Mira Prabhu's Blog, page 21
May 14, 2017
Monday Funnies…
Ah, Maxine, thank you – and you too, Chris Graham, for sharing!!!
Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog
May 13, 2017
Xylotheque: The Wood Library
Superb idea: “In 18th century Germany, where modern forestry began, a curious sort of library began to grow. Enthusiasts began to collect samples of different woods, but instead of simple blocks the samples were fashioned in the shape of books. These wooden “books” could be opened to reveal a hollowed out compartment where botanical samples of the source tree were stored — leaves, seeds, nut, twigs, fruit, flowers, pieces of root and bark. In some cases, written descriptions of the tree and the diseases it might suffer from were also included. The “books” were arranged in shelves, just like in a regular library, with the spine showing where the labels were attached.” Thanks for sharing, Alk3r!
A xylotheque at Stift Lilienfeld in Austria. Every “book” is made by the wood of the tree that is documented inside. Photo credit:
Haeferl/Wikimedia
In 18th century Germany, where modern forestry began, a curious sort of library began to grow.
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May 12, 2017
Writing to get RICH
Some people do write to get rich and a few of these “some” even succeed…but I write for different reasons. Writing gives me clarity, strength, patience, it coaxes me to learn more about the subjects I am writing about so I can be fluid and authentic, and it is, to use a Sanskrit word, my “dharma” or sacred mission. Check this post out if you also write…thanks Wallace Peach!
Well, that was a bait and switch, sort of. It all depends on how one defines rich.
I wonder how many of us start this writing journey with secret dreams of bestsellers, movie deals, roly-poly royalty checks, and hiring efficient staff with clipboards to manage our fan mail.
I write fantasy after all. A little dreaming is in order. Yet, I always knew that dream was a stretch (a gigantic one).
My husband, on the other hand, had high hopes that he’d married Ms. Moneybags who’d drag her sacks of gold from her thousands of books sales down the red carpet to the bank.
Ha ha ha. That would be nice! It didn’t take long for him to become disillusioned, the poor man.
Because that’s not how this author thing works (just in case you’re a dreamer and think it is). Oh yes, some few among us have outstanding good luck and…
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May 11, 2017
LIVING WITH PARALYSIS
Living with paralysis…unfortunately, and its a bitter pill to swallow, this could happen to any of us – which is why it is so heart-warming and wonderful to know that some heroes do when confronted with a terrible illness – thanks so much for sharing, Tina Frisco!
Casey Sims was in an accident that left him paralyzed. He went through a period of loss and came out the other side with a purpose in life. He started a blog and is now showing us how to overcome adversity and thrive while doing it. He also has a website with a lot of photographs.
Casey is new to blogging and would love to meet fellow bloggers. Please visit his Blog, follow and share ❤
Livin With Paralysis… “The Man Who Thinks He Can, And The Man Who Thinks He Can’t, Are Both Right…” …
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May 7, 2017
Monday Funnies…
May 6, 2017
A Message from Leslie Robinson, Founder of Arunachala Animal Sanctuary…
[image error]First, a true story for you: Jansy was a six month old puppy when she was hit by a two wheeler. Poor baby took a hit in the head and was unconscious when brought to us. Dr. Raja didn’t think she was going to make it. She was in a coma for ten days, clinging to life, concussion, potential nerve damage, eyeball hanging out, skull fracture. In intensive care, we stroked her and whispered to her: “Sweet Jansy, hang on, you’re with very good people.” We played chants, gave her I.V.’s for nutrition, spinal injections for controlling brain inflammation, neurobion-vitamins to boost her nervous system, pain killers and Reiki.
Mirculously, a few days later, Jansy started moving her head a little, and then her body. Still later, she turned on her stomach. Then she sat up and started eating a little. She was comfortable with us and clearly felt safe. After 3 ½ weeks she started trying to stand, then taking her first steps. She was indrawn, but content. We let her walk around in isolation a week, encouraging her, stroking and kissing her. Then she was ready for the veranda, to rest on one of the straw mattresses. A lot of puppies were out there, and a lot of snuggling and warming up began. Jansy started responding and even forming some relationships. Walking around, resting, playing gently, going off alone occasionally or just resting—and then, voila, she was bounding around with the rest. Welcome back dear Jansy! We love you!!!
