Finger Rock, Arizona
I was one troubled teenager for a time. I’d go off to the mountains for some peace and solitude. I wasn’t all that concerned with my safety either, life didn’t seem to offer much advantage over death. For instance, one year I climbed Finger Rock (photo right) without ropes. Going up was easy; going down was terrifying. Yikes! Was this a latent suicidal death wish? I guess not, primarily because I am not all that emotional by nature. Although, neither am I drawn to rock climbing or thrill seeking in general, so who knows. As a kid I heard stories about a guy falling off Finger Rock and breaking so many bones that his body turned to the consistency of Jello. Recalling that probably got me to turn around before reaching the top (and so saved my life, no doubt).…Continue reading ‘Suicide Just Doesn’t Work’
Wheel tracks on Mars
In discussing human affairs, an old friend said, “We as a species are so very complex and vulnerable to be lead by whoever we listen to”. I countered with, “We are a profoundly social species which accounts for how easily we can be lead. Human behavior reflects instinctive emotion… blah, blah, blah”. He countered that with, “I have seen many comparisons of primates to us. But, we, as modern man have put two little machines that send us pictures from Mars. That is a pretty big gap from primates”.…Continue reading ‘Just How Big Is The Gap?’
I am getting a kick out of watching the current ruckus over health care reform. Who is right; who is wrong? First, doesn’t that depend on one’s definition of ‘right’? If we are referring to ‘right’ from a Buddha’s Eight Fold Path point of view, then those who rant and rave on either side are certainly not Right. The rantings we see are merely emotions at play (at war actually). When emotions are at play, all discernment and impartiality go out the window. All that remains are our emotion driven biases, i.e., our needs and fears. We rarely retain even enough clarity to recognize what is happening to us.…Continue reading ‘Who is Right?’
Prehistoric people made musical instruments out of bone and ivory soon after reaching Europe
A Science News article, Stone Age flutes found in Germany, reports that people living in Europe more than 35,000 years ago made this flute (shown from three different angles) out of a vulture bone. The magnified portion of the flute at the right provides a closer look at two of the flute’s finger holes.
As far as I can make out, it appears to be a simple end blown flute like the shakuhachi. The blowing technique is similar to blowing across the top of a bottle to produce a pleasant resonant tone. By placing holes in it, you can play a melody (or something melody-like in the case of Buddhist Hon Kyoku).
It feels intriguing being connected to a musical tradition (the end blow flute) that predates civilization as we know it by tens of thousands of years. Keeping that image in mind, while I play it, helps me put ‘tao’ into the blowing Zen. I mean, talk about the thread running through the way!
Where is the jungle?
Where’s the jungle?” I thought. Malaya’s beautiful paved roads weren’t what I had expected at all. Still, I had just left Singapore.
While working in Australia in the early 60’s I met folks who intrigued me with their stories of traveling over land through India and Southeast Asia. Instead of returning to US as planned, I decided to set out overland to Europe through Asia. Hitchhiking was a must, in view of my budget, though it felt weird considering I’d never hitchhiked before.…Continue reading ‘Into the Jungle?’
And there I was, on the road during a cyclone in Vietnam. I was hitchhiking the length of South Vietnam in the early 60’s (before the Tonkin incident started us down that foolish by-path)!
Earlier, I had shared a house in Saigon with some journalists. They told me that, if I got a ‘press pass’ from the USIA (United States Information Agency), I could hop on any in-country flights. Mind you, I didn’t have to be a journalist, all I had to do was say I was a journalist. I thought to myself, “Now that’s the way to hitchhike!”…Continue reading ‘It was a dark and stormy night…’
Treading Water
On the surface, people tend to think the benefit of yoga is increased flexibility and balance. As I see it, this is just icing on the cake. Yoga more that anything else I do helps me get to know myself. This, in turn, helps me ‘to my own self be true’ (“To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man” – William Shakespeare).
Although, it is not actually the doing of yoga that helps me know myself. I only find this when I seek this (“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” – Jesus). In other words, action is action and nothing more. The value we find lies in how we approach action – any action.…Continue reading ‘Cease Treading Water and Just Sink’
Which moment?
There is really no ‘moment’ per se. I create a sense of moment by trying to get or achieve something; my desires creates the illusion of moment. When I’m able to switch from ‘getting’ and ‘trying’ to ‘giving’ and ’surrender’, the moment fades and merges with a continuum, space-time-like. The past, the present, the future all begin to blend into one another. Mysterious sameness is a nice way to describe it. I reckon this is what death ‘feels’ like, and so when the time comes, how sweet that will be. Naturally though, ‘I’ won’t be here to experience it, and yet…
(Well, that’s one way to put it.) Emotion clear-cuts the natural diversity of original, unfiltered perception. Certainly, this tendency to blindside ourselves is a built-in survival adaptation. I imagine anything ‘aware’ would need such a way to filter out extraneous sensory data. Extraneous meaning that which has no immediate bearing on survival. Even given our extremely narrow sensory ranges, there’s still an infinite amount of stimuli out there to arouse the nervous system.
So far so good. Now, consider the filtering effects of language on perception. Words and names allow our brain to filter out extraneous sensory data to a fault! These preconceptions (along with emotion) ensue vast pre clear-cut landscapes of consciousness. Oh my, too much of a good thing, eh?…Continue reading ‘Emotion Clear-cuts Perception’
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