Mosquitos
It’s that time of year again; actually, because of the mild winter it has been that time of year all year. Those little bloodsuckers are out in force. I was down in Florida a few months ago and the mosquitoes there don’t seem to bother me when they bite, unlike the variety we have here in North Carolina. The mosquitoes here when they bite cause my skin to swell up and the whole area around it gets red and inflamed; I suppose I am allergic to the bites.
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Magic
The art of being a successful magician is the ability to play to the assumptions of their viewer. A magician holds up his palm to the viewer and there is an assumption that the hand is empty. Yet while there may be nothing in the palm there is most certainly something there, perhaps a coin held between the fingers in such a way it is not visible. The viewer expects things to look and behave in certain ways because that is the way they have always looked and behaved.
“We have never seen nor heard of such a wonderful thing as this before. Did a god of great virtue or a Buddha appear Somewhere in the universe?” (Lotus Sutra, Chapter VII)
Mirrors
I was driving home from my trip driving through the New England states and I heard a song on the radio which really impressed me. The title of the song is No Mirrors In My Nana’s House by Ysaye Maria Barnwell. The song is about a young girl growing up in her grandmother’s house where there were no mirrors.
Every day the girl saw the beauty in her grandmother’s eyes. She never knew that her skin was too dark, or her clothes didn’t fit. The young girl only knew herself through the beauty her grandmother saw in her.
Imagine your life if you did not see in the mirror every day the faults we see that limit our joy. Imagine if you didn’t see yourself as too fat, or too skinny, or too poor, or not pretty, or not stylish enough. READ MORE »
Quantum Mechanics, Johari Window, And Lotus Sutra
This all started by my reading an article that stated that particles behave differently when they are observed from when they are observed. In experiments done the results seemed to support this possibility. I won’t go into details here, though as someone fascinated by math I found it intriguing.
The article got me to thinking about how we live our lives. READ MORE »
In Between
Booker T. Washington National Historic Site
For the past several days I have been doing some traveling, driving around visiting national parks and historic sites. First on my list of places was Booker T. Washington’s birth and boyhood home in Virginia. Most of the buildings present today are recreations of destroyed original buildings.
Several of the buildings were of log construction. Log construction produces some very substantial structures. READ MORE »
Childlike
Children’s Day
May fifth is set aside as Children’s Day in Japan, there is no official day set aside in the United States for such a special day. There have been in years past various observances and proclamations concerning a Children’s Day in the US, but nothing has become permanent. In Japan it is thought that observances of Children’s Day go all the way back to the Empress Suiko (593-628 CE).
There are five practices of Bodhisattvas, known as Gogyo. These five practices are; saint practice (study and practice), Brama practice (no wanting), nature practice (reality), child practice (delight, humble), and sickness practice (spiritually ill).
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Thinking Of Self
There are many ways of thinking of our self. Most of these when broken down are based upon comparisons, and as such are unhealthy. These comparisons represent a form of attachment, which causes suffering.
Self-esteem, whether high or low, is also a type of comparison and based upon attachment.
These concepts are based upon the idea of separate self, a self that exists outside of the here and now and outside of your current self.
The basis for these is pride of being better, pride of being worse, pride of being equal. These conditions are also the basis for anger, jealousy, hatred, and shame.
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Smile Exercise
Being physically active and fit is something that most people agree is a good thing. There are lots of ways to be active and to stay in shape, of course belonging to a gym and working out is an option, but there are other options.
There are over 300 muscles in your face, and when was the last time you heard much talk about exercising those muscles. We shouldn’t ignore our facial muscles, they are important too.
When you frown or express anger in your face you are causing a lot of tension in your facial muscles. You are in a sense making your face hard. The way to exercise and reduce the tension in your face is really quite simple.
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Wrestle With Your Spirit
“You don’t come to church to be entertained. You come to wrestle with your spirit.” (James Cone)
I was sent a link the other day to an online article about James Cone. At the end of the article the author talks about Cone’s response to the concept of ‘prosperity’ religion. What caught my eye and got me to thinking was the quote I shared above.
When I think about our Buddhist practice and what we try to do every day, it is on some levels as if we are indeed wrestling our spirits. Though of course we try to do so gently and so wrestle may not be the best choice of words, but the concept is pretty spot on.
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Walk In Peace
May Day
May Day is a very old celebration dating back to pagan times and perhaps even further. In the older reckoning of year cycles May first was the beginning of summer and what we now call the summer equinox was midsummer. One of the many traditional ways to observe this year cycle event was with bouquets of flowers, even flower baskets left anonymously on neighbor porches. In some places even the May Pole tradition continues, but I think for the most part in America May Day has become almost forgotten.
A few days ago we celebrated Earth Day a day to celebrate and work to restore the bounty and diversity and health of the Earth. On that occasion I suggested that the beginning of the healing of the earth is found in renewing our personal connection through mindfulness walking and breathing.
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