*****
[image error]Easing the karma of Arunachala’s animals is our work and yes, they have a heavy load to bear, due to political and bureaucratic indifference, outright cruelty, and so on. We focus on lightening their karmic load and it is a great blessing to be able to do so, for the energy that comes back from these beautiful, innocent creatures brings immense love that surrounds us all in a gentle, protective, bubble.
We’re going through difficult times right now: First of all, we are really overcrowded, and yet this is an auspicious sign and a clear reflection that human hearts are opening more and more. The number of monthly emergency rescues (almost all homeless dogs and puppies) have increased exponentially in the last two years: from 40 to between 80 and 110. It’s a strong sign that people have become much more aware and caring for these Precious Creatures. Can you imagine the significance of someone calling in and saying this homeless dog hasn’t been eating the last two days? Especially coming from a space ten years ago of almost complete indifference! Similarly, the number of monthly visits for treatment to our clinic has increased from an average of 300 two years ago, to between 550 and 750 now. These are mostly “owner dogs”. The Transformation of our community is reflected in this increase in the number of Voiceless Ones that are coming to us as dogs for domestic pets. The result is a critical overcrowding of our precious in-house animals—from between 75 and 100 two years ago, to between 200 and 225 now.
[image error]So our Number One priority is to get into a much bigger facility, which means purchasing land and building. Sadly, the Municipality, Bureaucracy, and local Politicos couldn’t care less. For them there is “no problem” because the streets are so remarkably good. There’s probably no municipality in India that has anything like this. What they don’t know, or care to know, is that the reason things are so good is because we have a staff of 21, plus two full-time veterinary doctors who are doing 100 emergency rescues a month, seeing up to 750 cases for treatment each month in our clinic, going out up to 100 kms to find homes for our puppies, doing emergency rescue 24/7, treating and caring for over 200 creatures in-house, performing 60 to 100 sterilizations each month 5 to 10 other complicated operations.
When we opened ten years ago, the scene was ghastly: Approximately 7000 homeless dogs and the population out of control: 350 suffering and dying creatures on the streets, rabies, starvation, no facility for treatment and care within 70 kms, a terrible relationship between the people and the animals, widespread abuse and many dog bites. Now there are no more suffering and dying animals on the streets and the homeless dog population is decreasing for the first time in forty years, and it is rabies-free. Widespread abuse is gone, and the relationship between the animals and the people amongst whom they live day in, day out is totally transformed. And there are 10,000 fewer puppies born each year, almost all of whom would have just suffered and died. And each year it gets better. You can experience it just walking on the streets…frequent scenes of people stroking homeless dogs, speaking sweetly to them, giving them food are common. Almost unheard of ten years ago.
If the Shelter went down, it wouldn’t revert back to the awful scene that existed in 2007, but to a scene almost unimaginably worse. Just from the 100 emergency rescues not being done, the afflicted creatures, alone, would flood the streets. At the end of a year there would be 1200 to 1500 suffering and dying creatures, not the awful 350 from 2007.
[image error]We take exceptional steps to protect, support, and care for our Precious Ones as we traverse this difficult terrain. Because they run free, skin diseases are passed back and forth. The incidence of the main skin conditions, primarily called Mange, got alarmingly high that all the Precious Ones, without exception, had to be treated at the same time (even if they did not have Mange), in a way that would to eliminate cross transfer: in other words, they all had to be healed together. At the writing of this Report, all 200 dogs have been given medicinal shampoos, and coated with neem oil (with sulfur) once a week for four weeks, along with appropriate medications. Thank God, the mange situation is now under control. The itching has stopped, they’re all comfortable, their coats are looking much better, and it appears they are almost cured.
