Routine Order

I repeat - a briefer introduction to Zen Buddhism has never been written.

A Brief Introduction to Zen || kuro5hin.org

Excellent!

Buddha games list - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Buddha games list is a list of games which it is reputed that Gautama Buddha said that he would not play. As such it dates back to the 6th or 5th century BC and is the earliest known list of games.

There is some debate about the translation of some of the games mentioned, and the list given here is based on the translation by T.W. Rhys Davids of the Brahmajāla Sutta (Digha Nikaya 1, translated in Dialogues of the Buddha) and is in the same order given in the original. It is also given in a number of other Buddhist works, including the Vinaya Pitaka.

What’s with the Buddha, Jesus and other religious figures? They don’t seem to have had a sense of humor, or joy in them. For those wondering why I included Jesus, please recollect the last time you saw a painting or sculpture with a Laughing Jesus in it.

The list of Buddha games includes the pick-up-sticks game which seems to be universal — the one where you take turns to pull out sticks from a heap without disturbing the other sticks.

The Economist list of the top books of the year 2006 is interesting in itself, but what really got my gut was the following description of Richard Dawkins‘ latest book, “The God Delusion,” — as a wavering agnostic myself, maybe I should grab the book, and give it a half-chance of swaying me either way. Maybe it will just end up as another book on my Amazon wishlist, that stays there forever. Lucky are those that get gifts.

The God Delusion
By Richard Dawkins. Houghton Mifflin; 416 pages; $27. Bantam; £20

Atheists will love Richard Dawkins’s incisive logic and rapier wit and theists will find few better tests of the robustness of their faith. Even agnostics, who claim to have no opinion on God, may be persuaded that their position is untenable waffle.