Vajra Surfers वज्र

That's right. No child should be bullied.

2007-09-18T13:58:00.000-07:00

Congress Needs to Stop School Bullies
By Deb Price, Creators Syndicate
Posted on September 17, 2007, Printed on September 18, 2007
http://www.alternet.org/story/62819/

Growing up in a rough section of Southern California, Linda Sanchez saw firsthand the lasting, painful damage caused by the hateful mouths and fists of schoolyard bullies.

"Bullying and gang violence was something I had to deal with early on," she recalls. "I was one of those kids who always stuck up for the underdogs. So if somebody was being picked on, I usually would try to intervene."

No longer simply a good-hearted student, Sanchez, a Democrat serving her third term in the U.S. House, is working to make public schools safer by requiring educators to do more to stop bullying.

She speaks eloquently about bullying's dangerous ripple effects. The twisted killers in the Virginia Tech and Columbine High School tragedies were bullied before turning violent themselves. In another sad irony, victims of bullies sometimes see joining gangs as a way to protect themselves, she notes.

One in 10 high school dropouts blames bullying. Being bullied puts kids at high risk of having failing grades, hurting themselves with drugs or alcohol and carrying lifelong emotional scars.

"Kids who are bullied are more likely to suffer from low self-esteem and depression that can lead to suicide," says Sanchez, who chairs a House Judiciary subcommittee and sits on the House Education and Labor Committee.

"And the kids who do the bullying, there is a very clear link to becoming an adult career criminal. So if we can stop that behavior when it is not as severe, you can reduce (future) crime," she explains.

Sanchez is the author of two bills that tackle bullying and gangs. Key parts of her bills are in the working draft of House legislation to reauthorize the No Child Left Behind law this fall.

States already receive federal money for programs to root drugs and violence out of schools. At Sanchez's urging, the House draft would require states -- in exchange for that federal aid -- to report on the prevalence of bullying, harassment and gang activity and to prove they're trying to reduce those problems.

That requirement would be a great first step.

But, as Congress reworks No Child, it should take the all-important next step -- spelled out in Sanchez's original legislation -- and say that schools' anti-bullying efforts need to specifically address all the most common types of attacks: those based on a "student's actual or perceived race, color, national origin, sex, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion."

That's no radical idea. It's recommended by the American Association of School Administrators, the American Federation of Teachers, the National Association of School Psychologists, the National Education Association and the National PTA.

Studies show that schools that list all sorts of bullying and tell students, "None of this is allowed!" are more peaceful than those with vague anti-bullying policies, according to "From Teasing to Torment," a report by the Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network.

Any lawmaker goosey about supporting something "pro-gay" should realize that anti-gay bullying ends ups disproportionately hurting straight kids: For every gay, bisexual or transgender kid who gets tormented, four straight kids are harassed because their abuser thought they were gay, according to the National Mental Health Association.

Schools should be places "where kids can go and learn in peace -- without fear," Sanchez says.

That's right. No child should be bullied.

Deb Price of The Detroit News writes the first nationally syndicated column on gay issues.

© 2007 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/62819/

Sounds and images of the Bodhisattva of Absolution, Vajrasattva, who represents the highest state of the enlightened mind

2007-09-15T00:47:00.000-07:00

As described by the video's producer, Euterpe Jones, this is a "[s]hort Tibetan Buddhist meditation video based on the Hundred Syllable Mantra of Vajrasattva. I realize its inclusion may be objectionable to some, based on the controversy caused by Google's deal with China. I say, all the more reason why this video should be here. This video shows various Thangkas of Vajrasattva while we hear the venerable Hundred Syllable Mantra of Vajrasattva. Vajrasattva grants absolution to the penitent, and a fully enlightened mind to the sincere aspirant."

This video is the mantra of Vajrasattva sung by Dechen Shak-Dagsa

THERE'S A 20% CHANCE WE ARE ALL JUST A VIRTUAL SIMULATION

2007-09-11T19:10:00.000-07:00

Victory in Iraq is at hand? I don't buy it.

2007-09-11T18:48:00.000-07:00

Hacking Democracy

2007-09-08T16:15:00.000-07:00

George Carlin: You Have to Be Asleep to Believe in the American Dream

2007-09-08T15:56:00.000-07:00

George Carlin: Shoppin' and Eatin'

2007-09-08T15:49:00.000-07:00

Democratically Controlled Congress Stands on the Brink of Irrelevance on Iraq

2007-09-07T18:14:00.000-07:00

Democratically Controlled Congress Stands on the Brink of Irrelevance on Iraq
By Joshua Holland, AlterNet
Posted on September 6, 2007
http://www.alternet.org/story/61506/

Next week, Ryan Crocker, the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, and General David Petraeus, the army's counter-insurgency guru, will brief Congress on the Bush administration's claims of progress in Iraq. At stake is not only the upper hand in the political debate over the continuing occupation, but an enormous amount of money -- $147 billion -- that was supposedly conditioned on tangible measures of progress, specifically 18 "benchmarks" attached to the 2007 supplemental spending bill.

According to a report by the non-partisan Government Accountability Office (GAO), only three of those benchmarks have been met, and those were among the minor ones (The White House has promised to "water down" the GAO's findings). In addition to rampant insecurity throughout much of the country, Iraq's political situation is, objectively, a disaster, and most Iraqis agree that U.S. troops cause more violence than they prevent.

But despite the reality on the ground, the administration last week threw a Hail-Mary pass, announcing that it would ask for another $50 billion for war-fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan through next Spring. That's in addition to $147 billion already requested for the two countries.

There's no reason to believe the administration won't get it -- consider how many times congressional Democrats have uttered some variant of "It's time we stopped giving Bush a blank check for Iraq" as they signed a series of blank checks for Iraq. Bush has proved that he can continue moving the goalposts again and again without being called on it by the media, and Congress has shown that it will let him, even eight months after the Democratic take-over of Capitol Hill.

It has become a game. The reality is that there is no $50 billion supplemental, and there won't be for several weeks (if at all this year). The stories about the new funding request are White House "plants," announced on the eve of the much-anticipated Iraq progress report in order to show confidence in the face of waning public support for the occupation and, more importantly, to divert the national conversation from the failure of the troop escalation -- a failure that should lead to a debate about how to exit Iraq with the minimum of damage -- to a new debate about whether higher troop levels should remain until next spring. You don't have to look too hard to see the goalposts moving.

It's much like the surge itself, a stop-gap measure that nobody seriously believed had a chance of changing the ugly situation in Iraq. It was, however, spectacularly successful in distracting the country from its post-election discourse about ending the occupation, focusing instead on the now-familiar argument that war opponents should wait until September's progress report. At that point, the tacit understanding was that Congress would rise up and demand an end to the war if the 18 benchmarks weren't met. Now that September is here, we're supposed to focus on the next shiny object.

The Democrats are reacting to this charade by conceding the battle before it begins, with Michigan's Carl Levin offering to remove a deadline from the amendment he and Jack Reed, D-R.I., co-sponsored (the deadline was already riddled with loopholes) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid offering to "compromise" with Senate Republicans by dropping his already watered-down demand for a spring "withdrawal."

As Dick Durbin, the senate majority whip, told the Chicago Tribune, "When it comes to the budget, I face a dilemma that some of my colleagues do." He opposes the war, but "felt that I should always provide the resources for the troops in the field."

That mean throwing good money (and lives) after bad. Here's the reality of the "surge":

Iraqi civilian and U.S. and Iraqi military and police deaths are up

The Iraqi government is tottering, and there is credible talk of an impending coup

The Iraqi people, still without regular electricity and water and fearing for their lives whenever they go out to buy groceries, want the United States out

40 percent of the middle class has fled the country
For more details, see "A Preview to General Petraeus' DC Dog-and-Pony Show" in AlterNet's War on Iraq special coverage.

What all this means is that unless the Democratic majority makes a dramatic turnaround and stops playing along with the White House -- a risky move, but one that's within their Constitutional authority -- they, along with the entire institution, will no longer be relevant voices in the debate over Iraq.

Consider, after all, that the "Petraeus" report is being prepared by the White House; that Petraeus is a reliable partisan who's inspired talk of a GOP presidential run and who wrote an op-ed on the eve of the 2004 elections in which he promised that the momentum was shifting in Iraq and said that local security forces were improving every day; that Petraeus has said that he "softened" the intelligence community's assessment of the security situation in Baghdad, while he's told people privately that he needs ten years to put down the insurgency.

That Congress is treating the report as a serious and impartial analysis of the situation in Iraq is essentially an acknowledgment that the Republicans have a working majority on issues of war and peace, regardless of the fact that the Democrats control the agenda. Significant majorities of Democrats have voted to end the occupation (to one degree or another) on different occasions so far, and each time one or two dozen "Bush Dog" Democrats crossed the aisle to kill the efforts to get out of Dodge.

We're seeing a caucus that is controlled by fear -- fear that the hawks who were responsible for the disaster in Iraq will shift the blame their way; fear that arguing against U.S. militarism will make them look like wimps, or traitors, in the eyes of voters; fear that they'll be proven disastrously wrong and be held responsible for the often fancifully exaggerated consequences of ending the occupation that the hawks whisper about in excited tones; terror that the wrong move could cost them the electoral advantage that everyone agrees they'll have in 2008 or, worse, prompt a right-wing backlash like that which ushered in the Reagan/Bush era after Vietnam.

But calling out the Democrats for their feckless support of the occupation isn't enough. Opponents of the war face a perfect political storm in DC that transcends party politics.

The backdrop is a presidential race in which the leading Democrats appear to be intent on proving that they can match their opponents' mindless belligerence, and the leading Republicans feel that they have no choice but to embrace Bush's war or face the wrath of GOP primary voters.

The debate has also been influenced by a massive propaganda campaign that's allowed the White House and its backers to claim success in Iraq out of thin air. As Greg Sargeant pointed out in a must-read item, if one looks at "the totality of media's performance this summer on the Iraq debate, it becomes a good deal clearer just how awful it's all been -- and just how complicit these failings were in helping to shift the debate" on the Iraq "surge."

CBS Evening News' anchor Katie Couric said this week of Iraq: "We hear so much about things going bad, but real progress has been made there in terms of security and stability." The contrast between Couric's bubbly credulity and Walter Cronkite's famous 1968 broadcast in which he concluded of the Vietnam war that the US was "mired in stalemate" couldn't be more pronounced.

At the end of the day, Washington's strategic class is frozen, unable to concede defeat because to admit that the U.S. project in Iraq has failed is to admit that in the 21st century, the most powerful country in the history of humanity can be humbled by a small dysfunctional state whose armed forces it destroyed more than a decade earlier, a country that it spent 12 years slowly and leisurely strangling under some of the harshest sanctions in history before shocking and awing it a second time, dismantling its government and hanging its erstwhile dictator in the process.

To admit that is to beg the question of whether maintaining all that costly hard power is really worth it in the first place. Leaving Iraq means begging the question of whether America is comfortable with its neocolonial policies, and that's a debate that Bush -- like every imperial-minded U.S. president since Thomas Jefferson -- wants desperately to avoid.

Ultimately, while Congress is sidelining itself on the most important issue of our time, it will be the Iraqis -- Iraqis from across the country's political spectrum -- who will eventually force a U.S. withdrawal, either by negotiation or by violence, just as they kicked out the Brits before us and the Turkmen, Ottomans and Safavids before them. The tragedy is that a little bit of courage on the part of our own law-makers could go a long way towards making that inevitable withdrawal a lot less painful than it is likely to be.

Joshua Holland is an AlterNet staff writer.

© 2007 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/61506/

Dept. of Justice Report: Sexual Violence On the Rise in US Prisons

2007-08-23T15:47:00.000-07:00

Sexual Violence On the Rise in US Prisons
By Liliana Segura
Posted on August 17, 2007, Printed on August 23, 2007
http://www.alternet.org/bloggers/liliana/60064/

More bad news out of the Justice Department. While the Bush administration reveled in its successful conviction of "dirty bomber"/torture victim Jose Padilla yesterday, the DOJ quietly released a report on sexual violence in American prisons. The findings in a nutshell: It's on the rise.

According to the report, 6,528 cases of sexual violence were reported in 2006 (and those are just the reported cases), which is a 21 percent jump from 2004, the year such data started being officially collected. In more than half the cases, prison guards were the perpetrators.

It's hard to get people riled up about prison rape. Rampant though it may be, it's widely treated as little more than a cultural punchline; the subtext being that most prisoners probably deserve it. But with the US prison population the largest in the world, a spike in sexual violence behind prison walls means the cesspit that passes for our criminal justice system is getting even worse. And while feeble efforts have been made in recent years to legislate solutions, the root problem lies with outdated policies that have led to the prison boom--and the politics that keep them in place.

This past spring, for example, an LA-based human rights group called Stop Prisoner Rape (SPR) released a study linking the ineffectual (yet enduring) farce known as the War on Drugs with the rise in sexual violence in prisons. "The War on Drugs has had a profound impact," SPR's directors wrote earlier this year. "just not the impact that was intended."

"Of the 2.3 million people incarcerated in the U.S. today, more than 500,000 are imprisoned on drug charges, with hundreds of thousands more convicted of drug-motivated crimes.

...Studies show that as many as 20 percent of male prisoners have been pressured or coerced into sex, and 10 percent have been raped. While any detainee can become the victim of prisoner rape, people serving drug sentences, many of whom are young, unschooled in the ways of prison life, and non-violent, are among those at greatest risk.

