Dolphin rings

Youths throwing stones

is understandable...
for youth


but when we become adults,
isn't all this war stuff
really now,
rather silly?


Watch: http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/515.html

So, what is karma in Buddhism?

1. Karma is a Sanskrit word that means "intentional/volitional or
willful action" and refers to the universal law of cause and effect.
Karma is a natural order of things, like water finding its own level.

2. Karma is created not only by physical action but also by thoughts
and words. Things we choose to do or say or think set karma into
motion.

3. Karma operates by itself, justly and, one might say, unforgivingly.
But karma can be broken, in fact, unwholesome or "bad" karma (negative
habits) can be consciously broken.

4. Karma is not "destiny" or "fate" or some kind of cosmic retribution
system.

5. Sometimes people use the word karma to mean the "result" of karma.
For example, someone might say B lost his job because "that's his
karma." However, as Buddhists use the word, karma is the action, NOT
the result. The effects of karma are spoken of as the "fruits" or the
"result" of karma.

6. In the Buddha's day, most religions in India taught that karma
operated in a simple straight line--past actions influence the
present; present actions influence the future. But in Buddhism, karma
is NON-LINEAR and complex. Karma, the Ven. Thanissaro Bhikkhu
says,"acts in multiple feedback loops, with the present moment being
shaped both by past and present actions; present actions shape not
only the future but also the present."
So, although the past has some influence on the present, the present
also is shaped by the actions of the present.

7. When we seem stuck in old, destructive patterns, it may not be the
karma of the past that's causing us to be stuck. If we're stuck, it's
more likely that we're re-creating the same old patterns with our
present thoughts and attitudes. To change our karma, and change our
lives, we have to change our minds.

"Cause and effect are One thing. And what is that one thing? You.
That's why what you do and what happens to you are the same thing."

8. "The theory of karma should not be confused with so-called 'moral
justice' or 'reward and punishment'... The term 'justice' is ambiguous
and dangerous, and in its name more harm than good is done to
humanity. The theory of karma is the theory of cause and effect, of
action and reaction; it is a natural law, which has nothing to do with
the idea of justice or reward and punishment."
--Buddhist scholar Walpola Rahula.

9. Sometimes people talk about "good" and "bad" (or "evil") karma.
From the Buddhist perspectives, it's useful to substitute the words
"wholesome" and "unwholesome" for "good" and "bad/evil".
Wholesome actions spring from selfless compassion, loving-kindness,
and wisdom.
Unwholesome actions spring from greed, hate, and ignorance.

10. Although the fruits of "good" karma might be pleasant and
beneficial, ALL karma keeps one entangled in the cycle of death and
rebirth. Actions free from intention, desire, hate and delusion do not create either good or bad karma, but a third kind of karma. This karma is neither good or bad, neither black or white. This third kind of karma is very rarely discussed, but it is this one which is capable of putting an end to the other two kinds of karma. It is orld-transcending, above good and evil. To put an end to duality is to put an end to karma. Thus, this third kind of karma is the ending of all duality. In this the Buddha said,"I came to clear realization of this through my own sublime wisdom." It is something he came to realize with his own insight and then taught to all.

Merely producing good karma does not extinguish mental suffering completely and absolutely, because one goes right on being infatuated by and grasping at good karma.

sarva mangalam!
Bodhi svaha.

From Quasistellar:

http://groups.google.com/group/buddhaboy?hl=en

any conversation

is a privelege.

What it's all about...

Jennifer Lin

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jennifer_lin_improvs_piano_magic.html

Half of infinity is still infinity

How can joy ever be diminished?

Santa is the future Buddha??

http://nichirenscoffeehouse.net/Ryuei/SantaMaitreya.html

Hope arises anew

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/22/technology/22digital.html?_r=2&ref=business

Mark thee calendars: Feb. 17
A potential new day for the blooms of consciousness.

