Andrew Furst's Blog, page 91

Baltimore III – Tiny Drops (Photography)

Baltimore III

Part three of a series of photos I took in Baltimore.

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Baltimore III

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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

 
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One Minute Meditations



Tiny Drops (Photography series)



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Dialectic Two-Step



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Sunday Morning Coming Down (Music Videos)



Relics (Timeless Republished Articles)



Say What?



Quotes



Verse Us (Poems I Write)



Meditations on Gratitude

 
FIVE LIMITLESS THOUGHTS

May all living beings have happiness and its causes

May all be free from unhappiness and its causes

May all dwell in equanimity, free of attraction and aversion

May all quickly find the great happiness that lies beyond all misery

May all enjoy inner and outer peace now and forever

NAMO AMITOFO

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I’m Full? – Say What?

I’m Full?

A Few Words on I’m Full? 

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

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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

 
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Winter-Time by Robert Louis Stevenson – Compass Songs

Winter-Time

by Robert Louis Stevenson

Late lies the wintry sun a-bed,

A frosty, fiery sleepy-head;

Blinks but an hour or two; and then,

A blood-red orange, sets again.

Before the stars have left the skies,

At morning in the dark I rise;

And shivering in my nakedness,

By the cold candle, bathe and dress.

Close by the jolly fire I sit

To warm my frozen bones a bit;

Or with a reindeer-sled, explore

The colder countries round the door.

When to go out, my nurse doth wrap

Me in my comforter and cap;

The cold wind burns my face, and blows

Its frosty pepper up my nose.

Black are my steps on silver sod;

Thick blows my frosty breath abroad;

And tree and house, and hill and lake,

Are frosted like a wedding cake.

 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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Dialectic Two-Step



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Sunday Morning Coming Down (Music Videos)



Relics (Timeless Republished Articles)



Say What?



Quotes



Verse Us (Poems I Write)



Meditations on Gratitude

 
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Jiddu Krishnamurti On Belief

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

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Say What?



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Verse Us (Poems I Write)



Meditations on Gratitude

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What Is The Jewel In The Lotus? – Dialectic Two Step

Estimated reading time: 2 minute(s)

What Is The Jewel In The Lotus?

The jewel  is our indestructible Buddha Nature. Of course this is a terrible answer. I’ve merely replaced one symbol with another.

At the heart of this enigmatic symbolism is the paradox of an unchanging foundation of thusness in non-dual union with an ever evolving and unfolding universe.

The jewel – sometimes thought of as awareness – Tibetan: rigpa

The lotus – the unfolding world of our perceptions

Om Mani Padme Hung

Mani – Jewel

Padme – Lotus

Hum or Hung –Union

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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Dialectic Two-Step



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Sunday Morning Coming Down (Music Videos)



Relics (Timeless Republished Articles)



Say What?



Quotes



Verse Us (Poems I Write)



Meditations on Gratitude

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Sanderson Falls – A Two Minute Meditation

Sanderson Falls

Some beautiful slow motion footage of Sanderson Falls in Chester-Blandford State Forest.

Just watch and enjoy. I have nothing more to add.

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.

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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.

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The Mountain – Levon Helm – Sunday Morning Coming Down

The Mountain – Levon Helm

From his second to last album. My son came home with this song from New Mexico.  A new standard to the songlist.

Sunday Morning Coming Down is an ongoing music  video series.  The songs fit my definition of music for a lazy couch bound Sunday morning. Get Each Week's Sunday Morning Coming Down in your email box First Name:

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Dialectic Two-Step



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Sunday Morning Coming Down (Music Videos)



Relics (Timeless Republished Articles)



Say What?



Quotes



Verse Us (Poems I Write)



Meditations on Gratitude

 
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The Mountain

by  Levon Helm

I was born on this mountain a long long time ago

Before they knocked down the timber and stripped mined all the coal

When you rose up in the morning before it was light

To go down in that dark hole and come back up at night

I was born on this mountain, this mountain’s my home

She holds me and she keeps me from a worry and a woe

Well they took everything she gave, she gave it now she’s gone

But I’ll die on this mountain, this mountain’s my home

I was young on this mountain but now I am old

And I knew every holler, every cool swimmin’ hole

Til a one night I lay down and I woke up to find

That my childhood was over I went back down in the mine

There’s a hole in this mountain it’s dark and it’s deep

And God only knows all the secrets that it keeps

There’s a chill in the air only miners can feel

There’re ghosts in the tunnels that the company sealed

The post The Mountain – Levon Helm – Sunday Morning Coming Down appeared on Andrew Furst.

Making A Comeback? – Say What?

Making A Comeback?

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

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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

 
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Baltimore II – Tiny Drops (Photography)

Baltimore II

Part two of a series of photos I took in Baltimore.

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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

 
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Meditations on Gratitude – Family

Grammy

Our gratitude for family is often complicated.   It’s a mixed bag of appreciation and contradictory emotions. This blend is the product of proximity. We are witness to the best and worst of our close family members.  One thing that can be said is that gratitude towards family is complex and authentic.

My grandmother is a perfect example.  A strong conservative woman who grew up in the depression, she threw herself at problems and into personal battles. She spoke her mind and was abundantly kind. She had powerful prejudices yet a towering intellect.  Most of all, she was a teacher.

With Grammy, there was always a walk.  There were trillium and crawfish; Shoes lost in the spring mud; milkweed and the eternal quest for monarch caterpillars; trips to Lexington gardens and the stars.

Winter and the holidays brought politics and ethics; William F Buckley and the entitled Jews and niggers; freedom and responsibility.  She carried the lessons of the twentieth century in her heart and on her face.  In her perfections and imperfections was a riddle about how love and the world intertwine.

The riddle went like this:

Do as I say, not as I do.  Say cats without kittens.

Grammy was both my strongest influence and a complicated bundle of love and bigotry. In her there was an example to follow and one to vilify.  In both regards she made me a better person.

Meditation

When I breathe in, I breathe it all in

When I breathe out, I breathe out gratitude

When I breathe in, I taste the bitter with the sweet

When I breathe out, I notice my own inclinations

When I breathe in, I accept forgiveness

When I breathe out, I give myself

Meditations on Gratitude - A weekly series of people and situations I’m thankful for and a short meditation.. Get Each Week's Meditations on Gratitude in your email box First Name:

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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

 
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The post Meditations on Gratitude – Family appeared on Andrew Furst.