Alexandra Gross
I have been interested in Buddhism since high school, but it's only recently that I've begun to understand how directly I can apply these ideas towards a fuller experience and appreciation of all aspects of my life. Two classes I took through DRBU, one on Buddhism and post-modernity, and one on the Buddhist unconscious, helped me make these connections. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and am currently working as a writer and researcher with the National Registry of Exonerations.
The hardest thing I have ever done is to teach high school for one semester. In the grand scheme of things, I realize how ridiculously lucky this makes me. But I have to admit it’s true; I’ve never struggled or suffered so much as I did in that endless five month stretch in the classroom. [...]
I thought that, because of the focus on meditation and introspection, Buddhists aspired toward a relatively passive, detached way of experiencing the world. When I knew very little about Buddhism, I misunderstood it in a way that is not uncommon in the West. I thought that, because of the focus on meditation and introspection, Buddhists [...]
“’Serious’ art, which is not primarily about getting money out of you, is more apt to make you uncomfortable, or to force you to work hard to access its pleasures, the same way that in real life true pleasure is usually a by-product of hard work and discomfort…. The problem isn’t that today’s readership is [...]
Nietzsche wrote that human history has been shaped by the power dynamic between the few who are part of the controlling “master” class, and the many “slaves” who are being controlled. He was convinced that this dynamic would never change by any action on the part of the master—why would those in power willingly give [...]
Before taking Doug Powers’ class on Buddhism and Postmodernity, I had only a vague idea of what people meant by “postmodernism.” I knew it had something to do with deconstruction, theory, and meta-narratives—but I wasn’t entirely sure what all that was about either, and frankly I wasn’t particularly interested. I was pretty certain it was [...]