Andrew Furst's Blog, page 67
March 31, 2016
April Memories?
Quotes -The path to right view is an arduous walk through fields of manure.
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Uninvited Guest – A One Minute Meditation
An uninvited guest
absorbed
into the landscape.
A natural vigilance
pervades,
but does not impede.
All guests
deserve a wary eye,
freedom,
and some space
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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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March 30, 2016
Post Card Art Project – Contrast
Here’s the next installment of the Post Card Art Project. Contrast.
The artist (and let me know if there are mistakes) are shown below in the same position as their card:
The Post Card Art Series
This is the one of several posts I will be offering titled the Post Card Art Series. Its a collaborative art project done on post cards.
Using an image divided into four sections, I created four post cards. I printed 200, pre-stamped them, and mailed them out to patreon supporters, friends, and blog readers who expressed an interest. They applied the art, mailed the cards back. Now I'm assembling them.
The results are fun and unique.
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March 29, 2016
One Art by Elizabeth Bishop – Compass Songs
The art of losing isn’t hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster,
Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn’t hard to master.
Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant
to travel. None of these will bring disaster.
I lost my mother’s watch. And look! my last, or
next-to-last, of three loved houses went.
The art of losing isn’t hard to master.
I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn’t a disaster.
– Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan’t have lied. It’s evident
the art of losing’s not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.
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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March 28, 2016
Which Religion is Closest To Agnosticism? – Dialectic Two Step
Estimated reading time: 4 minute(s)
Response: My guess is many Buddhists would take the bait on this one and declare the Buddha an agnostic. I’m going to say he wasn’t. Perhaps I’m being nitpicky, but I think it’s instructive.
Many would say that there are three perspectives on the existence of God
Theism – Belief in God
Atheism – No belief in God
Agnosticism – Not sure whether or not to believe in God
But these three positions assume a willingness to engage with the question. They assume that the question is answerable or relevant. I’d suggest there is at least one more perspective, which you might call
Pursuing the answer is not helpful-ism – A belief that none of the other positions offer any practical benefit.
The Sutras are slippery on this topic, but I think they lean heavily toward this position.
In many texts, there are direct references to the Hindu Pantheon. But, in these Sutras the Buddha is seen as superior to the Gods, while also being a human. This is a little odd.
In other Sutras, the Buddha is said to have been silent on metaphysical questions, including those regarding the existence of a deity.
And in yet another he answers the question “Is there a God” contradictorily to two different people. He told an atheist there is a God and a theist there is not. The explanation was that these people needed to move on from their metaphysics and get on with the work of liberation.
So perhaps Buddhism may be in close proximity to Agnosticism on a spectrum of beliefs, but I think it’s different enough to say they aren’t the same thing.
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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March 27, 2016
Fashions In Bigotry
Quotes -The path to right view is an arduous walk through fields of manure.
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Delibes – The Flower Duet – Sunday Morning Coming Down
It feels like time for some classical music and a good time to think about flowers.
“The Flower Duet” (French: Duo des fleurs / Sous le dôme épais) is a famous duet for sopranos from Léo Delibes’ opera Lakmé, first performed in Paris in 1883. The duet takes place in act 1 of the three-act opera, between characters Lakmé, the daughter of a Brahmin priest, and her servant Mallika, as they go to gather flowers by a river.
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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March 26, 2016
Finding The World – Say What?
Say What? is an ongoing series of laconic exchanges on Buddhism in the format of a comic strip.
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March 25, 2016
The Oxherd Series – Riding the Ox Home – 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.
What is Buddha Nature? What do we achieve with enlightenment? Is there or is there not some change demarcating before and after realization?
I think there is a change. There is always change. But we can point to some things that might be marked as better than before.
When we rediscover our Buddha nature, there is a smile that appears on our lives. It’s a whole being smile of love, joy, contentment, and compassion. Death appears more vividly on the horizon, but the fear of it and it’s impact on our lives is reckoned with. One finds in the rhythm of nature a boundless source of life, peace, and creativity. Hearing is unchanged but heeded and savored. Sight, taste, smell, and touch – the same. Our capacity to relate is stretched beyond what we thought was possible, far beyond the bounds of our small selves. While there will be good days, bad days, sorrow, and joy, the struggle is over.
Mounting the bull, slowly I return homeward.
The voice of my flute intones through the evening.
Measuring with hand-beats the pulsating harmony,
I direct the endless rhythm.
Whoever hears this melody will join me.
Next: The Ox Transcended
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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March 24, 2016
Civil War
Quotes -The path to right view is an arduous walk through fields of manure.
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