three-lights

"We have not one Enlightenment project but three: a Western one based on rational thought, an Eastern one based on seeing through the illusion of the Self, and a Postmodern one based on the concept of socially constructed reality. And despite their many differences, they share the common goal of liberation." [Anderson] more ...

http://www.srds.co.uk/begin/third_light.htm

poo

Healthy dump - good size, colour and consistency.

Mindfulness of poo.

The other end of eating.

ranting-editing

Ranting - and editing the word of God

George G Clark, 21 September 2010

For our present purpose rants can be thought of as "high energy linguistic outbursts". These can be rational or emotional, and they can be written or spoken.

In rational written rant mode you begin with a brainstorm from which you develop an outline and then flesh it out. In emotional written rant mode you just write the story as it flows from the unconscious: it is as if there is an independent inner author, as if you are just channeling the outputs from the muse, as if you are taking dictation from the word of God (or the devil!)

Ideally the output from the muse would be flawless but, at least in my case, this rarely happens. Most often there is interplay between the rational and the emotional. When being rational there can be 'Aha' moments that greatly enliven the basic story. And, when being 'creative', the emotional outbursts can normally benefit from pruning and rearranging by a cool-headed editor.

Spoken ranting is similar to written ranting but is more immediate and is less susceptible to editing after the event.

Gifted spoken ranters are in essence high energy story tellers who have learned to marry the rational and the emotional. At the other end of the spectrum are those uncontrolled ranters of whom it might be said that 'they open their mouths and let their bellies rumble'. And in the middle position are those more balanced conversationalists who heed the request to 'please engage brain before opening mouth'.

Daily life offers an endless stream of more or less engaging rants from family and friends. And, if that is not enough to meet your need for animated communication, you can always top up on outputs from the media, and increasingly from ICT assisted social networks. Humanity is not short of ranters who are prone to high energy linguistic outbursts and to expressing the word of their God … This is a living example!

heart-sing

What makes your heart sing?

George G Clark, 20 September 2010

When your heart is singing you enjoy what you are doing and willingly go the extra mile. You are kindly disposed towards everybody and everything. You act with grace rather than with a grudge. You are happy and smile a lot. So what is the root of that hallowed state of coronary operatics?

It varies from person to person but there are some underlying principles. Your ‘personality’ and general attitude to life will have their causes and conditions. These are rooted in (a) nature (your genes), (b) nurture (your culture, sub culture, community and family), and (c) chance (whether the lightning strikes you or your neighbour).

You cannot do much about nature and chance but the nurture door is wide open. Like most people you will be driven by habitual ‘shoulds’ and ‘oughts’. By taking thought you can recognise and transform these and be born again. You can unleash the muse that lies waiting in us all and then move effortlessly with the natural flow of things in your new world.

The key is to set aside some quiet time to be a witness to what goes on in your head. You notice what you are noticing and feeling and you think about what you are thinking. This allows you to respond thoughtfully rather than react automatically. Such freedom and control is enough to bring a smile to anyone’s face.

But there is more. Mystics of all times and places tell us that ‘witnessing’ leads to appreciation of (a) the illusory nature of the self, and (b) the churning vital force that is the Oneness. From this point of view we are each integral parts of an immense, timeless and benign universal process. Is it any wonder that such realisations set the mind free and make the heart sing.

wild elephant

"Ancient Pali texts liken meditation to the process of taming a wild elephant. The procedure in those days was to tie a newly captured animal to a post with a good strong rope. When you do this the elephant is not happy. He screams and tramples, and pulls against the rope for days. Finally it sinks through his skull that he can't get away, and he settles down. At this point you can begin to feed him and to handle him with some measure of safety. Eventually you can dispense with the rope and post altogether, and train your elephant for various tasks. Now you've got a tamed elephant that can be put to useful work.

In this analogy the wild elephant is your wildly active mind, the rope is mindfulness, and the post is our object of meditation -- breathing. The tamed elephant who emerges from this process is a well trained, concentrated mind that can then be used for the exceedingly tough job of piercing the layers of illusion that obscure reality. Meditation tames the mind."

Henepola Gunaratana
http://www.vipassana.com/meditation/mindfulness_in_plain_english_9.php

deconditioning

"Deeply habituated cultural, social, religious, familial, and personal karmic conditionings dominate the untrained mind. Awareness practice brings these forces into view for observation."

- Steve Armstrong
- http://www.tricycle.com/dharma-talk/got-attitude?offer=dharma

in praise of solitude

“In praise of solitude”. Lots of people have written about it. The following list begins with four individual impressions then moves on through Thoreau and official psychology to a couple of Buddhism sources. The transpersonal dimension is not always appreciated. Contemplatives unite - yoh!

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/garrison_keillor/2009/06/24/solitude
http://zenhabits.net/creative-habit/
http://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2009/02/16/in-praise-of-solitude/
http://www.cfidsselfhelp.org/library/in-praise-solitude

http://thoreau.eserver.org/walden05.html
http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/199802/the-call-solitude

Shantideva
http://www.tricycle.com/dharma-talk/cutting-ties-the-fruits-solitude
Wander alone like a rhinoceros
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/snp/snp.1.03.than.html

secular acorn to spiritual oak

To be an acorn is to have a taste for being an oak tree.
(Thomas Merton)

calm

"Beware the barrenness of a busy life."
(Socrates)

time is a changing

FAST TIMES, SLOW TIMES - An Interview with Moussa Ag Assarid

http://www.limglobal.net/readings/110.html