Andrew Furst's Blog, page 60
May 22, 2016
Hearing – Meditations on Gratitude
The senses are the gateway to the ultimate. Oh what a joy and a privilege to have your senses available to you. Particularly relevant to Pure Land Buddhism is the ability to hear the name that calls. Namo Amitofo.
AVALOKITESVARA’S MEDITATION ON HEARING FROM SURANGAMA SUTRA
When one dwells in silence, Rolls of drums in ten directions,
All can be simultaneously heard. Thus is hearing complete.
Seeing cannot penetrate a screen, Neither can taste nor smell;
Feeling comes only in contact, And thought in focus lack.
But sound whether near or far, At all times can be heard;
The other senses are imperfect, Only hearing is truly pervasive.
The presence and absence of sound, Perceived by the ear as existent or not;
Absence of sound means nothing heard, Not hearing devoid of its nature.
Absence of sound is not the end of hearing, And presence of sound is not its beginning.
The faculty of hearing is unborn, Undying and one with the Truth
Please enjoy and meditate on these sounds, feel the unwavering connection they make with you and the feeling they instill. Click on the arrow to listen to each.
Rain
Ocean
I am grateful for my ability to hear the world.
Meditations on Gratitude - A weekly series of people and situations I’m thankful for and a short meditation.
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May 21, 2016
Freedom? – Say What?
Say What? is an ongoing series of laconic exchanges on Buddhism in the format of a comic strip.
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May 20, 2016
Modern Koans – Why Right Mindfulness?
The Eightfold Path Series
This is the one of several posts I will be offering titled the Eightfold Path Series. As I've reflected on my experience, I've come to see the Path as both the practice and the fruition. As we inch closer to realization of our true nature, we discover that the wisdom, ethics, and mindfulness prescribed by the Buddha are the most natural expression of our being.
John Daido Loori Roshi's book Invoking Reality was transformational for me. In it Roshi turns the path on it's head in a way that uncovers it's challenge to us. The path and the precepts are not rules and regulations that lead to punishment by the karmic cosmos, but a way for us to see our true selves by looking through the prism of these personal dimensions. I see the path and the precepts as questions, not rules. Let's explore them.
Why Right Mindfulness?
Is there such a thing as wrong mindfulness? Mindfulness is the answer! Whatever your problem!
Stop, right there. For those who can smell a snake oil pitch a mile away, your hairs on the back of your neck should be standing on end. If you follow the latest trends in mindfulness and meditation programs, gadgets and apps, it would appear that there is no such thing as wrong mindfulness and wrong applications. Mindfulness is in fact a key to contentment. But it will not cure the common cold. It will not move a mountain and it has nothing to say about the effect of gravitational waves on an electron.
What is right mindfulness and what does it offer us? Does it increase productivity? Does it do away with writer’s block? Can it help you attract the right mate for you? I don’t know. But I do think that mindfulness is a cure for delusion. The eightfold path is a prescription for freedom from greed, hatred and delusion. All of these hindrances arise out of avidya (Sanskrit for not seeing). Avidya is the blind spot we develop over time as we gradually shrink from the world into our heads. That blind spot steadily grows the more we spend time in revery and less time in the world. Our dreams include narratives about who we are, our preferences and our aversions. The more we inhabit this dreamscape the more divorced we are from reality. The result of this split is unmet expectations, disappointment, and dissatisfaction.
In many ways the Right Mindfulness arm of the path is the simplest.
“And what is right mindfulness? There is the case where a monk remains focused on the body in & of itself — ardent, alert, & mindful — putting aside greed & distress with reference to the world. He remains focused on feelings in & of themselves… the mind in & of itself… mental qualities in & of themselves — ardent, alert, & mindful — putting aside greed & distress with reference to the world. This is called right mindfulness…
from the samma sati*
It means open your eyes to your true self and the world around you. It’s the only way we can know and be happy in the world.
Meditation is one way to practice mindfulness, but by no means the only way. There are some parts of life where mindfulness is easier and other parts that are much harder. The more we practice mindfulness in the good times ( a nice walk in nature, or amongst dear old friends), the more prepared we’ll be for the hard times (difficult relationships and death).
Here’s a meditation for both situations.
Immediately pause… all stop on thinking and unnecessary movement.
Allow your mind to let its focus slowly drop from your head to your lower belly.
Soften the belly and allow your body to be breathed.
Let your eyes passively scan your surroundings.
Make a mental note of a few things about this situation that you’re grateful for and any opportunities that might be available for growth or peace.
Notice any preferences and aversions that you may be harboring, notice them, and let them settle quietly to the side to use as needed.
Listen.
Just listen.
May peace find you and may you let it in.
