Love, Sex and Religion

love-sex-religion

Two years ago I participated in a panel made up of several MIT chaplains called “Love, Sex and Religion” hosted by PLEASURE @ MIT. I had always meant to post the audio recording of that, but I’m just finally getting around to it now.

In this audio file you’ll hear Swami Tyagananda (Hindu Chaplain) followed by me (Blue Ocean Faith Chaplain) followed by Kari Jo Verhulst (Lutheran Chaplain) followed by Gavriel Goldfeder (Orthodox Jewish Chaplain). My part starts 14 minutes in. I was very impressed by the level of wisdom and nuance in what my esteemed colleagues had to say. I aspire to be that insightful and articulate.

Why I Care About Sleep at MIT

from sleepingmitstudents.tumblr.com

Sleep deprivation is often part of the MIT student experience. One of my dreams (pun intended) is that MIT can come to have a healthier sleep culture.

In this week’s Tuesday’s in the Chapel, I talk about why I see this as such an important issue—both based on my personal experience as an MIT student and from a spiritual perspective.

There’s no transcript this time because this was talk was completely unscripted—which is very unlike me. In addition to the audio, the text selections1usually in these selections I like to include some connection to non-religious stuff for the sake of inclusivity, but since I did this one with virtually no prep, I defaulted to Bible verses that were top of the mind. I used are below.

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Notes:   [ + ]

1. usually in these selections I like to include some connection to non-religious stuff for the sake of inclusivity, but since I did this one with virtually no prep, I defaulted to Bible verses that were top of the mind.

Guest Post: What is it like to go through MIT *without* impostor syndrome?

An answer posted on Quora by good friend Michael who is finishing up his Senior year at MIT:

What is it like to go through MIT without impostor syndrome?

Michael FuI will be perfectly honest here.

My time at MIT was without a doubt the greatest experience of my life up until now, but it certainly wasn’t without its challenges. It’s an odd feeling to come here freshman year and suddenly be immersed in a community of people who have accomplished ridiculously impressive things and many of whom are lightyears smarter than you are. It’s very humbling. Continue reading

My Complicated Love Affair with MIT… and That Special Somethin’ That Was Missing

It was my dream to come to MIT since I was in 5th grade. When I visited MIT for the first time as junior in high school, I just fell even deeper in love. And I very much still remember the day when I got my acceptance letter (though it wasn’t nearly as cool as the ones used today). So when I showed up to start classes here, I was a little surprised to find that not everyone loved MIT as much as me.

Tech is Hell

In fact, it seemed the longer somebody had been here the more they strongly disliked MIT. The place was nicknamed “Hell” and the acronym we used to express how much we hated it got five letters when most only got three. Upperclassmen told me that “MIT teaches you to hate the things you love” and it was taken for granted that the primary emotion of seniors (if not juniors) was bitterness. What on earth was going on? This was supposed to be the greatest place on earth for us nerds! Continue reading