Andrew Furst's Blog, page 50

The Fount – Tiny Drops

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

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Dog Days of Summer By Meena Alexander – Compass Songs

In the dog days of summer as muslin curls on its own heat

And crickets cry in the black walnut tree

The wind lifts up my life

And sets it some distance from where it was.

Still Marco Polo Airport wore me out,

I slept in a plastic chair, took the water taxi.

Early, too early the voices of children

Mimicking the clatter in the Internet café

In Campo Santo Stefano in a place of black coffee

Bordellos of verse, bony accolades of joy,

Saint Stephen stooped over a cross,

A dog licking his heel, blood drops from a sign

By the church wall—Anarchia è ordine—

The refugee from Istria gathers up nails.

She will cobble together a gondola with bits of driftwood

Cast off the shores of the hunger-bitten Adriatic.

In wind off the lagoon,

A child hops in numbered squares, back and forth, back and forth,

Cap on his head, rhymes cool as bone in his mouth.

Whose child is he?

No one will answer me.

Voices from the music academy pour into sunlight

That strikes the malarial wealth of empire,

Dreams of an old man in terrible heat,

Hands bound with coarse cloth, tethered to a scaffold,

Still painting waves on the walls of the Palazzo Ducale.

 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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Is Vision Possible in Out of Body Experiences? – Dialectic Two Step

Estimated reading time: 5 minute(s)

Response: This is a great question. Not because I think that there is any way that we can confirm or characterize out of body experiences, but because it allows us to think about how discordant the idea is with our understanding of sensations.

Experiences that we perceive as out of body are actually constructions of our brain
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Everything that science has told us about our senses is in the context of sense organs, nerve networks, and the brain. Even the senses of sight and sound, which inform us about objects and movement off in the distance, are bound by the edges of the body.

If we think about our senses as passive collectors of stimuli, there isn’t really room to consider an out of body sensory experience.  If we define an out of body experience as the separation of some nontangible element of self from our body, then the separated self would be incapable of sensation. It would also be true that the body would have no way of sensing the absence of the detached self.

Strictly speaking, if we had an out of body situation, we would have no way of knowing it happened.  Using the term out of body experience seems to be an anathema.  Experience comes from the accumulation of sensations and out brains processing of them.  Out of body situations are not available to our senses or our brains.

Strictly speaking, if we had an out of body situation, we would have no way of knowing it happened.
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I suspect that any experiences that we perceive as out of body are actually constructions of our brain in the body’s consciousness.  If it were not extremely unethical to test this hypothesis (i.e. out of body experiences tend to be associated with dying) I think we could verify this.

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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Eric Swanson Review of Clouds Tell Us is Out – 5 Stars

Eric Swanson, co-Author of the New York Times bestseller The Joy of Living, Joyful Wisdom, and Open Heart, Open Mind delivered a review of Clouds Tell Us. If you haven’t purchased a copy yet, please click on the images below to get your copy at Amazon. Here is the Eric Swanson Review:

Clouds Tell Us is a collection of poetry exploring the intersection of nature and our humanity. What does it mean to be awake? What is it like to actually be alive? Could anything be more important than being awake for life? Nothing brings us back to it more than spending time in nature. This book hopes to inspire you to rediscover your connection with nature and to rekindle your humanity.

Of course the best way to get my books, artwork, and other goodies is to support my work on Patreon

where you can make

small monthly micro-contributions

that help support my work.

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Security & Independence – Quotes

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

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Security & Independence

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Patience? – Say What?

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

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What If We All Suddenly Knew The Answers? – Modern Koans

Question: Every person seeks out the truth and answers in life. What would happen if everyone was suddenly enlightened with the truth and answers?

My response: All the questions and problems would change. Just like any other day. Has having the right answer today made a problem go away tomorrow or prevented new problems from rearing their heads?

Think about a recovering alcoholic. They work hard, get their feet back on the ground. They find an approach, some truth, that helps them navigate life while avoiding their addiction.

But on any given day, they can fall off the wagon. It could be a mistake; a stressful situation, or just boredom. Knowing the truth doesn’t exempt us from making mistakes. You might even argue that with all of the literature in the world and its ready availability on the internet that the answers are always available. But having all this knowledge at our fingertips doesn’t prevent suffering.  It’s about unenlightened choices not knowledge or beliefs.

If life is about choices, why are we always looking for knowledge or wisdom?  How much of the battle is won when we know what’s right and wrong?

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 then their answers.

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

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Plumbers vs. Philosophers – Quotes

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

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Plumbers vs. Philosophers

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Chapel Falls – A Two Minute Meditation

This is the final stop on a series of waterfall shoots I made the first weekend in March out in Western Massachusetts. After unsuccessfully attempting to reach Tannery Falls, I meandered over to Ashfield to see Chapel Falls.

A few years ago, I was in conversations with a headhunter about a job at Crane Paper in Pittsfield.  They are the company that produces the paper for US currency.  Some friends were recommending places to live and the prime candidate was Ashfield.  My hour in this lovely little town quickly validated that recommendation.  I stopped at Neighbor’s Mobil to get gas, and was greeted by a friendly guy who liked my Mini Cooper (which had not an hour ago had been winched out of a gully).  He had a laid back, welcoming way about him that made me feel at home.

I went into the store to hunt for a sandwich and the friendliness continued to flow.  The folks at the store were that rare stock of people who just know how to help.  I got my sandwich and hopped in line to witness one first name basis conversation after another between the customers and the staff.  Everyone knows everyone and despite the fact that everyone looked unique, there was a sense of “I accept you as you are” no questions asked.

When I arrived at the parking lot for the falls and got out of my car, again waves and greetings.  Dogs excited to see me and walk the trails.  Just a bright beautiful place. I left with a feeling that maybe some day, I might return there to stay a little bit longer.

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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.

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Keeping The Lights On – Patreon Rewards

I wanted to remind folks about the opportunity to earn Patreon Rewards for making micro-contributions to support my work here on the web and beyond.  Patreon is a new way to pay your favorite creators for making the stuff you love. Here’s a short 3 minute video to learn more.  Watch it or head on over to Patreon to make a contribution. I’m just working on keeping the lights on.

So, please, if you enjoy what I offer, take refuge in a meditation, benefit from what I teach, find inspiration in something I write, or believe that the world needs to hear something I said, pay it forward.  Follow the link to Patreon and contribute.  Pledges start at $1 a month.  No amount is too big or too small.

Thank you and see you on Patreon.

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