It goes something like this:
A: Do you know what it's like to be dead?
B: No.
A: Then how do you know you are alive?
B: ...
See? No answer! I suppose it is like the chicken and the egg question, but we all know what a chicken is and what an egg is. But do we really know what death is? If we don't, then doesn't that mean we also do not really know what life is?
If anyone has an answer, please contact me. (I just might post this question to Yahoo Answers in search of some, hopefully, good responses!)
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Friday, May 30, 2008
"When you take more than you need...
...you take from someone else." Quoted from Dorian Paskowitz in the new documentary about his family life on the road and surfing, called Surfwise. I definitely also recommend this movie (that is, to anyone comfortable with a brutally honest 80-year-old man talk about "eating p****"), now playing at Kendall Square theatre in Cambridge.
Related to this quote, Scientific American has a great opinion piece, called "Surging Food Prices Mean Global Instability" in their May issue about the lack of purchasing power as cause for famines, not lack of food.
In considering what to do with my (slowly) growing accumulation of financial wealth, this is the exact issue I don't want to exacerbate (even with my meager savings, it's still about the principle of the matter).
I shall meditate more on what an individual is to do. I have already be dieting -- a consumer diet, if you will, and one of conservation and preservation of resources. Including snacking less (it's out of habit anyway, not hunger), buying less, traveling less, reusing paper towels, "yellow mellow", and so on. Any additional ideas, please do share.
Related to this quote, Scientific American has a great opinion piece, called "Surging Food Prices Mean Global Instability" in their May issue about the lack of purchasing power as cause for famines, not lack of food.
In considering what to do with my (slowly) growing accumulation of financial wealth, this is the exact issue I don't want to exacerbate (even with my meager savings, it's still about the principle of the matter).
I shall meditate more on what an individual is to do. I have already be dieting -- a consumer diet, if you will, and one of conservation and preservation of resources. Including snacking less (it's out of habit anyway, not hunger), buying less, traveling less, reusing paper towels, "yellow mellow", and so on. Any additional ideas, please do share.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Dhamma Brothers: a documentary film of meditating prisoners
Very excited about going to see it this weekend in Brookline. The website features video clips and samples letters written by the prisoners about their inner transformations through vipasana meditation: www.dhammabrothers.com
Information below is from Coolidge Corner theatre website...
Information below is from Coolidge Corner theatre website...
DHAMMA BROTHERS
Starts, Fri May 16
Filmmakers in attendance at Fri, May 16 & Sat, May 17 evening shows.
Big Screen show with filmmakers and post-film Q&A, Mon, May 19 @ 7:00
Donaldson Correctional Facility, situated in the Alabama countryside southwest of Birmingham, holds 1500 of the state's most dangerous criminals. Behind high security towers and a double row of barbed wire and electrical fence, dwells a host of convicts who will never see the light of day. But for some of these men, a spark was ignited. In January 2002, Donaldson Correctional Facility became the first maximum security prison in North America to hold an extended Vipassana retreat, an emotionally and physically demanding course of silent meditation lasting 10 days.
THE DHAMMA BROTHERS tells a dramatic tale of human potential and transformation as it closely follows and documents the stories of 36 prison inmates who enter into this arduous and intensive program. It challenges assumptions about the nature of prisons as places of punishment rather than rehabilitation and raises the question: is it possible for these men, some of whom have committed horrendous crimes, to change?
Directors: Jenny Phillips, Anne Marie Stein and Andrew Kukura, documentary, 1h16m
Showtimes at Coolidge Corner Theatre (Brookline, MA):
Fri., May 16 - 2:45PM, 4:45PM, 7:00PM, 9:00PM
Sat., May 17 - 2:45PM, 4:45PM, 7:00PM, 9:00PM
Sun., May 18 - 2:45PM, 4:45PM, 7:00PM, 9:00PM
Mon., May 19 - 2:45PM, 4:45PM, 7:00PM (Q&A after 7:00PM showing)
Tue., May 20 - 2:45PM, 4:45PM, 7:00PM, 9:00PM
Wed., May 21 - 2:45PM, 4:45PM, 7:00PM, 9:00PM
Thu., May 22 - 2:45PM, 4:45PM, 7:00PM, 9:00PM
Websites:
http://www.coolidge.org/node
http://www.dhammabrothers.com/
Sunday, February 10, 2008
you are not *that* special
Time and again, when we find ourselves in people trouble -- taking things personally, blowing them out of proportion, jumping to accusations, and burning bridges -- it's time to remind yourself: you're not that special.
