Why subscribe to Mel Pine’s blog?
This very earth is the Lotus Land of purity, and this very body is the Body of Buddha. — Hakuin Ekaku (1686-1769)
For those who don’t know me well, one place to start is my book, The New Middle Way. My blog Melting-Pot Dharma ran from 2015 to 2019. This blog, From the Pure Land, launched on June 8, 2014, and the archive for the first year is available at no charge.
I’ve considered myself a practicing Buddhist for close to 40 years. For the first three decades or so, my primary teacher was the venerable Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh. Then, in January 2016, seven months after the death of my son Thomas at the age of 29, I began practicing Vajrayana (Tibetan) Buddhism with Lama Surya Das. While I remain eternally grateful to Thich Nhat Hanh and to Lama Surya, I’ve taken on additional Vajrayana teachers, especially Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche.
I practice the Dzogchen and Mahamudra traditions of Vajrayana Buddhism, but I include those words only for those already familiar with them.
My wife, Carol, is a fellow traveler along the Buddhist way. We practice with a daily Zoom group whose members are our dear sangha mates. Carol and I live in western Loudoun County, Virginia, near our son Carl, who recently became engaged to a lovely (inside and out) woman. They join us often for dinner.
My professional career was varied but centered around communicating with words. I have no credentials as a Buddhist teacher, but I think I’m damn good at expressing the complex more simply without sacrificing accuracy.
I call this blog and associated podcast From the Pure Land because I believe that the mind creates reality, and I know I’m already in the Pure Land. Join me there.
I want to share some principles:
Blogging requires absolute honesty.
Impermanence applies to blogging as it does to all other conditioned things. My beliefs will change over time. But I won’t revise what I wrote before unless it’s essential to do so, and when I do, I’ll add a note indicating the change.
For now, the posts will come on no set schedule, but you can expect at least one weekly when I’m not on a retreat or otherwise unable to write.
Each post will be short. I want you to be able to read it in five minutes or so.
I’ll say so when I have been wrong.
Perhaps most importantly, this blog is a manifestation of my bodhicitta: the drive to help all beings reach Enlightenment and end needless suffering.
Subscriptions are $5 a month or $30 a year, for which you’ll receive access to six guided meditations. You can become a Supporting Subscriber for $50, in which case you’ll receive an autographed copy of The New Middle Way in addition to my gratitude. Free subscribers receive unlimited access for a one-week trial.
Visit Substack.com to learn more about the company that provides the tech for this newsletter.
