Back by popular demand, Article Swap Part Deux!
From Newsleader
When Staunton author Arlynda Boyer was a little girl, her father took her to Bristol for her first NASCAR race. As soon as she saw Dale Earnhardt’s yellow and blue Wrangler Thunderbird tearing up the track, she was hooked.
“When he drove a car, he had a good way of giving his body language to the car,” said Boyer, remembering her fascination. “You could tell (when) he was driving angry and when he was driving all out.”
In October, Boyer published “Buddha and the Backstretch,” a book that compares the Buddhist mentality with that of her favorite NASCAR driver.
Very excited and had to share this. I just got confirmation that I will be attending a weekend retreat at the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, MA in March! The retreat theme is “The Power of Mindfulness” and I am really psyched about this.
I’ve only done a one day retreat before with a small Zen group here on Cape Cod, was still rigorous though having never done any sort of retreat at all. If anyone is interested in this retreat, and is on the East Coast check out http://dharma.org/ims/retreat_detail.php?id=174
You may have read some posts that I’ve been taking some classes with a teacher from IMS, Chas Dicapua, well he and another teacher are leading this retreat. I enjoy the way he teaches alot and when I saw this retreat listed I had to try to get there. Anyway… I’ll try and contain my excitement and leave this post be…
This is the first year I’ve truly celebrated Bodhi Day. In the past I’ve meditated some extra time and made sure to use a bit more mindfulness for the day, but I wanted to step it up this year and have some fun with my kids. So my son Alex and I decorated this here tree. (yes it’s not a “true” Bodhi Tree but it does the trick right?)
I had him trace and cut out a star for the top, we put three bulbs on it (Buddha, Dharma, Sangha), put the multi-color lights and strung some “interconnected” beads. It a simple task but fun and I was able to ask any questions he had, and he had plenty of them. Why did Buddha sit under the tree (note in the photo I have a little Buddha bust, under the tree), what do you mean he was enlightened, what does Bodhi Day mean, etc… Those are some of the questions he asked and I tried as best to simplify, he’s only 6.
All in all, it was fun and we are ready for Bodhi Day. He even wants to try meditating with me again. I had tried to get him into it (meditating) before but didn’t push it and he stopped asking. He is starting to ask again though so we’ll see how this round goes.
Anyway I hope you all have a great day and please enjoy each other this holiday season!
via The Worst Horse we are made aware of an interesting commercial Chrysler has released a short film, originally intended in support of the 10th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, this one if more dedicated in support of Aung San Suu Kyi. Sometimes, if not rarely, a major corporate entity actually does something to make a difference, instead of just offering lip service because they “feel bad”. Kudos to Chrysler and thanks to Rod for posting this.
Last night I was fortunate enough to attend yet another wonderful teaching with Chas Dicapua, resident teacher at IMS in Barre, MA. Chas has come to Brewster, here on Cape Cod, every 1st Friday of the month, for the past few months. We’ve gone over the 4 Noble Truths and are working our way down the line on the Eightfold Path.
Last night’s teaching was part of a multi-talk on Right Speech. I had missed last months teaching since I was in the Bahamas but a task was given out for students . We were given a task last night, that for a minimum of 3 days and a maximum of 1 week we try not to talk about anyone who is not in our presence. Some people balked at the idea, but I think it could be an interesting one.
Not that I talk about people often, I don’t see the need, but while talking with my wife we of course go over our day with one another. She may talk about her day and how this person may have affected the way her day when. Unskillfully, I may feed into it with my own opinions. So I think Chas’ task will help in getting rid of this type of unskillful speech.
Yes, we’re hoping to make it happen. Some ideas are floating around and they are phenomenal. I saw two that would be great combined and will pose it to you right now….
First off I am shooting for February 1st to have this one come together. Here’s the idea… Everyone is paired again but this time there is an action or task to be completed. You will choose your own action (whether it be sitting an extra 5 minutes, going out of your way to do something your not accustomed, etc..), then you’ll tell the person you are paired with what that action is and they will come up with interview questions based on that. Make sense?? (shout out’s to Marcus and Shane for the inspiration on this one)
Of course, it’s not etched in stone yet and would love to see what you guys want to do. Not taking sign-ups quite yet, but once something is set to write about we’ll start that up.
