/2/11
Dependent Origination and the Teaching of No Self (Part 2 of 5) – 5/28/11
Dependent Origination - An Introduction (Part 1 of 5) – 5/20/11
Why I'll Never Compile A Bucket List – 12/29/13

Dogen
On Dogen's 'Universal Emptiness' – 11/28/15
Three Minds to Heal a Broken World – 1/10/15
Dogen's 'Flower of Emptiness' - Part 2 – 10/11/13
Dogen's 'Flower of Emptiness' - Part 1 – 10/4/13
Dogen's 'Being-Time' - Part 2 – 1/20/13
Dogen's 'Being-Time' - Part 1 – 1/10/13
Practice is Enlightenment – 3/30/12
Now, In Entering Into Zen – 2/26/11

Attachment
Letting Fall That Which Is Ready To Fall – 3/3/12
Attachment, Sexuality, and Spirituality (Part 2 of 2) – 2/17/12
Attachment, Sexuality, and Spirituality (Part 1 of 2) – 2/9/12
Attachment (Yes, I'm Still Stuck On It) – 2/1/12
Attachment – 1/28/12

Divine Abodes, Brahma-Vijaras
Loving-Kindness – 2/25/12
Equanimity – 1/21/12
Sympathetic Joy – 1/15/12
The Four Sublime Abodes (and the Enemies Close at Hand) – 1/4/12
May Their Compassion Embrace Us - A Tribute to Ginny Morgan – 9/18/11
God's Country - An Exploration of Equanimity – 8/23/11

Heart Sutra
The Heart Sutra – 11/27/11
The Heart Sutra and the Two Levels of Truth (Part 4 of 5) – 11/17/11
The Heart Sutra and the Nature of Emptiness (Part 3 of 5) – 11/11/11
The Heart Sutra and the Five Aggregates (Part 2 of 5) – 11/4/11
The Heart Sutra - An Introduction (Part 1 of 5) – 10/28/11

Diamond Sutra
On Being a "Good" Buddhist - Reflections on the Diamond Sutra – 5/13/12

Suffering
A Wheel That Just Won't Stop Wobbling – 10/15/11

Right Speech
Right Speech – 2/12/14

Karma and Conditioning
The Nature of Humans – 3/23/12
Absolute Freedom – 12/4/11
Automatic Thoughts – 7/2/11
Unconditioned Peace – 3/11/11
Karma - Knowledge and Belief – 3/6/11


Poetry, Sesshin, and “Zen Seeing”

Poetry
The Ghost of Lost Attention – 12/10/15
A Sangre de Cristo Surrender – 3/15/15
Walking In The Snow – 1/4/14
Poetry and Zen, Part 3 of 3 – 4/7/11
Poetry and Zen, Part 2 of 3 – 3/29/11
Poetry and Zen, Part 1 of 3 – 3/22/11

Sesshin
To Touch the Mind Once More – 11/12/15
The Sublime and the Profane..., Enlightenment and Shit (Part 2 of 2) – 12/21/13
The Sublime and the Profane..., Enlightenment and Shit (Part 1 of 2) – 12/14/13
Tripping Through Life – 11/29/13
Neither Disturb Nor Be Disturbed – 6/29/13
Living With An Untamed Mind – 12/28/12
Throwing Away Your Toys – 10/7/12
Walking Meditation and the Principles of T'ai – 9/23/12

“Zen Seeing”
Seeing That Which Is – 8/3/13
The Nature Of Things – 3/10/12


Mindfulness, Happiness, and Wellbeing

This Moment is Sublime... Wish I Were Here – 6/5/15
Six Types of Happiness in Hesse's 'Journey to the East' – 5/27/15
Sleeplessness and Samadhi - When Waking Up Is Not So Good – 3/7/14
Roots and Branches – 6/16/13
Stillness, Silence, Truth – 10/21/12
Returning To The Source – 8/30/12
Wonder and Wondering – 8/16/12
Mindfulness of Breathing - A Very Brief Introduction – 7/22/11
Wonder – 7/19/12
Calm Abiding – 2/4/11


Universal Spiritual Experience and Interfaith Dialogue,
With Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Native American Spirituality

