8:41 PM 01/22/2007

In the interests of my little pretense that others out there actually read this stuff, I'll continue...more flotsam and jetsam of the mind. (And whoever came up with such words? Not only whoever but whyever? Did someone just sit around by the sea and suddenly decide "hey, wtf are we going to call this sloppy mess that washes in ( Read more... )

11:44 AM 01/20/2007

Some Self reflective crap about the current state of my writing:
(If you're the sort of person who doesn't like this sort of topic then either skip to the next entry, or imagine whatever it is you like to think about while going through the motions of reading the following. Don't worry. I do it too.)

Hah! I remembered the old ( Read more... )

Dharma Chatter: Ego, Myth, Rebirth and the Vehicle - a meander through relevant issues

Meditation when done correctly, i.e. no longer just practiced, will shatter or dissolve your pretensions of freedom and all the excuses that go along with that scheme.

You can chatter on and on about karma and interdependent-arising because they are pretty neat ( Read more... )

Many of today's assumptions about Tibet stem from a gross misunderstanding of central and east Asian history, which is today taught from a sino-centric point of view. The fact of the matter is that, until 1950, no Chinese state since the Tang dynasty was ever powerful enough to influence regional politics. During the Tang dynasty, the arch rivals ( Read more... )

An excerpt from an interview between Ralph Abrams and Prem Pranama from the Buddhist Information website. The whole interview is good for those looking for an introduction or explanation of Tantra, but the beginning of it, quoted below, captures the whole essence of Tantra in a nutshell. The url of the article follows the quote.

R: The word Tantra ( Read more... )

we all paddle around
on the ocean of pratityasamutpada
some reading from texts
others meditating
still others painfully unaware and in denial
that all of us coincide with and impact each other

there is no day without night
no long without short
no this without that
no "I" without "you"
no death without birth
no seeing without eyes
no hearing without ears

( Read more... )

Where?

Here or there?

Ansin nó anseo?

An raibh mé ansiúd aréir?

It is a rare time of it when...

whatever "when" is and whatever it means

it could be uain or another shade

nó séad, b'fhéidir?

(nó glas or some prefabbed gloss)

but the color of the mind is simply another idea

ach cá bhfios domhsa?

nevím nic-

i know nothing (of the sort)

j'sais rien

( Read more... )

sometimes
there are hidden truths in every letter
and at other times it just snows

living and dying
is there really any greater mystery than that?
is there really any greater familiarity or intimacy than that?

nihilists paint their minds with black and call it "nothing"
but it's only another dogma
theists paint their world with what they call god
but it's ( Read more... )

= Pointers toward emptiness, relativity, or "profound freedom." =

"In seeing things
to be or not to be
fools fail to see
a world at ease."
-Nagarjuna

NIRVANAM PARAMAM SUKHAM

"Just as these arms and legs
are seen as limbs of a body,
why are embodied creatures
not seen as limbs of life?"
-Shantideva

OM MANI PADME HUM

"I am free! I cling no more!
Liberation is mine ( Read more... )

- following is an attempt at fleshing out some ideas I have had for a while. please don't take it seriously unless it makes you happy.

Buddhism and Modernity:
a confluence of parallel insights

Most Americans these days have heard of Buddhism and can probably discuss a thing or two about Buddhist concepts or practices. But most Americans are not ( Read more... )