Andrew Furst's Blog, page 92
November 27, 2015
Enhancing Your Practice? – Modern Koans
Estimated reading time: 3 minute(s)
Enhancing Your Practice?
Question: What do you do in between meditative sessions to enhance your practice?
Response: Enhance your practice? Is that the goal?
I average 28 minutes of meditation each day. If I spread that over the year, that’s 10,220 minutes or about 7 days. That’s just about 2% of my time. 98% of the time, I’m doing other stuff: working, sleeping, eating, and so on. During that time, you can bet that I’m in and out of some state of discontentment.
What is the goal of practice? We meditate to reduce our suffering. We practice to recognize the source of our dissatisfaction. We are mindful to enhance our lives. Hopefully you can put the lessons you’ve learned in meditation to reduce suffering for you and the people around you. I’d recommend rephrasing your question to say “What do you do in between meditative sessions to enhance life?”
What do you do between meditation or other practice? Do you find ways to put the lessons you’ve learned in practice to work in your life?
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 Get Each Week's Modern Koan in your email box First Name:
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Tiny Drops (Photography series)
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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
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November 26, 2015
Mind Is Moving – The Gateless Gate
Quotes -The path to right view is an arduous walk through fields of manure.
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Dialectic Two-Step
Modern Koans (interesting questions)
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Say What?
Quotes
Verse Us (Poems I Write)
Meditations on Gratitude
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Twenty Mile Stream On A Rainy Afternoon – A Three Minute Meditation
A rainy afternoon overlooking Twenty Mile Stream in Cavendish, VT.
Riding the waves of the pace of life.
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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Meditations on Gratitude – Thanksgiving
However you choose to celebrate today,
with or without gratitude,
with or without fond memories of past holidays,
with or without excitement for the coming holidays,
and with or without turkey,
you are the recipient of so much,
from so many.
For this I am glad.
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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Relics (Timeless Republished Articles)
Say What?
Quotes
Verse Us (Poems I Write)
Meditations on Gratitude
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November 25, 2015
Mind Reflection Inaccuracies – A Poem – Verse Us
What thoughts have given rise to these
wrinkles and folds?
What organ holds
my preferences for red wine, large breasts,and fall weather?
Are there spaces left open for
ghosts and gods?
Love and war?
Does aphrodite have a reservation
with spontaneous human combustion
right after Castaneda rips out her soul?
Can I mimeograph that inspiration for you
or will you accept aural dictation?
I’m afraid I don’t see the minds eye
or a needle for your camel.
Who am I to say?
And where are you?
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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Dialectic Two-Step
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Say What?
Quotes
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Meditations on Gratitude
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Ghosts In The Machine – Tiny Drops (Photography)
The classic phrase that captures the intuition we all have about dualism is the ghost in the machine. It’s a soul, or a Cartesian homunculus that is somehow operating this body. It is the meaner and intender of all of our actions.
Philosophy and science have long since discredited this idea, but they haven’t replaced it with an adequately satisfying alternative model. Dan Dennett, in his book Consciousness Explained proposes a model that is appealing, but its a long moderately technical read. Perhaps meditating on the infeasibility of the dualist view is the best way to cure humanity of this unhelpful folk psychology concept.
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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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November 24, 2015
Rating GoFundRocket Crowd Funding Booster
In an earlier article, I talked about my experience with two crowdfunding booster companies, GoFundRocket and GoGoWarrior. In this installment, I want to flesh out my rational for grading GoFundRocket (I gave them a D). It can be summed up in two bullets:
They didn’t deliver on their advertised services
My customer service experience was less then glowing
The image above is the overview of the experience and how I graded them.
Based on a fairly positive experience on my first campaign, I contacted GoFundRocket when I started to raise money for my second book. I signed up for their Full Boost plan ($289). Their front end plan was unchanged, so I went to work building my new spreadsheet, doing the tasks that were my end of the bargain, and graphing the data.
From the back end, I saw a single burst of traffic early in the campaign, clearly attributed to GoFundRocket. But after that, I wasn’t able to discern what effect they were having on the campaign. So I plodded along hoping for the best.
But, over the next month and a half, my rank steadily declined.
SOS
I started to ping Nick, the guy I worked with at GoFundRocket, and pointed out what my data was showing. I asked for advice. He said stay the course. As my rank continued to fall, I began to press a little harder. Finally, two thirds into the campaign, I requested a refund because they failed to meet key advertised deliverables.
Foremost was the failure to provide
Increased GogoFactor/rank
Action reports – I presume these would demonstrate that they were doing something and that it was having a positive impact.
At first Nick seemed reasonable. His response to my refund request was that it shouldn’t be a problem. Ending here, I would have given them a much better grade and chalked it up to circumstances. Things went differently.
click the image to expand
Oops
After 4 business days, I was unpleasantly surprised on 2 levels
I wasn’t going to get a refund
The reason they gave was because they didn’t want to work in vain (they didn’t want go unpaid)
click the image to expand
Going Rogue
I provided data and what seemed to me like a rational argument for getting a refund.
click the image to expand
I was accused of being irrational
click the image to expand
Where’s The Beef?
When I stated that I had not received the action reports, we had the following exchange.
click the image to expand
Here are the results I got?
click the image to expand
No original emails – I can only presume he lied when he said he sent them.
There is nothing here relating to my name or campaign, this could have been a screenshot of anything.
Broke The Camel’s Back
That was the last straw. I sent the following email to let them know I was at the end of my rope and to inform them of my intentions.
click the image to expand
Gone Legal
And they threatened me with legal action (over $289)
click the image to expand
Don’t Bother With GoFundRocket
My recommendation is to skip the booster marketing companies. If you do want to use one. Don’t use GoFundRocket
The post Rating GoFundRocket Crowd Funding Booster appeared on Andrew Furst.
Problem Solved? – Say What?
Say What? is an ongoing series of laconic exchanges on Buddhism in the format of a comic strip.
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Say What?
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Meditations on Gratitude
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The Name—of It—is ‘Autumn’ – Emily Dickinson – Compass Songs
The name—of it—is ‘Autumn’—
The hue—of it—is Blood—
An Artery—upon the Hill—
A Vein—along the Road—
Great Globules—in the Alleys—
And Oh, the Shower of Stain—
When Winds—upset the Basin—
And spill the Scarlet Rain—
It sprinkles Bonnets—far below—
It gathers ruddy Pools—
Then—eddies like a Rose—away—
Upon Vermilion Wheels—
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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Meditations on Gratitude
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November 23, 2015
Richard Rohr on Not Knowing
Quotes -The path to right view is an arduous walk through fields of manure.
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