Andrew Furst's Blog, page 122
July 3, 2015
Modern Koans – Militant Agnostics?
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
Militant Agnostics?
@ellozen – the curator of zen things on Ello (a new ad -less social network I’m dabbling in) made this nice remark on my posting about Atheism and whether it causes despair.
Agnosticism I understand. It’s like a Buddhist claiming “I don’t know” — a realistic position given that humans are limited tools of understanding. Atheism I don’t understand, because to me it appears rooted in human hubris (a certainty about all of existence based on lack of evidence and/or lack of spiritual experience). On the other side of this, the most I can do is tell someone I’ve had spiritual experiences. I can’t give those experiences to anyone or make them believe it.
Spirit comes through the door of self. If that door is closed, the universe looks like a spirit-less place. If that door is open, then a human can have a range of beliefs and experiences, from agnosticism to full spirituality.
I responded:
I have an on again off again romance with atheism. I’m more of a militant agnostic – I don’t know and you don’t know either!
@ellozen responded – But it’s ok to be agnostic without declaring that everyone else be agnostic. Because I’m not actually agnostic 
This is such a personal topic!
I responded: “Militant” agnostics probably don’t want everyone to be agnostic. They want people to recognize that they are welcome to their beliefs, but if they want to make claims of knowledge or facts, that belief is not a leg to stand on. Facts are shared confirmable experience. Beliefs are not. Spiritual experiences are individual experiences. They lie in how we experience the world and are linked to our worldview. Those worldviews are unique as snowflakes. Beautiful in their novelty and transience. Utterly impossible to share or demonstrate directly with others.
So? How productive are these conversations between theists, atheists, and agnostics? Are they just eternally divisive hot topics? Should we agree to disagree? Can we stop with a statement that declares that beliefs are welcome but cannot form the basis of social conventions (laws, etc)?
What do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below.
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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)
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July 2, 2015
Happy 80th Birthday to the Dalai Lama – #WithCompassion
What a life you have lived #WithCompassion
The post Happy 80th Birthday to the Dalai Lama – #WithCompassion appeared on Andrew Furst.
Quote – Shinran on the Great Compassion
The Great Compassion
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A Five Minute Meditation – Morning Surf
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.
Breaking a little from tradition, I’d like to offer this five minute meditation. There are brief instructions to be read in the beginning of the video, so you’ll want to be sure and begin with eyes open. Once the instructions are complete, I welcome you to close your eyes as you like.
Morning Surf
A Five Minute Meditation by Andrew Furst
In this five minute meditation, allow your body to synchronize with the rhythm of the surf.
At the end of each 1 minute interval, a singing bowl will ring. Allow the sound to reverberate up and down your spine and throughout your body.
Let the sound bring your body, breath, and mind together into the present moment.
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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 A Five Minute Meditation – Morning Surf appeared on Andrew Furst.
July 1, 2015
Verse Us – Expert – A Poem
Verse Us - Poems I write: haiku, senryu, mesostics, free verse, random word constructions, I might even use rhyme or meter once and a while.
She stared up from her calculator, amused
There is no clean answer, its diffused
Locks on perception,
Record misconceptions,
Leaving us mired and confused
But encouraging the mythos of chaos,
Would not set in the home of her ethos
To otherwise choke
by degrees our bespoke
We must be open to life’s odd boleros
The order that mortals desire
Just ends up as fuel for the pyre
While a mist of relief
Can be found in belief
It really just causes more trouble
The post Verse Us – Expert – A Poem appeared on Andrew Furst.
Tiny Drops – Never Too Old
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.
You’re never too old to get on the swingset.
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Get Each Week's Tiny Drops in your email boxFirst 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)
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 AMITOFOThe post Tiny Drops – Never Too Old appeared on Andrew Furst.
June 30, 2015
The Religion With The Best Questions Wins? – 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
The Religion With The Best Questions Wins?
A Few Words On the best religion.
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 The Religion With The Best Questions Wins? – Say What? appeared on Andrew Furst.
Say What? – The Religion With The Best Questions Wins?
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
The Religion With The Best Questions Wins?
A Few Words On the best religion.
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 Say What? – The Religion With The Best Questions Wins? appeared on Andrew Furst.
Compass Songs – Another Coming of Mary
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.
BY GWENDOLYN BROOKS
For Reverend Theodore Richardson
If Mary came would Mary
Forgive, as Mothers may,
And sad and second Saviour
Furnish us today?
She would not shake her head and leave
This military air,
But ratify a modern hay,
And put her Baby there.
Mary would not punish men—
If Mary came again.
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 – Another Coming of Mary appeared on Andrew Furst.
