Andrew Furst's Blog, page 88
December 17, 2015
Western Lights on Kobo (Cheaper than Amazon)
What’s Kobo? It’s an alternative to Amazon. Kobo lets you purchase ebooks that you can read on all kinds of devices. I’m offering Western Lights on Kobo at a significant discount $5.99. It’s a great holiday gift for that Buddhist reader in your life. So support an alternative to Amazon and get Western Lights almost half off.
Western Lights is a collection of essays from the viewpoint of a Western Buddhist teacher. It speaks about Eastern concepts like karma, hope, attachment, and emptiness from a personal perspective and in terms familiar to Americans. They’re grounded in subject matter familiar to Americans like politics, science, psychology, heaven, and nature. I hope to help the reader find a personal connection to this ancient tradition and discover what it has to say about the challenges of contemporary life.
Buddhism is an ancient eastern tradition steeped in the culture of India, China, Tibet, Thailand, Korea, and Japan. It’s still acquiring its form and voice in the west. For Americans to benefit from its wisdom, it needs to find a place in our hearts and minds.
“Personal experience has proven that my body has to do nothing short of screaming to get my attention. In my mid-thirties I was working sixty plus hours per week. I loved the opportunity, I wanted the money, but then came the back spasms…. And that was the alarm that I needed. The lightening had struck. It was time for change.” Andrew Furst “Western Lights”
The post Western Lights on Kobo (Cheaper than Amazon) appeared on Andrew Furst.
Zhuangzi On Opinions
Quotes -The path to right view is an arduous walk through fields of manure.
Get Each Week's Quotes in your email box First Name:
Last Name:
Email address:
In addition to a monthly email you can also subscribe to the following weekly series:
Weekly Series:
One Minute Meditations
Tiny Drops (Photography series)
Compass Songs (My Favorite Poems)
Dialectic Two-Step
Modern Koans (interesting questions)
Sunday Morning Coming Down (Music Videos)
Relics (Timeless Republished Articles)
Say What?
Quotes
Verse Us (Poems I Write)
Meditations on Gratitude
If you enjoyed this post, please like and share.
The post Zhuangzi On Opinions appeared on Andrew Furst.
Secaucus Train – One Minute Meditation
Back in August, after dropping my son of at school – and leaving the car – I opted to take the train home. It was a good decision. It was 7 hours of relaxing time, I meditated, organized and edited all the photos I’d taken in Baltimore, and when I was inspired, shot video of the scenery passing by. This shot was an attempt to capture the new world trade tower off in the distance as we approached Manhattan from New Jersey. It came out blurry, but, in my opinion, quite nice.
Please enjoy and consider taking the train next time.
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 First Name:
Last Name:
Email address:
In addition to a monthly email you can also subscribe to the following weekly series:
Weekly Series:
One Minute Meditations
Tiny Drops (Photography series)
Compass Songs (My Favorite Poems)
Dialectic Two-Step
Modern Koans (interesting questions)
Sunday Morning Coming Down (Music Videos)
Relics (Timeless Republished Articles)
Say What?
Quotes
Verse Us (Poems I Write)
Meditations on Gratitude
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 Secaucus Train – One Minute Meditation appeared on Andrew Furst.
December 16, 2015
Ten Word Story – Fire- Verse Us
fire
Verse Us - Poems I write: haiku, senryu, mesostics, free verse, random word constructions, I might even use rhyme or meter once and a while.
Get Each Week's Compass Song in your email box First Name:
Last Name:
Email address:
In addition to a monthly email you can also subscribe to the following weekly series:
Weekly Series:
One Minute Meditations
Tiny Drops (Photography series)
Compass Songs (My Favorite Poems)
Dialectic Two-Step
Modern Koans (interesting questions)
Sunday Morning Coming Down (Music Videos)
Relics (Timeless Republished Articles)
Say What?
Quotes
Verse Us (Poems I Write)
Meditations on Gratitude
If you enjoyed this post, please like and share.
The post Ten Word Story – Fire- Verse Us appeared on Andrew Furst.
Baltimore VII – Tiny Drops (Photography)
Part seven of a series of photos I took in Baltimore.
ceiling glass bw
Charles St Wares
Elavator buttons 2 BW
Get Each Week's Tiny Drops in your email box First Name:
Last Name:
Email address:
In addition to a monthly email you can also subscribe to the following weekly series:
Weekly Series:
One Minute Meditations
Tiny Drops (Photography series)
Compass Songs (My Favorite Poems)
Dialectic Two-Step
Modern Koans (interesting questions)
Sunday Morning Coming Down (Music Videos)
Relics (Timeless Republished Articles)
Say What?