With little or no institutional protection, prisoner rape survivors are left with physical injuries, are impregnated against their will, contract HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, and suffer severe psychological harm."

Once upon a time, prisons functioned on the quaint ideal that jail time should be about rehabilitation. Few such pretensions exist anymore (although California did recently tack on the word to its Department of Corrections; an apparent attempt to re-brand the most overcrowded prison system in the country.) If Secret Prisons are to the War on Terror what US prisons are to the War on Drugs, whether it's rape or waterboarding, there are a lot of tortured prisoners out there. And unlike Jose Padilla, few people know their names.

Liliana Segura is a writer and activist living in New York

© 2007 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/bloggers/liliana/60064/

War Psychiatry and Iraq Atrocities: How Killing Becomes a Reflex

2007-08-22T19:22:00.000-07:00

War Psychiatry and Iraq Atrocities: How Killing Becomes a Reflex
By Penny Coleman, AlterNet
Posted on August 22, 2007, Printed on August 22, 2007
http://www.alternet.org/story/60297/

In 1971, Lt. William Calley was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the massacre of some 500 civilians in the Vietnamese hamlet of My Lai. In response to Calley's conviction, Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) convened the "Winter Soldier Investigation." Over a three-day period, more than a hundred veterans testified to atrocities they had witnessed committed by U.S. troops against Vietnamese civilians. Their expressed intention was to demonstrate that My Lai was not unique, that it was instead the inevitable result of U.S. policy. It was a travesty of justice, they claimed, to focus blame on the soldiers when it was the policy makers, McNamara, Bundy, Rostow, Johnson, LeMay, Nixon and the others who were truly responsible for the war crimes that had been committed.

In 2004, the release of the Abu Grahib photographs broke the unforgivable silence in the mainstream press about atrocities committed by American soldiers in Iraq. Haditha followed, then Mahmoudiyah, Ishaqi, and at this writing, countless other instances of savage, homicidal violence directed at civilians have been reported. The July 30 issue of the Nation included an article, "The Other War," by Chris Hedges and Laila Al-Arian, which used interviews with 50 combat veterans to make the case that American soldiers are using indiscriminate and often lethal force in their dealings with Iraqi civilians. These veterans, the authors report, have "returned home deeply disturbed by the disparity between the reality of the war and the way it is portrayed by the U.S. government and American media." I would wager that they are more deeply disturbed by the reality itself than the way the media reports it, but certainly government and media distortions are another layer of betrayal. In a letter protesting that article, Paul Rieckhoff, president of the anti-war organization Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, made an argument parallel to that of VVAW, namely that "(a)nyone who wants to write a serious piece about the ethical lapses of the U.S. troops should start and end the article by putting blame where it belongs -- on the politicians who sent our troops to war unprepared and without a clear mission" (the Nation, 7/13/07).

I'm not suggesting that American soldiers take no responsibility for their actions. Like Rieckhoff, I would argue that we must balance outrage at criminal and sadistic acts with the insistence that we "guard against blaming this new generation of veterans for the terrible and tragic circumstances" that led to those acts. And I agree that, once again, the architects have been given a free pass and that the soldiers, who are doing exactly what they have been trained to do, are taking the blame. But I want to focus on an aspect of the situation that is never addressed in the mainstream media, and not often enough elsewhere: specifically that American troops are trained to act in criminal and sadistic ways.

Military training has been part of the experience of millions of young American men since the Revolutionary War. Prior to the Vietnam era, however, that training consisted largely of practicing military skills and learning to manage military equipment. It is only in the last half century that training has evolved into an entirely new phenomenon that makes use of the principles of operant conditioning to overcome what studies done over the last century have consistently demonstrated, namely, that healthy human beings have an inherent aversion to killing others of their own species.

Operant conditioning holds that organisms, including human beings, move through their environment rather haphazardly until they encounter a reinforcing stimulus. The experience of that stimulus becomes associated in memory with the behavior that immediately preceded it. In other words, a behavior is followed by a consequence, and the nature of the consequence, reward or punishment, modifies the organism's tendency to repeat the behavior. Today's recruits are intentionally and methodically subjected to a training regimen that is explicitly designed to turn them into reflexive killers. And it is very effective. It is also carefully concealed. The military would prefer to keep their methods out of sight because of the moral and ethical discussions, not to mention the legal restraints, which public scrutiny and constitutional debate might impose. Or so I would like to believe.

War Psychiatry, the army's textbook on combat trauma, notes that "pseudospeciation, the ability of humans and some other primates to classify certain members of their own species as 'other,' can neutralize the threshold of inhibition so they can kill conspecifics." Modern military training has developed carefully sequenced and choreographed elements of what many would call brainwashing to disconnect recruits from their civilian identities. The values, standards and behaviors they have absorbed over a lifetime from their families, schools, religions and communities are scorned and punished. Using cruelty, humiliation, degradation and cognitive disorientation, recruits are reprogrammed with an entirely new set of learned responses. Every aspect of combat behavior is rehearsed until response becomes reflexive. Operant conditioning has vastly improved the efficacy of American soldiers, at least by military standards. It has proven to be a reliable way to turn off the switch that controls a soldier's inherent aversion to killing. American soldiers do kill more often and more efficiently. Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, author of On Killing, calls this form of training "psychological warfare, [but] psychological warfare conducted not upon the enemy, but upon one's own troops."

The psychological warfare that is being conducted on today's recruits is a truly disturbing indication of the worldview of our leadership, both military and political. The group identity they are drilling into these kids, the "insider" identity, is based on explicit contempt not only for the declared enemy of the week, but for the entire civilian population, with a special emphasis on women and homosexuals. In an army that is now 15 percent female and who knows (don't ask, don't tell) what percentage gay, drill instructors still rely on labels like "girl" or "pussy," "lady" or "fairy" to humiliate, degrade and ultimately exact conformity. Recruits are drilled with marching chants that privilege their relationships with their weapons over their relationships with women ("you used to be my beauty queen, now I love my M-16"), or that overtly conflate sex and violence ("this is my rifle, this is my gun; this is for fighting, this is for fun."). Aside from teaching these kids to quash their innate feelings about killing in general, they are being programmed with a distorted version of not only what it means to be a man, but of what it means to be a citizen. To ascend to the warrior class, one must learn to despise and distrust all that is not military. Chaim Shatan, a psychiatrist who worked with Vietnam-era veterans, described this transformative process as deliberate, as opposed to capricious, sadism, "whose purpose is to inculcate obedience to command."

There are any number of ways that modern training methods both support violence, aggression and obedience and help to disconnect a reflex action from its moral, ethical, spiritual or social implications, but one of the best illustrations of this process is the marching chants, or "jodies," as they are known in the services. "Jody" is the derivative of an African-American work song about Joe de Grinder, a devilish ladies' man who is at home making time with the soldier's girlfriend while the soldier is stuck in the war ("ain't no use in going home; Jody's on your telephone"). According to the military, jodies build morale while distracting attention from monotonous, often strenuous, exertion. The following, originally a product of the Vietnam era, has been resurrected for training purposes in every war since and is an example of the kind of morale building that has been judged appropriate to the formation of an American soldier:

Shell the town and kill the people.
Drop the napalm in the square.
Do it on a Sunday morning
While they're on their way to prayer.

Aim your missiles at the schoolhouse.
See the teacher ring the bell.
See the children's smiling faces
As their schoolhouse burns to hell

Throw some candy to the children.
Wait till they all gather round.
Then you take your M-16 now
And mow the little fuckers down.

Thankfully, the brainwashing has not yet been developed that will override the humanity of most American soldiers. According to the troops interviewed in the Nation, the kind of psychotic brutality described in the marching cadence above is indulged by only a minority. Still, they described atrocities committed against civilians as "common" -- and almost never punished. As multiple deployments become the norm, however, and as more scrambled psyches are sent back into combat instead of into treatment, it is frightening to consider that the brainwashing may yet prevail. Given the training to which these soldiers have been subjected and the chaotic conditions in which they find themselves, it is inevitable that more will succumb to fear and rage and frustration. They will inevitably be overwhelmed by cumulative doses of horror, and they will lose control of their judgment and their compassion. Thirty-six years ago, American veterans tried to cut through the smoke and mirrors of the official response to civilian atrocities, the version that scapegoated soldiers and ignored those who gave the orders. As then Lt. John Kerry put it, "We could hold our silence; we could not tell what went on in Vietnam, but we feel (that it is) not reds, and not redcoats (that threaten this country), but the crimes which we are committing." The soldiers who, following orders, have run over children in the road rather than slow down their convoy will never be the same again, regardless of whether government and the media tell the truth. Nor will the soldiers manning checkpoints who shoot, as ordered, and kill entire families who failed to stop, only to learn later that no one had bothered to share with them that the American signal to stop -- a hand held up, palm towards the oncoming vehicle -- to an Iraqi means, "Hello, come here." I have heard a number of the men cited in the Nation article speak about their combat experiences, and they are tormented by what they saw and did. They want to tell their stories, not because they are looking for absolution, but because they want to believe that Americans want to know. But neither are they willing to take the blame.

They have already carried home the psychic wounds and the dangerous reflexive habits of violence that will always diminish their lives and their relationships. In return, they are hoping we will listen to them this time when they ask us to look a little harder, dig a little deeper, use a little more discernment. Or have we already arrived at a point in our collective moral development when, as Shatan predicted, "Like Eichmann, we … consider evil to be banal and routine?"

Penny Coleman is the widow of a Vietnam veteran who took his own life after coming home. Her latest book, Flashback: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Suicide and the Lessons of War, was released on Memorial Day, 2006.

© 2007 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/60297/

Report: Many U.S. Parents Outsourcing Child Care Overseas

2007-07-30T23:01:00.001-07:00

Report: Many U.S. Parents Outsourcing Child Care Overseas

Study: Iraqis May Experience Sadness When Friends, Relatives Die (The Onion)

2007-07-30T21:03:00.000-07:00

Study: Iraqis May Experience Sadness When Friends, Relatives Die

EPA Warns Human Beings No Longer Biodegradable (The Onion)

2007-07-30T20:45:00.001-07:00

EPA Warns Human Beings No Longer Biodegradable

WASHINGTON, DC—The Environmental Protection Agency issued a bulletin Tuesday warning the bodies of American citizens, with their large...

Excerpt from "Song of Myself"

2007-07-19T22:38:00.000-07:00

I know I have the best of time and space - and that I was never measured and never will be measured.

I tramp a perpetual journey,
My signs are a rain-proof coat and good shoes and a staff cut from the woods;
No friend of mine takes his ease in my chair,
I have no chair, nor church nor philosophy;
I lead no man to a dinner-table or library or exchange,
But each man and each woman of you I lead upon a knoll,
My left hand hooks you round the waist,
My right hand points to landscapes of continents, and a plain public road.

Not I, not any one else can travel that road for you,
You must travel it for yourself.

It is not far....it is within reach,
Perhaps you have been on it since you were born, and did not know,
Perhaps it is every where on water and on land.

Shoulder your duds, and I will mine, and let us hasten forth;
Wonderful cities and free nations we shall fetch as we go.

If you tire, give me both burdens, and rest the chuff of your hand on my hip,
And in due time you shall repay the same service to me;
For after we start we never lie by again.

This day before dawn I ascended a hill and looked at the crowded heaven,
And I said to my spirit, When we become the enfolders of those orbs and the pleasure and knowledge of every thing in them, shall we be filled and satisfied then?
And my spirit said No, we level that lift to pass and continue beyond.

You are also asking me questions, and I hear you;
I answer that I cannot answer....you must find out for yourself.

Sit awhile wayfarer,
Here are biscuits to eat and here is milk to drink,
But as soon as you sleep and renew yourself in sweet clothes I will certainly kiss you with my goodbye kiss and open the gate for your egress hence.

Long enough have you dreamed contemptible dreams,
Now I wash the gum from your eyes,
You must habit yourself to the dazzle of the light and of every moment of your life.

Long have you timidly waded, holding a plank by the shore,
Now I will you to be a bold swimmer,
To jump off in the midst of the sea, and rise again and nod to me and shout, and laughingly dash with your hair.

I am the teacher of athletes,
He that by me spreads a wider breast than my own proves the width of my own,
He most honors my style who learns under it to destroy the teacher.

The boy I love, the same becomes a man not through derived power but in his own right,
Wicked, rather than virtuous out of conformity or fear,
Fond of his sweetheart, relishing well his steak,
Unrequited love or a slight cutting him worse than a wound cuts,
First rate to ride, to fight, to hit the bull's eye, to sail a skiff, to sing a song or play on the banjo,
Preferring scars and faces pitted with smallpox over all latherers and those that keep out of the sun.

I teach straying from me, yet who can stray from me?
I follow you whoever you are from the present hour;
My words itch at your ears till you understand them.

I do not say these things for a dollar, or to fill up the time while I wait for a boat;
It is you talking just as much as myself....I act as the tongue of you,
It was tied in your mouth....in mine it begins to be loosened.

~~Walt Whitman, excerpted from SONG OF MYSELF, 1855 A.C.E.

thanks to birdSong at tribespeople.net for the inspiration

An abundance of instruction on the Medicine Buddha and the practice of his mantra

2007-07-12T19:56:00.000-07:00

Click here for more information on the Medicine Buddha in Wikipedia.

