Andrew Furst's Blog, page 79
January 28, 2016
Neils Bohr – The Paradox of Profound Truth
Quotes -The path to right view is an arduous walk through fields of manure.
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Coming Waves – One Minute Meditation
Nature’s majesty is boundless and always showing herself in perpetually shifting form. From a beautiful sunset, to a dangerous hurricane. The deeper you look the more she opens up, one form to the next, inexhaustibly. She is a well with no bottom. That is her secret.
These Meditation Videos Are Best Viewed In Full Screen
One 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.
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January 27, 2016
The Post Card Art Project Artists
For those of you participating in the Post Card Art Project I wanted to share a little bit about where your collaborators are. The map below plots all the locations where the post cards were sent. Pretty cool. The following states/provinces are represented:
Alberta Canada Arizona USA Colorado USA Connecticut USA
Illinois USA Iowa USA Manitoba Canada Maryland USA
Massachusetts USA New Jersey USA New Mexico USA New York USA
Rhode Island USA Texas USA Vermont USA
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The Not Rifle – Verse Us (Poems by Me)
Unloaded of all its poetry
My rifle,
Safety on,
Threatens no salvation, liberation, or cash prizes.
Its skin is not dry, moist, or smooth.
Only reminiscent of soft summer carnages.
Carefully neglecting the care
Of this sacred rifle,
Reminds me of the unanswered prayers to the gods
My rifle doesn’t dream or pray
It has no discernable preferences.
No craving for a cloudburst
To break through the stolid humidity.
No fear of the bitter cold.
Absent desire for sweets,
Comfort or embrace.
From this Winchester,
Buddha nature exudes.
Raising the muzzle,
I squeeze out a few rounds of Mudita.
Grit my teeth,
And survey the bodies gone over to the other side.
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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An Albino Squirrel – 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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January 26, 2016
Truth? – Say What?
Say What? is an ongoing series of laconic exchanges on Buddhism in the format of a comic strip.
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Fish Crier by Carl Sandburg – Compass Songs
I know a Jew fish crier down on Maxwell Street with a voice like a north wind blowing over corn stubble in January.
He dangles herring before prospective customers evincing a joy identical with that of Pavlowa dancing.
His face is that of a man terribly glad to be selling fish, terribly glad that God made fish, and customers to whom he may call his wares, from a pushcart.
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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January 25, 2016
A Shortcut
Quotes -The path to right view is an arduous walk through fields of manure.
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Just Follow Your Dreams? – Dialectic Two-Step
Question: Is ‘being yourself’, ‘living the life you want to live’ and ‘following your dreams’ really the answer to all problems? Why do people think so? Has this ever worked out for anyone?
Response: All of this so called advice sounds like a reaction to being exasperated by life’s expectations. I see it from a few different angles. The first is through the lens of my family. My mother frequently gives advice like this. It has a fatalistic ring to it. Something along the lines of – screw what other people think, if you don’t play the game, you can’t lose.
Another, less defeatist, way of looking at this counsel is that we should acknowledge our own needs, wants, and desires in life. I can agree with that.
I think what’s missing in these affirmations is the context. We don’t live in a vacuum. In the game of life, there is always a partner. It can be another person, our circumstances, or even our career. We also have to acknowledge that we have minimal control over most of the variables in our lives. Making life choices doesn’t make them happen. Choosing wealth, a supportive network of people, or the conditions necessary to fulfill your dreams isn’t even half the battle.
How do the people who are living the dream get there? Because there were causes and conditions in place for them to happen. Did they do it themselves? Just ask any successful person how they got there. They will inevitably acknowledge the help they received and the luck they had. Yes, they did their part, but it’s also true that they were dependent on circumstances and on others for their success.
Does this advice work for everyone? It depends. It depends on your dreams, your circumstances, and your willingness to work hard. If your dream is to be content with what you have, things are looking good. If your dream is to be President of the United States of America, go for it, but you should be prepared for disappointment.
This is the context that is so important when taking in this advice. We play in the world that delivers what it delivers. Things don’t work out like we expect – a lot. If your dreams are out of synch with reality, you’re going to be continually disappointed. If being yourself includes being selfish, disagreeable, or entitled, you’d better be prepared for the consequences. If living the life you want to live involves not wearing clothes, well you’re going to need a pretty good plan.
I tend to let this kind of advice go. You can never be free of the circumstances that the world throws at you. You have to be able to let go of the exasperation and roll with the punches, because you can’t let go of the world.
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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January 24, 2016
Always a Work In Progress – One Minute Meditation
Evening trek
across the White
Mountains
practicing my
obsession and
letting it go
Nirvana, always a
work in progress
These Meditation Videos Are Best Viewed In Full Screen
One 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.
If you enjoyed this post, please like and share.
The post Always a Work In Progress – One Minute Meditation appeared on Andrew Furst.
