Andrew Furst's Blog, page 116

Wooden – Tiny Drops

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.

WoodenBarkcanopylog cabin

Wooden

Get Each Week's Tiny Drops in your email box.mc4wp-form input[name="_mc4wp_required_but_not_really"]{display:none !important}

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)

 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 Wooden – Tiny Drops appeared on Andrew Furst.

100 Things

100 Things

Inspired by my online friend Ro, here’s a few facts about yours truly:

I’m terrible with namesYes I was in the John Denver fan clubI was a paperboyI make art, all the time. You probably do too.I have a 3rd Dan black belt in JukidoYes there are bad questions. There are lots of bad questions. But we can learn from them.I have been diagnosed with depressionI am susceptible to shopping comas (I hate malls)There have been times in my life when practicing meditation was not optionalMy favorite Philosophical Idea is David Hume’s Soft DeterminismI hold a 1st Dan in Tang Soo DoOnline surveys say I should be a QuakerDualism – really?I subscribe to Morning Buzz, by my twitter friend Joanna PiacenzaI post a useless fact to social media everydayYes, I’ve worn a dress beforeI was born in New Britain, CTI can never remember how many Ts are in “New Britain”People know me by my laughI’m a cat personThe name Andrew means manlyMy favorite asanas are Ardha Chandrasana (half moon) and Rajakapotasana (Pigeon)I’m not a cilantro guyThe one piece of advice I try to live by is “If I’m trying to make a point, I’ve gone too far”I am the Ello community lead for @EllozenHell and brimstone fundamentalist Christians get me riled upMy favorite poet is e.e. cummingsI’m a Buddhist TeacherI think everyone should read Dan Dennett (you don’t have to agree with him, but please read him)My last name (Furst – yes, that’s funny every time) means prince (or someone in the prince’s entourage). In Germany, A prince is more like a governor.I make a mean chocolate chip cookieI think as we get older we naturally gravitate toward poetry, photography or other forms of deep listening.I have a degree in PhilosophyI live in Massachusetts, but I don’t have a Massachusetts accentSarcastic – yupI am a technology management consultantI have restless leg syndrome (no fun)I spend too much time on the computerOne of the most formative experiences in my life was being in a band. It’s running your own business. Running your own business makes things very real.My kids are way cooler than meMorality is subjective – there I said it.Pie? – Oh Yeah.I’ve watched the entire “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” series twiceI miss going to Acadia National Park every yearI tend to approach problems by using the Buddha’s middle way (when I have the wherewithall to stop and think)I drive too fastThe first rock album I bought was Boston, by BostonI love the concept of a militant agnostic – I don’t know, and you don’t eitherI traced my family genealogy back to Adam & Eve (Setting aside, for a moment, that I don’t believe in Adam & Eve)It’s amazing the effect that a guitar has on a womanMy favorite color is yellowAs Buddhist, I’m technically a non-theist, but I cheer for the atheistsI’m on a huge hawaian shirt kick right nowI played bass guitar in Ant Farm, I mostly play guitar nowI’ve only had to use my martial arts fighting skills once – nobody was hurt (badly).I had a college roommate named Al (his real name is Eric)I don’t chew gumI’m a big Audible userIf someone younger than me asks for advice about life, I’m inclinded to disappoint them. My experience is that we don’t learn from other people’s experience.I have, and this is a quote from my children, “an evil Santa Claus laugh”I wear jeans and sandals to work whenever I can get away with itI’ve got a fake book of songs that I bring to parties and play on guitar. If you want a copy it’s hereThe TV show King Fu is terrible to watch nowChai (double dirty – that is)I’ve done lots of bad things in my lifeI thought musicals were stupid when I was a kid. Then I acted in a musical and “got it”Alcohol? – Yes – Gin (Hendricks nowadays)I’m a terrible salesmanWho’s my best teacher? My wifeI am 5 degrees from Kevin Bacon – Through my friend Callie BeaulieuMy favorite philosopher is Daniel C DennettOh excuse me, your dualism is showing.Yes, I eat meatI have blue eyesYes, there are bad ideas. There are lots of bad ideas. But we can learn from them.My first company was named Sina, each letter came from the initial of a member of my familyI graduated from UCONNBest advice I’ve gotten about religion – “most of what religious people do is minding other peoples business”I like chocolate (no – I really like chocolate)I play music by earIf I think about the sun, I get a sun burn2 cats, 1 dogI’m terrible with moneyWhere do I think I will retire? – Maine or Western MassachusettsI’ve worked for myself for most of my careerI’ve never been to Wyoming, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Hawaii, or North and South DakotaWhen people ask me how I became interested in Buddhism, I have to admit it all started when I watched the TV show Kung fu when I was a kidI try not to give advice to new parentsI change my mind all the timeMy Blood type is AB +My son insist “I’m not actually all that bad”I think Praying Mantises are cool (my #virtualsangha friend Ro does not)order a latte with some pumps of chai at Starbucks (it’s cheaper than a double dirty chai – but its the same thing)I used to teach hatha yogaMy full name means manly prince – not sure if that is accurateI’m overweightI’m 6′ 1″ (I used to be 6’2″)I was in several bands in my twenties, the most successful was Ant FarmI wrote a book – Western Lights – A Collection of Short Essays on BuddhismIs the glass half empty or half full? – It’s full – half air, half water.