Bearing witness to everyday illusions

beautiful performances--how much of each day is filled with such nonsense?




Rowan Atkinson Invisible Drum Kit - VideoDart.com - The top video clips of the week are here

and how we fret about it

quotes from my gurino

" There are NO Answers ~
Love the 'Questions' themselves." ~ Rainer Rilke

"One easily-made, very common mistake
is to think that 'your reality' is THE Reality.
You must always be prepared to bravely
leave your reality for a greater one." ~ Amaji Meera

"Kindness" is more important than 'Wisdom' -
and the 'clear recognition' of this -
IS the beginning of Wisdom." ~ Theodore Issac Rubin

"Your task is not to 'seek' for Love -
but merely to seek and find all the 'barriers'
within yourself, that you have built against Love." ~ Rumi

"When I see I am Nothing - that is Wisdom.
When I see I am Everything - that is Love.
And between these two, my life flows." ~ Nisargadatta

"Love and Compassion are Necessities -
Not Luxuries.
Without them humanity cannot survive." ~ The Dalai Lama

" BE the changes you want to see in the world." ~ Gandhi

thanks, Akasa

http://buddhablogone.blogspot.com/2008/11/buddhist-meditation-retreat-mindfulness.html

Colors!

http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=--3slK2O_Dk

Monks and Tigers

http://abcnews.go.com/International/AmazingAnimals/story?id=6479393&page=1

that feeling

of trying to capture
that feeling
of purpose
and whimsy
of longing
and contentment

is that freedom?
is it love?
it seems to have no name
but the giddy sensations
and fresh ruminations
give it away

it is a giving
a joy
a spark
a union
fresh
and uncorrupted

he cried

in that conversation
he knew not why
nothing obvious
no one died
but just a precariousness of situated pretentions so fragile and buffered with such SUBSTANTIAL defenses no it couldn't be it was not possible people live this way everyday ongoingly
so he cried
and they carried
him away.

trying to convince someone

of a certain something
it was so important
we created a group
and we marched
and were so convinced
that anyone
who did anything different with
their life
was seen with suspicion
and skepticism
because we were on a mission
why didn't they join
us why didn't they
why did we so often feel so damn
alone

and so i found myself

with a night
in which i did not have
a thing
to do

like a wisp of dust
on a saturday afternoon
in a forlorn desert

and i flicked
and i flipped
until all the channels had been seen
all the news was old
all the models tired

there was no more
there
only
here.

fear

teaches
immobilizes
silences

in a gentle slyness
in a wry aside

it makes fools of us
it shows us
nothing

it is as big
as we can imagine

but cannot stand up
to a giggle

a preponderance of disturbance

a zig-zag existence

a lack of clarity

a boundlessness

unknowing if an end
is even possible

no explanations
no explanation
no ex-plantation
no execration

relation

station

ingratiation

life has become too easy.

being still

in the shrill
get my fill
of the frill
ever will

with my quill
rising hill
wait until
on the sill


a fragility
delicate
grasp
last
gasp

inhale

Every moment teaches

wherever i go
whomever i talk to

a cop gang member surfer stripper professor mathematician waiter soccer fan soldier agent entrepreneur writer cleaner poet wanderer musician

that i knew
showed me this

and i forgot

i am trying

to remember

Don't embarrass the Buddha! - Tsem Tulku Rinpoche

(hell and brimstone Buddhist style)

http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=HkICMrNG78M

Oooooooooooooooooo

The Cosmos

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap081213.html

Dancing!!

No disappointment

is ever bigger
than this JOY

this cockamamie
GIDDINESS

this BJORKINESS
and EINSTEININESS

just a big whale, man, shwooshing through the deep wide blue

and any negative comment or look or whatever
is my new best friend.

Palden Dorje TV

A Stroke of Insight

Shwooooosh!

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight.html

Get Validated!