Quotes
Verse Us (Poems I Write)
Meditations on Gratitude
If you enjoyed this post, please like and share.
The post Baltimore VII – Tiny Drops (Photography) appeared on Andrew Furst.
December 15, 2015
What’s The Difference? – Say What?
Say What? is an ongoing series of laconic exchanges on Buddhism in the format of a comic strip.
Get Each Week's Say What? Comic in your email box First Name:
Last Name:
Email address:
In addition to a monthly email you can also subscribe to the following weekly series:
Weekly Series:
One Minute Meditations
Tiny Drops (Photography series)
Compass Songs (My Favorite Poems)
Dialectic Two-Step
Modern Koans (interesting questions)
Sunday Morning Coming Down (Music Videos)
Relics (Timeless Republished Articles)
Say What?
Quotes
Verse Us (Poems I Write)
Meditations on Gratitude
If you enjoyed this post, please like and share.
The post What’s The Difference? – Say What? appeared on Andrew Furst.
Winter Trees by William Carlos Williams – Compass Songs
All the complicated details
of the attiring and
the disattiring are completed!
A liquid moon
moves gently among
the long branches.
Thus having prepared their buds
against a sure winter
the wise trees
stand sleeping in the cold.
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.
Get Each Week's Compass Song in your email box First Name:
Last Name:
Email address:
In addition to a monthly email you can also subscribe to the following weekly series:
Weekly Series:
One Minute Meditations
Tiny Drops (Photography series)
Compass Songs (My Favorite Poems)
Dialectic Two-Step
Modern Koans (interesting questions)
Sunday Morning Coming Down (Music Videos)
Relics (Timeless Republished Articles)
Say What?
Quotes
Verse Us (Poems I Write)
Meditations on Gratitude
If you enjoyed this post, please like and share.
The post Winter Trees by William Carlos Williams – Compass Songs appeared on Andrew Furst.
December 14, 2015
The Tree – Ikkyu
Quotes -The path to right view is an arduous walk through fields of manure.
Get Each Week's Quotes in your email box First Name:
Last Name:
Email address:
In addition to a monthly email you can also subscribe to the following weekly series:
Weekly Series:
One Minute Meditations
Tiny Drops (Photography series)
Compass Songs (My Favorite Poems)
Dialectic Two-Step
Modern Koans (interesting questions)
Sunday Morning Coming Down (Music Videos)
Relics (Timeless Republished Articles)
Say What?
Quotes
Verse Us (Poems I Write)
Meditations on Gratitude
If you enjoyed this post, please like and share.
The post The Tree – Ikkyu appeared on Andrew Furst.
Finding the Season’s Cheer – Dialectic Two-Step
Estimated reading time: 14 minute(s)
Finding the Season’s Cheer
It’s December and the holidays are upon us. It’s time for family, big dinners, gift giving, and the hope of snow. Of course, there is another side to the holidays.
Waiting for my commuter rail train the other day, it was crowded and tensions were palpable. People in close proximity, the noise, and that special ingredient – holiday anxiety – added some bitter spice to the mix.
At the North Station convenience store, a woman with a baby carriage was cut in line three times as people took advantage of her lack of mobility.
On the subway a few people, unwilling to wait for the next train, shoved their way onto the car and as a result we were crammed in like sardines. Tempers flared and there were some colorful remarks.
10 minutes later on a connecting train, while a disabled woman and her elderly mother were slowly trying to exit a train, a rider went on a rant about the slow train service.
The season to be jolly is a coin with 2 sides.
Train of Consciousness
As you can see, I take the train. Despite the experiences I described above, I really enjoy it. It offers me a respite from rush hour traffic. It’s given me the opportunity to write more and it’s given me a chance to explore some feelings and reactions to something I’ve not always enjoyed.
At various points in my life I’ve taken the subway and dreaded it. For me, there is a disorder and discomfort to riding the train. I’ve spent hours in traffic, for the “convenience” of being in my own car. I never liked it.
But, my time on the cushion has spurred me to explore the experience. I am determined to apply the insights I’ve gained in meditation to all the circumstances of my life; even riding the train.
The Experiment
I’ve tried to treat my return to public transportation as an exercise in mindfulness. I began to watch how my body and mind took in the experience and responded. My typical reaction was withdrawal. I’d recoil from the stimuli, avert eye contact with other people. My posture collapsed and I’d get tense.