There’s 100 Things @  me

The post 100 Things appeared on Andrew Furst.

A Day In The Life Of An American Buddhist? – 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  

A Day In The Life Of An American Buddhist?

A Few Words On American Buddhist.

Get Each Week's Say What? 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 A Day In The Life Of An American Buddhist? – Say What? appeared on Andrew Furst.

Compass Songs – If — by Rudyard Kipling

 
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.

This poem, If, by Rudyard Kipling expresses something most fathers would like their sons to aspire to.

If—

by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

Get Each Week's Compass Song 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 Compass Songs – If — by Rudyard Kipling appeared on Andrew Furst.

Dialectic Two-Step – Why Would Someone Disavow Logic?

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 Paz  

Why Would Someone Choose to Disavow Logic?

Response:  Who, do you propose, is choosing to do such a thing. Logic applies to formal arguments and the relationship between ideas. It is set of rules that, when applied correctly, appear to preserve truth. It allows you to perform operations with language just like math applies to numbers.

These rules are considered valid if, amongst other things, they offer correct predictions. If Chloe has a tail, we have increased confidence that logic works.

To disavow logic, is to opt for chaos when using language. It follows that any predictions or conclusions would have no relationship to the premises. The conclusions/predictions would at best be accidentally correct. For instance, we may inspect Chloe and find a tail, but we would not be convinced that the argument used below to make the prediction had anything to do with it.

It’s unlikely that someone would/could choose “no logic”. What’s more likely is that people rely on false premises or invalid argument structures.

Here are some examples:

 

 

I think most people intuitively ascribe to logic.  They only apply the rules wrong or make false or ambiguous premises.

Get Each Week's Dialectic Two Step 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 Dialectic Two-Step – Why Would Someone Disavow Logic? appeared on Andrew Furst.

One Minute Meditation – Vernal Pools

 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.

Vernal Pools

In late April, I took a trail in Harold Parker State Forest I’ve not walked before.  It circled Brackett Pond.  Vernal pools were plentiful from this year’s big snow melt and teaming with life. In this meditation I’m sharing a shot of a very patient frog and some wriggly mosquito larvae. The frog was very tolerant of my presence, allowing me to put my iPhone on a tripod less than a foot from where he squatted at the edge of the pool.

Our frog is offering a nice lesson on meditation.  Sitting, alert, patient, but ready to respond.

Windswept by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Attribution 3.0 International License.
Based on a work at incompetech.com
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/licenses/

Get Each Week's One Minute Meditation in your email box.mc4wp-form input[name="_mc4wp_required_but_not_really"]{display:none !important}

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)

If You Watched The One Minute Meditation, How Do You Feel? Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll. 

The post One Minute Meditation – Vernal Pools appeared on Andrew Furst.

Sunday Morning Coming Down – I’ll Keep It With Mine

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

Fairport Convention – I’ll Keep It With Mine

A blast from the past. Fairport Convention with Sandy Denny covering Dylan’s  I’ll Keep It With Mine

 Get Each Week's Sunday Morning Coming Down 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)

 I’ll Keep It With Mine

Bob Dylan

You will search, babe
At any cost
But how long, babe
Can you search for what’s not lost?
Everybody will help you
Some people are very kind
But if I can save you any time
Come on, give it to me
I’ll keep it with mine

I can’t help it
If you might think I’m odd
If I say I’m not loving you for what you are
But for what you’re not
Everybody will help you
Discover what you set out to find
But if I can save you any time
Come on, give it to me
I’ll keep it with mine

The train leaves
At half past ten
But it’ll be back tomorrow
Same time again
The conductor he’s weary
He’s still stuck on the line
But if I can save you any time
Come on, give it to me
I’ll keep it with mine

The post Sunday Morning Coming Down – I’ll Keep It With Mine appeared on Andrew Furst.

Are Buddhist Happy All The Time? – 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  

Are Buddhist Happy All The Time?

A Few Words On Are Buddhist Happy?

Get Each Week's Say What? in your email box.mc4wp-form input[name="_mc4wp_required_but_not_really"]{display:none !important}

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 Are Buddhist Happy All The Time? – Say What? appeared on Andrew Furst.

Antsy – Tiny Drops (Ants Learning Chopsticks?)

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.

Antsy

It looks to me like these ants are trying to learn how to use chopsticks.

[image error]

Get Each Week's Tiny Drops 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)

 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 Antsy – Tiny Drops (Ants Learning Chopsticks?) appeared on Andrew Furst.

Quote – Burroughs On Change

Burroughs On Change

Change

The post Quote – Burroughs On Change appeared on Andrew Furst.