Gerald “Strib” Stribling is the author of Buddhism for Dudes: A Jarhead’s Field Guide to Mindfulness (Wisdom Publications, 2015). His past incarnations have included farm hand, steelworker, U.S. Marine, elementary school teacher, and social services professional. Strib volunteered to teach English to children in Sri Lanka as a personal response to 9-11. There he studied with some of the most highly revered monks in Theravada Buddhism. During three of his seven months in the island nation, he actually resided in a Buddhist monastery.
He wrote Buddhism for Dudes as a not-so-subtle, basic examination of the essence of Buddhist philosophy. It’s short and funny and to the point. “Way too much Buddhist information is too complicated to wade through, and some of it is fairyland voodoo, full of metaphysical improbabilities. Buddhism isn’t a religion, it’s a way to live a happy life. This is not hard stuff to understand.”
It All Starts with Empathy.
By Gerald "Strib" Stribling One of the most awesome physical specimens of human being I’ve ever had the privilege of knowing was a dark-skinned African-American man named Dante, who was from Louisiana and was in my training platoon at Parris Island,...
Is Death the End of Life? (I Mean That as a Joke)
By Gerald "Strib" Stribling *This is the fifth and final installment of the series “Freedom from Fear” written exclusively for The Tattooed Buddha. Mark Twain called it “The wanton insult of old age.” And Buddhism sure doesn’t offer much comfort for it....
Living Fearless: The 5 Slogans in Buddhism.
By Gerald Stribling Cheryl Giles, of the Harvard Divinity School, quotes Pema Chödrön in an article she wrote that is included in the anthology The Arts of Contemplative Care (Wisdom, 2012). Chödrön, in turn, was relating a story from the Tibetan...
Thought is Cheap.
By Gerald "Strib" Stribling *This is the third installment of Gerry Stribling’s “Freedom from Fear” series, exclusively for The Tattooed Buddha Even the most profound thinkers go nuts if they can’t get their minds off things. It’s why President Herbert...
Quit Trying Not to Think So Much.
By Gerald "Strib" Stribling *This is the second installment of Gerry Stribling’s “Freedom from Fear” series, exclusively for The Tattooed Buddha “They” say that coloring in an adult coloring book is as good for you as meditation. They are right. I color myself....
The Courage to be Buddhist.
By Gerald "Strib" Stribling A guy told me the other day that the book I recently published, Buddhism for Dudes: A Jarhead's Field Guide to Mindfulness, stood in contrast to many other books about Buddhism “that are written...
Buddhism isn’t for Wimps.
By Gerald Stribling I found a cartoon on the Internet a few months ago. It's a rendering of the Incredible Hulk, in a meditation posture, repeating his mantra in his head: “Hulk no smash... Hulk no smash... Hulk smash just a little...” Once as a favor to...