Posted on May 4, 2021
by Kēphen
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Prajñāpāramitā Part III: The Lotus Sutra This is my third and final installment on the three core sutras that define Mahayana Buddhism. It has taken me four years to complete a study of these ancient Buddhist scripture in order to walk away feeling as though… Continue Reading “Prajñāpāramitā Part III: The Sacred Lotus of the Dharma”
Category: All, Atheism, Religion and SpiritualityTags: *See All Posts, Bodhichitta, Bodhisattva, Bodhisattva Dharanimdhara, Bodhisattva Kshitigarbha, Bodhisattva Manjushri, Buddhism, Dharma Practice, Dwelling in the Four Ways, Lotus Sutra, Mahayana, Mahayana Buddhism, Prajnaparamita
Posted on February 8, 2021
by Kēphen
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Category: All, Atheism, Religion and Spirituality, Behavioral Health, Human ConditionTags: *See All Posts, Appreciation, Awareness, Behavioral Health, Dealing With Loss, Death, Delusion, Dying, Ego, Ethics, Existence, Existential, Existentialism, Fulfillment, Gratitude, Happiness, Honesty, Human Connection, Insight, Inspiration, Introspective, Joy, Lessons on Living, Life, Loss, Loss of Loved Ones, Meaning, Mental Health, Mindfulness, Mortality, Philosophy, Purpose, Rarity of Life, Reality Check, Reflecting, Ruminating, Truth, Value of Life, What Matters, Wisdom
Posted on April 4, 2020
by Kēphen
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Pulled from the archives and originally written in 2012, updated and expanded. Please be advised this entry discusses difficult emotions and suicide, it may not be appropriate for those easily disturbed or triggered by such topics. Support resources are provided at the end of… Continue Reading “A Journey Called Hope”
Category: All, Atheism, Religion and Spirituality, Behavioral Health, Human Condition, LGBTQ+Tags: *See All Posts, Behavioral Health, Bipolar Disorder, Childhood Trauma, Closeted, Coming Out, Coming Out Story, Depression, Homophobia, LGBTQ+, Major Depression, Mental Health, Mental Illness, Religious PTSD, Religious Trauma, Religious Trauma Syndrome, RTS, Self-Acceptance, Self-Hatred, Spiritual Trauma, Suicidal, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicidality, Suicide, Suicide Awareness, Suicide Prevention, Trauma
Posted on January 21, 2019
by Kēphen
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“Nature is not a place to visit. It is home.” ~Gary Snyder Liberation and a Return to the Sacred Buddhism has a long history with the forest. Siddhartha Gautama fled the comforts of the Shakya Kingdom and immersed himself with the lands beyond to… Continue Reading “Liberation and a Return to the Sacred”
Category: All, Atheism, Religion and Spirituality, Behavioral Health, Environment, ScienceTags: *See All Posts, Behavioral Health, Buddhism, Ego, Forest Bathing, Forests, Four Noble Truths, Liberation, Mahayana, Mental Health, Nature, Nature Therapy, Pan, Pantheism, Sacred, Self, Siddhartha Gautama, Taoism, Woodlands
Posted on September 9, 2018
by Kēphen
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Prajñāpāramitā Part II: The Heart Sutra The second sutra that I will be explaining from the Prajñāpāramitā is the Heart Sutra. If you have not already read Prajñāpāramitā Part I: The Diamond Sutra, I encourage you to start there before continuing with this article on the Heart… Continue Reading “Prajñāpāramitā Part II: The Heart of Insight”
Category: All, Atheism, Religion and SpiritualityTags: *See All Posts, Buddhism, Existence, Faith, Heart Mantra, Heart Sutra, Insight, Inspiration, Life, Mahayana, Mind, Prajnaparamita, Religion, Thich Nhat Hanh, Truth, Zen Buddhism
Posted on April 1, 2018
by Kēphen
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The Power of Belief I was born into and raised within a Christian community, more specifically a Catholic parish. This article will discuss how I went from attending a private Catholic school and Catholic Mass every weekend, to feeling a lot of doubt in… Continue Reading “The Power of Belief”