Seriously!

http://www.spiritualcinemacircle.com/scc/ecs/public/main/validationMovie.html

Grace

http://www.paldendorje.com/index.php

Mama Africa

Remember

to thank

the person who rejects you

for saving you the hassle

of being involved with someone

who doesn't want to be around you.

Perhaps

What we need to arrive at
May be arrived at
By going
more
slowly.

Realizing

Meditation,
Called a practice
Is done for this moment
Now
So that it is impossible to tell
If I am meditating
Or not
Anymore.

Economy goes up and down

And living with presence
Observes
And does what is always done:
Goes where help is needed
And observes.

Each Precious African Human Birth

Is such a precious thing to behold
In fingers
tingling
like shimmering tears and
a devoutness
and patience
in every well of eyes.

I am spaciousness

And whatever happens is a good thing.

I am awareness

I am love

I am giving.

Simply.

Now.

In each moment fully experienced

The heart opens up that much more.

"I think the worst thing in the world is to be lying on your death bed saying, 'I wish I had tried."

Perhaps the worst thing in the world is to be thinking about
how in the future
you'll be obsessed about the past.

Perhaps the worst thing in the world
Is to worry about what might be
The worst thing in the world

Perhaps the only worst thing in the world
Is to criticize another's idea
Of the worst thing in the world.

But at any rate,
Once you die
What will you care?

And if you have nothing better to do

Than to spend the last few moments of life

In any moment other than the here and now

Savoring whatever splendor might be had

In the last rustle of curtains.

The last giggles of kids down the street

Then that is to be regretted most.

Almost as much as the regret of losing the present moment,

With the kids playing

And the dinner cooking

In thinking about that moment

Or how others might think of it

Etc.


Source of quote--a sweet little article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/julia-moulden/top-10-reasons-to-become_b_127653.html

There is No End to it

Dividing and parsing our resources, opportunities and judgements
Based on where you were born who your mother is what's under your pants the tinture of your skin the car you drive your musical tastes your interests
No
That's not what matters.

Who's thinking that thought?
Is that thought worth so much more than an African thought?
With time and training, the thought's the same in any case.

The illusion of difference--
How wonderful when a Chinese athlete won the gold.
They won it for all of us
Your suffering is for all of us
Your wealth is for all of us
Nothing is lost
Nothing is gained

It's all just part of the big cosmic smile.
You look away from it
And there's suffering enough for all.

Cocks

Funny what one comes across, browsing on a Saturday.
Recently, a couple topics have lured me in.

One was on King Mswati III of Swaziland, with 13 wives, while his people live in poverty. Check out the story: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/06/world/africa/06king.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

Another is Matthew Barney, and his Cremaster Cycle--an epic about, what else--his cock. Or, more precisely, the muscle which pulls up the testicles. Wow, profound. He created only 20 DVDs of his five films, which sell for $100,000 each.

Both men rich from cockification.
Both obsessed with cock.
Both with egos as big as the whole outdoors.

What's the difference?

Isn't it Great

That the highest pleasures
And most splendid happiness
Is absolutely free.

But often we feel a need to pay
With other so-called pleasures
Enough of those.

Now for a note from our sponsor:
ohhmmmmmmm

No story here

all awareness

and so much room

to appreciate

the more

and again

Immense Space

In every conversation
With every person
In public
In private
There it is

The hummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

The curve of the thumb

is a wonderful thing.

This form.
This body.
All bodies.

it makes no difference

One who says all is not one
Is one with me.

One who says all is one
Is one with me.

Terrorism and Everyday Life

The job of a terrorist is to terrify.
But if a people cannot be terrified,
There can be no terrorism.

How can a people not be terrified?
By nonattachment.

And nonseparation.

Golden White Light--Everywhere

Sitting on the couch reading to the kids. Tristan is ansy and I give him the 1-2-3 then give him his time out. Or I watch myself giving him his time-out. I see the time-out given. He is angry, I see that, and I feel that with any slightest bit of anger, I lose myself, I lose the sense of myself. I lose awareness. I never want to lose that. I feel it ebbs and flows.