We are also now going to start treating the Fungal Skin Infections. For our most difficult cases, we will call in one of the foremost veterinary dermatologists in the Nation who is at the Madras Veterinary College and has a long-term relationship with Dr. Raja. All our dogs have had three medicinal baths at the writing of this Report and, blessing of blessings, the itching has stopped, they’re all comfortable, their coats are looking much, much better, and it seems almost all are cured.
Decontamination of the Shelter took three days: solutions to decontaminate the floor, beddings, mattresses, etc. Also for three days (from 7pm to 2:30am, ending this last Sunday 2:30am, the 12th) the entire Shelter, cages and grounds, was gone over thoroughly by a professional with a strong flame gun. This process also handled the tic problem.
[image error]In addition, because of the overcrowding, we feel our Precious Ones need more care and loving. So Vishwa has also found 5 women whose only job will be to give our darlings additional love, and caring, massages, strokes and loving words. So far, this is working out beautifully.
In a nutshell, beloved friends, we’re under big pressure to get into a much larger facility, and that means land ($75,000), and building ($250,000). I’m thinking that the fastest we could do it is in four to six months. So if you know Bill Gates or Warren Buffett, call them…If you know Ratan Tata, Rockefeller, or a gadzillionaire that loves animals, call them…If you know Donald Trump, don’t call him. If you know my Mother, tell her to send my Piggy Bank. If you can’t help with money, prayers are good, but know that this is real and it’s big. Namasthe!
*****
[image error]The main thing in our beloved Shelter is HEART. But one has to experience it. It’s not unusual for animal lovers to get teary when they experience the Shelter because they didn’t know that anything like it existed. Below are two short videos, and a photo presentation that give a sense of what has unfolded.
This is a link to a 3 minute video which is excerpts from an interview of me.
This is the 8 minute video called Hridayam that a strong supporter put together several months ago. It’s the one that Ingrid Newkirk saw screened at the AhimsaFest 2016 in Mumbai at the beginning of November.
This is a photo presentation of our Shelter. http://www.arunachalasanctuary.com/photo/presentation
TO DONATE PLEASE CLICK HERE: http://www.arunachalasanctuary.com/to-donate-and-other-ways-of-helping/to-donate/
May 4, 2017
NAGARJUNA’S KILLER TIME GAP
[image error]I am no scholar and frankly admit that my long years of immersion in Eastern Philosophy were driven solely by an obsession to destroy my own darkness. In my teens, I dived into esoteric teachings in an attempt to understand my angst, and while much I learned took me a little further down the road to peace, it was a Buddhist Geshe I met in Manhattan many years ago who finally helped me sort out the confusion I felt about the nature of reality; it was through him that I came upon the luminous Indian scholar Nāgārjuna, considered second only to Gautama Siddhartha in the context of his critical contributions to eastern thought.
Nagarjuna’s life is a bit of a mystery to us moderns since surviving accounts of his life were written, in Chinese and Tibetan, centuries after his death. Most likely he was born into a Brahmin family in South India and later became a Buddhist. Some say he was an advisor to Yajna Sri Satakarni, a king of the Satavahana dynasty who ruled between 167 and 196 CE, which places him around 150–250 CE. Nagarjuna is considered the founder of the Madhyamaka School; due to his efforts, the concept of ‘emptiness’ (shunyata)—which he focused on in order to refute the metaphysics of some of his contemporaries—became the central ontological concept in Mahayana Buddhism.
[image error]This brilliant scholar/guru also developed the Doctrine of the Two Truths which claims there are two levels of truth: ultimate truth and conventional/relative or superficial truth. (Here’s a post I wrote on my own journey into this potent teaching: (https://miraprabhu.wordpress.com/2015/09/04/two-great-truths-absolute-and-relative-reality-real-and-unreal/). Nagarjuna explained the idea of relativity in clear and simple terms—shortness, for instance, exists only in relation to the idea of length; light exists on account of, and in relation, to darkness; ‘good’ exists due to our perception of ‘bad; and the element of space exists solely on account of form. In addition to his philosophical work, it is believed that Nagarjuna also made vital contributions to the ancient medical science of Ayurveda.
