May you be well and happy May you be free from harm May you be safe from inner and outer dangers ------------- May we be held in compassion May we be at ease in body, mind and spirit May we be free from pain and sorrow ------------- May all creatures live in peace May all lives be respected May all beings live in harmony
MAY ALL SUFFERING QUICKLY CEASE
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One of the most difficult things to do is to change our way(s) about how we go about our daily lives. Each and every one of us has got a script written in seemingly invisible ink. We don't see our own habitual reactions or responses and we don't really question whether our habit patterns are a cause for concern to the rest of the world. Or maybe we do, but our script seems to be written in indelible ink: are we as Shakespeare said merely actors on a stage? Do we simply play our part on stage? Are we aware that we are acting in a familiar play well versed in our lines? and again do we think about the harm we might be doing? Is it really a huge problem to others around us?
The stone cast in the middle of a calm lake is bound to cause ripples that effect the entire body of water. How can we know the extent of the damage our activities have caused if we refuse to see the link between existence and suffering?
Have you heard of Ning? It's another one of these social networking sites (like Facebook) that connects people from across the globe thus creating a virtual community. 3 Cs - Creative people from all cultures live and work in many countries different from their origins and through their cross-cultural experiences find themselves existing distinctly between cultures...to varying degrees.
It's been a busy week - catching up on post, correspondence, meetings, and spending time with The Buddhist house residents and cats, not too mention trying to tame the wild overgrown garden.
I've been sitting here feeling happy - just received news through email from one of my favorite teachers from highschool (though technically speaking I never had her as a teacher) - and full of gratitude for the technology that has facilitated this. The computer and internet is something that I don't think I could or want to live without nowadays.
Though I'm writing from TBH in the UK, a bit of me is still at Amida France, our retreat centre. It is in a remote location surrounded by farms and fields of wheat, rapeseed, sunflowers, and corn etc. Due to its location it took a very long time before broadband technology was set up but finally, last year, after years of dial-up and modems, and in a funny way, being out of touch with the rest of the world, that part of France got broadband. The community and its guests have been able to access the internet through our wifi system and while it may feel a bit contradictory to be on retreat and in touch with current happenings in the world I think a balance is possible and the two go hand in glove quite nicely.
So from this September onwards we are going to try and make the place warm and cosy so that we can accommodate guests and visitors and run activities throughout the cold, dark winter months. If you are interested in doing a personal retreat in France then do contact me, I'm sure we can arrange an enlightening experience.
I think I may even go so far and boast that we have the best of both worlds at Amida France. We are able to enjoy the benefits of living in a beautiful and tranquil environment away from the hustle and bustle of cities and towns (therefore it is literally a re-treat- a treat that we experience repeated times) while at the same time connecting and reaching out to our friends and family members in the world at large.
I hope that the wheel keeps on turning - that we start a new revolution.
Let's try and at least raise the standard of education so that what is taught is respect to all life and especially to different species. Let's teach our children to have compassion for all living creatures and all aspects of life, birth, aging, sicking, death. Let's keep moving in a direction that enables us to see that animals have just as much right to live for their own sake as we humans do. Let's teach each other how to share the resources found on this planet.
I feel like waiting. I feel like staying up all night just to watch the sun set in the arctic circle in the dead of summer.
And as i imagine myself watching it circle in the sky above me I think about all the bright nights I dreamed of you waiting for me and me waiting for you.
and the waiting goes on until the earth rises and the sun sinks and I dream of you behind the veil of darkness and me in front of the curtain of night.
We are born alone and will die alone in fact throughout the course of our lives we are and will be forever alone is that why we crave contact and love from another - to relieve ourselves from the pain and fear of being alone in all our separateness?
I like playing with words on the screen. I think this is more stylistic and visually appealing than stringing out word after word after yet another word, knowing full well that this is not and never will be classified as poetry.
What I'm trying to acheive is one (still) picture/image after another so just pause after each couplet and let the imagination conjure up the images to which these words give rise.
----------- in being human close to a sexual being
A request has come in from The Fresh Air Fund to help give children from disadvantaged communities a summer vacation with a warm and loving family.
I'm putting this on my blog in case there are families out there who might be able to extend their love to a complete stranger who will, as a result, benefit from this experience and thus learn how to reach out and give to others more disadvantaged than they are themselves.