It's one of my favorite mottos, as friends will attest, when I get asked if I agree that the "evidence" is all pointing to "they're out to get me" -- to which I answer, "Please. People are way too self-centered and egotistical to be concerned with how their actions are actually affecting you." In other words, you ain't that special.
And then I hear: Yeah, but this person completely ignored me today -- it must mean they're mad at me or don't like me. Oh, maybe because of something I said or did.
So what?! People have better things to do (or should anyway) than to think, "Oh, I'm totally going to ignore you on purpose, so that you'll know for sure that I hate you. Yeah, that'll show you." And guess what. You have better things to do than worry about than read into the minutest gestures you get from each person.
In any case, if someone were really to have a problem with you, then they should come right out and say it to your face. If they do have a problem, but don't take it up with you, then for goodness sake, don't make it your problem. The best thing to do is be yourself and carry on as usual. (Eye on the prize, eye on the prize.)
So say they do approach you about it. There are really only two ways it can play out.
Scenario A: The person (who is immature and unwise) is demeaning, critical, and out right rude with what they think and how they feel. They just want to make you feel bad about yourself. And possibly manipulate you into succumbing to their influence.
Don't fall for it. Their mind is made up and there is nothing you can do to appease them, that is, without succumbing. Just don't. Instead, thank them for the constructive criticism and feedback and say you will work on improving the matter, and be on your merry way. There is no need to waste your time or energy on this person. (That is, unless this is a very close person to you -- in which case you should be the person in Scenario B.)
Scenario B: The wise, mature person confronts you and is concerned (for your sake, not their own). They ask clarifying questions without accusing or jumping to conclusions. They want to understand if something they interpreted is really true or false, so they can clear the air and move on with life. They may provide sincere constructive criticism and true advice, but only because they don't want the same thing (mistake, miscommunication, etc.) to keep happening to you.
Listen to this person. Keep an open mind (and closed ego) to what they're saying and understand where they are coming from. Also ask clarifying questions. Reach a mutual understanding and respect for each other. And sincerely thank them for taking the time to reach out to you. They may not be so willing to the next time they see you making the same mistake over and over. When you've resolved the issue at hand, go home and think about how you can grow from this experience and become a wiser person. Make amends with yourself and others, as necessary.
I shouldn't be so cynical to insinuate that "you ain't that special" to anyone. It's not really true to the people who do really care about you. But let's face it, we're lucky if we have a handful of people like that in our lives. So that, for better or worse, pretty much puts everyone else in the you-ain't-that-special-to-them category. But that's okay, because that means you need to get over yourself and move on, too.
It's one of my favorite mottos, as friends will attest, when I get asked if I agree that the "evidence" is all pointing to "they're out to get me" -- to which I answer, "Please. People are way too self-centered and egotistical to be concerned with how their actions are actually affecting you." In other words, you ain't that special.
And then I hear: Yeah, but this person completely ignored me today -- it must mean they're mad at me or don't like me. Oh, maybe because of something I said or did.
So what?! People have better things to do (or should anyway) than to think, "Oh, I'm totally going to ignore you on purpose, so that you'll know for sure that I hate you. Yeah, that'll show you." And guess what. You have better things to do than worry about than read into the minutest gestures you get from each person.
In any case, if someone were really to have a problem with you, then they should come right out and say it to your face. If they do have a problem, but don't take it up with you, then for goodness sake, don't make it your problem. The best thing to do is be yourself and carry on as usual. (Eye on the prize, eye on the prize.)
So say they do approach you about it. There are really only two ways it can play out.
Scenario A: The person (who is immature and unwise) is demeaning, critical, and out right rude with what they think and how they feel. They just want to make you feel bad about yourself. And possibly manipulate you into succumbing to their influence.
Don't fall for it. Their mind is made up and there is nothing you can do to appease them, that is, without succumbing. Just don't. Instead, thank them for the constructive criticism and feedback and say you will work on improving the matter, and be on your merry way. There is no need to waste your time or energy on this person. (That is, unless this is a very close person to you -- in which case you should be the person in Scenario B.)
Scenario B: The wise, mature person confronts you and is concerned (for your sake, not their own). They ask clarifying questions without accusing or jumping to conclusions. They want to understand if something they interpreted is really true or false, so they can clear the air and move on with life. They may provide sincere constructive criticism and true advice, but only because they don't want the same thing (mistake, miscommunication, etc.) to keep happening to you.
