Andrew Furst's Blog, page 99

Poem In October – Dylan Thomas – Compass Songs

Poem In October

by Dylan Thomas

It was my thirtieth year to heaven

Woke to my hearing from harbour and neighbour wood

And the mussel pooled and the heron

Priested shore

The morning beckon

With water praying and call of seagull and rook

And the knock of sailing boats on the net webbed wall

Myself to set foot

That second

In the still sleeping town and set forth.

My birthday began with the water-

Birds and the birds of the winged trees flying my name

Above the farms and the white horses

And I rose

In rainy autumn

And walked abroad in a shower of all my days.

High tide and the heron dived when I took the road

Over the border

And the gates

Of the town closed as the town awoke.

A springful of larks in a rolling

Cloud and the roadside bushes brimming with whistling

Blackbirds and the sun of October

Summery

On the hill’s shoulder,

Here were fond climates and sweet singers suddenly

Come in the morning where I wandered and listened

To the rain wringing

Wind blow cold

In the wood faraway under me.

Pale rain over the dwindling harbour

And over the sea wet church the size of a snail

With its horns through mist and the castle

Brown as owls

But all the gardens

Of spring and summer were blooming in the tall tales

Beyond the border and under the lark full cloud.

There could I marvel

My birthday

Away but the weather turned around.

It turned away from the blithe country

And down the other air and the blue altered sky

Streamed again a wonder of summer

With apples

Pears and red currants

And I saw in the turning so clearly a child’s

Forgotten mornings when he walked with his mother

Through the parables

Of sun light

And the legends of the green chapels

And the twice told fields of infancy

That his tears burned my cheeks and his heart moved in mine.

These were the woods the river and sea

Where a boy

In the listening

Summertime of the dead whispered the truth of his joy

To the trees and the stones and the fish in the tide.

And the mystery

Sang alive

Still in the water and singingbirds.

And there could I marvel my birthday

Away but the weather turned around. And the true

Joy of the long dead child sang burning

In the sun.

It was my thirtieth

Year to heaven stood there then in the summer noon

Though the town below lay leaved with October blood.

O may my heart’s truth

Still be sung

On this high hill in a year’s turning.

 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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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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Tell Me A Story V

Tell Me A Story is a an ongoing series of lightening story prompts. The rules are simple

Set a timer for 5 minutes
Read or view the prompt
In the comments section below write a short story, poem, or rant as you are moved in the moment

Prompt: See the photo above.  What role did this object play in an important historic event (of your choosing)?
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What Happens When You Forget About Ego? – Dialectic Two Step

Estimated reading time: 5 minute(s)

What Happens When You Forget About Ego?

Questions: What happens in Buddhism when you forget about the ego?

The ego is unforgettable. Think of it like a bicycle. You learn what a bicycle is when you are young. If you don’t see one, a picture of one, dream about one, or talk about one for forty years, you forget about bicycles. But if you see one, you know it.

If you somehow manage to do away with ego for some period of time, a situation will arise when it will assert itself. The ego is one of many bags of tricks in our arsenal of evolutionary adaptations. It is useful in many, many ways. But it also has drawbacks. Its negative manifestation it is a misrepresentation of self.

Here’s an example of a trick, similar to ego, that can backfire. We know that if we want to lose weight, we should eat less and burn more calories. This strategy is useful until we are at a healthy weight. At this point we should let go of the rigorous dieting and exercise and adjust to maintain the healthy state.

But what if we fixate on the dieting and weight loss as the most important thing? What if we continue to lose weight to the point where we become ill? Of course, this is the disease anorexia nervosa. We treat it with medical monitoring, nutritional counseling, and therapy. The goal is to replace the fixation on weight loss with healthy habits.

So when we talk about the negative aspects of ego, it is the fixation, not ego itself. Forgetting ego isn’t what we’re after. The Buddha taught that when we can release the fixation, we can reduce our suffering. That can come in myriad forms. You can become more relaxed, have peace of mind, etc. These qualities are summarized in the four Brahma Viharas – Loving Kindness (Metta), Compassion (Karuna), Joy with others (Mudita), and Equanimity (Upekkha).

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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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

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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On The Front Stoop In The Rain – A Two Minute Meditation

On The Front Stoop In The Rain

Meditation:

Listening to and watching the rain fall is something familiar to all life on this planet.

It’s an experience as familiar to us as the rising and setting of the sun.

Let it work its magic on you for the next few moments 

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



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.

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One Lovely Day – Citizen Cope – Sunday Morning Coming Down

One Lovely Day – Citizen Cope

Daisy made me smile with the next two choices.  She’s 18 (a friend of the family), but she dropped some old favorites of mine on the list.

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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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 Lovely Day

by Citizen Cope

She won’t give in,

She won’t crack a smile or a grin.

She won’t give in,

But she sure is different.

It’s written in red

All in her eyes,

There’s no disguise.

Well, she lost so much in Tivoli.

Together we could go,

To where there ain’t no more pain,

Together we could fly,

To where there’s time for you and I.

Together we could walk

To the river, stand with the families,

Move to the sound of the band of Atlantis,

One lovely day,

One lovely day,

One lovely day,

One lovely day.

She won’t let on,

The feelings she got ain’t so strong,

She won’t let on,

But I’m never gonna leave her alone.

It’s written in red

All in her eyes,

There’s no disguise.

Well she lost so much in Tivoli.

Together we could go,

To where there ain’t no more pain,

Together we could fly,

To where there’s time for you and I.

Together we could walk

To the river, stand with the families,

Move to the sound of the band from Atlantis,

One lovely day,

One lovely day,

One lovely day,

One lovely day.x2

One lovely day,

One lovely day.

The post One Lovely Day – Citizen Cope – Sunday Morning Coming Down appeared on Andrew Furst.

Spiritually Inferior? – Say What?

Spiritually Inferior?

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

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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)

 
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Beach Birds for Camera – Tiny Drops

Beach Birds for Camera

Beach Birds for Camera (1993) – Merce Cunningham Dance Company

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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)

 
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True Mystics

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

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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)

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Expanding Relaxation – Meditation Techniques

Estimated reading time: 4 minute(s)

Expanding Relaxation

This is just a brief little technique that you can use in meditation, during a body scan, or as part of mindfulness practice.  I learned it in my twenties from my Taiji instructor.

His advice was about the spine, but can apply to any part of the body.  Before we would perform the taiji form, we would always warm up with breathing and qigong exercises. Part of the qigong was a scan of our spines to notice our posture and any tension we might be holding there.

Starting at the base of the spine or the top, we would let our awareness settle on the vertebrae, use our breath to let openness permeate the area and move on to the next.  If we had some particularly stubborn tension or pain the instructor would offer the following advice.

If you notice tension, bring your attention to a nearby part of the body where you are open and relaxed. Then, using the breath, expand that openness into the tense area. Depending on the intensity, this may take many breaths and may need to be approached from different angles; top to bottom, bottom to top, front to back and so on.

For me, this has always been clear evidence that the mind and the body are one.  The term mind-body connection is even misleading, as it suggests a divide.  There is no gap.

 

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Stephen Hawking on Predestination

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

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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)

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The post Stephen Hawking on Predestination appeared on Andrew Furst.