I read to Elena and then went and got Tristan up--he was happy. We put on our shoes and went down to take out the trash. Outside, in the brightness of the day, I almost felt I was floating. It wasn't really the 'me' walking or the 'me' seeing. Cars, the reflections of light, form everywhere. Breathing. There.

Brought the kids to school, dropped them off in the industrial area. While driving I felt the total car presence with other drivers.

Then at the post office, waiting in line. Two women in front of me laugh, a man in front of them. The co-presence of a line can be the most beautiful part of the day. I noticed from a clock on the wall it had only been 15 minutes since I'd dropped the kids off. 15 minutes, and it felt like days, like an eternity, beautifully. I could have stayed in that line, as if on an island with these other lovely souls, forever.

How can

Anyone
Anything
Any weather
Any word
Disturb
This
Bliss
of
Being?



Just not possible...

just us/justice

the whole world
a big open ooooom
a big circle in space

we regard each other
the lovely muslimschristiansgaysstraightschineseamericangolferhusbanddaughte
rnursefriendetc

all mixed up
all changing
all good

U
R
gooooooood.

Not looking

for another relationship
for a new home
for a new job
for a new body
for something to eat
to have fun
to be entertained.

Just looking

to say hello

to have a conversation

or not

Just being
A just being

So much space

to open up into



with each habit lost
with each emotion felt
with each person appreciated
with each little sound that's heard

there's a space

so much time
so much energy

so much

The Internet is a Giant Brain

Full of gold and garbage,
And I swim in this collective mass,
Searching for points of resonance,
of collusion, of interest, of growth.

Everything I see
Reflects me.

Simultaneously anonymous and painfully public,
Infinitely maleable

It's our human thing.
Look, universe: us.

And we look at it and into it,
Spiralling, playing, reading, displaying
Pulling out pushing in
Mysterious to others in our homes
Into our own heads as we browse the collective one
Often giggling!
Sometimes horrified.
And sometimes even innocent.

We search we search we search
and always, always end up coming back
to ourselves.

True Enlightenment

http://www.globalserve.net/~sarlo/Ratings.htm

A Quality Life

Not a famous life
Not a rich life

A giving life
An experienced life

A productive life?
What's to produce?
Life provides us everything
When we give to her

Even death.

A gentle wish--turned inward

That those who may have deprived me
Or despised me
Or ostracized me
Or said or did something I thought wasn't fair
At least might have enjoyed themselves
As they did so...

But really,
No one ever did such things.
They were always acting out of the logic of their circumstances.

Something about the logic of my circumstances
Kept me from appreciating that.

And in light of all that

I meet you
And there is a tension.
Loving kindness, loving for all
Never let anyone out of your heart
Even as they look down on you
Or flip you off
Or doubt, fundamentally, that anything could come of you.

The vast stillness

And so much to do
The vast stillness
All around
The vast stillness
And plans and making plans for planning
The vast stillness
And another book to write
The vast stillness
And those great urges
The vast stillness
And so much suffering

Sitting, Lying down, standing

Wherever you are

Enjoying it.

The endless denial of nothing

And the endless quest to fill it

Can be painful to behold.

Separation and Suffering

All separation is attachment
All attachment is separation
The release from suffering
must be somewhere between

What Revolutions

might be possible

If we might
slow
down

to
eat

our
food.

http://www.slowfood.com/
http://www.themeatrix.com/

A sponge to wipe away the past

A rose to greet the future,
And a kiss for now.

--A message wrapped in a little bacio, a chocolate kiss Italian style.

Victimhood

Must be one of the hardest attachments
to overcome.
O, the mind's a slippery one there.

"Everytime I think of him,
I feel I'm being raped again,"
A number of students have written
in their papers.

So now she's victimizing herself
years after it happened.