Recognizing this as what Buddhists call aversion, I made an effort to shake the patterns and open up. I started with my body. Each ride, I tried to be aware of my aversion and respond to the tension by doing little things like standing up straight and relaxing.
I’d lift my sternum a little to open up my heart. I’d make an effort to release the tension in my face (this is one of the keys to happiness) and let a smile creep on to the corners of my mouth.
My mood has been transformed. Relatively quickly, I was able to relieve the stress of riding the train. While I still split my time (somewhat irrationally) between the train and the car, I recognize that my body and mind prefer the train ride in.
What’s wonderful is that these techniques work anywhere; in malls, while you’re driving, or any situation where “holiday cheer” can reach boiling point.
But There’s More
Relaxing and opening the body can bring relief, but we can take it a step further.
During my train of consciousness experiment, I’ve spent time looking around. The faces of those around me offer up smiles and scowls. The expressions are contagious. They sometimes invite and sometimes repel. They are the shared energy and patterns of our interdependence.
What’s remarkable about my exploration is the quality of the experience. It feels good and it’s reminiscent of the bliss I sometimes get on the cushion.
The state of open awareness that I achieve during inward reflection feels wonderful and has a healing quality to it. When I allow that awareness to expand beyond the boundaries of my body, the feeling only grows. The appreciation of my interdependence becomes more than conceptual. It’s becomes a joy to share space with the Buddhas on the train.
When I peer out from behind my identity and see that we are brothers and sisters in Buddha nature, I feel connected. When I see that I am not alone and there are others that I can and do rely on, I am grateful. When I see that peace, cooperation, and goodness surrounds me, I am convinced that the world is evolving in its perfection. How is it possible not to smile?
Don’t Give Up
But what about the “non-Buddha’s”? What about those jerks that cut the young mother in line, shoved their way on the train, or cursed at the handicapped woman? What about them?
It’s a matter of interdependence, energy and evolution. The infectiousness of other people’s energy is an opportunity for mindfulness. On the cushion, digging into the origin and life of our thoughts gives us insight into the power ideas can have over us. We learn that if we allow thoughts to be our masters, we will be tossed about from one thing to the other, on an emotional rollercoaster.
But if we can turn the tables and master our minds, peace is available to us no matter what energy and thoughts appear in our minds, and on our path.
One lesson that I’ve learned in life is that you can’t solve other people’s problems. A corollary to this truth is that there is no greater service to others than mastering your own issues. The only path to harmony in the world is to bring a more peaceful, mindful and loving you to each day.
One of my favorite Zen Sutras is the Flower Sermon. In it the Buddha simply holds up a flower and smiles. As a result his disciple, Mahakasyapa, was enlightened. It could just mean – Smile, it’s contagious!
Don’t forget to smile.
Namo Amitofo,
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
Get Each Week's Dialectic Two Step in your email box First Name:
Last Name:
Email address:
In addition to a monthly email you can also subscribe to the following weekly series:
Weekly Series:
One Minute Meditations
Tiny Drops (Photography series)
Compass Songs (My Favorite Poems)
Dialectic Two-Step
Modern Koans (interesting questions)
Sunday Morning Coming Down (Music Videos)
Relics (Timeless Republished Articles)
Say What?
Quotes
Verse Us (Poems I Write)
Meditations on Gratitude
If you enjoyed this post, please like and share.
The post Finding the Season’s Cheer – Dialectic Two-Step appeared on Andrew Furst.
December 13, 2015
Reflections Off Otter Lake – A Five Minute Meditation
Meditation:
In this five minute meditation
Allow your body to synchronize with the rhythm of the shimmering ripples.
At the end of each 1 minute interval, a singing bowl will ring.
Allow the sound to reverberate up and down your spine and throughout your body.
Let the sound bring your body, breath, and mind together into the present moment.
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 First Name:
Last Name:
Email address:
In addition to a monthly email you can also subscribe to the following weekly series:
Weekly Series:
One Minute Meditations
Tiny Drops (Photography series)
Compass Songs (My Favorite Poems)
Dialectic Two-Step
Modern Koans (interesting questions)
Sunday Morning Coming Down (Music Videos)
Relics (Timeless Republished Articles)
Say What?
Quotes
Verse Us (Poems I Write)
Meditations on Gratitude
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 Reflections Off Otter Lake – A Five Minute Meditation appeared on Andrew Furst.