This is the short version of the Medicine Buddha Mantra, which is known as the Medicine Budddha Heart Mantra:

(Tadyathā) Om Bhaishajye Bhaishajye Mahābhaishajye Bhaishajye Bhaishajye Rāja Samudgate Svāhā

When pronounced by Tibetan buddhists, it sounds like:

(Tah-yah-tah) OM, beck-and-zay beck-and-zay, mah-hah beck-and-zay beck-and-zay, rod-zah sah-moo-gah-tay, so-hah!

Here's Lama Zopa on the recitation of the Medicine Buddha mantra:

"The Medicine Buddha mantra is recited for success. Since we have many problems and want to succeed we need to recite the Medicine Buddha mantra every day. It can help us eliminate the problems, unhappiness and suffering we don’t want and gain the success, happiness, inner growth and realizations of the path that we do.

"Lord Buddha told his attendant Ananda that even animals who hear the Medicine Buddha mantra will never be reborn in the lower realms. The highly attained Kyabje Chöden Rinpoche, who has completed the entire path to enlightenment, said recently that if you recite the Medicine Buddha mantra at the time of death you will be reborn in the pure land. Therefore, it is to be recited not only for healing but also to benefit people and animals all the time, whether they’re living or dying.

"If you recite the Medicine Buddha mantra every day you will purify your negative karma and this will help you never to be reborn in the lower realms. If you don’t purify your negative karma, then when you die you will be reborn in the lower realms as a hell being, hungry ghost or animal and will have to suffer again and again without end. Therefore you need to purify your negative karma right now. If you cannot bear even the present suffering of the human realm—which is blissful joy compared to that of the lower realms—how will you be able to bear the intense suffering of the lower realms, which is unimaginably unbearable, lasts for an incredible length of time and a billion times worse than all the human sufferings put together.

"Since reciting the Medicine Buddha mantra saves you from all these sufferings it is much more precious than skies of gold, diamonds, wish-fulfilling jewels and zillions and zillions of dollars. Material wealth counts for nothing because it can’t purify negative karma. Even if you possessed that much wealth, simply reciting or even hearing the Medicine Buddha mantra just once would be far more precious because it would leave an imprint of the entire path to enlightenment on your mind, help you gain realizations of the path, eradicate all your gross and subtle defilements and cause you to achieve enlightenment.

"The Medicine Buddha mantra can help you liberate numberless sentient beings from the vast oceans of suffering and bring them to enlightenment, so you should recite it with absolute trust in the Medicine Buddha, knowing that he will completely take care of your life and heal you in every way and that he is always with you—in your heart, on your crown and right there in front of you. There is not one second that the Medicine Buddha does not see or have compassion for you.

Click here for more information on Lama Zopa Rinpoche and the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition.

Click here to download a teaching on the Medicine Buddha.

The Nechung Kuten, Venerable Thupten Ngodup (Medium of the State Oracle of Tibet)

2007-07-03T21:46:00.000-07:00

The Venerable Thupten Ngodup was in Los Angeles this weekend. I was present at two of the events. One involved a cross-discussion with a Messenger of the Mayan Nation. The other was a Long Life White Tara initiation and empowerment.

This easily is and will remain one of my most significant life experiences! Thanks, Nechung Kuten!

The Medium of the Oracle of Tibet is in the United States RIGHT NOW!

The Diamond Sutra (Recited)

2007-06-27T13:52:00.000-07:00

Just to play and listen to the audio of the Diamond Sutra (i.e., teaching) is to accumulate inconceivable, immeasurable merit for the pacification of one's karma and one's enlightenment. As well, to play and listen to the audio of the Diamond Sutra is to accumulate inconceivable, immeasurable merit for the pacification of the karma of all sentient beings and their enlightenment. This audio makes for an excellent meditation. It is 38 minutes long.

This sutra has a distinct Zen flavor and is a favorite sutra among Zen Buddhists.

"The Diamond Sutra" in Wikipedia

The Revolution Is Being Televised (Here)

2007-06-23T00:26:00.000-07:00

Power back to Americans!

"If you want to be free, be free; if you want to be you, be you"

2007-06-19T10:34:00.000-07:00

The trailer from "Harold and Maude"

I copied these videos from "C'est Moi"

The Song of the Bodhisattva Ratnapani

2007-06-15T21:22:00.000-07:00

Ratnapani, the Bodhisattva and Spiritual
Emanation of the Buddha Ratnasambhava

The musicality of being is the harmonious wind of a warm evening
It is the jewel of contentment, the shining light of happiness.
Like children playing on a seashore, in the fresh summer air,
So do I shine with the joy of sharing, and the wealth of peace

One may strive forever, never satisfied or happy
Struggling, toiling, never at rest
Or he may realize that all which he may possibly want
Awaits him within, and all around him
His vision is swelled, for it is all beautiful
And his heart is radiant

I am the way station of fertile land in the desert
The golden treasure that bids man to stay,
The sunlight which drives away storms
I hold the promise of a warm dinner or a lazy afternoon
A long embrace beneath lilacs
A cat dozing underneath the porch
A long stretch upon awakening

There is no need for violence and vicious refusal
Nor of endless waste and suffering
Call upon me, and I give you the gift
Of peace and satisfaction, and clear smiles
Do not slash yourselves with razors, that only what you like this week may remain
Nor freeze and burn, kill others or yourself
Why take a thousand miserable ways to Emptiness
When my way is full and pleasant, without strife?

Rest and relax, give and receive
Share and be renewed, while the problems of old
Drop as dry leaves in the spring.

"Pentagon Tries to Make a 'Gay Bomb'" (Video)

2007-06-15T03:44:00.000-07:00

I wish we lived in an alternative universe and that this was just a bad (albeit incredulously offensive) joke. I keep thinking this video is a spoof, that it must be. What incredibly stupid, homophobic and sad military leadership!

I keep praying that the reasons NOT to be ashamed of being an American will cease! This country is fucked if John Edwards isn't the next President of the United States! Fuck Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. They'll come up with a bomb to kill the American left!

Qigong master projecting his chi energy

2007-06-12T13:04:00.000-07:00

Film: Velvet Goldmine

2007-06-09T18:20:00.000-07:00

IMDb:Velvet Goldmine

Wikepedia:Velvet Goldmine

Understanding Vibratory Fields

2007-06-06T00:16:00.000-07:00

Welcome to The World of Kundalini Yoga

Understanding Vibratory Fields

SAT NAM
I have dealt recently with several clients who have had the similar problem of being caught in a negative vibratory field after contact with a person or place. This is becoming a more common occurrence and we need to know how to avoid this situation.

We are in a time of great planetary change and these changes are playing out on many levels. A high stakes inter-dimensional battle for survival is being waged by the Dark Energies who have held sway over this planet in the dark age of the Kali Yug. We are inundated with artificially induced bio-electric conditions of depression and dread that are amplified by the media through a series of contrived ominous events designed to keep us in increasing states of fear and worry. This proliferating negativity is intensified by the anxiety that comes from the disorientation caused by the “thinning of the veils” between the various levels of reality. Many of us are experiencing increased psychic abilities as a result of these higher frequency energies, and this is making us more aware of and sensitive to the negative forces.

Everything on the planet has a magnetic frequency. Visualize this as pools of energy, some positive and uplifting, others negative and destructive. As we move through this vast magnetic field we inevitably encounter the lower negative destructive energies. The art of living is to be able to process these energies so the negative forces do not begin to “spin” us and cause our personal realm to move in a destructive painful pattern.

Let us examine the situation where you think you are being drawn into a negative whirlpool of energy when dealing with another person. Yogi Bhajan’s teaching on this is: Remember the central idea of the person you are in contact with. The individual has three basic needs, 1.) To promote selfish interests, 2.) To advance control, 3.) Redress grievances. The person will be angry, rash, or diplomatic. These are the negatives. The only way out is to understand what track the person is on.

Listen patiently. Observe, assess the situation. But distance yourself. The person is living their life, expressing their own energy. Allow them to do so. Be aware of what track they are on. They want to angle this track into us, and we need to know how to change the angle. Remember, we learn the science of angles from Kundalini yoga. The way we get sucked in, entangled, lose our balance, and open ourselves to the negativity, is we get involved with it. Instead of respecting the other person as a human being, as a fellow being having an experience, we relate to what our Connection is with this person: this is where the mistake is made. When we try to connect, we are trying to have our way. We are trying to have OUR relationship with the energy: This is “my way.” My connection with this energy. I can connect with this person because of an aspect of their personality or situation that is similar to my own. Or, I can “heal” them—have them express their energy the way I want them to, the way I would. When we connect in these ways, we do it because we don’t feel whole, complete within ourselves. We have not opened ourselves to the infinite expression of our own energy; so we seek what we feel we lack in the outer world. We become needy. We don’t accept the other person; we want something from them. We want to change them. We don’t open a healing space and allow healing to occur—we want to heal, we want to do something. This neediness creates an imbalance, and this imbalance exposes us to forces, fellow travelers from the dark side, who dilute our light and create pain in our lives.

When we enter into these spaces, and we all do, the mantra that removes the negativity from us and the environments is "Chatr Chatr Vartee."

Play it, especially at night when sleeping, when we are more vulnerable to the dark forces. Drink more water to balance the emotional body. Walk barefoot on the earth to release negative energy, and re-balance and rejuvenate.

The meditation that Yogi Bhajan gave to remove negative vibrations picked up from others and to withdraw physical energy from a situation is:

Sit in easy pose. Presume you are involved with an unhappy problem (anything that has bothered you, even for months). Keep your spine erect. Close your eyes. Now,

Think about how miserable it is making you in relation to your personal existence.
Think about how miserable it is making you in relation to your worldly existence.
Think about how miserable it is making you in relation to your spiritual existence.

If your spiritual existence ceases, your entire life force becomes weak and dim.

Start reversing.

Think that you are an image of the Supreme Consciousness
(God—Divine—Creative Force).

Think that you have universality in relation to this world as your right, and that you are positively protected by this force. (The sign of this force and its existence in you is that you are breathing.) Therefore, there is no way for you to be trapped in negative, unhappy thoughts.

Close your right nostril with your right thumb.
Inhale as deeply as possible through your left nostril.
Exhale as deeply as possible through your left nostril.
Repeat exactly 25 times.

Can you ever now feel the same?

There is a simple logic to the profound wisdom we need to navigate the many challenges in our lives. Amidst the multi-dimensional planetary transformation, the only real protection is to be operating from our own highest frequency, to dwell in an aura of light and love, and to use the tools of Kundalini yoga to move gracefully through the shifting times.

Sat Nam,
Harijiwan

Understanding Vibratory Fields

The Brothers Crazy-mazov

2007-05-31T22:51:00.000-07:00

William Butler Yeats I
and Yeats II

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Ezra Pound I
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀and Pound II

"In 1913, Yeats met the young American poet Ezra Pound. Pound had traveled to London at least partly to meet the older man, whom he considered "the only poet worthy of serious study". From that year until 1916, the two men wintered in the Stone Cottage at Ashdown Forest, with Pound nominally acting as Yeats' secretary. The relationship got off to a rocky start when Pound arranged for the publication in the magazine Poetry of some of Yeats' verse with Pound's own unauthorised alterations. These changes reflected Pound's distaste for Victorian prosody. In particular, the scholarship on Japanese Noh plays that Pound had obtained from Ernest Fenollosa's widow provided Yeats with a model for the aristocratic drama he intended to write. The first of his plays modeled on Noh was At the Hawk's Well, the first draft of which he dictated to Pound in January 1916."

-- from Wikipedia

I can't imagine two crazy-er people than W.B. Yeats and Ezra Pound. Imagine them working together for several years! I have to find out more about this (i.e., reading books instead of the internet). So much for meticulous research.

Pound (second from left) and Yeats (third from left).

"the 'certain' Lama"

2007-05-30T21:21:00.000-07:00

Khandro Déchen and Ngak'chang Rinpoche
Monterey, California, 1994

"the 'certain' Lama", a transcript of teachings on the five certainties, apprentice retreat – the 19th of March, 1993
by Ngak’chang Rinpoche

The Aro gTér Lineage
The Aro gTér is a stream of Vajrayana Buddhism in which ordination is congruous with romance, marriage, and family life. It focuses on the teaching and practice of the Inner Tantras from the point of view of Dzogchen, an essential non-dual teaching.

Platonic solid fractals and their complements

2007-05-23T01:46:00.000-07:00

From the faces of its bounded three-dimensions, this fractal reduces itself infinitely towards an infinite number of empty "centers" contained within this finite three-dimensional space.From the "center" of the boundaries of this finite three-dimensional cube, this fractal expands itself infinitely towards the cube's faces without ever fully reaching them.

Go here for more information.

Here is a paradox. Mathematically speaking, these two infinite fractals can reside in each other, occupying the same three-dimensional space, without any space remaining between them, without any overlap or intersection between them, and without any modification to their shapes.

The yellow fractal reduces infinitely. The blue fractal expands infinitely. Yet the sum of these two infinite fractals is a completely solid, finitely bounded cube!

Finity and infinity are one, residing perfectly in each other.

Fractals

2007-05-23T01:34:00.000-07:00

Go here to learn about fractals.

By the expression of a simple mathematical formula, a two-dimensional "fractal" is created. This fractal infinitely and indefinitely contracts and expands in an exactly repetitive manner to approximately "reach" an infinite and indefinite number of "emptinesses." The only differences in this fractal are in it sizes of scale, which expand and reduce without end.