Miraculous Births – 12/23/15
The Fruits of Our Labor – 7/18/15
Zen Outside the Box – 6/17/15
The Universal Human Experience of Stillness – 5/1/15
The "Lifing" of the Universe – 1/22/14
A Buddhist Reads The Bible - Luke 12:32-38 – 8/11/13
A Buddhist Takes Communion / A Buddhist Take On Communion – 3/3/13
Have Yourself a Buddhist Little Christmas – 12/16/12
Universality and Ritual, Part 3 – A Defense of Ritual – 11/29/12
Universality and Ritual, Part 2 – The Universality of Zazen – 11/23/12
Universality and Ritual, Part 1 – The Universality of Stillness – 11/5/12
Resurrection – 4/7/12
Bear Butte, the Vision Quest, and the Bodhisattva Vow – 4/18/11
A Spectrum of Meditative Experience – 2/21/11
Transformation – 2/13/11
Spiritual Journey, Anyone? – 2/8/11
Spirituality and Religion – 1/31/11


Faith and Reason

Beyond Faith and Reason – 9/8/15
Must We Choose Between Faith and Reason? – 8/21/15
Faith and Reason – 8/8/15
The Mind of God – 6/4/13
On Being a "Good" Buddhist - Reflections on the Diamond Sutra – 5/13/12
Confessions of an Ambivalent Buddhist – 5/5/12
On Not Knowing, Part 3 of 3 – 5/14/11
On Not Knowing, Part 2 of 3 – 5/5/11
On Not Knowing, Part 1 of 3 – 4/26/11
Karma - Knowledge and Belief – 3/6/11


Religion and Spirituality

Spirituality and Religion – 1/31/11


Love, Grief, Existentialism, and the Human Condition

Utter Meaninglessness – 10/16/15
The Void and Emptiness and Nothing In Particular – 1/30/14
The Unbearable Stuckness Of Being (Sometimes) – 7/13/13
Wind and Intention – 5/18/13
Letter to a Young Existentialist – 5/10/13
Forgiveness, Part 2 - Part of it, anyway! – 4/23/13
Forgiveness, Part 1 - Self and Other – 3/28/13
Dropping the Lotus Seed Back in the Pond – 3/16/13
Book Review: Okumura's 'Living By Vow' – 2/9/13
Loving Again (For The Very First Time) – 12/27/11
The Bardo Realm of Grief – 12/15/11
Love, Grief, and the Four Kinds of Horses – 12/9/11


Global and Interpersonal Relations

This Thing Called Evil – 11/15/15
Waking Up and the Curse of Cassandra – 5/20/15
Three Minds to Heal a Broken World – 1/10/15

The Dance Of Compassion And Gratitude – 11/20/13
Zombies - The Perfect Other – 11/8/13
Do Zombies Have Buddha-Nature? – 10/25/13
Politics and Spirituality – 9/12/12
God, The Buddha, and The Joker – 7/31/12
Desire, Aspiration, and Doing What We Can – 8/11/11


Nature and the Environment,
Simplicity & Sustainability, and Climate Change

Nature and the Environment
Those Still Wild Places – 1/30/13
A Season of Introspection – 11/07/11
Llama Hunting in the Wilds of Colorado – 10/23/11
An Alpine Stream of Consciousness (Part 3 of 3) – 9/30/11
An Alpine Stream of Consciousness (Part 2 of 3) – 9/16/11
An Alpine Stream of Consciousness (Part 1 of 3) – 8/31/11
Through the Lens of Deep Time – 8/04/11
Calm Abiding – 2/04/11

Simplicity & Sustainability
Karmic Television – 7/21/13
Envisioning A Wabi-Sabi World – 7/07/12
Can Wabi-Sabi Save the World? – 6 /20/12
Space, Stuff, Meaning – 4/28/12
Aspirational Contentment, Part 2 – 4/22/12
Aspirational Contentment – 4/13/12
Living Below the Line - Reflections on the Challenge – 5/03/13
Living Below the Line - A Darker Side of Poverty – 5/01/13
Living Below the Line - When Food Becomes Medicine – 4/30/13
Living Below the Line - Settling into it with a little Dogen – 4/29/13
Living Below the Line - Understanding the Challenge – 4/28/13
Living Below the Line - An Introduction – 4/27/13

Climate Change
Freedom, Responsibility, and the Price of Fireworks (and Carbon) – 2/14/16
The Only Thing Worse Than Human Extinction is Economic Recession – 1/29/16
Getting Real On Climate Change Mitigation – 1/3/16
A Warm Climate and a Cold, Cold Heart – 2/21/14


Posts contributing to my upcoming book: That Which We Already Know

Mind and Body Are Not Two – 2/18/15
We Have A Place – 7/25/14
Introduction – 4/5/14


Miscellaneous

What's in a Name? – 1/29/11




Copyright 2011-2016 by Mark Robert Frank

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