My Opera Friend has added a post that is a fitting link with this one: Smiling Happy Children
September 2 - Giant Sand releases new album 'Provisions' September 23 - Drag City will release the limited edition Fingerpointing O'Rourke's mix of Red Krayola's 'Fingerpainting' September 29 -Mercury Rev releases first new studio album 'Snowflake Midnight'
These are something to look forward to, after all, it's been nearly four years since either Giant Sand and Mercury Rev has released a proper album!
here we are standing motionless and yet moving all the while . . .
My basic assumption is that the universe isn't perfect and that all objects in the universe attract each other according to a kind of force that is mystical.
What moves us or pulls us off our course has nothing to do with our own will to move in another direction for we are merely objects in the universe governed by the law of inertia and so will travel in a straight line unless we are pulled off course by a force that is attracted to another body. And what is it that attracts one object to another? The whole thing is mystical.
We will move when the force of attraction is there, like it or not, it is beyond our control.
love is beautiful death will come to us the question is when will we awaken to this fact and when will we stop projecting forward to some time that might not happen because we might not be here and one day we will not be here the struggle then is to see with this lucidity and to live in the intensity of the moment to stop trying to get on with life but to experience the banalities of everyday existence the social pantomimes, the cruel rituals, the pastiche of love, hate, guilt, and other terms that don't cover what they are suppose to mean and to move or develop in a way like a simple story in which the plot is conduit for something of an enormous scale but that contains a sense of the smallness of human experience to move from the absurd desire and quest for happiness - that is "individual" happiness - in a world that refuses to give it to us, to revolt or renunciation to all the cruelties the world seems to dish out, like oppression, fascism and racism. to offer one's life to all sentient beings to be used to bring about a change not in the personality but in society so that all become useful, functional, and loved
it's time to wake up sleepy head it's time to see the world in a different way it's time to disbelieve the 'official' truths presented on tv and radio and in the papers
to challenge one's thoughts, one's reflections, one's beliefs to go beyond right and wrong and to feel what is important in one's heart to encourage someone sitting next to you to share what is hers with a complete stranger what is cruel is to prevent others from having and enjoying a bit of what we have to balance the scale by giving back to the poor what we have unjustly taken to give up drinking and smoking so land can be used to grow food to feed the hungry and end deaths due to malnutrition
but most of all to reject this new 'modern western order' and to hold onto a vision of a different kind of order an order that values friendship and warmth, difference and diversity, emotion and spiritual expression, and faith and trust in something so vast and so incomprehensible to the human brain
to be led by facts and not by romantic fantasies to stop making our fears and passions our god to tame the mind and respect the body
and to love all that gives life to not be shy about saying something is beautiful because it is beautiful to not cringe nor bow low but to walk as equals and to breathe pleasure into life knowing that we are moving into the unknown but know to create conditions that lead to a better world a harmonious one where the very thing you dislike and disagree with has a place not because it is 'good' but because this is part of the human experience that we call life.
"And life can give everything to whomever tries to understand it and is willing to receive new knowledge." Pramoedya Ananta Toer
The sounds of birdsong fills the air from dawn til dusk; the sparrows, warblers, larks, finches, tits, you name it, one can hear:
cha-cha-cha-cha chirruc-chirruc jag-jag-jag karra-karra, krik-krik cheweeoo chuff-chuff lu-lu-lu-lu zip . . . dzeep . . . zip
Whether it's a high pitched 'weest' or a husky 'tsssp' the loose trill on the same note, or the accelerated dry trill, the discordant jumble of notes go on repeatedly all day long. And every now and again a little bird stops by close enough for the secret admirer to get a glimpse.
The house sparrow has always lived close to humans but is not good at cross species companionship. A relationship with a sparrow will thus always be one way - take heed. A friend of mine told me that the number of sparrows is on the decline in The Netherlands and probably also true in other parts of Europe. The reason for this, if I can say so in very broad terms, is probably similar to reasons for many other species found on the ever growing endangered species list: increasing toxicity levels in the food chain and reduction in potential nesting grounds for breeding.
'When will we ever learn?' asked the little bird to the doting human.
The weblog contains weblinks which guide you to useful sites offering practical help. This could be articles, books, conference papers, films/video clips of role models, training resources etc.
Buddhist psychology web page for Amida Trust training courses in Buddhist psychotherapy, Buddhist approaches to counselling, Engaged Buddhism, Applied Buddhist Psychology: course leaders David & Caroline Brazier and Sundari Gina Clayton