Listen to this person. Keep an open mind (and closed ego) to what they're saying and understand where they are coming from. Also ask clarifying questions. Reach a mutual understanding and respect for each other. And sincerely thank them for taking the time to reach out to you. They may not be so willing to the next time they see you making the same mistake over and over. When you've resolved the issue at hand, go home and think about how you can grow from this experience and become a wiser person. Make amends with yourself and others, as necessary.
I shouldn't be so cynical to insinuate that "you ain't that special" to anyone. It's not really true to the people who do really care about you. But let's face it, we're lucky if we have a handful of people like that in our lives. So that, for better or worse, pretty much puts everyone else in the you-ain't-that-special-to-them category. But that's okay, because that means you need to get over yourself and move on, too.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
change isn't enough
All this politicking around needing "change" is making me wonder if our politicians, and the rally rousers around this idea, have their heads in the clouds. Wake up! Isn't it obvious that change is already happening everywhere, all the time, and more so today than generations ago? In fact, it's been happening exponentially -- to the point where I'm surprised we haven't increased the level of earth's entropy to the point of spontaneous combustion. (Perhaps that's where global climate change is leading after all.)
Don't we eat, travel, move, communicate, network, change jobs, reproduce, consume, waste, destroy, and rebuild more -- and to greater extremes -- than any civilization has before? We encounter and interact with the world around us more than ever before. We have more knowledge about the world and how technology can change things even more. Yet the one thing that hasn't increased and grown with all this change -- the one thing we don't seem to have any greater understanding of -- is compassion.
Where is the compassion? "Where is the love?" as Black Eyed Peas sings it. Where is the respect and understanding and true sense of value for human life?
It's a funny feeling for me to walk down the street and see all of these people and realize that complete strangers living in the same neighborhood (or building, even) co-exist in complete ignorance of each other. How did we end up in a society where the unspoken rule is "I leave you alone and you leave me alone" and go about our own business without a second thought to how we can do something for someone, however small, that will make their world a better place?
My wish for every person is to have the courage to do this: understand that the small gestures do matter and are within reach. Acknowledge the people around you. Affirm them. Make eye contact with the stranger in the elevator and smile. Even make small talk if you feel like it (and they are receptive). Say hello. Say thank you. Whatever it is you do, do it with compassion, respect, and unconditional love.
And that, my friends, is all the "change" we need -- because it's the only thing that is always within each person's reach.
Don't we eat, travel, move, communicate, network, change jobs, reproduce, consume, waste, destroy, and rebuild more -- and to greater extremes -- than any civilization has before? We encounter and interact with the world around us more than ever before. We have more knowledge about the world and how technology can change things even more. Yet the one thing that hasn't increased and grown with all this change -- the one thing we don't seem to have any greater understanding of -- is compassion.
Where is the compassion? "Where is the love?" as Black Eyed Peas sings it. Where is the respect and understanding and true sense of value for human life?
It's a funny feeling for me to walk down the street and see all of these people and realize that complete strangers living in the same neighborhood (or building, even) co-exist in complete ignorance of each other. How did we end up in a society where the unspoken rule is "I leave you alone and you leave me alone" and go about our own business without a second thought to how we can do something for someone, however small, that will make their world a better place?
My wish for every person is to have the courage to do this: understand that the small gestures do matter and are within reach. Acknowledge the people around you. Affirm them. Make eye contact with the stranger in the elevator and smile. Even make small talk if you feel like it (and they are receptive). Say hello. Say thank you. Whatever it is you do, do it with compassion, respect, and unconditional love.
And that, my friends, is all the "change" we need -- because it's the only thing that is always within each person's reach.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
knowing the unknowable
Can you imagine what it would be like, or feel like, if your mind could perceive everything there is to know in an all-encompassing reality? I have had many a self-induced headache from trying to do just that. It's mind-boggling, at the least, that if history tells us any one thing, it's that more than half of what we believe to be "truths" today will be proven wrong in the following hundreds of years.
Plus, out of everything there is to know in our world today, whose "right" is it to say what knowledge is most important to retain and pass on, and what isn't? I have an inkling that many people get too caught up with remembering, memorizing, and dwelling on information that in the "grand scheme" of things really is useless.
This reminds me of this humbling documentary that I highly recommend to everyone and anyone: "What The Bleep Do We Know?"
Plus, out of everything there is to know in our world today, whose "right" is it to say what knowledge is most important to retain and pass on, and what isn't? I have an inkling that many people get too caught up with remembering, memorizing, and dwelling on information that in the "grand scheme" of things really is useless.
This reminds me of this humbling documentary that I highly recommend to everyone and anyone: "What The Bleep Do We Know?"