Hyperbolic Orthogonal Dodecahedral Honeycomb

2007-05-23T00:59:00.000-07:00

Bincuntracated Cubic Tiling

2007-05-23T00:56:00.000-07:00

Fourth-Dimensional Hypercube

2007-05-21T23:32:00.000-07:00

This is what a fourth-dimensional hypercube looks like as visualized from a three-dimensional perspective.

Hypercubes in other dimensions

The Platonic Solids

2007-05-21T22:01:00.001-07:00

The Platonic Solids

Tetrahedron

The exact projection of a Tetrahedron onto a sphere

Hexadron (Cube)

The exact projection of a Hexahedron (Cube) onto a sphere

Octahedron

The exact projection of a Octahedron onto a sphere

Icosahedron

The exact projection of a Icosahedron onto a sphere

Dodecahedredon

The exact projection of a Dodecahedron onto a sphere

Higher Dimensions of the Platonic Solids
In the mid-19th century the Swiss mathematician Ludwig Schläfli discovered the four-dimensional analogues of the Platonic solids, called convex regular 4-polytopes. There are exactly six of these figures; five are analogous to the Platonic solids, while the sixth one, the 24-cell, has no lower-dimensional analogue.

In dimensions higher than four, there are only three convex regular polytopes: the simplex, the hypercube, and the cross-polytope. In three dimensions, these coincide with the tetrahedron, the cube, and the octahedron.

It's not about others

2007-05-21T20:56:00.000-07:00

It is not the shortcomings of others, nor what others have done or not done that one should think about, but what one has done or not done oneself.
The Dhammapada, Verse 50

A prayer for happiness

2007-05-19T22:34:00.000-07:00

My all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness.
May all beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.
May all beings never be separated from the happiness free from suffering.
May all beings have equanimity, free from attachment and aversion.

Overcoming Death Mandala

2007-05-19T05:42:00.000-07:00

from "the art of asia," minneapolis institute of arts:

Yamantaka Mandala (Overcoming Death Mandala)

A mandala, or circle, is a representation of the Buddhist universe. These cosmograms represent in symbolic color, line, and geometric forms, all realms of existence and are used in Tantric meditation and initiation rites. The creation of a mandala, considered a consecrated area, is believed to benefit all beings.

This is the Yamantaka mandala, a cosmic blueprint of the celestial palace of the deity Yamantaka, Conqueror of Death, who is represented at the center by the blue vajra, or thunderbolt. It consists of a series of concentric bands, the outermost representing eight burial grounds with a recognizable landscape and animals symbolizing our earthly plane of existence. Moving inward are a circle of flames, a circle of vajras, and a circle of lotus petals. These bands circumscribe a quadrangle with gates at the four compass points, suggesting the realm of form without desire. The innermost square is divided into triangular quadrants, and an inner circle is subdivided into nine units containing symbols representing various deities. This is the realm of absolute formlessness and perfect bliss. In the four outside corners are the attributes of the five senses (smell, sight, sound, taste, and touch), reminders of the illusory nature of our perceived reality.

All mandalas represent an invitation to enter the Buddha's awakened mind. Tibetan Buddhists believe there is a seed of enlightenment in each person's mind; this is uncovered by visualizing and contemplating a mandala. The complex symbols and exquisite combination of primary colors are considered a pure expression of the principles of wisdom and compassion that underlie Tantric Buddhist philosophy.

This mandala was created to honor the 1.2 million Tibetans who have lost their lives to political/religious persecution during this century.

The museum thanks the Tibetan American Foundation of Minnesota for bringing the Gyoto monks to Minnesota and for their efforts to preserve Tibetan cultural traditions.

What is a Seraph?

2007-05-18T21:30:00.001-07:00

The following is a mash-up of information I found on the internet:

A seraph (plural, seraphim) is one of a class of divine creatures or celestial beings. The root word comes either from the Hebrew verb saraph ("to burn") or the Hebrew noun saraph ("a fiery flying serpent"). The term saraph appears several times in the Old Testament, with reference to the serpents encountered in the wilderness. It has often been understood to refer to "fiery serpents." From this it has also often been proposed that the seraphim were serpentine in form and in some sense "fiery" creatures or associated with fire.

Seraphim are described as very tall, generally having the figures of men, with six wings and four heads (one for each of the cardinal directions). One pair of wings are for flying, one for covering their eyes (for even they may not look directly at God), and one for covering their feet.

Seraphim serve and are in the direct presence of God. It is said that whoever lays eyes on a seraph would be instantly incinerated due to their immense brightness. [Do you remember the final scene in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" in which the Nazis were consumed by fire? They foolishly dared to look at the seraphim protecting the Ark of the Covenant.]

Later Jewish imagery perceived seraphim as having human form, and in that way they passed into the ranks of Christian angels. In the Christian angelic hierarchy, seraphim represent the highest rank of angels.

King James Bible, Isaiah 6: 1-2 "In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly."

The Mandala of Seven Seraphim

2007-05-18T21:27:00.000-07:00

The Bodhisattva Mañjushrî

2007-05-17T00:09:00.000-07:00

Mañjushrî is an ancient Buddha who vowed to emanate throughout the universe as the always youthful, princely Bodhisattva of Transcendent Wisdom. His special purpose is to lead the audiences of the Buddha in the inquiry into the self, to discover the true nature of reality. He is usually depicted holding the text of the Transcendent Wisdom (Prajnaparamita) Sutra in his left hand and the double-edged sword of analytic discrimination, which cuts through all delusions, in his right.

Mañjushrî raises his hands in front of his heart in the teaching gesture. He sits comfortable in the pose of ease atop an ornate lotus pedestal whose base is decorated with winding vines and cavorting lions, probably a reference to the lion mount he sometimes rides.

Mañjushrî carries with his right hand the double edged sword able to cut through illusion and with his left hand a blooming lotus that supports a volume of the Prajnaparamita Sutra. He is depicted as a youth of sixteen years in order to convey the Buddhist insight that wisdom is not a matter of mere experience or years, but results from the cultivation of intellectual genius, which can penetrate directly to the bedrock of reality.

Wisdom is considered the most honoured virtue in Buddhism, called the Mother of all Buddhas, since only wisdom makes possible the great bliss of total freedom from all suffering that is the goal all living beings. Thus, Mañjushrî is one of the most important of all Buddhist deities.

Manjushri's mantra:
Om A Ra Pa Ca Na Dhih

This mantra has absolutely no conceptual meaning. The syllables are the first syllables of each line of the Avatamsaka Sutra, which is a text concerned with the Perfection of Wisdom (Prajñaparamita).

Pronunciation notes:
a is pronounced as u in cut
c is like ch in church
ii is like ee in bee
The final h in dhiih has the effect of producing an echo sound. So the syllable is pronounced dhii-hii.

Seeing Paramahansa Yogananda on film

2007-05-15T23:52:00.000-07:00

this is a silent film

this is a talking film
Self Realization Fellowship

A disciple of Yogananda keeps it simple

2007-05-15T12:25:00.000-07:00

Center for the Study of Awareness

In Search of the Garudas

2007-05-08T21:10:00.000-07:00

This is a traditional Tibetan image of the Red Garuda.

This description of garudas follows from the The Symbols of Tibetan Buddhism page:

"The Garuda is daring and fearless and abides in the north. With great strength and power it soars beyond without holding back. It symbolizes freedom from hopes and fears, the vast mind without reference point. It is a powerful antidote to the negative influences of Nagas (spirits) which can cause disease and all kinds of harm."

Ogyen (Green) Garuda.
This is a description of the Green Garduda (Ogyen Garuda):

"Ogyen Garuda is Padmakara in the form of the immense space eagle who is born fully enlightened and in full flight. His furious gaze burns away the fabric of duality for all beings, conditions, and situations. His brilliant blue complexion reflects his spacious intelligence and the vast expanse of Dharmata. His hair is a roaring mass of wisdom-fire, which scorches the perceptual distortions of monism, dualism, nihilism, and eternalism. His two meteorite iron horns impale the deluded division of samsara and nirvana. His golden razor beak bites through every dualistic contrivance, and his two wings bear him beyond the limited spaces of existence and non-existence. The nine-fold pinions of his razor wings liberate beings in the temporal spaces of the nine bardos. He wears the human bone ornaments which display the spatial essence of the six classes of Vajrayana. At the centre of his chest ornament is the luminous green 'Trom' which illuminates the universe and makes total collision with reality inescapable.

In each hand he holds a nine-pronged meteorite iron phurba. These two phurbas liberate the potential of the solar and lunar channels and overpower all apparent phenomena in empty rage. With his two phurbas he stabs attraction, aversion, and indifference as they pertain to clinging either to samsara or nirvana. In each claw he holds a nine-pronged beryllium copper grigug. These two grigugs slash the fabric of dualistic clinging in every dimension of existence simultaneously -- without need of moving from the vast single point of awareness."

The Dark Blue Garuda.

Garudas are terrifying

2007-05-08T20:52:00.000-07:00

The Garuda is the traditional mount of Lord Vishnu.

Garudas in Hinduism and Buddhism

2007-05-08T20:21:00.000-07:00

"Garuda" in Wikipedia

Define "Judgment"

2007-05-08T00:26:00.000-07:00

This is a post from my tribes friend Viveka.

Om jai Kindred Spirit… jai onto all

It is only by entering the darkness that one becomes fully enlightened; realizing we are the light we seek, and remembering that we really never left our humble abode beloved of Eternal Truth and Perfect Love behind.

Eternal Truth & Perfect Love is who we really are without the clothing of Maya.

If defining and judging the reality we see around us, helps us to remember Spirit, and moves us closer to the goal of Truth one seeks… We can say we are in Truth, we abide in the light, and it is good karma… If defining and judging the reality we see around us, moves away from the goal of Truth one seeks and, causes us to forget our divinity… We are not in Truth; we abide in darkness, and this is bad karma.

Bad karma leads to pain and suffering, and good karma leads to the eternal bliss of wellbeing. There is a time and a moment for everything within Maya. Maya is the seeming wondrous illusion of separation in beautiful yin/yang balance that helps us remember what we have forgotten. While we are clothed in Maya, with our costumes of name and form; we must explore both good and bad karma to fully understand the nature Eternal Truth & Perfect Love. We need both good & bad, light & darkness, hot & cold, so as to compare one with another to understand the nature both. Good and bad are two sides of the same coin. What gives value to a coin is the metal between the two sides, and so it is with the pair of opposites in yin & yang balance… The nature of Eternal Truth is found in that eternal moment between tick & tock, and the balance of yin & yang.

When we enter the darkness we forget.
We forget in order to sing God’s glory in the remembering.
We forget in order to honor the source of our being, through the cosmic karmic journey of awakening we are all on, transforming the darkness back into light.

When we move away from our center of truth, it is best to abide in seeming dark silence not judging the world around us, so that we find our center of truth, and better see where we are going with the singular vision of wisdom found in our heart… When we are centered in Truth within our heart, then it is time to open our eyes and express our divinity in all we do, as we explore and define the reality of Maya through the filter of viveka, honoring the source of our being.

We are the light; we are the seeming fragmented light that has entered the darkness to bring light to where light seems not to be; we come as an act of the highest devotion in motion honoring the source of our being.

It is most wonderful and beautiful how we are all expressing the same Eternal Truth from different points of view and in a different light, but the essence of the Eternal Truth we speak of, remains the same, unchanged and eternal.

JAI TO ALL YOU BEAUTIFUL LIGHTS, EXPRESSING ETERNAL TRUTH & PERFECT LOVE IN YOUR OWN UNIQUE WAYS!!! Thank you, for the wonderful contrast and beautiful colors that your individual and unique journeys of transformation add to our costume of Maya; which moves the heart to live life to the fullest.

Om shanti shanti shanti…

The Vedanta Society of Southern California

The Buddha Akshobya ("The Unshakeable")

2007-05-07T23:52:00.000-07:00

OM VAJRA AKSHOBYA HUM

The Mandala of Buddha Akshobya

2007-05-07T23:48:00.000-07:00

My enemy is my friend

2007-05-06T16:20:00.000-07:00

The Mahayana Equilibrium Meditation, as instructed by Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Lama Rinpoche is the Spiritual Director of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition.

This meditation comes from Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s book, "The Wish-fulfilling Golden Sun of the Mahayana Thought Training" (Kopan Monastery, 1974). Rinpoche has described it as more than the standard equilibrium meditation, as he has added a number of techniques for overcoming anger and developing patience.

[Meditate in the first person and pause for contemplation between paragraphs.]

Think: It is never enough to gain only self-liberation. Attachment to personal peace and striving solely for this is both selfish and cruel.

Visualize that you are surrounded by all sentient beings, with your mother seated to your left and your father to your right. In front of you, visualize an enemy; someone who dislikes you or wishes you harm. Behind you, place your dearest friend; the person to whom you are most attached. To the side, visualize a stranger; someone for whom your feelings are neutral.

Think: There is no reason at all for me to be attached to and help my friend or to hate and harm my enemy.

If I were to strive for only my own self-peace, there would be no reason for me to have been born human. Even as an animal, I could strive for this. The various animals have the same aim as many highly educated people--self-happiness--and also create many negative actions, such as fighting with and destroying enemies, cheating others with political mind and so forth, all in the pursuit of their own happiness. There is almost no difference between them except their shape.

