Andrew Furst's Blog, page 104
October 2, 2015
Spiritually Inferior? – Modern Koans
Estimated reading time: 3 minute(s)
Spiritually Inferior?
Question: Since there was no female Buddha, does this mean women are spiritually inferior to men in the Buddhist view?
So much of what people do religiously is minding other people’s business. What the heck does spirituality inferior mean?
What consequence does it have on a male’s quest for liberation, if a female is what you call spirituality inferior? What consequence does it have on a female’s quest for liberation, if a male is what you call spirituality superior?
Our circumstances are perpetually changing. If they did not, we could not achieve liberation (and loose it again). This mark of spirituality inferiority, feels like a poison, a symptom of delusion, and a cause of suffering.
Why do people ask questions like this? Or provide answers like this:
Women tend to have heavier “troubling mind/烦恼” than men, according to Buddha’s teaching.
And that’s why there are 348 clauses of disciplines for Buddhist nun/Bhiksuni, compare to 250 clauses of disciplines for Buddhist monk/Bhiksu.
I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
Modern Koans is an ongoing series that recognizes that good questions are often more important then their answers.
The riddles of God are more satisfying than the solutions of man. ― G.K. Chesterton Get Each Week's Modern Koan in your email box
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One Minute Meditations
Tiny Drops (Photography series)
Compass Songs (My Favorite Poems)
Dialectic Two-Step
Modern Koans (interesting questions)
Sunday Morning Coming Down (Music Videos)
Relics (Timeless Republished Articles)
Say What?
Quotes
Verse Us (Poems I Write)
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October 1, 2015
One Minute Meditation – Crickets on Sergeant Mountain
This week’s one minute meditation is one of a series of videos taken on vacation at Acadia National Park a few years ago. This is an annual pilgrimage my family takes. This minute meditation is taken on the Hadlock Springs Trail on Sergeant Mountain.
These images remind me of the change of the season. We are now firmly into autumn. The light is fading in the cycle of bounty & hibernation.
Autumns Seeds
Crickets signal dark
Nature surrenders to sleep
Life labors in its passing
These Meditation Videos Are Best Viewed In Full Screen
One Minute Meditations is an ongoing series of short videos, poems, and commentary intended as a meditation. Offered as an opportunity to step back from your cyber routine and settle into a more natural rhythm, if only for a minute.
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In addition to a monthly email you can also subscribe to the following weekly series:
One Minute Meditations
Tiny Drops (Photography series)
Compass Songs (My Favorite Poems)
Dialectic Two-Step
Modern Koans (interesting questions)
Sunday Morning Coming Down (Music Videos)
Relics (Timeless Republished Articles)
Say What?
Quotes
Verse Us (Poems I Write)
These videos are produced for those of us who spend an inordinately large amount of time in the cyber-world. They are not a substitute for unplugging from your devices and taking a stroll near trees, water, or a patch of unkempt grass. Getting out into the world - touching, smelling, hearing, and seeing nature is the best way to reconnect with our prime purpose.
What is our prime purpose? We are feeling and sensing machines. We are the universe looking back on itself. We are witness to the wonders and dangers of living in this corner of the cosmos. We are the seekers looking for connection a little further beyond yesterday's borders and boundaries.
But sitting and staring at the screen robs us of the sustenance that we rely upon for wonder and sanity. These videos are an opportunity to bring the sensations of nature to you, while you're in the cyber-world. Its an opportunity to relax your gaze, resettle your posture, and regain some depth in your breath. Listen and watch the video and allow your self to open up and recharge.
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September 30, 2015
Races – Verse Us (Poems by Me)
Verse Us - Poems I write: haiku, senryu, mesostics, free verse, random word constructions, I might even use rhyme or meter once and a while.
Races
A tasteless hum.
Like the potential of under ripe cherries fluttering in my heart.
A veil is lifted in the heat of it.
Illustrious champions emerge
from a messy cacophony of chance and determination.
We all try, projecting our metaphors onto the course,
uncovering and losing meanings.
Foremost we entertain.
Like a carpenter, whose craft with file and saw
is lost on the child
whose keepsakes are contained in their furniture.
There is some division between us that transmutes pleasures and meanings.
We’d do well to walk its line cautiously.
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Black & White IX – Tiny Drops (Photography)
cactus
cupola bw
gate bw
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In addition to a monthly email you can also subscribe to the following weekly series:
One Minute Meditations
Tiny Drops (Photography series)
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Dialectic Two-Step
Modern Koans (interesting questions)
Sunday Morning Coming Down (Music Videos)
Relics (Timeless Republished Articles)
Say What?
Quotes
Verse Us (Poems I Write)
The post Black & White IX – Tiny Drops (Photography) appeared on Andrew Furst.
September 29, 2015
We Have A Winner – New Book Cover Design
We had a decisive victory and a winner in the final poll to choose the best book cover. First I have to acknowledge my designer, Garrett Brown at GB Creative, for getting it write the first time. The winning design was the first option that he provided (and I thought we should change). The vote was nearly 3 to 1 in favor of the full color cover.
Now Can You Help Me Raise The Money To Publish The Book
Click here to read what the book is about and how to help get it published
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Meaningless? – Say What?
Say What? is an ongoing series of laconic exchanges on Buddhism in the format of a comic strip.
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In addition to a monthly email you can also subscribe to the following weekly series:
One Minute Meditations
Tiny Drops (Photography series)
Compass Songs (My Favorite Poems)
Dialectic Two-Step
Modern Koans (interesting questions)
Sunday Morning Coming Down (Music Videos)
Relics (Timeless Republished Articles)
Say What?
Quotes
Verse Us (Poems I Write)
The post Meaningless? – Say What? appeared on Andrew Furst.
Indian Summer – Compass Songs
by Diane Glancy
There’s a farm auction up the road.
Wind has its bid in for the leaves.
Already bugs flurry the headlights
between cornfields at night.
If this world were permanent,
I could dance full as the squaw dress
on the clothesline.
I would not see winter
in the square of white yard-light on the wall.
But something tugs at me.
The world is at a loss and I am part of it
migrating daily.
Everything is up for grabs
like a box of farm tools broken open.
I hear the spirits often in the garden
and along the shore of corn.
I know this place is not mine.
I hear them up the road again.
This world is a horizon, an open sea.
Behind the house, the white iceberg of the barn.
Compass Songs is an ongoing series of works by poets that I enjoy. Poetry, as the Zen Masters have said, is like a finger pointing to the moon. It speaks the unspeakable.
Get Each Week's Compass Song in your email box
First Name:
Last Name:
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In addition to a monthly email you can also subscribe to the following weekly series:
One Minute Meditations
Tiny Drops (Photography series)
Compass Songs (My Favorite Poems)
Dialectic Two-Step
Modern Koans (interesting questions)
Sunday Morning Coming Down (Music Videos)
Relics (Timeless Republished Articles)
Say What?
Quotes
Verse Us (Poems I Write)
The post Indian Summer – Compass Songs appeared on Andrew Furst.
September 28, 2015
Tell Me A Story
Set a timer for 5 minutes
Read or view the prompt
In the comments section below write a short story, poem, or rant as you are moved in the moment
Prompt: See the photo above
The post Tell Me A Story appeared on Andrew Furst.
