The Religious Studies program is bringing candidates to campus, and the first one is visiting today, and will be giving a talk in library 164, at 2:30. I’m sorry that I don’t have more details, but the speaker is a Buddhist monk, and I rather suspect his talk will have something to do with Buddhism.
USUPhilosophy 
I have enjoyed seeing Logan’s Sangha, Unitarians, and hearing speeches from Buddhists. I have been wondering about Buddhism and suffering – especially in relation to Nietzche, who I’m too infantile to properly digest. Here’s the whining of a babe in the woods.
http://usu-shaft.com/2012/a-polemic-on-suffering/
LikeLike
I read your polemic. Only the person who hasn’t much suffered can glorify suffering for its own sake. Have you ever had pulmonary embolisms? Have you ever sat at the hospital bedside of the person you most love watching them teeter for days on end between life and death? Do you know what it is like to live for years with relentless degenerative nerve pain? Your post would be silly if it weren’t so atrocious. The Christian knows better, finding redemption in the love that bears suffering, not in suffering itself.
LikeLike
Dan – I responded to you on the site. Yeah, it’s a terrible article, though some of its premises I think could be defended properly given a few cups of coffee (I plan writing something big on Buddhism and meditation later). This is only relevant to USU philosophy because one of my goals while at the University is to get the lead out and write/publish lots of various blabber until I find my voice; anything, including embarrassingly bad polemics, are good ways to reveal underlying deficiencies and spark valuable input while forming. My guess is that undergraduates should shake the boat as much as possible if we want to learn to swim. If I’m ever going to write and think for real, now’s the chance to experiment.
LikeLike