When Nate suggested I write about sustaining practice, I thought it would be pretty much a no-brainer. Then I started thinking, which is never a good thing because my mind can put an Escher drawing to shame. And that, in a nutshell, is what derails my practice: I start to believe what I think.
For all practitioners, practice is a challenge. Sustaining practice is just that: meeting the challenge of practicing. From a psychological perspective, sustaining any activity is simple – theoretically. Find what reinforces the behaviour and apply generously. It boils down to a simple creed: Create intention, pay attention. From that, right action follows – mostly. Full disclosure is required here: it doesn’t work for me at the formal level of practice. I can no more sit religiously than I can run, work out, eat well, not ruminate, or love unconditionally.
Around the internet, at this very moment, guest posts are being posted for the Great Buddho-blogging Article Swap. The growing list will be constantly updated throughout the day (unfortunately as time permits, you know, working and all) and you can find the articles at the bottom of this very post.
Just a quick Happy Thanksgiving to you! Today, being a day of thanks, I am thankful for my family, my job, friends and for those that continue to help others without expecting anything in return (although seeing a smile does the trick).
Be well, enjoy the time with family and friends and if you choose to drink alcohol remember to ask someone else to drive!
I had these grandiose plans for my three weeks off from the county. The problem is, I had to many plans. SO I fell into a week of procrastination. I had plans to work out quit smoking. But those plans were derailed when I talked myself into doing Thanksgiving.
I have this problem, it seems I try to grasp a thousand straws and slowly the fall through my fingers. I could grab just a few, but I try to do it all and end up getting little done. I over analyze things and then make them bigger than they need to be. SO I have read a few articles By Leo Babauta. He has some books for download and also one I checked out from the library. He mentions to pick one thing to do each month and then work on that one thing. Once that has been accomplished, move onto the next. I procrastinated going to the local Buddhist Temple and now they are closed for renovation for 5 months. SO I looked to my next project. Doing a little work around the house. Going home I was a little disappointed that the temple had closed, yet I had procrastinated again. I found a guy that was selling fruit trees from his house. We spoke briefly and he said he was leaving the country for a mission trip and might not be back. Remembering what happened with the temple, I made a date to come to his house on Monday and pick up a few trees for my backyard.
Monday was hectic, but I knew I had those plans. So after a few trips to run errands I made two visits to his house and got 3 papaya trees and also another two fruit trees. Cost 12 dollars. I gave him 15 and told him to be careful on his trip.
I spent a few minutes this morning writing this blog on Google documents. And now I have some trees to plant and a car to wash. Have a great Turkey day. I am going to quit smoking December first. I am putting it out there so I can have someone call me on it. – Todd
Side note. I thought the food trees would help bring fresh fruit into my house. And help with a better diet.
OOOPS!
From New Straits Times
A Buddhist monk who opened the emergency exit of an airplane just before take off because he wanted some fresh air forced the plane to delay its flight for almost seven hours at Kolkata airport yesterday morning.
As result of his action, the airport authorities evacuated all the passengers onboard and grounded the plane for nearly seven hours until all the safety drills were completed.
Received an e-mail from Tendor at Students For A Free Tibet and they have a position they are trying to fill. If you are interested, and have the experience, they are looking for a development coordinator in NYC. CLICK HERE to see the full job listing
“Complete Idiot’s Guide To Buddhism, Third Edition”
by Gary Gach
Published by Alpha
I’ve searched around a bit in my years of following the Buddhist path for a book that explains a little about alot. Meaning, The Complete Idiot’s Guide To Buddhism is a vast wealth of knowledge, from Zen to Tibetan Buddhism, Pureland to Nichiren there’s something for everyone.
While it may not be the most literary book written, it’s written in a way any of us “idiot’s” can understand. This being the third edition of “Complete Idiot’s Guide To Buddhism”, it obviously has had some revisions. Not only did it have a different author, but Gary Gach revisited and edited nearly a third of the book updating quite a bit of it.