But who can tell her that?
How can it be told?

There is nothing more noble than a greenhorn

...who sees with fresh eyes what the
Old hand takes for granted,
Is a quote I believe Walt Whitman said
Tho I could be wrong.

I've done martial arts
since I was 7
And I've meditated
since I was 13

Yet

How refreshing it is
to go into a new class
and be treated like an idiot.

Is it really hard not to get upset?

When I found an old student had written
That I "prove the invalidity of natural selection"

Yes, I looked back at old comments on
"myprofessor.com"
From four years ago,
And retorts swirled through my head
For about a day.

Now wasn't that a dainty dish
to feed into my mind?

I felt a brief respite

At the dentist today,
Noticing my clenched fists
And arched back,
When she asked, "Does that hurt?"
And I thought,
Are these my teeth hurting?

In supernova explosions,
Calcium is formed from the reaction of carbon
With various numbers of alpha particles.

So what did I have to complain about?


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcium
http://www.scielo.br/pdf/bjp/v35n3b/a10v353b.pdf

They say

the emptiness of loss opens us up
for new opportunities.

Well sure,
New things must come.

Without all those commitments,
We're freer.

still...

And in that "still"-ness,
That attachment to the loss,
Lies all our sweet
sweet suffering.

I keep looking forward

To the day
When my debts are paid off
And the kids are self-sufficient
And I've got some job security.

Meanwhile,
The house keeps breaking down
And the kids are screaming
And debts are mounting.

So much to enjoy
Today.

The Runaway Bestseller

"Guess it couldn't handle the pressure,"
My sister told me with a laugh,
As we sat watching TV together one afternoon,
With nothing better to do
Than draw mustaches on the faces in the TV Guide,
And be together.

Inevitable disappointments

There is a point
In some Buddhists services
I've sat through
When they mention this.

The first time I heard it, I felt relief:
Oh, you mean I'm not the only one?

Back in College

I would find something at hand--
A bicycle, a paperclip, or a friend,
And say,
"If I call this the name we know it as,
I deny its eternal qualities.
Yet if I do not call it by that name,
I deny its presence here and now..."

At this point, I would be met with
Raised eyebrows, and I'd ask:
"What then, shall we call it?"

Needless to say, I wasn't winning popularity contests.

Of Course

Everything is what we say it is
But it's also something more:
Timeless, unknowable, ineffable.

That's not to say
We shouldn't use the names we have
Or the adjectives to describe them.

But there's always more.

Like the space between the inbreath and the outbreath--
The gap.

Fall into the gap.

The Easy Way

I have this old karate video
That I took for my class
In 1992
That I still work out to
And I've watched
For 15 years
How the students
Grunt and strain
With forced energy.

I breath, smiling,
Relaxed,
Throwing faster and harder punches,
Effortlessly.

Then go back to my computer
To try to write,
And fester and pick and sigh
And make another cup of tea,
Write another email.

Nothingness is a GOOD thing

Two false alarms:

Yesterday a language exam of my
2-year-old son
Revealed
he's perfectly normal,
Even bouncy and contented!

And today,
on coming home from the grocery,
We smelled rotten eggs,
Called the Gas Company
And waited,
Careful not to turn anything on or off
or open the refrigerator.
The man came from the Gas Company
(A nice guy named John--I always seem to have great relations with folks from the gas company. I swear I just love the gas company. Perhaps it's knowing they could blow us all up that makes them so friendly.)
Checked downstairs and up.
Even poked the ground some.
But the only gas he noted was the
monoxide when I pulled the car out.
I thanked him and apologized,
and he patted me on the back and said it was all right.

It was more than all right.
It was nothing!

Without murder or martyrdom

Clifford Geertz said,
In summing up what was good about about his
Truly wondrous career.

It is a battlefield
And we often conflict
But if we can continue
In the midst of that
In peace...

Like Geertz,
Maybe we can help people realize
the meaning

of a wink.

