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In memory of Roxie

 In memory of Roxie At the borderlands of Dewachen, the pure land of Buddha Amitabha, there is a peculiar stretch of land. It is reserved mainly for the dogs of people who practice the Dharma. There are predominantly dogs on that land, but exceptions occur. Occasionally, one could see the glimpse of some well-behaved cats, who keep themselves to themselves, and even a snake or two could be found, after the story of the White Snake came to be known. The dogs have some memories of their humans reciting sadhanas and prayers, they remember the mantras whispered in their fluffy ears; the memories of the smell of burning incense lingers on the tips of their noses; the taste of the tormas they somehow managed to snatch from the shrine still coats their tongs. All those conditions accumulated together produce the little dog paradise in which everything is as it should be in the world of dogs: The tennis balls are there for a chase whenever needed, and when they fly, they murmur softly...

Merry Christmas!


I am drinking my warm Glögg wine (a novelty), listening to Dylan’s Christmas album, which we always do on Christmas Day, and I am thinking of faith. Being a Buddhist does not make me insensitive to the beauty and compassion of the religion, which has created almost everything of any value in our modern western world. And I am thinking, or dreaming, of a time in which all religious people will unite and stand against the madness of modernity, against the utter self-gratification and selfishness of our present; I am dreaming of the time in which all religious people will realise, that even if they are not the same, all good religions in the world have, up to a point, similar paths. Love, peace, compassion, devotion—aren’t those what most religions teach to their devotees? And even if the object of devotion differs, giving oneself up to a higher being, the emotion, that is the same. The love and compassion, innate to human beings, is the same.

With this in mind, I would like to wish all my Christian friends a Merry Christmas! However, as I am fully aware that not many Christians will be reading this, I would simply say ‘Merry Christmas to me’!


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