Andrew Furst's Blog, page 40

Spot Pond Brook Falls – A Two Minute Meditation

.

Treasures lie underfoot,

overlooked on morning strolls

and humid afternoons.

Mosquitoes, great horned owls,

and aspirations form mirages

straying me off the path.

Things missed and things found

planting today’s laugh

to harvest tomorrow.

Spot Pond Brook Falls

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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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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 Spot Pond Brook Falls – A Two Minute Meditation written by Andrew Furst appeared on Andrew Furst.

Views – Tiny Drops (Photography)

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Hunting Elk BWgrateHungary

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Snow by Maureen Seaton – Compass Songs

.

White people leave the express

at 96th Street, collectively,

like pigeons from a live wire

or hope from the hearts of Harlem.

And I’m one of them, although

my lover sleeps two stops north between

Malcolm X and Adam Clayton Powell

Boulevards, wishing my ass

were cupped inside her knees and belly,

wishing this in a dream thick

with inequalities.

I live on Riverside Drive. My face

helped get me here. I was

ruddy with anticipation the day

I interviewed for the rooms

near the park with its

snow-covered maples. I was full

of undisguised hope as I

strolled along the river, believing

I belonged there, that my people

inherited this wonderland

unequivocally, as if they deserved it.

My lover buys twinkies from the Arabs,

bootleg tapes on ‘25th,

and carries a blade in her back

pocket although her hands

are the gentlest I’ve known.

She ignores the piss smells

on the corner, the sirens

at 4 A.M., the men whose brains

have dissolved in rum. And tries

to trust a white woman who

sleeps near the trees of Riverside.

When we go out together,

we avoid expensive

cafés on Columbus Avenue, jaunts

to the Upper East Side. Harlem

eyes us suspiciously or with

contempt beneath half-closed lids.

We have friends there,

hidden in the ruins like gold, who

accept us. When it snows,

we walk boldly anywhere, as if the snow

were a protection, or a death.

 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.

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Hooked On the Afterlife? – Dialectic Two Step

Question:

How can I stop having a desire for the afterlife?

Response:

First, pray or meditate on the afterlife. Imagine its beauty, its pleasure, the eternal bliss that it represents. Visualize all the benefits you believe it will bestow on you.

Now, do something you really enjoy. Take a vacation. Have friends over for a dinner and make your favorite dish. Have sex. Eat chocolate. Whatever it is that you really enjoy.

Which activity fulfilled your desires? Hint: if it was the first one, you haven’t enjoyed life to its fullest.

Even if you are severely disabled, or in pain, doing something you truly enjoy provides some amount of satisfaction or pleasure.The idea of an afterlife doesn’t seem capable to competing with real life pleasure. A desire for it sounds, at best, like a dangerous obsession.

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

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Soren Kierkegaard Understanding Comes Later- Quotes

Quotes -The path to right view is an arduous walk through fields of manure.

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Soren Kierkegaard Understanding Comes Later

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Which Is It? – Say What?

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

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Radical Religion? – Modern Koans

The words Islam and radical don’t fit together. A religion cannot act radically or moderately. Only a person can do that. We can only inoculate against radicalism one mind at a time.

The fact is, by targeting a religion as radical and abhorrent, we are spreading the disease, not preventing it.

The words Christianity and radical don’t fit together. A religion cannot act radically or moderately. Only a person can do that. We can only inoculate against radicalism one mind at a time.

The fact is, by targeting a religion as radical and abhorrent, we are spreading the disease, not preventing it.

The words Judaism and radical don’t fit together. A religion cannot act radically or moderately. Only a person can do that. We can only inoculate against radicalism one mind at a time.

The fact is, by targeting a religion as radical and abhorrent, we are spreading the disease, not preventing it.

The words Hinduism and radical don’t fit together. A religion cannot act radically or moderately. Only a person can do that. We can only inoculate against radicalism one mind at a time.

The fact is, by targeting a religion as radical and abhorrent, we are spreading the disease, not preventing it.

The words Buddhism and radical don’t fit together. A religion cannot act radically or moderately. Only a person can do that. We can only inoculate against radicalism one mind at a time.

The fact is, by targeting a religion as radical and abhorrent, we are spreading the disease, not preventing it.

What is the cause of fanaticism?  How do we prevent it?  

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 than their answers.

The riddles of God are more satisfying than the solutions of man. ― G.K. Chesterton

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Plum Island – A Two Minute Meditation

An April morning on Plum Island.

Plum Island

If you enjoyed this post,  please like and share.

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.

Get Each Week's Minute Meditations In Your Email Box

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 Plum Island – A Two Minute Meditation written by Andrew Furst appeared on Andrew Furst.

Outside – Tiny Drops (Photography)

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Reflective MallardSeed Podtiny flowers

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October by Don Thompson – Compass Songs

I used to think the land

had something to say to us,

back when wildflowers

would come right up to your hand

as if they were tame.

Sooner or later, I thought,

the wind would begin to make sense

if I listened hard

and took notes religiously.

That was spring.

Now I’m not so sure:

the cloudless sky has a flat affect

and the fields plowed down after harvest

seem so expressionless,

keeping their own counsel.

This afternoon, nut tree leaves

blow across them

as if autumn had written us a long letter,

changed its mind,

and tore it into little scraps.

by Don Thompson

 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

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