Category: All, Atheism, Religion and Spirituality, GodTags: *See All Posts, Atheism, Atheist, Buddhism, Buddhist, Catholic, Christianity, Church, Confirmation, Doubt, Easter, Eucharist, Faith, Holy Bible, Inspiration, Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior, Mind, Nature, Ordained Minister, Ordination, Parish, Power of Belief, Priest, Religion, Richard Dawkins, Sacraments, Sam Harris, Sin, Transubstantiation, Youth Pastor
Posted on March 24, 2018
by Kēphen
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Lords of the Wild For millennia human beings have created depictions through art and literature of fabled beings who resided in forests, mountains, and various other aspects of nature. These ranged from male and female beings who looked very human like to those who… Continue Reading “Lords of the Wild”
Category: All, Atheism, Religion and Spirituality, Environment, GodTags: *See All Posts, Animals, Baruch Spinoza, Cernunnos, Christianity, Earth, Environment, Environmentalism, Existence, Gods of Nature, Green Man, Inspiration, Nature, Nature Worship, Pan, Pantheism, Religion, Space, Spirituality, Sun, Truth
Posted on February 7, 2018
by Kēphen
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Ben Tre: Keep The Loneliness Warm I hold my face in my two hands. No, I am not crying. I hold my face in my two hands to keep the loneliness warm two hands protecting, two hands nourishing, two hands preventing my soul from… Continue Reading “Ben Tre: Keep the Loneliness Warm”
Category: All, Atheism, Religion and Spirituality, Human Condition, Kephen's Commentary, Miscellaneous, PoliticsTags: *See All Posts, Ben Tre, Bombing of Ben Tre, Buddhism, Buddhist Monk, Da Nang, Destruction of Ben Tre, Facts, Ho Chi Minh City, Ken Burns, Lynn Novick, PBS, Politics, Public Broadcasting Service, Saigon, Self-Immolation, Southern Vietnam, The Vietnam War, Thich Nhat Hanh, Thich Quang Duc, Viet Cong, Vietnam War
Posted on December 24, 2017
by Kēphen
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When A Parent Dies Sometimes we avoid things we don’t want to accept or acknowledge as true, a futile attempt to hold onto the bliss of unknowing. Days after my mom passed away last year, I sat down and wrote about what I was… Continue Reading “When A Parent Dies”
Category: All, Atheism, Religion and Spirituality, Human Condition, In Loving Memory, Kephen's CommentaryTags: *See All Posts, Closure, Dealing With Loss, Death, Dying, In Loving Memory, In Memoriam, Loss, Loss of Loved Ones, Remembering, When A Parent Dies, When Mom Died
Posted on December 18, 2017
by Kēphen
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Prajñāpāramitā Part I: The Diamond Sutra There is much to learn from all of the Buddhist scriptures and each of the three main branches of Buddhism have their own interpretations of the texts. For those who follow the Theravada tradition, the Pali Canon are the… Continue Reading “Prajñāpāramitā Part I: The Diamond that Cuts Through Illusion”
Category: All, Atheism, Religion and SpiritualityTags: *See All Posts, Albert Einstein, Brian Greene, Buddhism, Diamond Sutra, Inspiration, Mahayana, Pali Canon, Physics, Prajnaparamita, Shakyamuni, Siddhartha Gautama, Tathagata, Thich Nhat Hanh, Tipitaka, Truth
Kēphen
The Ardent Axiom 
Ben Tre: Keep the Loneliness Warm
Posted on February 7, 2018 by Kēphen
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Ben Tre: Keep The Loneliness Warm I hold my face in my two hands. No, I am not crying. I hold my face in my two hands to keep the loneliness warm two hands protecting, two hands nourishing, two hands preventing my soul from… Continue Reading “Ben Tre: Keep the Loneliness Warm”
Category: All, Atheism, Religion and Spirituality, Human Condition, Kephen's Commentary, Miscellaneous, PoliticsTags: *See All Posts, Ben Tre, Bombing of Ben Tre, Buddhism, Buddhist Monk, Da Nang, Destruction of Ben Tre, Facts, Ho Chi Minh City, Ken Burns, Lynn Novick, PBS, Politics, Public Broadcasting Service, Saigon, Self-Immolation, Southern Vietnam, The Vietnam War, Thich Nhat Hanh, Thich Quang Duc, Viet Cong, Vietnam War