How long can u wait?

In five minutes,
Another cigarette
Another drink
Another fix

Five hours?
Five months?
Five years?

Just keep waiting
Feel the waiting
Ah yes, waiting...

And if you die without
Smoking
Drinking
Or fixing

You'll have won.
Won't that be nice?

Finally, we can all rest easier

After so many books have been written on the subject,
We finally know the "subject"
of the Mona Lisa.


Her name was Lisa del Giocondo.
But Italians always knew that,
Calling the painting "La Giacondo" (the joyful one).

What difference does it make
That we now have a name?

Will we love her more?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080115/ennew_afp/germanyarthistoryitaly1_080115223809

Belief?

We think belief is so important.
But who is thinking that thought?

Does a wondrous essense of energy
Which just happens to have your name
Need a belief

to justify itself
to understand itself
to know itself
?

A new idea?

More like a "knew" idea.

It's all been done, but if it's new to you
That's new enough.

a/s/l?

Like an evolutionary leap
Finally
We can communicate
In the spirit
Of pure spirit.

Why ruin that?

And then?

When the nothing hits
And you're clear
Without any jabbering
Just oooooommmmmmm

Aging

What a relief
it is
getting older.

Happiness

is found through the acceptance

of sadness.

And if the blogosphere were all to blow up today?

What would we miss?

Just because

I won't leave you out of my heart

Doesn't mean

You can't leave me out of yours.

A nice letter of rejection

at least gives you more to feel good about

than a mean one.

Opening up

to the possibility of no response

is a great teaching.

What a sad joy

it is to "other."

Comparing ourselves

to others is like
comparing two grains of sand
or two stars.

what could possibly be
inadequate?

A lullaby for Oceanshaman

In every rain...
some life must fall.

How does one extract oneself

From a huge dung heap?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20080113/guantanamo-joint-chiefs/

No one really seems to know.

0 Comments

Always 0 comments.

The world stands agape.

What Profound Joy

Children take in excluding others.

The downcast glances
The tears
The anger

Only add to the buoyant mirth
Of the fantastic celebration.

Humiliation

Enriches the soul.

Like a plow
Enriches the soil.

Everybody

Wants to be right.

Maybe

We all are.

All my papers

Came out of the realization
That there is more to the truth
Than what we had thought.

Thank you,
Nothingness.

http://www.geocities.com/~vpagliai/garot/CurrentPublications.htm

Criminology

All boils down to this:

I knew it was wrong
But I did it anyways.

What sort of excuse is that?
Karma knows.

or:

I didn't know it was wrong
But I did it anyways.

Karma knows.
Still.

Discipline

Reflects the Tao
Reflected within

Immigration

To what?
From what?

So much ado
About noble travelers.

....

Regulating immigration
Is like regulating demography.
If there are pushes and pulls,
They're going to happen
Whether it's legal or not.

Making it illegal
Only criminalizes identities
And makes hypocrites of us all.

Be There

With the emptiness

Feel it
Breath it

Nature doesn't abhor a vacuum
It doesn't abhor anything
It doesn't abhor nothing
It is

Emptiness is there
Always

You run from it
You only find more

Enjoy it
Now

For Shimmerrings:http://taleoftwosouls.blogspot.com/

Could Torture be... Torture?

Like a wind moving through the palms,
Russling the leaves of complacency,
The Director of a funny thing called, "National Intelligence"
Shows symptoms of... what could it be?
When was the last time we actually saw this--this--
Is there a word for it?
Perhaps only a quote could suffice for this utterly mysterious quality:
"If I had water draining into my nose, oh God, I just can't imagine how painful! Whether it's torture by anybody else's definition, for me it would be torture."

What's that?
A faint echo of something learned once?
Something about a golden rule or some such...
Let's check Thesaurus.com...

Ah, there's a candidate.
Empathy.
The director of national intelligence shows a sign of
Empathy.

