Andrew Furst's Blog, page 106

Deerfield River Reflections – A One Minute Meditation

Deerfield River Reflections

Look in the sky to find the moon, and not into the pool – Persian Proverb

Meditation: 

Let the beauty of the water be the beauty of the water.

Let the beauty of the sky be the sky.

Let the breath of this moment be what is needed for this moment.

Let the awareness be there for what is there.

Enjoy These Meditation Videos 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.

The post Deerfield River Reflections – A One Minute Meditation appeared on Andrew Furst.

Dangerous – Verse Us (Poems by Me)

Dangerous

Off to the side, it’s easier to appreciate.

On the face of it though,

what are the grounds of power?

Is it a sophisticated charisma or intellect?

Or is it a moldy clenching,

tenaciously sustaining a likeness of our desire.

When revolution manifests it is worthless,

for a time.

But rebels eclipse amidst these thundering storms of apathy.

The bold and selfless hearts of change

weather poorly and suffer meager constitutions.

For what cause might our hearts heave

so to justly rule this little country of ours?

Verse Us - Poems I write: haiku, senryu, mesostics, free verse, random word constructions, I might even use rhyme or meter once and a while.

The post Dangerous – Verse Us (Poems by Me) appeared on Andrew Furst.

Black & White VII – Tiny Drops (Photography)

Black & White VII
koi bwmartins rocks bwshadows bw

Get Each Week's Tiny Drops in your email box

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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 Black & White VII – Tiny Drops (Photography) appeared on Andrew Furst.

No Escape? – Say What?

No Escape?

Say What?  is an ongoing series of laconic exchanges on Buddhism in the format of a comic strip. 

Get Each Week's Say What? Comic in your email box

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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 No Escape? – Say What? appeared on Andrew Furst.

After Apple-Picking – Compass Songs

After Apple-Picking

by Robert Frost

My long two-pointed ladder’s sticking through a tree

Toward heaven still,

And there’s a barrel that I didn’t fill

Beside it, and there may be two or three

Apples I didn’t pick upon some bough.

But I am done with apple-picking now.

Essence of winter sleep is on the night,

The scent of apples: I am drowsing off.

I cannot rub the strangeness from my sight

I got from looking through a pane of glass

I skimmed this morning from the drinking trough

And held against the world of hoary grass.

It melted, and I let it fall and break.

But I was well

Upon my way to sleep before it fell,

And I could tell

What form my dreaming was about to take.

Magnified apples appear and disappear,

Stem end and blossom end,

And every fleck of russet showing clear.

My instep arch not only keeps the ache,

It keeps the pressure of a ladder-round.

I feel the ladder sway as the boughs bend.

And I keep hearing from the cellar bin

The rumbling sound

Of load on load of apples coming in.

For I have had too much

Of apple-picking: I am overtired

Of the great harvest I myself desired.

There were ten thousand thousand fruit to touch,

Cherish in hand, lift down, and not let fall.

For all

That struck the earth,

No matter if not bruised or spiked with stubble,

Went surely to the cider-apple heap

As of no worth.

One can see what will trouble

This sleep of mine, whatever sleep it is.

Were he not gone,

The woodchuck could say whether it’s like his

Long sleep, as I describe its coming on,

Or just some human sleep.

 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:

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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 After Apple-Picking – Compass Songs appeared on Andrew Furst.

Nothingness? – Dialectic Two Step

Nothingness?

Question: When arguing what was before the big bang, many say it was a state of nothingness. What exactly is nothingness?

Response: Seems like a logical trap to me. “Before” the big bang? I guess there would be two possible ways to look at this

1. time began with the big bang

2. time was there before the big bang

Theoretically, we’re practically bound to the first option, until we can cast our senses to “before” the big bang. Not sure how you would measure such a thing. Not sure if measurement is even an applicable concept?

So when arguing about “before” the big bang, you are establishing a premise that cannot be verified as true. i.e. that there is a “before” the big bang.

But for the sake of argument, let’s say we take all the possible truth states of that premise

1. True – If there is a “before” the big bang, Then time exists before the big bang. Maybe by extension you could assume that other time space continuum dimensions exist? If so, you could argue that there might be something. If this were true, you can stop worrying about nothingness.

