Evelyn Glennie

This is both revelatory and inspiring:

Evelyn Glennie: How to truly listen

Via 21awake

Byron Katie

This technique seems to fit very snugly with Kadampa practice, so far I have found it very incisive and deep. I don't agree with many of the ways she presents "the work", but at its core, its simply beautiful:

This is the article that got me started with Buddhism

This is reproduced from the now defunct feedmag.

Ultimately, the kind of mindfulness practice that Nisker teaches can lead folks to personally realize one of the core insights of Buddhism: that the self we think we are, the self we coddle and trumpet and worry about, doesn't essentially exist. On this point, the vast majority of neuroscientists would agree, arguing that the solitary "I" is really a society of mind, or an emergent property, or an illusion fostered by some narrator module lodged in the left hemisphere. Nisker even jokingly suggests that neuroscientists set up little brain-imaging booths that would allow people to personally see the pictures of their own noodles at work. "Then we could believe it. There's nobody home."

Can't quite believe I haven't posted this yet

Not quite a Dharma meaning found, but hey its not like I'm drowning you...

Change your mind, change your brain...

More on Matthieu Ricard

Put out the fire...

Impermanence

From the perspective of the old and the young.

Guitar, Television and the Mystical Origins of Music Itself…

Richard Lloyd is the vividly creative guitarist from Television. He now teaches guitar. His site has various lessons which cover the more esoteric understanding of music theory, including the Pythagorean search for unity with the divine through understanding how the whole became a multiplicity. I especially liked the following:

In a land

I once lived in a land where no one was negative;
where no one was angry,
and where no one lied.

The inhabitants loved each other beyond description,
so that they always told each other the truth;
which meant that all people were always in pain.

This suffering they welcomed as the deepest love;
a burning off the dross of their imperfections;
and they strove to constantly feel this burning,
which made them shine in the glistening of their
suffering like diamonds.

And the Endless Father of all
looked down upon them with great kindness,
for this was one of his favorite places.

And then I awoke, or was it that I slept?

And I found myself alone in a darker place,
where everyone was angry, and afraid.

Where every person was afraid of suffering,
and they lied to themselves to avoid the pain.

They lied to each other,
so that they would not be caught in their own lies,
and they never talked about it.

It became impolite to stare --
because everyone was hiding from the fear;
and everyone became alone,
so that none were truly friends,
because none could bear the truth.

Then again I slept, or was it that I awoke?

And I could remember,
like a distant dream that other place,
my home.

www.richardlloyd.com/

De puta madre

The firecrackers started before the final whistle. The trumpets followed, then the streams of cars swinging through the streets of the Spanish capital, honking their hearts out, scarlet and gold flags rippling from the windows. "Viva Espana!" wafted in the air as they passed.

Within minutes, thousands of fans filled the streets, forcing celebrating vehicles to inch their way through the human tide.

"It's not just in Madrid, you know," said my upstairs neighbour Tina, a teacher, as we headed for the street. "My brother's in Cuenca, in La Mancha, and he says it's the same there. He went out into the patio and fired his shot gun into the air."

Youngsters burst from doorways, draped in the flag of their heroes, their faces blazing with happiness.

The Independent covers the party...

Death Letter Blues - Son House

This song is heartbreaking...

I got a letter this mornin, how do you reckon it read?
It said, "Hurry, hurry, the girl you love is dead."
I got a letter this mornin, I say how do you reckon it read?
You know, it said, "Hurry, hurry, 'cause the girl you love is dead?"

So, I grabbed up my suitcase, and took off down the road.
But When I got there she was layin on a coolin board.
I grabbed up my suitcase, and I said and I took off down the road.
I said, but when I got there she was already layin on a coolin board.

Well, I walked up right close, looked down in her face.
Said, the good old girl got to lay here til the Judgement Day.
I walked up right close, and I said I looked down in her face.
I said the good old girl, she got to lay here til the Judgement Day.

Looked like there was 10,000 people standing round the burying ground.
I didn't know I loved her til they let her down.
Looked like 10,000 were standing round the burying ground.
You know I didn't know I loved her, til they began to let her down.

Well, I folded up my arms and I slowly walked away.
I said, "Farewell honey, I'll see you Judgement Day."
Yeah, oh yes, I walked away.
I said, "Farewell, farewell, I'll see you Judgement Day."

You know I didn't feel so bad, til the good old sun went down.
I didn't have a soul to throw my arms around,
I didn't feel so bad, til the good old sun went down.

You know its so hard to love, someone don't love you
Ain't no satisfaction, you don't care what you do
Yes, its so hard to love someone don't love you
You know you can't get no satisfaction, you don't care what you do

Well I woke up this morning, the break of day,
Just hugging the pillows, where she used to lay,
So this morning, the break of day
You know I was hugging the pillows, where my good girl used to lay

I got up this morning, feeling round for my shoes,
you know I must have had the walking blues
So this morning, feeling round for my shoes,
you know I must have had the walking blues

Oh hush... I thought I heard her call my name,
It weren't so loud, so nice and plain.

