MSI Press Blog

  From Arthur Yavelberg, author of A Theology for the Rest of Us -- Not So Still, Small Voice In times of terrible tragedies—whether personal or world-wide—many in the West think of the Bible and pray.  While the text of the prayer may be general–”Please fix this!”–there is usually the hope that there will be some dramatic, divine intervention—much like, say, God splitting the Red Sea in the Book of  Exodus .  However, while there are many examples of such miracles in both the Old and the New Testaments, there are also accounts where God’s presence is not at all obvious.  For instance, in the Book of Genesis, the  Joseph  of “The Coat of Many Colors” fame is despised by his brothers, sold into slavery and spends years in an Egyptian dungeon—only to rise to power by the side of the Egyptian vizier, save the lands from a devastating drought and rescue his family.  As Joseph tells his bewildered brothers, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now be

  The following post comes from the blog of Arthur Yavelberg - Looking behind the Curtain In the wonderful fantasy movie, “ The Wizard of O z,” the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, the Lion and Dorothy are all seeking something they believe is lacking: a brain, a heart, courage and the way back home.  While they lacked the terminology to discuss their despair as “existential angst,” their predicament is certainly not rare in spiritual literature.    In the  Hindu  classic, “ The Bhagavad Gita ,” the hero,  Arjuna , is forlorn at the prospect of going into battle against enemies who are all relatives.  Anticipating so much death and destruction, he is tempted to turn away.  Only when  Krishna  reminds him that he is a warrior and that he must fulfill his destiny does Arjuna fight in this terrible war—a war that he wins, though at the end everyone dies anyway as that is the way of all flesh.   Similarly, in the Biblical Book of  Genesis ,  Jacob —someone of notoriously weak character who is decep

  excerpt from  Living in Blue Sky Mind How We Talk I remember a time that I lied to my mother and how it made me feel. One night my brother and I had a plan. We were going to throw a water balloon out of our bedroom window against the wall of the house next door. After lights went out and we got into bed, I snuck into the bathroom and filled a balloon with water. I came back, and my brother lifted the screen to our window. I leaned out as far as I could and threw the balloon. It was lopsided and slippery so it flew off target. I heard a window break. My brother and I dove into our beds. I saw that the shade on our window was up so I stood to pull it down. When I was in the window, the porch light from the house next door came on. Our neighbor stepped out and saw me. I fell on my pillow. She already saw me so I got on my knees and looked out, acting groggy, as if I had just woken up. Someone broke our window,” our neighbor said. “Did you see anything?” I thought for a second. “I think

Richard Gentei Diedrichs grew up in Los Angeles. He edited travel and health magazines in Seattle, worked as an editor at the schools of engineering and public health at University of California. Berkeley, and then taught fourth and fifth grades, as well as kindergarten, in public elementary schools around the San Francisco Bay Area.  Richard was ordained a Zen priest in 1984. Currently, he is a Dharma teacher in Hawaii. He has published short stories in literary journals, a short story collection, Spirit of Tabasco , and two novels, Neither Coming Nor Going and Cherry Blossom . He lives with his wife and dog on the west coast of the Big Island of Hawaii.   His MSI book, Living in Blue Sky Mind: Basic Buddhist Teachings for a Happy Life , is available in paperback, hard cover, and e-book formats and has been recognized by the MidWest Book Watch and other reviewers for its quality.  Richard has been featured in many interviews and podcasts and has written a number of articles

How We Meditate Right Concentration furnishes the eighth step on Buddha’s Eightfold Path. Technically, Right Concentration signifies passing through four stages in meditation called jhanas , and arriving at mindfulness. While the steps on the path are not consecutive and are practiced together, Buddha said that by following the previous steps, that is, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Understanding, Right Effort, Right Intention, Right Livelihood, and Right Mindfulness, we arrive at Right Concentration. When we concentrate, we focus our attention on something. Concentration, here called samadhi ,  means that we focus our mind on an object that helps us to become more wholesome and pure in our awareness. As we know, a distracted mind races between ideas, thoughts, and concepts, filled with anxiety, worry, concern, and delusion (thinking that things differ from the way they actually are). This mind has been compared to the antics of a drunken monkey. A drunken monkey cha

What We Mean to Do Right Intention (sometimes called Right Thought) relates to what and how we think. We are most concerned with the part of our thinking that always wants something (which, as humans, is most of our thinking). Buddha said that what we think (and say and do) is what we are. If we think, talk, and act in mean, selfish, and hurtful ways, we find difficulty coming into our lives. If we think, talk, and act in kind and loving ways, we find happiness coming into our lives. Buddha described it as “a shadow that never leaves us." Intention is our true nature trying to come out. It is our inner compass. If we are mindful or aware of our thoughts, we see the nature of our intent. We choose whether it is good or bad, helpful or hurtful. With Right Intention, we promise to be good, and mainly do three things: be aware that we always want things and can take them or leave them; renounce or give up those things that our thinking always wants; and becom