Alert the presses!
Call for a Congressional Hearing!
When was empathy ever a part of our national intelligence?
Whatever could our national intelligence become
If it shows signs of empathy?

Surely the powers that be
Will take notice
That this dangerous new quality must be sequestered
A virus--like gangs!
And we should take heed
That it never arises again...
for the sake of national intelligence.
See: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20080113/terrorist-interrogation/

Like hearing the surf in a seashell

Thanks to Oceanshaman. This was the first time I've posted a video on a blog! Technology today, whew!

Filling the Unknown with--Nothing!

Let's take whatever it is we don't (can't) know,
And let's fill it up, with say,
Something that we'll really hold people accountable for,
Like, you know, they'll be punished in eternal damnation
For violating the precepts
Of this thing we made up
To fill up what we don't know.

Happy Sunday!

Ooooooooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmm

[big inhale]
Oooooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmmm
[repeat]

Comfort

in this world
is not meant to last.

Love

like a breath
like a wave
like the passing of the day

is in the taking in
and letting go

The wonderful thing

about nothing is
it's so easy to let go

The wonderful thing about everything is
it's so full of nothing.

Overcompensation

SUV's
McMansions
Cruise Missiles
Ghetto scenes

Wall-Marts
Supersizing
Schwarzenegger
Beauty Queens

All too poignant
All too raw.
Such is the burden
Of feeling small.

Just one jump!

Before you go, daddy,
My daughter told me this morning
As I was trying to pull myself away.

She stood at the edge of the mat,
And off she flew
Like the faery of her dreams
Who leads wolves to do good things in all the world,
Seeing how far she might push my pride and annoyance
My hurried joy.

Set in our Ignorance?

How long do we need to overcome racism?
Only as long as a blooming Daffodil needs in April,
to open up to the possibililities of the sun.

Or, should we rather be like the boulder in the lake
Obdurate,
And wearing down with the times?

Even the boulder is open to change
Only more slowly.


(thanks to Oceanshaman for the pic!)

Grandmothers

Like mine or my wife's
Outliving everybody
Living alone
complaining.

So why the obsession with a long life?

Who has the time

to sit and wonder at the vastness
exploring the myriad beauty of
being alive?

...

What was all that industrialism for, anyways?

With each new post

Another post is gone
off the main page
to the detritus
of thoughts gone by

Will it be recorded for eons
or lost with a cloudburst
shaping hearts and minds
or another grain of sand

Good-bye, sweet little post
I'll never see another like you.
You made me chuckle,
You made me wince
And now I can only meditate
on your
slippage
into
ether

The Unquenchable Thirst

Get to it!
No time to waste!
The business of business is--
BUSINESS!

It is a service
The people clamor for
Got to get to keep on
Creating that NOTHING!

Eat it, sleep it, dream it,
Cook it, watch it, laugh at it,
Smile, nod your head in that cute way,
Answer the phone with a little perk
Sock it to me!
Have at it!
Two for one!
Without delay!
Nothing (fun)
NOthing (love)
NOTHING (war)

Yes, that's the way.
gooood.
Don't lose your job.
Don't compromise the integrity.
Don't tell the truth.

A Practicum for Sociologists

Describe a rock
that fits in the hand
in all its minute detail
In 500 pages, no less.


Then we can talk about writing a theory of society.

Capital Hillary

Ironing the shirts
Welling up with tears
Trying to be likable

How very manly of her.

Let's comment on the manliness of rest of the field.
Romney's little swagger
McCain's overcompensations
Huckabee's narrow shoulders

but how do we know what gender they are
aside from their performances
and our half-baked interpretations?

Distractions

Ads. TV. Movies. Sports. Yahoo. People and all their "interests." Blogs. Heroes. Religions. Fashion. Trends. Opinions. Mindlessness. Monkeymind. Mindmongering. No mind. Never mind. Endless disappointment. Ceaseless fetishizing. Always more.

