Tag: Ethics

• January 19, 2026

  Burning Man Or Church Services?

  “We don’t need more Burning Mans,” a friend of mine said some years ago. “We need more church services.” Could he be right? According to AP News, there has been a broad post-pandemic interest in going to meditation centers where meditation retreats are being held. I don’t doubt that this is a good thing, especially…
• January 16, 2026

  Dickens, A CEO, & Fear Of The Poorhouse

  Charles Dickens, perhaps the most famous novelist in the Victorian era, made a great living during his lifetime and yet, all his life, was deeply fearful of returning to the workhouse. When he was 12, his father was put in debtors’ prison while he, separately, worked at a nearby factory, Warren’s Blacking Warehouse. It is…
• January 15, 2026

  And What Are You Willing To Give To The Path?

  Not long after my eldest sister died in 2014, my wife Alexandra wrote to a Zen teacher living in Kyoto to ask about various religious paths. Notably, she and I had crafted that email in such a way that it included criteria whose goal was to help her to determine what could be a suitable…
• January 13, 2026

  His Face At 50

  In his notebook, George Orwell wrote, “At 50, everyone has the face he deserves.” The claim, in fact, is stronger than this: anyone at any age has the face that reveals “his soul.” If one only knew that one was walking around with a naked face that bore one’s deepest character, one, no doubt, would…
• January 12, 2026

  Does He Actually Want Help?

  Helping someone in any deep sense requires immensely sensitive understanding. This is especially so because the one seeking help is very often engaged in tacit acts of resistance. In other words, he doesn’t know that he’s fighting what is being offered or, more generally, that he’s fighting you. His mind, yes, is his biggest enemy,…