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
The not-so-well-known story of creationism
Before I asked about the theory behind the creation of this earth as we know it, we first talked about the apocalypse. It won't be for millions more years, according to scholarly calculations, that is until two more Buddhas become incarnated - we've already had five (?) Buddhas come and go and are waiting for the sixth and seventh. However, a Buddha can only be reborn in a civilization without any concept of Buddhism. In other words, civilization would have to end, and begin the next one, before the sixth Buddha will appear. What that means to us personally depends on how you define "civilization" - which is clearly up for debate.
Whenever it is the apocalypse happens, it will go something like this: the earth will draw closer to the sun (or vice versa) until it burns the surface and through all levels of existence, the multiple dimensions of hell, earth, and heaven. A type of collapse of the solar system onto itself, if you will.
How depressing. I asked if this story is supposed to scare people. In fact, not really, because by the time of the apocalypse, humans will apparently be able to fly away from this earth in search of another!
Crazy. So back to the creationism story. That's right, we flew here. Or rather, at the time the earth was still forming, some divine formless beings were hovering around and watching. When solid matter started to form, they ascended to the earth out of curiousity and began tasting it. Some consumed more than others and began to take shape from what they ate and it was too late to escape and fly away.
As the earth continued to evolve and form more organisms, including fungi and a kind of elongated rice with a husk so soft you could eat it completely raw, these beings evolved into characteristics of the human beings we know now - upon discovering new and different crops, they developed the concept of "self" versus "other" and began hoarding these new resources for themselves. They also began to develop sex differences, whereas before they were sexless, and with those differences came the female-male "relations" we know today.
In explaining why things are they way they are - questions I ask myself like "Why do we have two hands and five toes on each foot and different color hairs and freckles" etc. - I guess the only explanation to ponder is that things only come to be as a result of certain conditions coming into place. Some of these conditions we have no control over, and others we do and can control with our minds. And as such the universe - or multiverses, pardon me - operates as we know it to.
--
If your mind is what you know, then does it mean that the more you know, the more your mind can control?
Whenever it is the apocalypse happens, it will go something like this: the earth will draw closer to the sun (or vice versa) until it burns the surface and through all levels of existence, the multiple dimensions of hell, earth, and heaven. A type of collapse of the solar system onto itself, if you will.
How depressing. I asked if this story is supposed to scare people. In fact, not really, because by the time of the apocalypse, humans will apparently be able to fly away from this earth in search of another!
Crazy. So back to the creationism story. That's right, we flew here. Or rather, at the time the earth was still forming, some divine formless beings were hovering around and watching. When solid matter started to form, they ascended to the earth out of curiousity and began tasting it. Some consumed more than others and began to take shape from what they ate and it was too late to escape and fly away.
As the earth continued to evolve and form more organisms, including fungi and a kind of elongated rice with a husk so soft you could eat it completely raw, these beings evolved into characteristics of the human beings we know now - upon discovering new and different crops, they developed the concept of "self" versus "other" and began hoarding these new resources for themselves. They also began to develop sex differences, whereas before they were sexless, and with those differences came the female-male "relations" we know today.
In explaining why things are they way they are - questions I ask myself like "Why do we have two hands and five toes on each foot and different color hairs and freckles" etc. - I guess the only explanation to ponder is that things only come to be as a result of certain conditions coming into place. Some of these conditions we have no control over, and others we do and can control with our minds. And as such the universe - or multiverses, pardon me - operates as we know it to.
--
If your mind is what you know, then does it mean that the more you know, the more your mind can control?
Monday, January 21, 2008
xanga revisited: a tribute
Starting this blog brings me to look back on my xanga days and in revisiting my posts, my past self surprises my present self - I had many, many angry and frustrated rants on the same topics and issues I still think about today. I am hopeful though that my attitude has matured into one of at peace versus one at war.
This post is a tribute to the icons of non-violence and peace who despite having done everything right in their own power still had everything turn out so wrong for them. Let their memory be a reminder that love and understanding must go on even when we don't.
"Perception is everything. Without, it is nothing." -my past self , January 19, 2004
This post is a tribute to the icons of non-violence and peace who despite having done everything right in their own power still had everything turn out so wrong for them. Let their memory be a reminder that love and understanding must go on even when we don't.
"Perception is everything. Without, it is nothing." -my past self , January 19, 2004
Sunday, January 20, 2008
your mind is what you know
There is no empirical basis for the concept of a cup. The existence of "cup" cannot be believed to be anything other than a conventional truth, as it is not absolute or ultimate truth. Absolute or ultimate truth is what comprises the conditions that form the "cup" concept - and nothing more?
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