Hmm.

What else?

An alternative?

What's that?

But there's nothing else!

How could what I've spent so much time trying frantically to escape be exactly what I desire most? Well let me sit with it a while and see what happens...

That wasn't so bad. But now all the [Ads. TV. Movies. Sports. Yahoo. People and all their "interests." Blogs. Heroes. Religions. Fashion. Trends. Opinions. Mindlessness. Monkeymind. Mindmongering. No mind. Never mind. Endless disappointment. Ceaseless fetishizing. Always more.] is missing. I see there's nothing there! So there was NOTHING all along. So what was I running from? What was I avoiding?

Was it the love of God?

Was it my own potential?

Was it my empathy for others?

Hmm.

Epitaph-Epiphany

Nothing's lost
when life is lived
And even when it's not.
For what has passed is left for books
Or left to be forgot.

Does it really matter
if we win or if we lose?
The man who lives with what he's got
Is better than amused.

He sees the world is bound unto
A sky that flies away,
Just as the sea becomes a song
And song becomes the day.

So we too shall pass unto
The night, a mist, a dream.
Someday we too shall be forgot,
Our lives as in a stream
We pass
We fail
We love
We seem.

I wrote this in high school, and it keeps coming back to me,
a rhythm that was planted in my brain.

Being with Others

Is always a risk
Is sometimes unexpected
May be disappointing.

Is integral for everything.

Don't cut off.

Loving kindness for Osama bin Laden
And George Bush.

Judging

Judge and be judged!
Judge the judge!
In the sludge of judging let the sludge judge!

Serious consequences!
What could that be?
Life in the flickering,
Falling and free.

The Endless Quest for Nothing

An ad
Placed for $10,000
Of a woman lounging on an exotic beach
Excites a booking
For $3,500 and change
For a flight
And resort,
Paying for food and drinks and activities
Still running
Looking out of the corner of the eye
for that woman
on the lounge chair.

A thought gently tugs:

Why buy nothing
When it is free?

NEED

My good friend.
How are you today?
What's that?
You haven't had enough yet?
How shall I fill you?
I cannot fill you?
What's to be done then?

Oh, good friend, let me embrace you.
Shall we be partners?

There, is that better?

Thanks for the nudging.
I'm quite all right now.

Who could put a price on a little box of nothing?

Affectionate as a pet rock.
What limitless possibilities!
Not binding, not teaching.
No yoga, no dancing, no diet, no tea.
No degree, no ads, no sessions, no expectations.
The sound of silence indeed!
What is that worth to you?
Is it worth your whole soul
for the universe?

Nothing

Never fading.
Resolute as the gong's strike.
Always now.

So much nothing!

How can we ever get enough?

How is this nothing?

Is it good nothing? Has it saved anyone? Is it enlightened? Is it busy enough? Is it empty enough? Is it beginning enough? Is it experienced enough?

Is it enough? Have you had enough of this nothing?

Feel free to go on to another nothing.
And come back.
Or not.

Released into the empty stream.
Ahhh!

No Escape

Nothing and everything
Always here.
In the doing
And not doing
The becoming and the undoing

The Absolute and the Relative

In sociology, my field, we find a stiff stand-off between the absolutists and the relativists. Positivist, quantitative researchers, who dominate the field, are looking for absolutist answers, while the marginalized constructionists and post-modern relativists keep finding more questions. Why must we bicker? Aren't we perfect companions?

Balance

Balance is the best of all possible worlds.

It defines the possible world.

It makes the world possible.

Hello Blog-o-shere

I dream of nothing.
Nothing as practice.

Opening a storefront business on a busy promenade, with a sign, white on white:
Mental Enemas.

And inside, on a bare wood floor, with bare walls,
I would sit
Before the plate-glass window
Advertising nothing
Selling nothing
Perhaps in home-spun cloth.

Do I hear from any investors?