The main purpose of my having been born human is to strive for and achieve higher aims--to bring every sentient being to everlasting happiness. This is something no animal can ever do.

Just as I wish to avoid suffering and find happiness, so, too, do all other sentient beings. Therefore, I and all other sentient beings are equal, and there is no logical reason for me to care more about myself than others or to harm enemies or any other sentient being.

For countless rebirths I have been discriminating other beings as friend, enemy or stranger with the self-I consciousness. Chandrakirti said, “Where there is self-I consciousness, there is discrimination of other.” From discriminated partisanship between self and other, attachment and hatred arise.

All misfortune arises from acting under the influence of these negative minds.

The self-I consciousness causes attachment to self, which produces attachment to my own happiness.

The entire range of negative minds arises from the above.

Anger is caused by greed and self-attachment and makes me discriminate against whoever disturbs my happiness, producing the enemy.

Attachment creates the friend, who helps, and determines the enemy, who hinders.

Ignorance labels those who neither help nor hinder as strangers.

Anger makes me hate and harm the enemy; attachment makes me cling to and help the friend; and ignorance makes me see the stranger as having a permanent self-nature. By acting under the influence of these negative minds, I lead myself into difficult and suffering situations.

Attachment creates danger and suffering for myself and others. The whole earth is in danger of exploding. Attachment offers no peace and brings only suffering.

Since beginningless time, the two negative actions of helping out of attachment and harming out of anger have thrown me into samsaric suffering, making it impossible for me to achieve the perfect peace of liberation and enlightenment.

Negative actions leave negative imprints on the consciousness; these ripen into endless experiences of suffering. If I continue to behave in this way, I will experience the same suffering over and over again for eons and will never receive any realizations or enlightenment itself.

The three objects of friend, enemy and stranger are false and have been labeled incorrectly for extremely temporal reasons. The current friend, enemy and stranger have not always been friend, enemy and stranger in my countless, previous lives. Even the enemy of last year can this year become my friend and yesterday’s friend become my enemy today. It can all change within an hour and does so because of attachment to food, clothing and reputation.

A scripture says, “If you try for a moment to befriend an enemy, he will become your friend. The opposite occurs if you treat a friend like an enemy. Therefore, the wise, understanding the impermanent nature of temporal relationships, are never attached to food, clothing or reputation.”

Lord Buddha said, “In another life, the father becomes the son; the mother, the wife; the enemy, a friend. It always changes. In cyclic existence, nothing is certain.”

Therefore, there is no reason to be attached to friends or to hate enemies.

If the ignorant, self-I conception and its objects were true, the three designations of friend, enemy and stranger should have existed from countless previous lives and should continue to exist through the present to beyond enlightenment. This makes complete nonsense of the concept of enlightenment, since the Buddha’s sublime, enlightened mind is completely free of the delusions and imprints that create such distinctions.

Out of his compassion, Lord Buddha taught the equilibrium meditation so that I, too, might become free of delusions, imprints and ignorant discrimination. The concepts of friend, enemy and stranger are false because they and their basis are totally illusory. There is no self-I.

My problems are created not by the enemy but by me. In my previous lives, I harmed others through ignorance and the results of this return in this life, causing me hardship and suffering.

Lord Buddha said, “In previous lives, I have killed all of you before and you have all slaughtered me. Why should we now be attached to each other?”

Chandrakirti said, “It is foolish and ignorant to retaliate to an enemy’s attack with spite in hopes of ending it, as the retaliation itself only brings more suffering.”

Therefore, there is no reason to retaliate.

The enemy is the object of my practice of patience, which helps me overcome my anger. I should not hate this enemy, who brings peace into my mind.

The enemy is infinitely more precious than any material possession. He is the source of all my past, present and future happiness. I should never hate the enemy. Any possession can be given up for his peace.

An enemy is my greatest need, the source of all beings’ enlightenment, including my own. The enemy is my most precious possession. For his peace I can give up myself.

From now on I must never hate or harm the enemy or any other being.

The enemy harming me mentally and physically is under the control of his negative mind. He is like the stick that someone uses to beat another. There is no reason to get angry or to retaliate by harming the enemy. It is not his fault; just as the pain I experience from a beating is not the fault of the stick.

If I had clear wisdom I would see that harming others out of hatred is harming myself out of hatred. Obviously, I should not harm others.

All sentient beings, including the enemy, are the object of Lord Buddha’s compassion. The numberless buddhas hold the enemy and all other beings dear to their heart. Therefore, harming another, even slightly, is like harming the infinite buddhas.

The Buddha always considers all sentient beings, including enemies, to be more important than himself. Mindlessly harming another being for my own benefit is the act of a mind of stone.

The enemy and all other sentient beings have been my mother countless times. The holy body, speech and mind of the infinite buddhas are servant to all beings, enemies included. Therefore, I must never give harm to any other being.

Not harming my worst enemy, the ignorance in my mind, and destroying an outer enemy instead is like killing a friend by mistaking him for an enemy. I should not harm the outer enemy but the inner one, the actual cause of all my suffering.

Because of transcendent realizations based on the equilibrium meditation, no bodhisattva would ever see another sentient being as an enemy, even if all rose against him or her.

The enemy is merely a concept created by my hatred, just as friends and strangers are concepts created by my attachment and ignorance. I should not believe the distorted perceptions of my negative minds.

If I investigate with my wisdom eye, I will never find my attachment’s friend or my hatred’s enemy anywhere, neither inside nor outside their bodies. Wisdom tells me that these are merely names.

For all these reasons, I can now clearly see how foolish and nonsensical I have been over beginningless lifetimes.

If you could realize this equilibrium meditation it would be your most priceless possession. Equilibrium brings peace to numberless beings and all your future lives.

A tough question and a reluctant answer

2007-05-06T13:27:00.000-07:00

On April 29th, a friend that I made on people.tribes.net, Lama Jime Gyatso, asked me a question that has been racing through my mind like a train through a subway tunnel.

>Lama-Jigme Gyatso wrote:
>
> Dear Daniel,
>
> Right now,
> in THIS moment;
> what are some of the specific things in your life
> that your heart could hunger to heal?
>
> Om Mani Padme Hum,
> Lama Jigme

It has taken me ten days to be able to come up with an answer.

Dear Lama Jigme,

I have been thinking of this question every day since you sent it to me. I am sorry that I have not responded sooner.

I was molested by a group of boys when I was five years old. I have spent years writing about it, sharing about it, being in therapy about it, praying and meditating about it, and suffering from it. There have been years when I thought the pain of it was going to drive me out of my mind. For 15 years, I tried to drink myself into oblivion over it. [Thank goodness I have been sober now for almost 20 years.]

For years I thought I was gay. At 30, I entered into my first gay relationship. It lasted for almost ten years. I thought "coming to terms" that I was "gay" would stop the pain. Instead, the pain just took a nap.

I have been on a three-year fast from sex, quieting my mind, hoping to discover the solution. Now I realize that thinking I was gay was a defense mechanism to not face the trauma of being essentially gang-raped. Believing that I had "asked for" being molested, I needed to think that I must be gay: that was how my little boy mind tried to comprehend what happened to me and why. Now I understand, that had I not been molested, I might not have ever thought of myself as gay. But that doesn't erase the experience.

I now regard myself as a straight man with a bisexual past and uncharted future. This, to me, represents a lot of healing and growth of consciousness. However, that has not removed the scars of the sexual trauma. I still feel a part of me wanders this earth, like a ghost, looking for a healing that I cannot conceive. Today I don't feel straight, gay, bisexual, or necessarily asexual; I don't fit in anywhere. Still feeling defensive, I think and behave like a sex-phobic sexual anorexic, as though that were going to cure me.

When I share this with most people, all of their sex phobias come up, and little to anything good comes of it. That just makes me feel more dislocated.

At various times in my life, I have lived as a monastic. Not surprisingly, those experiences did not address my sexual pain and shame. I have been a buddhist for a long time, but the pain remains.

I have run out of ideas what to do. But I think part of the problem is that I have been running on my old ideas. I have been running with those old ideas wrapped around me, not knowing what else to do.

Right now, in THIS moment, the thing that my heart is hungering to heal is my sexual trauma. I am not attached to what the consequences of this healing might be. What my heart hungers for healing is not about the sex; it's about my ability to connect with life and with others, who in many ways I have shut out.

Thanks for asking me this question. It's exhausted me, but I feel more heart conscious.

Sincerely yours, Daniel Jordan

Thanks for the question, Lama Jigme!

Link to Lama Jigme's web page.

The Buddha was (is) here

2007-05-05T23:53:00.000-07:00

Click here to see the web site for
The Vajrapani Institute for Wisdom Culture, which is close to my hometown of Santa Cruz.

The Vajrapani Institute for Wisdom Culture is a member of The Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition, which is is an international, non-profit organization, founded in 1975 by Lama Thubten Yeshe (1935-84), a Tibetan Buddhist monk. The Foundation is devoted to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation, and community service.

Surf City Santa Cruz

2007-05-05T00:16:00.000-07:00

My take on the dynamics of alcoholism/addiction

2007-05-03T22:15:00.000-07:00

Hi! I just wrote what follows in a letter to a friend of mine. To save time, I typed in all lower caps.

This represents 20 years of my meditation on alcoholism/addiction. This letter reflects my thoughts. Others will agree and disagree. Take what you like and leave the rest. :^)

alcoholism is a scientifically established disease. i will try to explain a few of its features:

* when an alcoholic has alcohol in his body, he loses all connections to everyone else. to the practicing alcoholic, their number one priority is getting drunk, and once that drunk is over, getting loaded again and again. once the alcohol is in the alcoholic, he withdraws, and disconnects from others and non-drinking experiences. his primary purpose is to become intoxicated; everything and everyone else revolve around his need to drink and his ability to do so, uninterrupted.

* it's essential to know, however: the behaviors of an alcoholic have their basis in the neurological "hardwiring" of the alcoholic's brain.

* the biological dynamics of alcoholism can be understood through science's discoveries of the evolutionary development of the brain -- or the brain's roots, if you will.

* the most primitive parts of the brain go back so far in evolution as to be pre-cognitive. they are practically reptilian. this ancient, pre-civilized part of the brain emerged first; later the cognitive lobes evolved into being.

* the first developed parts of the human brain have more power over the brain as a whole, than the parts that developed later. this is true in every human brain.

* the most evolutionary primitive parts of the brain are also recognized as the brain's "pleasure centers." they control the production and regulation of "pleasurable" biochemicals such as dopamine and serotonin. it is here that all human emotions first emerge.

* the neurology of the alcoholic/addict is hyper-sensitive: even to the brain's simplest neurochemical functioning. this is one of the features that differentiate the biology of the alcoholic from that of a non-alcoholic. the alcoholic's neurochemical stability is always in a state of potential imbalance. often, the alcoholic's body -- i.e., his primitive brain/pleasure centers -- do not produce enough neurotransmitters, or do not sufficiently regulate them. a common result is that the alcoholic does not feel mentally stable enough to live without some sort of quick external intervention.

* in the beginning, the body's pleasure centers equate the presence of alcohol in the body with physiological pleasure and give feedback to the body that it is experiencing pleasure. the alcoholic therefore drinks and enjoys the experience. he may not consciously realize that he "self-medicating" with liquor in order to feel mentally, emotionally and dispositionally even.

* this neurochemically-imbalanced, conditioned stimulus and response creates an overexcited mind-behavior feedback loop that propels the alcoholic's future drinking. this feedback loops reinforces the alcoholic's drinking even when toxic symptoms of the drinking begin to appear, such as hangovers, changes of personality and "blackouts."

* the primitive regions of the brain, driven by a neurologic disharmony due to the alcoholic brain's functioning, fixate this destructive behavior in the alcoholic. because the primitive brain overrules the cognitive components of the brain that developed after it, it is at this point that the alcoholic may have "crossed over the line" that requires his drinking without his conscious consent.

* these primitive parts of the brain are pre-cognitive. they determine the alcoholic's behavior without needing to route the decision-making through the brain's cognitive functions. the conscious mind of the alcoholic does not decide whether the alcoholic will drink. under the active influence of alcohol, the alcohol does not have the choice but to drink.

* this pre-cognitive mechanism in the neuro-dysfunctional brain of an actively-drinking alcoholic illustrates why alcoholics get drunk even when they are rationally trying to consciously control their drinking. this is why appeals to the alcoholic's reasoning, emotions or values do not make any dent in the alcoholic's inebriation.

* most alcoholics are depressives; that is, they suffer from depression of a medical nature. try as he may, the alcoholic cannot bring himself out of depression with alcohol or the other drugs that the alcoholic abuses. nevertheless, the alcoholic will try to quash his depression with sedatives (e.g., alcohol), or a combination of sedatives and stimulants.

* the alcoholic may try a variety of different stimulants in combination with alcohol to strike the "right (artificial) balance." these stimulants can be any of the following: cocaine, speed, crack, methamphetamine, and so on. the alcoholic may try to elevate his depression with the use of stimulating behaviors, such as: negative excitement, anger, codependent "drama," compulsive or obsessive sex with a partner, anonymous or casual sex, gambling, argumentation, and so on. the active alcoholic, caught in the grips of neurochemical havoc, will go to any (ultimately self-defeating) lengths to try to restore a semblance of peace to his insane thinking.