When I was a boy scout...

Hmm, is that something to admit to?

Anyway, I did a badge (this is getting worse!) in forestry. We did it in Busche park which is in a different universe known only to scout leaders. In the forestry hut there, they have the actual axe that was used to cut off Ann Bolin's head. Its had twelves different heads and the handle has been replaced five times, but its the same axe...

Word of the day

from dictionary.com

renascent: rising again into being; showing renewed vigor.

Dorje Shugden Part II

So, it has begun…

The Dalai Lama will face protests from the Western Shugden Society at all of his talking events in the UK. The reason is for the perceived persecution and ostracization of Dorje Shugden practitioners in the Tibetan communities in exile and in the Buddhist community at large. I have researched extensivly into this, there is much propaganda and noise from all sides in the debate, but the voices that we must pay attention to are those of HH Dalai Lama, HH Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche and Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso.

The conclusion I have reached is the following: the Dalai Lama cannot enter into debate with the people holding opposing views about this matter. The reason as I see it is that either view of Dorje Shugden is difficult to prove conclusively, and students need to rely upon their teachers – it is fundamentally a matter of faith. Therefore, there is no valid reason to impose a ban on this practice. Its very difficult to deny that there is not persecution of Dorje Shugden practitioners happening, one only needs to check the videos on youtube.com to see what is happening. Furthermore, it seems that all letters and petitions to the government in exile have been completely ignored, if ever there were a time for open dialogue, this is it, I have read my full quota of negative comments written by people trying to discredit Geshe Kelsang Gyatso and the Dalai Lama. The way I see it, the ball is very much in the Dalai Lama's court, and its up to him to make some changes. My fear is that he is simply going to wait for Geshe Kelsang to pass away…

Dorje Shugden

There is going to be a lot of noise regarding this issue in the next few months. My question: if the Dalai Lama's is a Buddha, how can he be harmed by a worldly spirit? If he is a Bodhisattva, how can he be harmed by a worldly spirit? Both propositions contradict Buddha's teachings that Bodhichitta protects a practitioner from harm. If he is neither a Buddha nor Bodhisattva, why should I listen to his opinion about Dorje Shugden? Moreover, even if he feels that he doesn't want to do the practice, what reason is that for people to be kicked out of monasteries?

I hope that this can be resolved soon.

A choice right now, between fear and love...

Impermanence

“It’s absurd really. It’s only now that I have cancer that, for the first time ever, I really want to live,” Roswitha told me on one of my visits, a few weeks after she had been admitted to the hospice. “They’re really good people here,” she said. “I enjoy every day that I’m still here. Before this my life wasn’t a happy one”

Life before death at the welcome collection - guardian.co.uk

Hmm, might try and make it to this

Shut Down

I was moved to meditation by this exhibition and essay at the Leopold museum in Vienna.

In a few years many of these structures will have disappeared – torn down, carted away or simply collapsed. What will be left then? A few walls, some rubble and iron skeletons – an elegiac memento mori. They compel us to reflect on the essence of things, on our own mortality. “My occupation: ruins builder. My mission: ruins architect. My sin: ruins voyeur. Don’t ask me about forgotten places”, wrote the Romanian poet Mircea Cărtărescu. “Gather around me, open my skull and look at my brain: before your very eyes it will crumble like plaster. And its dust will be mixed indistinguishably with the dust of the ruins among which I have lived my entire life, as a lover of a harem of ruins.”

Shut the door...

…close the curtains, then groove your ass off to this:

What do you think?

if you pass your night
and merge it with dawn
for the sake of heart
what do you think will happen?

if the entire world
is covered with the blossoms
you have labored to plant
what do you think will happen?

if the elixir of life
that has been hidden in the dark
fills the desert and towns
what do you think will happen?

if because of
your generosity and love
a few humans find their lives
what do you think will happen?

if you pour an entire jar
filled with joyous wine
on the head of those already drunk
what do you think will happen?

go my friend
bestow your love
even on your enemies
if you touch their hearts
what do you think will happen?

- Rumi

Kick ass moves

I was always fascinated by these shows when they were on, this one is pretty amazing, then it turns surreal.



My heart goes out to the presenter.

Tears

Just read…

Secrets – One foot in front of the other.

Nyungne fasting retreat

Its been more than twenty fours hours since I last drank or ate anything. I can't sleep at the moment because my energy is sky high. I am waiting for sunrise to eat breakfast and a drink a cup of tea. These things seem golden to me. I know what Primo Levi mean't when he talked about wanting to get back to the normal suffering of the everyday. (Please don't think I equate a self-enforced fast with life in Berkenau) Such a strange experience all the same.

I understand better how quickly one becomes weak through hunger and thirst, you get shooting pains through your joints, aching limbs and dizzy spells. Many people in this world are surviving on will-power alone.