But what fascinated me most was Nagarjuna’s stress on what my guru referred to as ‘the Killer Time Gap.’ Now Eastern philosophy rests on the twin concepts of karma and reincarnation; since volumes have been written on these concepts, I will simply say here that karma is defined as the movement of the mind (thought) and what it produces in terms of speech and action; the consequences are inevitable and come later—whether a second later, lifetimes down the road, or anywhere in-between. According to Nagarjuna, it is this lethal time gap between our thought, speech and action (karma/doing) and the ensuing results of those actions that is responsible for all the suffering of humanity.
Take the act of killing for instance: If, as I lowered my foot to crush a bug, my own ribs started to break, I’d likely be too terrified of my own well-being to ever kill again, right? Or if, just after I’d stolen ten bucks from you, someone stole a thousand out of my wallet, I might put the action and the consequence together (since they came so close on the heels of each other) and the fear of being punished so quickly and severely might urge me to never ever steal again, right?
[image error]Only a few of us are born virtuous; the rest of us are a mix of darkness and light and therefore prey to all the temptations of the world. And yet, unless we are criminally insane or prone to masochism, we would all be perfectly moral if there was no gap between our actions and the consequences of those actions.
Right now (I am writing this post in October 2016) the US Presidential Debate rages on and all sorts of filth relating to the actions of both major candidates is rising up in a tidal wave to hurt not just them, but their families, associates, their respective parties, and all those peripherally involved in this major drama. Now, had either of these two candidates known (at the time they did what they did) that their past sins would rise up to bite them in the butt—too too right in the thick of their fight for a powerful office—would they have blithely gone ahead and done what they did? I think not—it was that killer time gap that allowed both to believe they would ever have to pay the karmic piper—and how wrong they both were.
What we do about this time gap in our own lives? I can only speak for myself. First I forged for myself a strong foundation of reality (known as the “view). In doing so, I digested the meaning of karma so well that in time I became convinced that nothing but nothing goes unrecorded in the vast reservoir of consciousness. This perennial awareness of how reality works now makes me careful in how I think, speak and act; if I make mistakes, as I often do, then I am quick to make amends—to offer an apology or do whatever is necessary to compensate for the hurt or trouble I have caused—for it is said that an amend performed minus the ego is said to wipe out the original bad act. Gradually, as this wisdom seeps into our consciousness, we become organically beautiful people and our happiness and peace quotient rises into the heavens. The beauty of living in such a way is that the whole cosmos benefits.
Greetings from Arunachala, Shiva in the form of a hill of fire and light, who vows to destroys all that blocks us from the realization that we are in essence nothing but blazing light!
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May 2, 2017
Birds of Prey: Fine Art Photography
Birds of prey….wow…thanks for sharing, Alk3r!
Zack Seckler (previously featured) is a superb talented aerial photographer who was born in Boston, and studied psychology at Syracuse University.
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April 22, 2017
Grief, Ignorance and Slowly becoming a Writer – Viet Thanh Nguyen QUOTES FOR WRITERS (and people who like quotes)
I wrote my Moksha Trilogy for many reasons, primarily because I am in love with the idea of permanent freedom from suffering, and in the long arduous exciting process of writing these three novels I had to endure a lot – the hero’s journey indeed….
…I learned about grief as I worked on that damned short story collection. I did not know what I was doing, and what I also did not know, facing my computer screen and a white wall, slowly turning pale, was that I was becoming a writer. Becoming a writer was partly a matter of acquiring technique, but it was just as importantly a matter of the spirit and a habit of the mind. It was the willingness to sit in that chair for thousands of hours, receiving only occasional and minor recognition, enduring the grief of writing in the belief that somehow, despite my ignorance, something transformative was taking place.
Viet Thanh Nguyen
April 16, 2017
Monday Funnies…
Here’s Maxine to brighten up your Monday….thanks for sharing, Chris Graham!
Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog
