Quotations fromm Lin Qiuwu

These quotations come from the article Buddhism and Marxism in Taiwan: Lin Qiuwu’s Religious Socialism and Its Legacy in Modern Times By Charles B. Jones, published in the Journal of Global Buddhism 1 (2000): 82-111. Lin Qiuwu’s ideas on the synthesis of revolutionary socialist and Buddhist ideology display a clear coherence which goes beyond mere […]

McMindfulness: When Capitalism Goes Buddhist

I found this video to be an excellent introduction to modern capitalism commodification of Buddhism. It doesn’t shy away from (and in fact encourages) a deep dive into the history and philosophy without shying away from any of the unpleasant aspects. As this critique of Buddhist capitalism becomes more accepted, we need to begin thinking […]

A summary of Buddhism and Buddhist-Anarchism

What is Buddhism? First of all, what is Buddhism? What do Buddhists believe, and what do they do? We all have our pop cultural references to rely on, but little garden statues, slogans, and self help books can’t possibly substitute for an understanding of the real thing, especially something as complex and diverse as a […]

Historical Writings: Excerpt

Apologies to readers for the long delays between posts. My work has been unstable for the past year and a half, and has been keeping me from writing. I have also been engaged in other political education projects over at especifismostudies.org. That said, I have been continuing to plug away at a full length draft […]

New things

You may have noticed that blog activity has slowed. This is for two reasons. Firstly, I took a new job in May that has kept me extremely busy. Turns out full time physical labor doesn’t mix well with writing and research. Thankfully it is temporary, and I hope to resume regular blogging after October. Second, […]

Anarcho-Buddhism or Buddhist Anarchism?

A friend of mine who teaches foreign language reminded me today of a curious problem in English. We don’t often take the time to understand what our compound words and prefixes do to the meaning of a term. For example, anarcho-communism is often used synonymously with anarchism, libertarian socialism and so on. However, the order […]

Impermanence and Organization

Organizations are not the same as Organization. The difference is one of principle and particular. Organization is essential to revolutionary activity. Particular organizations are not. These change with the terrain of struggle, forming, dissolving, splitting, merging and reforming as needed. From a removed, historical or hypothetical perspective we tend to cling to organizations as the […]

Zen and the Anarchism of Blackness

An Interview with Author & Activist William C. Anderson I recently picked up a copy of William C. Anderson’s new book, The Nation on No Map, an excellent and timely discussion on the history, theory, and practice of Black anarchism. I was a fan of his prior work with Zoe Samudzi in the essay The […]

In this Very Life: Dzogchen & Anarchism with Wei Kang

In my study of Buddhist Anarchism, I have met many interesting and thoughtful people who share my interest in an expanded praxis of liberation. Among the most interesting and most thoughtful is the Twitter user @WeiKangWhite. I started following them very early on in my research, and have always been astounded by the depth of […]

Realizing Hakugen’s Buddhist-Anarchist-Communism

Anarchist Communism To begin simply, Petr Kropotkin, one of Ichikawa Hakugen’s main political influences, was among the earliest and clearest proponents of anarchist communism. Kropotkin most succinctly summarized anarchist communism as “the no-government system of socialism”. He went on to explain that “It is a synthesis of the two chief aims pursued by humanity since […]