Andrew Furst's Blog, page 98

A Love Supreme – Sunday Morning Coming Down

A Love Supreme – John Coltrane

John Coltrane’s masterwork, A Love Supreme, was only played once in live concert. This portion is the only surviving film of that 1965 performance.

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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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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No Doubt? – Say What?

No Doubt?

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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Sleepy Kitty – Tiny Drops

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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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To Those Taking Care of Me – Meditations on Gratitude

To Those Taking Care of Me

Last week I was overtaken by a 104° fever caused by a case of pneumonia, that in retrospect was probably coming on for weeks.  I spent 3 days in the hospital,  and I’m still being nursed back to health by my eternally patient wife.

Some steep lessons were learned.

I am so grateful for the advancement of science and medicine.  If not for the health care professionals and antibiotics available to me here in this charmed corner of the world, I would possibly be dead.

Thank you to the Emergency room staff,  nurses,  nurses aids,  respiratory specialists,  x-ray technician, housekeepers, and multitudes of people who keep Winchester hospital running to help people like me.

Thank you to the researchers and pharmaceutical companies who create and produce medicines that heal.

Thank you to the FDA for ensuring that medicines are safe and reliable.

I’m so grateful to my wife,  who through her distrust of the medical establishment helped to ensure I was asking the right questions,  getting the right care, and plugging the  gaps in the system.

I’m grateful for friends who lent a hand so that my wife would be able to take care of me and the family.

Meditation

I breathe in humility

I breathe out thanks

I breathe in with deep dependence and with gratitude to others

I breath out surrender

I breathe in deep love of life and a renewed sense of the frailty and preciousness of that life

I breathe out  acknowledging that all this will pass

I breathe in emptiness

I breathe out peace

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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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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What Defines Who We Are? – Modern Koans

Estimated reading time: 7 minute(s)

What Defines Who We Are?

Response:  From a Buddhist perspective this is a critical question. The Buddha asked the question and warned us that a wrong answer can be the cause of much of the dissatisfaction we experience in life. Philosophers like Descartes have struggled with this – postulating a homunculus. Of course many religions declare that the soul lies at the heart of who we are.

Some of the absurdities that we should be inclined to dispense with include solipsism, nihilism, and dualism. Solipsism is the idea that we are all that exists. While it simplifies the answer to – we are everything – it’s a dead end. Nihilism insists that nothing exists, leading to another very simple, but unhelpful answer – we don’t exist, so who cares. The last option I think should be discounted is dualism – the idea that we are a collection of matter and mind stuff. The mind stuff being the meaner when we talk about who intends, who means something when they speak, and so on. The trouble is that mind stuff is undetectable and cannot be the subject of any testable theory of mind.

The Buddhist teaching of the Mahamudra, the great embrace, provides a holistic answer to the question. We are the complimentary relationship between the world and ourselves. Perhaps this is a clever sidestepping of the question, but I think it avoids a critical failure that other, more specific answers will always trip up on.

For example, we can say that we are the sum of our parts. What do we mean by parts? Are we the collection of torso, limbs and a head? If we lose some part of our body do we become someone else? Over the course of a year, the cells making up entire organ systems die and are replaced by new ones. If we are the sum of these parts, does that mean that we are the sum of all the cells dead, alive, and yet to be born?

What about our personalities and actions? These change over time. In many ways these traits are a function of our relationship to the world. We respond to our perceptions of the world as well as to internal stimuli. This is a pretty complicated and vast definition. The who we are describing is a shifting, growing, and fading thing. Putting a clear line around what it is and isn’t is a daunting task.

The great embrace is a high level but elegant description of who we are. We are a being in relationship with the world. Functionally, we might best describe us as the universe looking back on itself.

So what do you think?  Is this a cop out answer?  Can we be more specific without introducing absurdities? Is Buddhism materialism dressed up in robes? 

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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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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No Destination

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)



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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Slowly Falling – A Three Minute Meditation

Slowly Falling

Enjoy this video taken at Lower Buttermilk Falls in Ludlow VT in August 2015.

Meditation:

Notice the effect that watching the slow motion movement is having over you.

Let your own internal rhythm slow down.

Most of all, observe the breath slow as you do and enjoy. 

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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One Minute Meditations



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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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Ten Word Story III – Verse Us (Poems by Me)

A Ten Word Story

 

 

 

 

Cool, soft on my back in spring. Prickly in fall

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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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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Skater – Tiny Drops

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One Minute Meditations



Tiny Drops (Photography series)



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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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Am I Doing It Wrong? – Say What?

Am I Doing It Wrong?

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:

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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

 
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