* try as he might, eventually the destructive behaviors the alcoholic lavishes upon himself and others catch up to him in the shape of almost every possible negative thing that could happen to a person. this compounds the neurological imperative to seek what has now become oblivion through drink.

* science is also discovering evidence that alcoholism and other addictions have specific genetic roots. scientists are very close to locating the genes that will lead to alcoholism in an individual. not surprisingly, the combination of these particular "alcoholic" genes are similar to the combination of genes that lead to depression.

* it's not clear why some people with the alcoholic gene will drink alcoholically (or act out addictedly), while some people with the same genes won't. the differences are probably based on psychological and sociological factors that bring out the particular expressions of each alcoholic. some alcoholics do not drink alcoholically until they are in the right environment, such as high school, college or work. some alcoholics, such as myself, are born with such a severe neurochemical imbalance that we gravitate to, even actively search out "fixes" such as alcohol from a young age. [i was a blackout drinker from the beginning of my drinking. i was 13.]

* the time-tested programs of Alcoholics Anonymous (meant for the alcoholic) and Al-Anon (meant for people close to an alcoholic) stand by their experience: no one can diagnose whether a person is actually alcoholic except that person. in my opinion, the alcoholic must come to an innermost realization within himself that he has no power whatsoever over his drinking. ultimately, in order to recover from alcoholism, the alcoholic must make his own diagnosis, and then determine if he wants treatment for his disease. i/we/you/they may be sure that a person is an alcoholic, but it's likely that my/your/our/their opinions will not change the alcoholic's distorted perceptions of himself.

the impact of alcoholism on the lives of others

* alcoholism, in addition to being a biological/neurological disease, is also a mental disease.

* when alcohol is in the body of an alcoholic, he is completely under the control of an imbalance that has set off a craving/neurochemical imperative in his body. over this craving, he has absolutely no physical or mental control. the presence of alcohol in the body of an alcoholic also sets off an obsession in his mind, bringing him back to thinking over and over about drinking and getting loaded. this obsession preempts all of the alcoholic's perceptions.

* alcoholism is a disease of perception and denial. over all evidence to the contrary, the alcoholic will rearrange all his perceptions of reality in order so that he can drink as he is compelled to drink. this includes denial of his alcoholism. this includes trying to manipulate and control everyone around the alcoholic so that he is successfully able to blame his drinking on his perceived problems of others. alcoholics are great at creating drama in order to try to distract others from mirroring to him that he is an alcoholic.

* the compelling power of an alcoholic -- doing all that he can to also distort the thinking of others, so that they will be confused as to the fact of his alcoholism -- inevitably harms the perceptions, thinking and feeling of those closest to him.

* the alcoholic can make everyone around him feel like they are crazy and that he is the only sane one among them. one day he admits to his friends or family that he is somehow responsible for his "bad luck." the next day he categorically denies any responsibility for his problems and denounces his friends as traitors for implying he has a problem with drugs or alcohol.

* i can only describe the power of the pathology that the alcoholic inflicts upon others as malevolent. at the same time, the alcoholic is in the grip of a disease that is beyond his reason to control, muchless "manage," as try he might. so what can be done?

* no one, including the loved ones of an alcoholic, can work out his addiction for him. i/we/you/them cannot love him enough, guilt him enough, clean up after him enough, beg him enough, threaten him enough in order to get him to stop drinking. this is never my/your/our/their fault.

* no practicing alcoholic will ever take responsibility for his drinking, unless he is placed in physical, mental, emotional and spiritual circumstances that are completely beyond his ability to control. [and that is just the beginning of recovery.]

* the alcoholic must be made to reckon with the consequences of his drinking, with or without the helpful hand of others. often, the alcoholic will lean on the support of others, while in actuality never taking the meaningful steps forward to his sobriety. that is why the friends of an alcoholic must learn to detach from him -- spiritually, mentally, emotionally and even physically -- for his good. BUT MORE IMPORTANT, FOR THEIR OWN GOOD!

Today is the Buddha's Birthday

2007-05-02T16:52:00.000-07:00

"Non-Buddhists often ask whether or not Buddhists worship images. The images we pay homage to are only representations of one to whom we pay respect in gratitude because he, through his own efforts and wisdom, discovered the way to real peace and made it known to all beings. The offerings we make are but symbols of our reverence for the Buddha and are a means of concentrating our minds on the significance of the words we are reciting. Just as people love to see a portrait of one dear to them when separated by death or distance, so do we Buddhists love to have before us a representation of our teacher, because this representation enables us to think of his virtues, his love and compassion for all beings, and the doctrine he taught."

-- origination of quote unknown

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BUDDHA!

The Nature of Mind

2007-05-01T17:39:00.000-07:00

ON FINDING YOURSELF IN THE NATURE OF MIND

– an edited excerpt from oral teachings given by Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, Winter 2002

In order to directly experience the nature of mind, during dzogchen practice we try to create certain conditions within the body, speech and mind. We use postures or movements of the physical body, practices of the breath, and the concentration and focus of awareness of the mind.

It is not as if the nature of mind is a separate object, a separate place where you as a subject can take a bus, train or a plane to. It is not like that - there is no place to go, no place to search for the nature of mind. Nor is the nature of mind a form with a particular shape or color that you can experience. If you are searching for your nature in those ways, you will not find anything. That is guaranteed. We are so conditioned to always be expecting to see some THING. It is very, very difficult for us to rid ourselves of the mind of ours that has expectations.

If you go out to find a job, you go with the expectation of finding one that pays well, say. That expectation helps guide your search toward finding the right job for you. In looking for the nature of mind, though, it makes no sense to look with the expectation that you will see something, because there is nothing to see.

Now you may be thinking, "There's nothing to see? Well, that's a little discouraging." Maybe you are curious about what this means. You are beginning to realize that you cannot experience the nature of mind in the same way you can experience your dreams, your thoughts, your feelings, or any kind of form. The nature of mind will not be seen in any of those ways. It is possible that during meditation, sometimes you will see various colors or shapes that are signs or qualities of some experience of, or connection to, the nature of mind, but even these are not the nature of mind.

The introduction to the nature of mind is essentially about creating the right causes and conditions - that's really what it is. In the same way that by placing a mirror in different locations you find that your view changes, so too by putting your body in the right position, your breath in the right position, and your mind in the right position, you are able to simply find your self in that place. But when you find your self in that place, it is not that you are seeing something, it is only that you are being. The moment you think that you are seeing your nature, you are actually not. You see, one of the subtlest obstacles to resting in the nature of mind is not being able to get rid of the seer, the one who sees. Until you get rid of the observer, the perceiver, the subject, the nature remains hidden.

So, you don't create or force the experience of the nature of mind; rather, you can put the proper conditions together for finding your self there. It would be a good idea to look at all that we experience in our lives in that same way - understanding that we can't always achieve the results we want by forcing them, but we can instead try to set up the proper conditions for those results to arise naturally. Often we ignore the advantages of setting up the proper conditions and just struggle to force the result into manifestation.

For example, you want to be happy. So what do you do sometimes? You just try to force yourself to be happy, even though in a relative sense you are simply in the wrong place to support being happy. Let's say you are somebody who has a knack for electronics, who is fascinated working all day long on computers and has so much knowledge about how they work, and yet you may not be able to cook even a cup of tea for yourself. Now, if you were put into the position of being a chef at a restaurant, then that would definitely be the wrong place for you to be happy. So, you don't realize you are in the wrong place, the wrong time, the wrong situation, and all you know is that you want to be happy. The location makes you suffer, the situation makes you suffer, the timing makes you suffer, and yet you simply push yourself to be happy. You just cook furiously, and the customers continually are dissatisfied, and eventually the restaurant has to go out of business. That forcing of the situation would obviously be the wrong approach. What should you do instead? Focus your effort on changing the place, changing the timing, changing the circumstances to make them the right ones for being happy. If you do find the right conditions, then you'll be naturally happy. You create the causes for natural happiness rather than futilely struggling to force the result.

Many times in our lives we get stuck simply because we don't know we are trying to force a result that is not supported by our circumstances. We may only be repeating to ourselves, "I want to be happy, I want to be happy, I want to be happy." The added tension created by trying to force your happiness actually tends to worsen your situation. It actually creates the opposite effect, digging you deeper into that unfortunate situation. Do you see how that kind of narrow, result-oriented focus can be a kind of a secret obstacle for us at times?

This is especially true regarding the practices of the nature of mind. So, what is the introduction to the nature of mind? You understand that it is not the same as my saying "Look at this cup" (Rinpoche holds up a teacup). Rather, there are exercises, practices and techniques that all create a space where there is a greater chance to have experience. None of those techniques you learn are the nature of mind. None of those practices are the nature of mind. They are a very skillful means. In one important sense the only time you will have an experience of the nature of mind is when you are not practicing. But you must begin with the practice and then during the session you forget the practice. How can you forget the practice? When you come to the place where there is nothing at all you could call effort, that is the moment when you find yourself in the nature of mind: free from your thoughts, feelings, emotions and conditions, abiding in the space of infinite potential, in which there is a cause for the perfection of every experience that could arise. There is a sense of nothing lacking, because everything is perfected. The sense of longing, lacking, missing, not having enough - none of those experiences are there. On the contrary, there is the sense of being complete, perfected, whole; and you find your self.

So, regarding the introduction to the nature of mind, the important point here is not to get too attached to the techniques or methods, but to work with them so you can create the right position of the body, the right breathing, the right focus of the mind. If you are able to bring together the right conditions of body, energy and mind, then there is no way not to experience your nature. As we always say, there is no power or force that could possibly stop the result when all the causes and conditions are together. The same is true with regard to being happy. If all the causes and conditions for your being happy are together there, you will naturally be happy, and there is no force at all that can stop you from being happy and make you suffer. Likewise, if those causes and conditions are not there, if the causes and conditions are the wrong ones, then there is no force that can make you feel good. That is why the whole notion of cause and effect, or the law of karma, is so important in the dharma.

So, we must develop those causes and conditions that support the experience of the nature of mind without being too attached to the techniques or practices. This does not mean you don't learn how to do the practices precisely; you do learn them - very precisely. However, it's just like an old man who walks from one place to another with the help of a walking stick: His goal is to arrive at the new location, not simply to become attached to the walking stick, right? We also know that if the old man tries to walk there without the stick, for sure he will not reach his goal. Therefore, when walking to the new location he makes sure he has a firm grasp of the sturdy stick that supports him. Once he reaches his destination, the walking stick is no longer important to him. The practices, the techniques, are exactly like that. The methods are exactly like that. They never lose their potential to be of benefit when the need arises, but just don't get attached to them. Is that clear?

Thanks to Rick for posting this at http://bonreligion.tribe.net/

Imagine a Better World with a Friend

2007-05-01T14:45:00.000-07:00

Video: IMAGINE

www.alexgrey.com

As of today, I have been sober for 7,015 days

2007-04-30T07:12:00.000-07:00

... one day, one hour at a time. ;^D

Alcoholics Anonymous

Count the number of days that you have been sober.

Find an AA meeting in your area.

Say hello to my vegan friend Everett!

2007-04-29T22:08:00.000-07:00

here's the link to Everett

Everett's blog

from Everett's blog: on the importance of refraining from negative emotions

The Heart Sutra

2007-04-29T21:05:00.000-07:00

Prajnaparamita, the Goddess of Perfect Wisdom, and Mother of the Buddhas

The Heart Sutra

"The Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, while meditating on Prajnaparamita, shed light on the five skandhas (i.e., components of ego) and found them equally empty. After this penetration, he overcame all pain.

"Listen, Shariputra (a disciple of the Buddha), form is emptiness, emptiness is form; form does not differ from emptiness, emptiness does not differ from form. The same is true with feeling, perception, intention and consciousness.

"Hear, Shariputra, all dharmas (teachings) are marked with emptiness; they are neither produced nor destroyed, neither defiled nor immaculate, neither increasing nor decreasing. Therefore, in emptiness there is no form, feeling, intention, or consciousness; no eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, or mind; no forms, sounds, smell, tastes, touches, or mental objects; nor is there the realm of the eyes, up to and including the realm of mind consciousness. There is no ignorance or ending of ignorance; up to and including no decay and death or ending of decay and death. There is no suffering, no origination of suffering, no extinction of suffering, and no path; no knowledge and also no attainment.

"Because there is no attainment, the bodhisattvas, supported by the Prajnaparamita, find no obstacles for their minds. Having no obstacles, they overcome fear, liberating themselves forever from illusion and realising perfect Nirvana. All Buddhas in the past, present, and future, through reliance upon Prajnaparamita, arrive at full, right, and universal Enlightenment.

"Therefore, one should know that Prajnaparamita is a great spiritual mantra, a great wisdom mantra, a supreme mantra, an unequalled mantra. It destroys all suffering because it is the incorruptible truth. A mantra of Prajnaparamita should therefore be proclaimed. This is the mantra:

"GATE GATE PARAGATE PARASAMGATE BODHISVAHA."
pronounced as:
"gah-teh gah-teh, pah-ra-gah-teh, pah-ra-sum-gah-teh, boo-di so-ha"

What the world needs now / Is love, sweet love

2007-04-29T13:43:00.000-07:00

LOVE

LA through the eyes of a Los Angeleno

2007-04-29T00:06:00.000-07:00

Check out Faces of Sunset: A Portrait of Los Angeles, by LA photographer Patrick Ecclesine. He does a good job of capturing all the messy glory of Sunset Blvd.