* Right Mindfulness: samma sati”, edited by Access to Insight. Access to Insight (Legacy Edition), 5 November 2013,http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dhamma/sacca/sacca4/samma-sati/index.html .
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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May 19, 2016
Elie Wiesel on Protest – Quotes
Quotes -The path to right view is an arduous walk through fields of manure.
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Campbell Falls – A Two Minute Meditation
This was stop number two on a waterfall trip the first weekend in March out in Western Massachusetts. I may have visited Campbell Falls 30 or so years ago. Part of this trip and my affinity for waterfalls has emerged from the quest to find this particular one.
My band had played in Litchfield Connecticut and we spent the night. The following morning our hosts brought us north to a waterfall. My memory has a few cascades, each leading to a pool and feeding the next drop. The weather was warm and we splashed around and soaked our feel in the pools. We’d often spend our days hiking before and after our gigs.
Campbell Falls seemed to be on the map close to where we probably were that day. But I left unsure. It might have been, but probably not. But, it was worth the trip.
Out searching
for a memory
from youth.
30 years later,
In the lineup
the suspect may never be found.
All this time
more memories made
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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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May 18, 2016
Order – Tiny Drops (Photography)
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Longfellow gridwork
tile tilt
wood heat grateGet Each Week's Tiny Drops In Your Email Box
All Tiny Drop photos Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
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May 17, 2016
May-Flower by Emily Dickinson – Compass Songs
.
Pink, small, and punctual,
Aromatic, low,
Covert in April,
Candid in May,
Dear to the moss,
Known by the knoll,
Next to the robin
In every human soul.
Bold little beauty,
Bedecked with thee,
Nature forswears
Antiquity.
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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May 16, 2016
Gay Marriage Goes Global – Dialectic Two Step
Estimated reading time: 9 minute(s)
A social media connection from Russia recently posted the following. It’s interesting to hear the debate about gay marriage go global and enlightening to see that it looks very similar everywhere. His English is not great so I tried to respectfully summarize his position and respond to it.
Statement: Although gay marriage has become a reality in America. For me, I don’t welcome it in Russia.
You are a creature and not the Creator. If you object to or you have a suggestion for a system of justice, put your objection to the Creator and not to the state. Of course if you are an atheist, this will be meaningless to you, but it is my conviction that gay marriage is out of synch with the natural order and will lead to absurdities like dogs and cats marrying.
It’s my opinion that homosexuality is a psychological problem and should be treated as such.
Response: Perhaps being a Buddhist I might be a de facto atheist and, as you suggested this might seem meaningless to me. But I feel compelled to speak. I do hold that there is sacredness in everything and a natural order which cannot be denied. On the sacredness, it applies to all of creation, as it is. This includes mass murderers and saints; janitors and kings; men and women; frail and broken people; and people who are homosexuals. It is also true that the state has a monopoly on violence in order to maintain order. Natural law also calls for it to be applied judiciously in order to accommodate the interests of the many while not sink into despotism. A line that the state should be careful not to cross. Revolutions are started in these conditions.
The state has an interest in stopping and punishing murderers, as their actions are detrimental to others. The state has an interest in punishing thieves, rapists, and so on, for the same reason.
There is no harm done by consensual homosexuality and therefore there should be no state interest in…
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Unfortunately, there are many arcane laws that apply a state’s interest in ways that are extremely dubious, because the harm to others is based on religious dogma (harm to God?) rather than harm to a person. The state is not obligated nor capable of defending, much less speaking for God. The state and it’s justice rely on and are maintained by human effort.
A state’s progress can be measured by a decrease in violence and improvements in human rights. In other words progress is a movement to a more secular society. Successful states have abandoned the prescriptions of the Hebrew Scriptures, The Bible, or the Quran, but vigorously support religious liberty.
consider whether you actually have an interest in what's going on in the house next to you
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Laws against homosexuality fit in the category of the arcane. There is no harm done by consensual homosexuality and therefore there should be no state interest in regulating it. Further, religious liberty should allow you to forgo a homosexual relationship or marriage. Imagine the cries of tyranny if states allowed only homosexual marriage.
I will not throw eggs at your house. But I suggest that you and by extension the state consider whether you actually have an interest in what’s going on in the house next to you. I believe you and your fellow Russian citizens have experienced a sufficient amount of burdensome state intrusion into your lives.
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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May 15, 2016
Peace of Mind
Quotes -The path to right view is an arduous walk through fields of manure.
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Naughty – Verse Us (Poems by Me)
Head all percolating with bitters and bourbon
I’ve developed a crush on the idea that life might obey my wishes
And bend to my will.
We’re all late to the party on that one.
Gradually wide eyes shrivel to lewd slits.
Directing our energies to more mundane devices,
We shave the stubble from our dreams,
And rub the film from over our eyes.
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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