There are many reasons to appreciate De Anza College. Rich Wood would be the biggest. He is an amazing adventurer, activist, scholar and professor who really knows his stuff. His knowledge of globalization, world events and religions throughout the world stems almost entirely from his own experiences in dozens of countries. He can tell you what it is like to participate in a sweat lodge ceremony with the Native Americans. He can tell you what it is like to trek through the jungle and smoke marijuana with indigenous peoples. He can tell you about the many times he nearly died!

Best of all, Rich cares about furthering the knowledge of his students. He doesn't get about standards, which is why conversations go off-topic until they come full circle. On the very first day of class, he gives students his personal number and encourages us to frequently call him with questions until 10 o'clock at night.

The following is a portion of my research paper on Chinese religion. I was required to visit a place of worship and ended up choosing the Amitabha Buddhist Society of U.S.A. in Sunnyvale.

Upon entering the building of the Amitabha Buddhist Society, I felt as though I had entered an office instead of a place for worship. Rather than stained glass windows or vaulted ceilings typical of a Western church, there were file cabinets and bookshelves covering nearly inch of white wall. A petite Chinese woman, Grace, behind the main desk greeted me and cheerfully offered to show me around. On multiple occasions, she asked if I spoke or read Chinese. I regret that my answer never changed. I think she was a little disappointed not only because of the significant language barrier between myself and every other person in the building, but also because most of the literature was in Chinese.

I could sense that the Amitabha Buddhists of U.S.A. are not intent on converting Westerners for it would take a very unique English speaking person to ever walk through those doors. The only thing that kept me from feeling like a complete outsider was my ethnicity and even then I was about 50 years younger, 6 inches taller and weighed 40 pounds more than the average member. I felt as though I was in Taiwan.

For lunch, there was a potluck of vegetarian, Chinese cuisine that I fully appreciated. I’ve learned from my grandfather that though the fourth step in the eightfold path calls for a vegetarian existence, only devout Buddhists follow this doctrine. The devout followers of Pure Land Study will also practice the ten-recitation method prior to consuming anything. Sitting up straight and clearly reciting Amitabha’s name ten times with an undisturbed mind helps us regain mindfulness of Amitabha Buddha and momentarily brings us peace and clarity. Members of the Amitabha Buddhist Society repeat this recitation nine times every day (first thing in the morning, at breakfast, before work, at lunch break, at lunch, after lunch break, getting off work, at dinner, at bedtime). The key is regularity for if maintained steadily, the cultivator will “soon feel his purity of mind increase, and his wisdom grow.”

During lunch, a DVD played on the television. Even though the language and the subtitles were Chinese, I actually found myself responding well to the speaker. She spoke slowly and divinely, not at all like the Chinese I was used to. It was only later that I found out she was lecturing her disciples on the evils of abortion. I learned from Grace that abortion has bad consequences that will affect you greatly in your next life. She referred to it as cause and effect.

The next DVD featured Venerable Master Chin Kung himself. My grandfather says that followers adore this man like “a famous football player.” I didn’t really watch this film as much because I had finished my meal halfway through the abortion lecture. I do remember though that during this time, a man, who was clearly not a member of the society asked for soy sauce and wanted to smoke cigarettes outside. The members gave him soy sauce but nervously asked him not to smoke. I sensed that the lack of drugs and meat added to the group’s atmosphere of purity.

Finally, it was time to prepare for meditation. Grace, overestimating my height, helped me put on a large black robe. I then proceeded to the relatively large meditation room with four other people. Apparently afternoon meditation is not very popular. Grace hurriedly started to instruct me on the rules (for once I entered there would be no talking). I was told to take off my shoes. I was told that one side of the room was for men and one for the other. I was told to never walk down the aisle between the two sections for it disrespected Buddha. I was to just attempt to follow everybody else and chant in Chinese. I was given a booklet with Chinese characters and English pronunciations and translations. I started to feel a little afraid of messing up and upsetting the chi.

Thus it was with great trepidation that I began my involvement in the ceremony. For about 15 minutes we walked .02 mph around the room chanting “Amitofo” (Amitabha in Chinese) to the beat of various instruments and a sound recording. Then we sat on our cushions facing the altar and said “Amitofo” over and over again at various pitches. For the next 15 minutes, we turned away from the altar and said a phrase in Chinese over and over again. I’m guessing that it was something along the lines of “I seek refuge in Amitabha Buddha.” Then the next 5 minutes were peaceful as we sat in meditation. It was over too quickly because before I knew it we were repeating another indistinguishable phrase for 15 minutes (after which we started walking around the room again). I was just focusing on the warm weather when we started our 30-minute bowing and chanting to the altar. Saying something over and over again for 2 hours is really harsh on your voice. Shamefacedly, I would sometimes stop, but the lady who wasn’t in charge of an instrument said that I did a good job for my first time. Kindly, she encouraged me to go back as this chanting will “only benefit myself.”

It would be dishonest for me to state that I ever entered a state of bliss or pure meditation. However, as a gregarious person, I did start to understand the attractiveness of Buddhism, and at no point during my visit was I ever pressured to give away my information or put money in a collection box. This suggests that the Amitabha Buddhist Society of U.S.A. really does exist just to aid the people. As noted earlier, there were no fancy stained glass windows or gargantuan idols. As a relatively agnostic religion, there’s no need to accept Jesus Christ or another supreme being as your savior. It is just a plain building providing a basis for lifelong meditation and thought.

Susan Linn, co-founder of the Campaign for a Commerical-Free Childhood and author of "Consuming Kids" was in California this month for her new book tour, "The Case For Make-Believe." She lectured on the importance of unstructured play. Play should be valued. And I'm not talking about "interactive/educational" computer games, Leapfrog, etc. I'm talking about playing in the dirt and using your imagination. I'm talking about using a stick as a magical wand instead of the plastic sold by Warner Bros. and creating your own story. Linn introduced me to her puppet, Audrey the Duck. Utilizing her ventriloquism skills, Linn helps Audrey connect and play with numerous children at Judge Baker Children's Hospital. I vouch that its very hilarious and fun.

During her visit, Linn and I also conversed frequently about subjects ranging from parental concern (I've always been a little worried by the swaths of parents sucked in by the Challenger ads featuring a child scribbling and the phrase, "Play based pre-schools sell your child short." or "She's composing her Ivy Leage admissions essay now.") to Harry Potter. She's a huge fan (and pointed out to me that in the fifth book Petunia is referring to Snape when she overheard that horrid boy tell Lily about Azkaban). She recommend that I read "Feed" by M.T. Anderson, which I am in turn recommending to all of you. The idea of the novel is a society in which there's literally a feed of information planted inside everyone's brain. There's never any need to study because all the world's knowledge can be transmitted. There's no point in learning. Plus whenever you see items you like, the feed will tell you the price of it and the store you can purchase the item from. It's very unusual, a cross-breed between Ender's Game and 1984. Check it out and be sure to visit http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/