Andrew Furst's Blog, page 42

Beaver Brook Tributary – A One Minute Meditation

Tribute

What source

could our tiny

imaginations conjure

that might furnish

a mountain’s stream?

What idol would be capable

of sustaining the life of a sun

or a galaxy’s tenure?

All bounds ascribed

diminish further

time, space, grace

and our own imaginations.

Worship incongruent to nature

seems wanting of dignity and gratitude.

Beaver Brook Tributary

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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 Beaver Brook Tributary – A One Minute Meditation written by Andrew Furst appeared on Andrew Furst.

Out West – Tiny Drops (Photography)

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Broke Down Happy in Raton NMHamburger Heaven Raton NMRoute 66-1

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All Tiny Drop photos Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

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America, I Sing You Back by Allison Adelle Hedge Cook – Compass Songs

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for Phil Young and my father Robert Hedge Coke;
for Whitman and Hughes

 

I sing back. Sing back what sung you in.

Sing back the moment you cherished breath.

Sing you home into yourself and back to reason.

Before America began to sing, I sung her to sleep,

held her cradleboard, wept her into day.

My song gave her creation, prepared her delivery,

held her severed cord beautifully beaded.

My song helped her stand, held her hand for first steps,

nourished her very being, fed her, placed her three sisters strong.

My song comforted her as she battled my reason

broke my long-held footing sure, as any child might do.

As she pushed herself away, forced me to remove myself,

as I cried this country, my song grew roses in each tear’s fall.

My blood-veined rivers, painted pipestone quarries

circled canyons, while she made herself maiden fine.

But here I am, here I am, here I remain high on each and every peak,

carefully rumbling her great underbelly, prepared to pour forth singing—

and sing again I will, as I have always done.

Never silenced unless in the company of strangers, singing

the stoic face, polite repose, polite while dancing deep inside, polite

Mother of her world. Sister of myself.

When my song sings aloud again. When I call her back to cradle.

Call her to peer into waters, to behold herself in dark and light,

day and night, call her to sing along, call her to mature, to envision—

then, she will quake herself over. My song will make it so.

When she grows far past her self-considered purpose,

I will sing her back, sing her back. I will sing. Oh I will—I do.

America, I sing back. Sing back what sung you in.

by Allison Adelle Hedge Cook

 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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Would You Pay For Good Karma? – Dialectic Two Step

Estimated reading time: 6 minute(s)

Question: 

Would you pay money to get good karma? And if so . . . how much?

Response:

Who would you pay? What would you get in the transaction?

Good Karma? What does that look like? Presumably it means that you will have future good experiences.

What makes a good experience? I’d say there are internal and external factors.

On a personal level, we carry our dispositions. Things like our mood, our preferences and aversion for certain experiences, our habits and so on. We can have bad experiences if we come at it from an angry place or we are exposed to bad people or uncomfortable situations. On the other hand, we have good experiences if we come at it with a positive attitude or it comes with perks. A lot of the time we sleep” through much of our experience, operating like mindless robots, totally missing situations that could otherwise be pleasurable.

There are external circumstances as well. If you’ve lost a loved one or had a similarly traumatic experience, it can be very hard to enjoy life. We ourselves can be unwell. We might also be subject to incredibly good luck, like winning the lottery.

we can bring to the world an attitude of that we are responsible for choosing happiness
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Both internal and external circumstances color each other. Tough circumstances can make it difficult to enjoy good times and vice versa. But, we can bring to the world an attitude of maturity that recognizes that we are ultimately responsible for choosing happiness when we can.

The Transaction

Now back to the question. If we were to pay for good karma, we’d conceivable be conducting two transactions. One with ourselves and the other with someone who would be able to exert fine control over the universe to ensure that we win the lottery regularly, none of our friends or family dies, and that it only rains when we’re asleep.

We can pay ourselves with the fruits of the Eightfold path; love, joy, compassion, and equanimity.
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We can pay ourselves, not with money, but with the fruits of the Eightfold path; love, joy, compassion, and equanimity. Paying to rig our external circumstances seems a little beyond the pocketbook of anyone that lives in this neck of the universe.

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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On Cider and Softness – Verse Us (Poems by Me)

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

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The Joint Chiefs – Say What?

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

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No Mind – Modern Koans

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He said: What is self?

She said:  Is it an object of mind?

He said: If the self is an object of mind, then what is mind an object of?

She said: It is not the object of anything.

He said: If mind is not the object of anything, does it exist?

She said: Only objects of mind exist.  If something is not an object of mind, how would it be rendered existent?

He said: Then there is no mind?

She said: Mind is certainly not an object of perception.

He said: So why do we talk about mind?

She said: Because there are objects of mind. Without mind, how could there be such a thing?

He said: Is mind self?

She said: Not if self is an object of mind?

He said: Is mind not self?

She said: Without it there could be no self.

He said: Is it both?

She said: How could it not be everything?

Can we talk about self and make sense? What about mind?

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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Groucho Marx on Politics – Quotes

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

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Groucho Marx on Politics

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Leaving Stone Pond – A One Minute Meditation

Leaving Stone Pond

no beginning

no end

Finding our destination

may not be

just over

the crest

With each longing

the heart still beats

with each step

bodies are still breathed

At work with each step

we exert ourselves transactionally

On arriving

we labor still

The work is never done.

What would we expect done?

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 Leaving Stone Pond – A One Minute Meditation written by Andrew Furst appeared on Andrew Furst.

Post Card Art Project – So Far

Here’s a collage of all the combinations produced so far this year.

The Post Card Art Series

This is one of a series of Post Card Art Projects. These are collaborative arts project done on postcards with people all over the world. 

Using an image divided into sections, I created postcards for each section.  I printed, pre-stamp, and mailed them out to patreon supporters, friends, and blog readers who expressed an interest. The artists add their art, mail the cards back, and I assemble them.

The results are fun and unique.

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