More on disappearing...

'There are quiet places also in the mind', he said meditatively. 'But we build bandstands and factories on them. Deliberately — to put a stop to the quietness. …All the thoughts, all the preoccupations in my head – round and round, continually What's it for? What's it all for? To put an end to the quiet, to break it up and disperse it, to pretend at any cost that it isn't there. Ah, but it is; it is there, in spite of everything, at the back of everything. Lying awake at night – not restlessly, but serenely, waiting for sleep – the quiet re-establishes itself, piece by piece; all the broken bits …we've been so busily dispersing all day long. It re-establishes itself, an inward quiet, like the outward quiet of grass and trees. It fills one, it grows — a crystal quiet, a growing, expanding crystal. It grows, it becomes more perfect; it is beautiful and terrifying …For one's alone in the crystal, and there's no support from the outside, there is nothing external and important, nothing external and trivial to
pull oneself up by or stand on …There is nothing to laugh at or feel enthusiast about. But the quiet grows and grows. Beautifully and unbearably. And at last you are conscious of something approaching; it is almost a faint sound of footsteps. Something inexpressively lovely and wonderful advances through the crystal, nearer, nearer. And, oh, inexpressively terrifying. For if it were to touch you, if it were to seize you and engulf you, you'd die; all the regular, habitual daily part of you would die …one would have to begin living arduously in the quiet, arduously in some strange, unheard of manner.

- Antic Hay (1923)

The Dharma of Dancing

"From the Buddhist point of view, basic human nature is beautiful, profound and clear. This is how you exist; it’s simply a matter of recognizing your own profound qualities and seeing that you have the potential for limitless development. Meditation on the four immeasurables--limitless love, limitless compassion, limitless joy, and limitless equilibrium--indicate this.

The reason that these four attitudes are called limitless is that fundamentally, we do have love, compassion, joy and equilibrium, but they are limited. We have love but it is limited love; we have compassion, but it is limited compassion; we have joyful appreciation of each other’s lives, but that joy is limited; we have a certain degree of equilibrium, but it too is limited. What prevents us from realizing the four immeasurables is our ego; the ego mind. The view the ego mind perceives is wrong, partial. Therefore, our loving kindness is very narrow. First, we have to recognize this in order to expand it.

Look how we limit our enjoyment. Intellectually, our minds create the fabrication, “This object is my object of joy; I cannot enjoy the rest.” Such preconceptions cement our minds into fixed positions and are the result of our ego mind making mistaken judgments and placing limitations on our thought-- “Only this object can bring me joy.”

The Dharma of Dancing – Lama Yeshe

You?

What would it mean if you could forget yourself?
I don't mean amnesia.
Your mind still working
but you are gone.

Maybe you've had a taste of this?

Everything falls into place.
And you take your rest
in the middle of action.

No longer needing attention
To assert who you are.

Happy being ignored,
comfortable alone.

Lifted from this constraint
perceptions become startling
the slightest movement poetic

Centred finally because you've stopped holding on

We chase normal food
everyday
You are fortunate if you understand
So please I urge you
Do everything 'you' can.

Talking to myself

"Are you thinking what I’m thinking?"

"I’m always thinking what you’re thinking!"

I wish it was different...

(This post contains extremely distressing material)

Keep your eyes open to this reality. What is the nature of this world in which we find ourselves?

Update
…now wonderful things are happening…

Update #2
Google have take down the video, here is a YouTube version.

Richard Dawkins touches emptiness

Whenever I've come across Richard Dawkins, I've felt he was rather arrogant. However, I found some time to watch his lecture "The Universe is Queerer Than We Can Suppose" and its inspiring, not least because I could listen to his voice for hours, he reminds me of children's stories on casette tape. Its really when he gets to this part:

‘In a desert plane in Tanzania in the shadow of the volcano Ol Doinyo Lengai there is a dune made of volcanic ash. The beautiful thing is that it moves, bodily. Its what's technically known as a Barcarn and the entire dune walks across the desert in a westerly direction at a speed of about 17 metres per year. It retains its cresent shape and moves in the directions of the horns; what happens is that the wind blows the sand up the shallow slope on the other side and then as each sand grain hits the top of the ridge it cascades down on the inside of the cresent and so the whole horn-shaped dune moves. Steve Grande points out that you and I are ourselves more like a wave than a permanent thing. He invites us the reader to think of an experience from your childhood, something you remember clearly, something you can see, feel, maybe even smell – as if you were really there. After all, you really were there at the time, weren't you? How else would you remember it? But here is the bombshell, you weren't there, not a single atom that is in your body today was there when that event took place. Matter flows from place to place and momentarily comes together to be you. Whatever you are therefore you are not the stuff of which you are made – if that doesn't make the hair stand up on the back of your neck, read it again until it does! Because it is important.’

The hair stood up on the back of my neck…