About: Ari Setsudo Pliskin
Posts by Ari Setsudo Pliskin:
Why I Love Prejudice.by Ari Setsudo Pliskin on May 24, 2012 The documentary Welcome to Shelbyville illustrated the human side bigotry in a small town in Tennessee. 97 views |
Do Buddhas Cry?by Ari Setsudo Pliskin on Apr 11, 2012 The Buddha’s response to his father’s death didn’t quite jive with my understanding of my Buddhist practice with regards to death. 1,226 views |
We are the 100%: A Mindful Response to #OccupyWallStreetby Ari Setsudo Pliskin on Oct 6, 2011 I find inspiration in my Zen Peacemakers training and also from yoga activist Michael Franti, who visited Occupy Wall Street this week. When I encountered Franti through his documentary I Know I’m Not Alone and his appearance at the Wanderlust Festival in VT, I sensed that he was a fellow peacemaker. Below, I quote the words of ZP founder Zen Master Bernie Glassman, from the peacemaker manual Bearing Witness, co-written by Zen Master Eve Marko and also words from the video (also below) of Franti’s Wall Street visit. 1,967 views |
Meditation & Yoga Occupy Wall Street (Michael Franti, Deepak Chopra, Russell Simmons…)by Ari Setsudo Pliskin on Oct 4, 2011 People are leading yoga and meditation on Wall Street. 3,125 views |
It Only Takes 20 Minutes to Shift the Blame (700+ protesters arrested on Brooklyn Bridge)by Ari Setsudo Pliskin on Oct 2, 2011 It Only Takes 20 Minutes to Shift the Blame (700+ protesters arrested on Brooklyn Bridge) 715 views |
Senator Comments on Labor Unions Joining Occupy Wall Street Movement, Advises Reform.by Ari Setsudo Pliskin on Oct 1, 2011 Senator Bernie Sanders comments on labor unions joining Occupy Wall Street movement, discussed upcoming Washington protest and advises movement to seek real regulatory reform. 1,692 views |
Will You Pay $5 Fee for Debit Cards?! Do Corporate Banks Serve You?!by Ari Setsudo Pliskin on Sep 30, 2011 High Unemployment and High Profits at Commercial Banks. How do we respond? Regulation? Meditation Occupations at Wall Street? Share your opinion. 768 views |
Weeklong Wall Street Occupation Continues (Police violence, Videos)by Ari Setsudo Pliskin on Sep 24, 2011 “The one thing we all have in common is that We Are The 99% that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%,” said a statement on the website Occupy Wall Street. 3,302 views |
Video: Mayor Fights Cars Parked in Bike Lane with Tankby Ari Setsudo Pliskin on Aug 3, 2011 In Vilnius, Lithuania, mayor Arturas Zuokas takes back the streets. 501 views |
elephant interviews: Seane Corn. What’s it like being a Celebriyogi?by Ari Setsudo Pliskin on Jul 8, 2011 Seane Corn has channeled the celebrity status characterized by top-selling yoga DVD’s, Yoga Journal covers and numerous modeling gigs to support the work of Off The Mat and Into The World, a spiritual activist organization she cofounded. In this interview leading up to Wanderlust, VT, we discuss the benefits and drawbacks of being a celibriyogi as well as what it means to skillfully adopt celebrity status as a yoga in itself. 1,057 views |
Interview with Wanderlust Founder Sean Hoessby Ari Setsudo Pliskin on Jun 29, 2011 The following interview with Wanderlust co-founder Seane Hoess was conducted by Katie Sachs and Ari Pliskin at the Wanderlust Vermont festival on June 25, 2011. Can you say more about how your background in the music industry has contributed to the development Wanderlust? Sean Hoess: We wanted to bring way more people together than the [...] 250 views |
Perspectives clash at Wanderlust Festival.by Ari Setsudo Pliskin on Jun 28, 2011 I don’t like being preached at; All I wanted was a good vinyasa flow. 565 views |
Yoga vs. Music: The ancient debate illuminated.by Ari Setsudo Pliskin on Jun 26, 2011 This weekend, Katie Sachs, a musician and Ari Pliskin, a yogi, attended the Wanderlust Festival in Bondville, VT. The event is billed “Yoga. Music. Nature,” so Ari and Katie went to determine the answer to an ancient question- which is better-yoga or music? After surveying festival-goers the votes are in. Watch their video to find [...] 333 views |
This is why you should join us at Auschwitz.by Ari Setsudo Pliskin on May 27, 2011 The city of death… …could not have been created… …without modern technology… … and modern mass media and politics. How can we respond to the world’s suffering? We can remember, …practice additional technology, … and create new media. When I entered the gates of Auschwitz, I was struck by the shear scale. How could I [...] 113 views |
