Andrew Furst's Blog, page 64

Waking Life – A One Minute Meditation

Spring awakens in

New England’s vernal pools

Dressed as

gammaridea

and

water mites

Feeding

herself

on the

corpse of

winter

And laying the

earthen perfumed

air on my heart

Waking Life

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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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Looking Skyward – Tiny Drops (Photography)

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balancing rock greatDinner BellKendall Nerve

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

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Lines Written In Early Spring – William Wordsworth – Compass Songs

I heard a thousand blended notes,

While in a grove I sate reclined,

In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts

Bring sad thoughts to the mind.

To her fair works did Nature link

The human soul that through me ran;

And much it grieved my heart to think

What man has made of man.

Through primrose tufts, in that green bower,

The periwinkle trailed its wreaths;

And ’tis my faith that every flower

Enjoys the air it breathes.

The birds around me hopped and played,

Their thoughts I cannot measure:—

But the least motion which they made,

It seemed a thrill of pleasure.

The budding twigs spread out their fan,

To catch the breezy air;

And I must think, do all I can,

That there was pleasure there.

If this belief from heaven be sent,

If such be Nature’s holy plan,

Have I not reason to lament

What man has made of man?

 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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If Islam is the Religion of Peace, Then Why Are Muslims Killing Others?

Estimated reading time: 6 minute(s)

Question: If Islam is the Religion of Peace, Then Why Are Muslims Killing Others?

Response: What religion has the power to produce peace or war? Followers of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism etc. are all capable of both. All religions are capable of inspiring compassion and murder. Of what use is ascribing peace, evil, good, or any other quality to a religion as it depends on the actions of its adherents? Similarly what use is it defending or decrying a religion, as if it were a side worthy of allegiance?

Why is it we believe that religions produce homogeneity in thought and behavior. The facts on the ground prove otherwise.  Muslims have Jihadists, Christians have centuries of blood on their hands, The Bible documents Yahweh’s killing of over 2 million people, Buddhists in Myanmar are killing Muslims, Hindus oppress Dalits based on their caste system, and so on.

The question arises out of a distorted view of religion and its causal relationship with peace. Consider what would be needed to certify a religion as a “religion of peace”. I’d suggest that there would be at least 2 criteria:

A religion would have to espouse peace and reject anything contrary to peace
Its adherents could not cause anything contrary to peace.

It seems blatantly obvious to me that neither of these conditions could ever be met for any active religion.  All of them are so morally ambiguous that they provide justification for any behavior. All of them have followers who act contrary to its tenets.

So for me the question is nonsensical but informative. If we dig into why, we uncover our faulty ideas on religion.  Religions have been on both sides of the equation, calling for peace and for war.  The arc of civility seems to bend towards peace. But it is not the consequence of dogma or creed. It is born from a gradual global awakening and will always be evolving.

I see one case where a religion could be considered the “religion of peace”.

If it preached only peace, and
It had 0 followers.

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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Trust and Belief

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

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Take The Money And Run – Sunday Morning Coming Down

On the heels of tax day, this song feels appropriate.

Sunday Morning Coming Down is an ongoing music  video series.  The songs fit my definition of music for a lazy couch bound Sunday morning.

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I Disagree – Say What?

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

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The Tax Panel? – Say What?

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

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The Oxherd Series – Both Ox and Self Transcended – Modern Koans

The Oxherd Series is a collection of 10 images and commentary on the quest for enlightenment.  Its source is the Zen tradition. What you're reading here is a satirical, but not all together purposeless, treatment of these so called stages. Using excerpts from one of my favorite cartoons, Bob's Burgers, I hope to bring this old story into the present.

I think it’s fair to say that this and the upcoming stage are where things get a little weird.  It might be good to recap what gone on thus far.

What is going on in the oxherd series? We’re reeling our way towards something called enlightenment.

Why are we searching?  Because we’ve gotten a little insight on our relationship with happiness that tells us we’ve been doing it wrong.

What’s different about this search? We’ve learned a few things.

We’ve realized that it’s not work in the traditional sense.
The work doesn’t have a beginning or an end
Enlightenment isn’t a thing, it’s an aspect of being

How do we go about this work? 

Maybe we’re meditating
Maybe we’re living life more mindfully
Maybe we’re looking at things a little differently.
Maybe we’re noticing how we react to the world

In love, listening is the source of our connection and the secret of keeping it alive. Life is no…
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Cultivation is like falling in love. In most cases, love is the first time that we ever consider someone else’s point of view. Driven by something, we become attentive in order to to please our love interest.  It is the same keen attention that brings heartbreak when they are sad.  In love, listening is the source of our connection and the secret of keeping it alive.  Life is no different.

The Puzzle of Oneness

If you’ve ever read anything about the prisoner’s dilemma, you’ll be familiar with the concept of cooperation. It’s the classic exploration of why two “rational” actors often don’t act in their own best interest. The scenario goes like this:

You and a colleague commit a minor misdemeanor and a felony.
The police have evidence that you commit the misdemeanor.
The police think you committed the felony, but don’t have evidence.
They put you and your colleague in separate rooms and begin interrogating you
They offer the following.  “Your friend is going to rat on you.  But if you rat first, we’ll only charge you with the misdemeanor”

If you think about it, the best scenario for both of you is to keep your mouths shut.  You’ll both do your penance for the misdemeanor and go home.

But can you possibly know what your friend is going to do?  You have to consider that they’ll take the deal, leaving you to serve the longer sentence.  This is strong motivation to rat on your partner.

This is one way to look at the puzzle of oneness.  We live our lives constantly unsure if the people in our lives will cooperate or act selfishly. Our actions are governed by both nature and nurture. We tend to trust and cooperate with family and close friends.  But we’re often willing to throw strangers under the bus. When we’re under stress, we’ll even turn on our friends.

What prevents us from acting in our own best interests? It's the perception that we are separate
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The prisoner’s dilemma has been run as an experiment for more than 50 years on various college campuses and other academic settings. There are several strategies have been devised using various combinations of cooperation and defection in a sequence of trials. They can be simple or elaborate, including some that recognize other strategies and respond accordingly.

Over the years our intuitions have been confirmed.  The best strategy is cooperation, albeit with a judicial use of defection as a deterrent to fend off chronic defectors. My point is, that when we act in cooperation, as if everyone was close family, everyone wins. So what is it that prevents us from acting in our own best interests?  It’s the perception that we are separate; that we are competitors in a zero sum game. There must be a winner and a loser.

Minding The Gap

This is duality. This is you and the ox as one. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not as simple as “everybody is the same thing”.  Like I said, it gets weird.  Weirder that a cow and a chef making out on a cloud (thanks again Bob’s Burgers for the not so subtle imagery). This dualism permeates the every nuance of our mental and physical world.  Our notions of self and others are fraught with paradoxes. The physical boundaries that we imagine are less clear than meets the eye.  Quantum entanglement has shown that interdependencies run deep in the very fabric of the universe. This is a tricky and heady time, one where we must be careful not to loose our heads or get caught up in concepts and constructs. At the foundation of it still lies being – one breath to the next.

Whip, rope, person, and Ox –

all merge in No Thing.

This heaven is so vast,

no message can stain it.

How may a snowflake exist

in a raging fire.

Here are the footprints of

the Ancestors.

Next: Reaching the Source

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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Love Thy Taxer?

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

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