2. False – If there is no “before” the big bang. Then the conversation is is over.

Dialectic Two-Step  is an ongoing series of my thoughts on questions that come my way.

Wisdom lies neither in fixity nor in change, but in the dialectic between the two. - Octavio

Get Each Week's Dialectic Two Step 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 Nothingness? – Dialectic Two Step appeared on Andrew Furst.

Salmon Falls – A One Minute Meditation

 

Salmon Falls

Down, to the center

down to the endless ocean

taking all your worries

Meditation: with each breath allow your attention, awareness, and tension flow downward. Let the irresistible flow of the water be your guide.

 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.

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.

Most of these are best viewed in full screen

Get Each Week's One Minute Meditation in your email box

First Name:

Last Name:

Email address:

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 Salmon Falls – A One Minute Meditation appeared on Andrew Furst.

The Captain and the Hourglass – Sunday Morning Coming Down

Sunday Morning Coming Down is an ongoing music  video series.  The songs fit my definition of music for a lazy couch bound Sunday morning.

The Captain and the Hourglass

This is part of my eldest sons set a Philmont Scout Camp in New Mexico (He’s a music program counselor)

 Get Each Week's Sunday Morning Coming Down in your email box

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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 Captain and the Hourglass

by Laura Marling

You kicked the blow, now you gotta kick the guy

You sat alone under bellowing sky

If I feel God judging me,

Well I fell into the water, and now I’m free.

My friends, they don’t really get me, think I’m the only one

Well I sold my soul to jesus and since then I’ve had no fun

Behind every tree is a cutting machine and a kite fallen from grace

Inside every man is a heart of sand you can see it in his face.

He’ll tick tick tick tick tick tick tick away.

Another second lost with every fallen grain.

He’ll tick tick tick tick tick tick tick away.

Another second lost with every fallen grain.

The wind and I, we speak the same, but he don’t hear so well.

If you’re gonna have to curse him well you’re gonna have to yell.

The sky and I, we’ve had our fights and I’m coming down to rain,

If the rain come round and it don’t come out, then I’ll never have to speak again,

I can tick tick tick tick tick tick tick away.

Another second lost with every fallen grain.

Can tick tick tick tick tick tick tick away.

Another second lost with every fallen grain.

The captains got his boots on and he’s heading out the door,

Leaving his lady alone thinkin’ ‘He don’t love me no more.’

He’s done with all this bullshit, He’s going back to war,

If Heaven is as Heaven does then this is Hell for sure…

And He’ll tick tick tick tick tick tick tick away.

Another second lost with every fallen grain.

He’ll tick tick tick tick tick tick tick away.

Another second lost with every fallen grain.

You kicked the blow, now you gotta kick the guy

You sat alone under bellowing sky

If I feel God judging me,

Well I fell into the water, and now I’m free

The post The Captain and the Hourglass – Sunday Morning Coming Down appeared on Andrew Furst.

It’s a Struggle? – Say What?

Say What?  is an ongoing series of laconic exchanges on Buddhism in the format of a comic strip.

This shirt is dry clean only. Which means... it's dirty. - Mitch Hedberg 

It’s a Struggle?

 

A Few Words On the Struggle With Racism

Get Each Week's Say What? in your email box

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Email address:

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 It’s a Struggle? – Say What? appeared on Andrew Furst.

Black & White VI – Tiny Drops (Photography)

Tiny Drops is an ongoing iPhoneographic series. The images represent moments of noticing on my part.  For you, they are an offer to pause, observe, and take that noticing into your life.  All photos are mine unless noted otherwise.

These works by Andrew Furst are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Black & White VI
dragonfly bwMIT doorknobs bwsparkle bw

Municipal Artifacts

Get Each Week's Tiny Drops in your email box

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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)

 
FIVE LIMITLESS THOUGHTS

May all living beings have happiness and its causes

May all be free from unhappiness and its causes

May all dwell in equanimity, free of attraction and aversion

May all quickly find the great happiness that lies beyond all misery

May all enjoy inner and outer peace now and forever

NAMO AMITOFO

The post Black & White VI – Tiny Drops (Photography) appeared on Andrew Furst.