Street Retreat: Taking Practice Beyond the Meditation Hall.by Ari Setsudo Pliskin on May 5, 2011 All You Need To Leave It All Behind What do a Hollywood actor, a man who lived under a bridge, a former Wall Street financier, a Rabbi and a Buddhist nun have in common? Answer: They all joined a 72-year old Zen master to do three days of spiritual practice staying out on the streets [...] 1,077 views |
I raised $1,500 in one week for a good cause & so can you.by Ari Setsudo Pliskin on Apr 26, 2011 2,500 years ago, it was the practice of the lay congregation to support monks through donations of food and clothing. Shakyamuni Buddha led his monks each morning in the practice of begging for their daily food. Each day’s offering was received with thanks regardless of its nature or size. In this way the Buddha encouraged [...] 555 views |
How should I cover the Wanderlust Festival?by Ari Setsudo Pliskin on Apr 13, 2011 Maintaining Journalistic Integrity in the Blog Era. At the National Conference for Media Reform last weekend, I had a good chance to reflect on this odd technological-social moment in which we find ourselves: newspaper reporters are out of work, while people who are decent writers—but have no formal training in journalism—like myself—find themselves getting press [...] 298 views |
Natural disaster. Conflict. Poverty. How do we respond?by Ari Setsudo Pliskin on Apr 13, 2011 This Month in Socially Engaged Buddhism “A religious statue in a tsunami-devastated area in Natori city, along the coast.” Photo by Getty Images. Picked up from Danny Fisher. Natural disaster. Conflict. Poverty. How do we respond? To address these issues, Buddhists throughout the West are innovating new forms of practice, including the exploration of what [...] 288 views |
Auschwitz: Letting Go of Resentment.by Ari Setsudo Pliskin on Mar 9, 2011 “Jews don’t go to school” For 15 years, Zen Master Bernie Glassman and the Zen Peacemakers have lead multi-faith, multi-national retreats at Auschwitz in order to bear witness to the darkest parts of humanity. I attended my first retreat in June 2010. What follows are a series of posts chiseled from my daily journals of [...] 490 views |
Young American Leaders Discuss Building Communities of Buddhist & Yoga Practiceby Ari Setsudo Pliskin on Mar 3, 2011 “A business that does harm and makes a profit will continue to exist even though it shouldn’t, but a non-profit that does good in the world but can’t generate enough revenue to cover its costs won’t continue to exist even though it should. “ This interview was prepared in conjunction with a podcast conversation between [...] 353 views |
Bahamas Karma Yoga: Ashram Maintenance & Peace Activismby Ari Setsudo Pliskin on Feb 9, 2011 The Yoga of Action at the Bahamas Sivananda Ashram Coming from a place where we are selling our Zen center campus, I am impressed by what is essentially a small yet vibrant and gorgeous Caribbean village dedicated to rigorous spiritual training. Teacher trainees with yellow shirts and white pants sit huddled around picnic tables cramming [...] 423 views |
Auschwitz Day 3: Settling in.by Ari Setsudo Pliskin on Dec 3, 2010 Confronting Israeli Soldiers at Auschwitz. For 15 years, Zen Master Bernie Glassman and the Zen Peacemakers have lead multi-faith, multi-national retreats at Auschwitz in order to bear witness to the darkest parts of humanity. I attended my first retreat in June 2010. What follows are a series of posts chiseled from my daily journals of [...] 354 views |
Auschwitz Day 1 & 2: I am a Nazi.by Ari Setsudo Pliskin on Oct 7, 2010 What does it mean to be One with everything? For 15 years, Zen Master Bernie Glassman and the Zen Peacemakers have lead multi-faith, multi-national retreats at Auschwitz in order to bear witness to the darkest parts of humanity. I attended my first retreat in June 2010. What follows are a series of posts chiseled from [...] 528 views |
Auschwitz Retreat: Prologue.by Ari Setsudo Pliskin on Oct 4, 2010 “I’d rather be commodified than liquidated” For 15 years, Zen Master Bernie Glassman and the Zen Peacemakers have lead multi-faith, multi-national retreats at Auschwitz in order to bear witness to the darkest parts of humanity. I attended my first retreat in June 2010. What follows are a series of posts chiseled from my daily journals [...] 432 views |
Buddhism and Kerouac on How to Blogby Ari Setsudo Pliskin on Sep 14, 2010 Getting Started! Want to reach a wider audience but don’t know where to start? Believe it or not, the Buddhist tradition offers deep insight into how to blog to make the world a better place. In this post, I combine Jack Kerouac’s Rules for Spontaneous Prose with the three tenets of the Zen Peacemakers to [...] 611 views |