I grant Patrick artistic license, but I don't like the fact that he didn't photograph Echo Park Lake, which is in my neighborhood, and is one of the prettiest and most special places in Los Angeles. Echo Park Lake is home to the largest lotus garden in the US. Contrary to the photographer, my neighborhood is not as shitty a place as his few photos makes it look. (Yes, I am a little hurt.)

Wikipedia has a good take on Echo Park.

LA through the eyes of a stranger

2007-04-29T00:01:00.000-07:00

This picture is a bougainvillea umbrella in the ocean-facing garden at the "The Getty" museum in Brentwood.

Thanks to Amy in Las Vegas for these and other photos of Los Angeles, available at her web log, Unlikely in Vegas.

Why having a guru is so important

2007-04-27T21:05:00.000-07:00

Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized soul can impart knowledge unto you because he has seen the truth.

The path of spiritual realization is undoubtedly difficult. The Lord therefore advises us to approach a bona fide spiritual master in the line of disciplic succession from the Lord Himself. No one can be a bona fide spiritual master without following this principle of disciplic succession.

The Lord is the original spiritual master, and a person in the disciplic succession can convey the message of the Lord as it is to his disciple. No one can be spiritually realized by manufacturing his own process, as is the fashion of the foolish pretenders.

The Bhagavatam says: dharmam tu saksad bhagavat-pranitam--the path of religion is directly enunciated by the Lord. Therefore, mental speculation or dry arguments cannot help one progress in spiritual life.

One has to approach a bona fide spiritual master to receive the knowledge. Such a spiritual master should be accepted in full surrender, and one should serve the spiritual master like a menial servant, without false prestige.

Satisfaction of the self-realized spiritual master is the secret of advancement in spiritual life. Inquiries and submission constitute the proper combination for spiritual understanding. Unless there is submission and service, inquiries from the learned spiritual master will not be effective.

One must be able to pass the test of the spiritual master, and when he sees the genuine desire of the disciple, he automatically blesses the disciple with genuine spiritual understanding. In this verse, both blind following and absurd inquiries are condemned. One should not only listen submissively to the spiritual master, but one must also get a clear understanding from him, in submission and service and inquiries.

A bona fide spiritual master is by nature very kind toward the disciple. Therefore when the student is submissive and is always ready to render service, the reciprocation of knowledge and inquiries becomes perfect.

this post is from "The Hindu Universe" at Hindunet.com

Video: Free Hugs

2007-04-27T10:31:00.000-07:00

www.freehugscampaign.org

About A Course in Miracles

2007-04-27T00:30:00.000-07:00

This is the text of a letter that I sent to a new AA/writer friend of mine, gÃNgst€® Bo¥s¢oUt.

Hey, G! I hope you don't mind addressing you as "G," but I don't have the typeset to spell out your full tribes.net moniker. Actually, that's a lie. I am just lazy.

I swore after just writing you that I was going straight to bed. Naturally, when I declare I am going to sleep, I tell myself first that I can graze the web for another 5 minutes ... and here I am.

I saw your reference to "A Course in Miracles." My [AA] sponsor Rick Saslaw knew Marianne Williamson; they knew each other very well. Rick used to take me to hear MW speak. She spoke twice a week in LA during the 80s and early 90s. I was just 18 months into sobriety and quite raw. Rick took me to Alanon meetings and ACIM talks given by MW. A lot of my ideas about my HP came to me through Rick, through MW and ACIM.

MW was quite a delightful, conscious lady human being with a wise heart and a nose for bullshit. Nothing got past her.

Rick had AIDS. He had given so much to AA and to lots of charities throughout LA, but he almost always balked at getting or asking for help. MW helped to run an organization called Project Angel Food, which prepares and delivers meals to people with HIV/AIDS. Rick was running out of money and he would never eat at home.

Rick was brilliant and defiant: the worst combination in an alcoholic. I was pretty much Rick's primary caretaker; but he wouldn't ask Project Angel Food for help, and he wouldn't let me ask. Finally, I called Marianne. I didn't think she would remember me, but all I had to say to her was Rick's name, and that he was jeopardizing his life by not eating. We knew about AIDS wasting syndrome. Marianne called Rick right then. She prodded him until he was willing to accept Project Angel Food's help. THAT was a deep dish course in miracles. The next day, the deliveries began and Rick began to eat again.

I called Marianne again about a year later. Her book, "Return to Love" had become a bestseller, and she was in the middle of her second book tour. I let her know that Rick had died.

A half-year or so before, I caught MW at a break during one of her lectures. I introduced myself again. I asked her if she would officiate at Rick's memorial service when he died. She agreed on the spot. I don't think I told Rick. I must have. It's just that he and I could barely talk about his death.

It was shortly after the day that I last saw Rick; I placed a large sunflower from my garden on the back of his burly naked body: lying in the dark in his tiny bathroom. I didn't really get to see him. His body blocked the bathroom door from opening except for just a little bit.

Then the Neptune Society came, picked him up, cremated him, and later poured his ashes into the sea. The Neptunes don't let people ride on their boats to come to say goodbye. [I hope that it was dignified.]

Marianne paused her RTL tour and officiated at Rick's memorial at this postage stamp of a park tucked below Sunset Strip. All of Rick's eccentric friends and AAs -- crowded onto this petit lawn. Of course, we were in West Hollywood. A hundred or so feet above us, in the zenith of a sterling day, was the Sunset Strip, all its vampires vouchsafed until the night; three of four blocks below, down the hill, was Boy's Town and the bars.

It got hot. I was wearing this blue wool business suit, and holding on to Rick's huge stuffed monkey doll. The monkey made me itch more than the suit. At the podium, I made the most nonsensical remarks about Rick and his stuffed monkey. Marianne salvaged the hour's empty disposition, basically giving us an ACIM lecture, a discourse on Rick Saslaw. It was the most fitting tribute Rick could ever have had.

Rick's been gone 14 years now. I haven't seen MW since.

I have Rick's copy of RTL. I have read and reread the book dozens of times. My sponsee Matt will attest to all of the sentences covered with neon shades of highlighting pens, underlined by my ecstatic shaky hand, and my furious emphatic notes that cram the margins and whatever blank space I could find in the front and back. Lovingly illustrated with light bulbs, lightning bolts, happy faces, flowers and hearts, it's a hippie's journal. But it's my book, and I don't care if it does look kind of gay.

Matt has taken to reading RTL. With most of many sponsees, this strategy of mine hasn't worked.

I am always going on to Matt and my other sponsees about the necessity of cultivating positive spiritual energy in sobriety. RTL is the perfect spiritual energy textbook for this. And it's getting through to him.

At first, I lent Matt Rick's copy/my copy of RTL. Then, I bought him a mint first-edition hardback copy of RTL on Amazon. This outcome relieves me and makes me very happy. His ex-girlfriend loves RTL, too. Actually, I couldn't open the book for several years after Rick had gone, but I treasured it until I could read it.

Of course, RTL is something that I will always read. That and the Big Book and my book on the Prajnaparamita Sutra. I always have one or more of those books on me at all times. They are my talismans.

I have had four sponsors, one of which still works with me now, and they are all sacred to me. Each one of my sponsors has made me into the sober and spiritual mensch that I am today. [I will say I'm a mensch; they were for me, and now I am in their place.] With great giddiness and reverence, I talk on and on about my sponsors to my sponsees. I'm not sure if they are suffering this fool gladly, but I can't help myself.

Rest in peace, my wise and beautiful sponsor and best friend.
(And thanks for being there, Marianne.)

The power of truth and responsibility is surfacing in the U.S. Congress

2007-04-26T12:27:00.000-07:00

From Air America:
"The House on Wednesday narrowly approved a $124 billion war spending bill that would require American troops to begin withdrawing from Iraq by Oct. 1, setting the stage for the first veto fight between President Bush and majority Democrats. The Senate is expected on Thursday to approve identical legislation, which provides more than $95 billion for combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan through Sept. 30, with the money conditioned on the administration’s willingness to accept a timetable for withdrawal and new benchmarks to assess the progress of the Iraqi government."

Video: Representative John Murtha, Chairman of the House Defense Committee, Pushes for Passage of the "Iraq Accountability Bill."

Video: Representative Patrick Murphy, Who Served in Iraq in 2003-4, Grieves the Loss of His Fellow Soldiers, and Demands a Fall 2007 Withdrawl of U.S. Troops From Iraq.

Thanks to AMERICAblog.com for the videos.

Images from The Awakening Project

2007-04-25T18:56:00.000-07:00

Click here to link to some photos that will add zing to your bio-electrical energy fields.

The Awakening Project

Article: US neuroscientists have declared the happiest man they have ever tested

2007-04-24T19:35:00.000-07:00

Link to the article

Thanks to Dionysius at tribes.net for the article.

Can mysticism save us now?

2007-04-24T04:19:00.000-07:00

Can Rumi save us now?
Life and words of the popular 13th-century Persian poet have special meaning for a 21st-century world torn by war, genocide and hatred

Jonathan Curiel, Chronicle Staff Writer
Sunday, April 1, 2007

During the last decades of his life, the Persian poet Rumi was surrounded by news of terrorism, just as we are eight centuries later. Those were the days of Mongol invasions that swept past the steppes of Asia into Anatolia, the Near East and other areas of geographical importance. Mass murders from war -- what today would be called genocide and ethnic cleansing -- were a routine part of Rumi's 13th-century world.

So, where's the bloodshed in Rumi's writing? Where are all the parables about gore and conflict and Mongol atrocities?

Nowhere, really, say Rumi scholars, pinpointing a central incongruity to the poet's life: Rumi, a man so advanced in Islamic training that he could issue fatwas, divorced himself from talk of revenge, retribution and eye-for-an-eye killings. Like Jesus, Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., Rumi insisted violence was an unsatisfying way of resolving issues. In fact, Rumi believed people could find salvation in their enemies' hatred.

"Every enemy is your medicine ... your beneficial alchemy and heart healing," Rumi says in his epic six-volume work, the Mathnavi, as translated by Majid Naini, an Iranian American scholar. "Carry the burden smilingly and cheerfully, because patience is the key to victory."

Sentiments like that have turned Rumi into one of America's best-selling poets -- someone whose thoughts on love and other matters are revered by hundreds of thousands of readers.

Rumi had already found an audience in America before 9/11, but interest in the mystic from Persia (now Iran) -- and in his beautiful words; in his sometimes funny stories; in his all-inclusive message that the faithful of all religions have a common humanity -- has mushroomed in the past six years. In recognizing this year as the 800th anniversary of Rumi's birth, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, which is known as UNESCO, calls Rumi an "eminent philosopher and mystical poet of Islam" whose "work and thought remain universally relevant today."

Scores of concerts and events will mark the anniversary, including a celebration on Thursday and Friday in San Francisco that features Coleman Barks, the retired University of Georgia professor widely credited with popularizing Rumi in the United States.

Go to Borders, Barnes & Noble or any neighborhood bookstore, and you're likely to find many more Rumi titles than books by Robert Frost or Walt Whitman. Besides poetry shelves, Rumi is prominent in bookstores' calendar, religious and music sections. Rumi's words -- lyrical and resonant, especially when voiced in Persian -- lend themselves perfectly to musical expression. Charles Lloyd, the brilliant saxophonist who played with Ornette Coleman and Eric Dolphy in the 1960s, is among the jazz artists who've recently paid musical tribute to Rumi.

So, who is Rumi, really? He was a mystic and a scholar. He was an adherent of religious Islam (his full name was Jalal al-Din Muhammad Balkhi) who did the hajj to Mecca, but who, in the later part of his life, famously said, "I am not a Jew nor a Christian, not a Zoroastrian nor a Moslem." By that, says Naini, Rumi meant that his faith in God, in Allah, knew no boundaries -- that it didn't matter what country he lived in, or what official religion he designated, because the love and longing that Rumi felt was everywhere, including his soul.

"Keep in mind that the holy Quran states there is no force in religion," says Naini, a Rumi expert who has lectured on the poet at the United Nations. "Rumi wants to remind us that we are all children and the creation of God, regardless of religion, race, color, nationality, etc."

Born on Sept. 30, 1207, in what is today the area of Balkh, Afghanistan, Rumi might have been a religious cleric all his life were it not for Shams of Tabriz, a wandering dervish whom Rumi met at age 38. As chronicled in Naini's book, "Mysteries of the Universe and Rumi's Discoveries on the Majestic Path of Love," Tabriz challenged Rumi's perspective by asking him if the mystic Bayazid Baastami was "higher" in stature than the Muslim Prophet Muhammad. By confronting Rumi in a public space, and daring to compare Bayazid and Muhammad, Shams unnerved Rumi, who encountered someone unafraid to make a spectacle and question religious orthodoxy.

Out of that first meeting in Konya, Turkey, Rumi and Shams became inseparable. Shams was at least 20 years older than Rumi, and untrained in strict Islamic theology, yet Rumi -- who was the highest Muslim authority in Konya -- chose Shams to be his mentor. As noted by Naini, Shams asked Rumi to relinquish himself from the trappings of his fame and fortune, and to focus just on an unadorned, selfless connection to God. To "disconnect from the world of desires and dependencies," as Naini notes, and to enter into a higher spiritual devotion to the Almighty, Rumi followed Shams' advice to perform a whirling dance called Samaa, and to listen to mystical music performed on a reed flute. (Rumi practiced the Samaa on an empty stomach, says Naini.) Islamic traditionalists considered Rumi's new actions heretical.

Seven centuries later, some Muslim fundamentalists still say the movement that Rumi spawned -- the Mevlevi, also known as the Whirling Dervishes -- is un-Islamic because of its emphasis on public song and dance. But Naini and other scholars rebut that, saying Rumi and his followers are emblematic of Islam's Sufi tradition, which emphasizes a mystical closeness to God, and to other humans, regardless of their faith. It's this universality that appeals to Rumi's readers and accounts for the still-growing interest in Rumi's work.

Westerners who may be otherwise afraid of Islam see in Rumi and the Mevlevi a form of the religion that features dancing, music and talk of brotherly and sisterly fellowship. They see someone from Persia who turned his back on hatred and revenge. In the current climate of war and warmongering, Rumi left behind volumes of work that have gained relevance as time has passed.

Rumi didn't try to sugarcoat his life or the lives of others. After Shams mysteriously disappeared, Rumi felt sorrow for many years. His stories of trying to retain a closeness to God through love and loss are at the heart of his writing.

In "Mysteries of the Universe," Naini emphasizes Rumi's thoughtfulness on science, music, and nature, but Rumi's biggest gift to readers today may be his emphasis on the power of love and tolerance.

"Rumi said, 'From love, thorns become flowers,' " Naini says. "Rumi teaches that even if the Devil falls in love, he becomes something like (the angel) Gabriel, and that evilness dies within him."

The Rumi Concert, sponsored by the California Institute of Integral Studies, takes place at 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. For more information, visit www.ciis.edu/publicprograms/spring07/rumi_concert.html. E-mail Jonathan Curiel at jcuriel@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page E - 3 of the San Francisco Chronicle

Become the Sky (a poem by Rumi)

2007-04-24T03:24:00.000-07:00

It's worth seeing this video on the full screen at You Tube.

Introducing VAJRAKILAYA (Danger Angel's Protector)

2007-04-23T04:37:00.000-07:00

This is the description that Danger Angel gives of Vajrakilaya:

Vajrakilaya – the awareness-being who stabs the roots of anger

Dorje Phurba (rDo rJe phur bu – Vajrakilaya) is shown here in union with Dorje Phagmo (rDo rJe phag mo – Vajra Vaharahi). Dorje Phurba, which means 'thunderbolt nail', obliterates the minions of aggression by plunging the self-existent dagger of non-duality into the heart of hatred wherever it hides and whomever hides it within themselves. Within the space of his vajra-destructiveness, dualised beings are unable to cling to callous imperatives. He wears the six human bone cemetery ornaments resplendent with thunderbolt nails, in display of his mastery of the six classes of the Vajrayana. The Kriya Tantra nails overpower the anger of puritanical pretence. The Upa Tantra nails overpower the anger of petulant propriety. The Yoga Tantra nails overpower the anger of pretended buddha karma of pacification. The Mahayoga nails overpower the anger of the pretended buddha karma of enrichment. The Anuyoga nails overpower the anger of the pretended buddha karma of magnetising. The Atiyoga nails overpower the anger of the pretended buddha karma of destruction.

Hey, I don't pretend to understand Vajrakilaya's spiritual qualities yet, but I like him! He looks like a dangerous angel! Welcome to Vajra Surfers, Vajrakilaya!

Link of the Day, April 23

2007-04-23T04:18:00.000-07:00

"Focus,
not on the rudenesses of others,
not on what they've done
or left undone,
but on what you
have & haven't done
yourself."

-The Buddha, Dhammapada, 4, translation by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.

I took this quote from the Tribe.net site of Danger Angel. Wow, check out her web site. I really respect her and I don't even know her yet.

Life is Like This

2007-04-22T22:07:00.000-07:00

We can’t control what arises in the mind, but we can reflect on what we are feeling and learn from it rather than simply being caught helplessly in our impulses and habits. Even though there is a lot in life that we can’t change, we can change our attitude towards it. That’s what so much of meditation is really about—changing our attitude from a self-centered, "get rid of this or get more of that" to one of welcoming life as it is. Welcoming the opportunity to eat food that we don’t like. Welcoming wearing three robes on a hot morning. Welcoming discomfort, feeling fed up, wanting to run away. This way of welcoming life reflects a deeper understanding. Life is like this. Sometimes it’s very nice, sometimes it’s horrible, and much of the time it’s neither one way nor the other. Life is like this.

Ajahn Sumedo, "Life is Like This," adapted from a talk given at Spirit Rock Meditation Center (May 10, 2005)

Video: David Lynch: Consciousness, Creativity and the Brain

2007-04-21T22:43:00.000-07:00

Video: The inside story on transcending the brain, with David Lynch, Award-winning film director of Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks, Mullholland Drive, Inland Empire (filming); John Hagelin, Ph.D., Quantum physicist featured in "What the bleep do we know?;" and Fred Travis, Ph.D., Director, Center for Brain, Consciousness and Cognition Maharishi University of Management. [events] [artshumanities]

Video: The Buddha Boy of Nepal

2007-04-20T00:49:00.000-07:00

Sweet!

2007-04-18T22:17:00.000-07:00

These are some of the waves at Mavericks beach, near my hometown of Santa Cruz.

Check out Mavericks, its history, and the surfing contest held there every winter.

Mavericks at Half Moon Bay

Two days to surfing!

2007-04-18T22:03:00.000-07:00

I'll only be body surfing, but the rush is still intense! I will get pictures.

And here's another one of my heroes

2007-04-18T21:53:00.000-07:00

Christ as the Good Shepherd

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SAINT JOHN
CHAPTER 10
14 I am the good shepherd, and know my [sheep], and am known of mine.
15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.
16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, [and] one shepherd.
17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.

Each of us is a healer: Medicine Buddha and the karma of healing

2007-04-18T20:57:00.000-07:00

Check out this article

This article comes at a good time for me. My tailbone has been bothering me for several months and now it is starting to affect my legs.

My spiritual practice as taught to me by Alcoholics Anonymous has proven to me that I must let go of my self-centered, self-pitying thinking, and turn my thoughts to others who are in greater need of help. This gets me out of myself, and when I do, I actually feel much less physical pain.

The Medicine Buddha has been my friend since I first picked up a poster of him in a Buddhist bookstore up in Berkeley. For the past 12 years, this framed poster of the Medicine Buddha has been shining like the sun into my residences and into my consciousness. It is said that just by contemplating the image of the Medicine Buddha that one begins to heal. I think it's true. Just look at his image and see how totally generous and compassionate he is. By the sheer force of the compassion that radiates through him, we get a glimpse of forgiveness. At that same moment, though we may not be conscious of it. we become able to forgive (and be forgiven of) many of the stupid things that account for the stupid karmic messes we find ourselves in.

Click here to get more info on how to meditate upon the Medicine Buddha as a source for healing

I had no idea YouTube could be inspiring

2007-04-18T02:42:00.000-07:00

Open and empty your mind, click here and bliss out

(expand the screen for full effect)

This web link (below) will tell you about the Taras

2007-04-18T00:35:00.000-07:00

About the Taras

Save me from my fears! from me!

2007-04-17T22:47:00.000-07:00

This is a "thangktha," or painting of Green Tara, a deeply revered goddess among hindus and buddhists.

This is a "yantra" of Green Tara -- a visualization of her spiritual energy pattern.

Thanghkas and yantras are used as meditation tools. Just calmly looking at them is meant to hook you up into the divine geometry of the universe, to retune you. Music can do the same thing.

Tara comes in many colors, each of which focus her particular strengths. Isn't that cool? Doesn't that make sense? I will show you an image of White Tara later. White Tara, as you would imagine, looks Asian -- usually Chinese, at least to me. To me, Green Tara looks African. My favorite girlfriend, Debbie McLeod -- she and Green Tara look so much alike, it's jolting! Ah, Debbie! But Debbie is another story ...

Green Tara is often known as "The Giver of Prosperity." Another one of her names, or aspects, that I particlarly like, is "Unchallenged Furious Lady."

My high-school English teacher once told me that I had a big nose that made me look like an elephant. My mother didn't think it was funny. My mother almost got him fired. He never made that kind of mistake again. My mother was Green Tara at that moment. Green Tara kicks ass!!

Green Tara is the mother who protects us from fear. She protects us from our own inner demons, or negative, habituated thoughts and feelings. Tara saves us from ourselves. Tara saves me from me. To keep things light, Tara also mirrors back to us the best things about ourselves. Just like my grandmas did. I could do no wrong in their eyes. Tara is that mother, too.

If you will notice in the painting, Tara's right palm is facing toward us, and her right foot is extended off her throne toward us. The point is: she is willing to come on down and set things right in short order. Tara does this because she is unconditionally loving. And, like I said, she's not afraid to kick your ass or mine if it is in the interest of elevating all life.

Gazing upon the image of Tara is supposed to help us deal with our own craziness, and specifically heal us mentally, emotionally and physically. Tara really keeps me sane.

More about the Green Tara

------------

I deal with bipolar depression, which I have fortunately been able to successfully treat. Yes, I have to do a lot to keep on this human plane: one, take medications under a psychiatrist's care as directed and only as directed. I see a fantastic therapist! My psychiatrist is also great. [You have to see a doctor who thinks and cares about you as a person. I have fired many MDs and psychiatrists along the way to get the treatment I needed.]

As long as I am doling out advice: if you are dealing with depression, anxiety or some other form of mental illness, you need to ask a physician for medical help, don't worry about what the family will think, and fucking change your life. If you are drinking alcohol and/or using recreational drugs such as marijuana and cocaine, then you are doubly fucking yourself! You have no hope for mental relief until you stop self-medicating! I have been sober for 19 years. I have seen the addicts who can't get or stay sober because they will not address their mental health issues. I have also seen the people who deny their mental troubles and try to drown their pain with drugs and alcohol. It's like putting a match into an open gas tank ...

Check out my web link to AA. Everyone needs to know and understand about AA, because everyone knows a drunk and/or addict.

"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."

Alcoholics Anonymous

If it wasn't for Alcoholics Anonymous, I still would be out of my friggin' mind!!! AA and my spiritual practices. Buddhism and AA together have been essential for quieting my mind. You will hear about both of these inevitably.

What I believe is, the best of the universe, both inside and outside me, collaborated to take me out of insanity and give me what I never had: a stabilized mind, a stabilized neurochemistry, and a greater, inherently spiritual, consciousness beyond my understanding that is responsible for this stability. Of course, I have to be willing and conscious to stay stable one day at a time. But I give credit to this harmonizing super-consciousness, and to me, she is Green Tara.

So: Green Tara saves me from the worst in me, and brings out the best in me. I wish everyone had a conscious awareness of this kind of feminine spirituality. Thank goodness that those Christians, who want her, have Mother Mary.

I remember when I was four years old that I could not fall asleep until my mother came into my room and tucked me into bed so that I felt like I was being held. I do believe I was being held! God as Mother was there all along! I think more of Mother Mary when I visualize me, a very little kid, back then in Colorado Springs, before my family fell apart, and then came back together in California, the land of the hippies. The Mother was there in that room with me. She was like the light coming through the open door that my mom knew to keep only three-quarters shut for me.

I always think of God as Mother as being around me. Green Tara kicks ass and encourages and emboldens me, so I like to think of her as riding shotgun with me here in my life in the City of Our Lady Queen of the Angels. She, and Our Lady of Guadelupe!

For any of you who think I am crazy, you may have a point, but along with the craziness comes mysticism. I believe in the spiritual world, and I feel sorry for you if you don't. It's real, dudes. If you have ever surfed, you have felt the presence of nature in harmony with something greater than the physics of wave mechanics.

------------

Hey, I am going to go surfing later this week -- up the Malibu coast an hour until I hit the LA/Ventura County lines. I pity you landlubbers who have never danced with the Pacific! I am going to play like an otter and swim like a dolphin. And I will come back a new man.

Hopefully, there won't be too many other surfers there. The ocean turns surfers mellow; it isn't the drugs. Some of the most spiritual people you will ever meet in the world are surfers, seriously.

A Prayer for "Vajra Surfers"

2007-04-17T22:12:00.000-07:00

I ask the Hindu God Ganesha, the elephant-headed son of Shiva: please bless "Vajra Surfers" and make it a web log that will uplift humanity. Please keep out the typos, and please forgive my clumsiness, because I will likely write stuff that I might later regret, and so I ask for your forgiveness then and now. Please guide me to stick to the truth -- at least as I am experiencing it in the moment. And let me be not too hard on myself; please remind me that I am not a human being trying to have a spiritual experience, but a spiritual being trying to have a human experience.

Please help "Vajra Surfers" find its intended readers, and please protect this web log from spammers and infidels. ;^) That is, please help this web log increase compassion and tolerance of others among others.

Ganesha, I don't know much about "blogging" yet, but I am a writer, and so I ask you to make this web log a presence of light, spirituality, creativity and humor in the empty universe. AND FUN!

Ganesha, let me always delight in your presence, remember to chant your mantra "Om Gum Gunapatayei Swaha," accept by doing so that you are removing blocking of energies within and around me and my readers, and let me laugh and be silly and not take myself too seriously.

Ganesha Video

This video will get you HIGH!

OM GUM GUNAPATAYEI SWAHA