How to Rid a Major City of Plastic Bags.by Ari Setsudo Pliskin on Sep 9, 2010 Interdependence Project Executes Day of Action. Icebreaker. I entered the Interdependence Project (IDP) meeting at their Bowery location on No Impact Day with a sense of anticipation. IDP joined an initiative to rid New York City of plastic bags. As someone who has been following them online, I was glad to see that they were [...] 176 views |
Can the Arts Make us Enlightened?by Ari Setsudo Pliskin on Sep 2, 2010 Bearing Witness to Auschwitz, Homelessness and Media. Zen Masters whack students with sticks or unexpectedly shout or find other ways to push the students into Not-Knowing. Once we are not longer stuck in our comfort zone, we can Bear Witness to what’s really happening around us (to use the terminology of the Zen Peacemakers). Zen [...] 416 views |
Building Engaged Global Cybersanghaby Ari Setsudo Pliskin on Aug 11, 2010 In a world where decreasing civic involvement threatens democracy and human welfare, is spending more time in front of a computer really going to reduce suffering in the world? Second Life Protest for Burmese Monks (video) When I created a Zen Peacemakers Facebook fan page while I was in training in residence, I didn’t foresee [...] 878 views |
Movie Review: A Buddhist Take on Inception.by Ari Setsudo Pliskin on Jul 26, 2010 It’s All About Letting Go of Attachment. It may just be the movie of the year. And it’s all about letting go of attachment to perfect, but fake unrealities…and rejoining that precious, fragile, fleeting state of mind known as the present moment—real life. While he is messing around in other people’s psyches, Cobb, the main [...] 2,964 views |
All the Scrumptious Zen Tradition, None of the Patriarchy.by Ari Setsudo Pliskin on Jul 26, 2010 Implementing Shared Stewardship at the Montague Farm Zendo. We just had an evaluation session after our first six months practicing a shared stewardship model of leadership in our Zen Buddhist community. The shared stewardship model developed at the Zen Center of Los Angeles over the past decade to create a viable model for individual, organizational, [...] 465 views |
Screw smart phone; Help me choose an ethical phone!by Ari Setsudo Pliskin on Jul 21, 2010 I’ve got 24 days to decide whether I’m going to keep my i-phone and I’m also exploring whether to switch towards an open-source Content Management System to manage our website. I received the phone as an unexpected gift and if I return it within 30 days from purchase (by August 15), I get 90% of [...] 2,406 views |
7 ways to use the internet to reduce suffering.by Ari Setsudo Pliskin on Jul 20, 2010 Applying Eastern Wisdom to Modern Tech. Lessons from Wisdom 2.0 Summit. 1. Practice being present in person 2. Practice being present online 3. Build Relationships 4.Enforce accountability 5. Raise money and spread petitions 6. Organize information & Study 7. Coordinate Actions & Meetings 1. Practice being present in person New technology only recontextualizes the same [...] 1,081 views |
This Obon: Can We Feed All the Hungry Ghosts?by Ari Setsudo Pliskin on Jul 14, 2010 Can I Acknowledge My Sickness? In a Huffington Post article, Zen Master Bernie Glassman, the founder of my Zen community explains: In the Zen Peacemakers, we recite Sanskrit spells and provide food for hungry people in our community. We prepare a food offering and use ancient spells to invite the hungry ghosts into the room. [...] 228 views |
Are Soldiers Like Monks? Dalai Lama Says Yes.by Ari Setsudo Pliskin on Jul 6, 2010 Motivation Matters Most. His Holiness the Dalai Lama made a statement supporting armed forces featured in a post last week on the of the Buddhist Military Sangha blog. He said that actions that appear “harsh or tough” on the surface may actually be “non-violent” if they are based on good motivation. What makes both [...] 109 views |
Was the Buddha a Social Activist?by Ari Setsudo Pliskin on Jun 29, 2010 While the author of a recent post on Digital Tibetan Buddhist Altar argues that “Twist it and wring it and pound it any way you like. Buddha did not engage in engaged Buddhism,” Ramesh Bjonnes argues in an article in the Elephant Journal that “Buddha was an animal and human rights activist long before the [...] 1,098 views |
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