I discovered this poem years ago, but for some reason have thought about it a lot recently.... 'Invictus' by William Ernest Henley. 1849–1903 Out of the night that covers me, Black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced or cried aloud Under the bludgeonings of chance My head is bloody, but unbow'd. Beyond this place of wrath and tears Looms but the horror of the shade And yet...

In light of all the debates/arguments that have been going on about homosexuality, 'civil unions', war, gods (or lack thereof), I just have this to say.... 'Men never do evil so completely or so cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction' B. Pascal. There, I said it.

'Garbage can smell terrible, especially rotting organic matter. But it can also become rich compost for fertilizing the garden. The fragrant rose and the stinking garbage are two sides of the same existence. Without one, the other cannot be. Everything is in transformation. The rose that wilts after siz days will become a part of the garbage. After six months the garbage is transformed into a rose. When we speak of impermanence, we understand that everything is in transformation. ...

I couldn't decide which one to post today, so I'm posting both. 'There is only one teacher. What is that teacher? Life itself. And of course each one of us is a manifestation of life; we couldn't be anything else. Now life happens to be both a severe and an endlessly kind teacher. It's the only authority that you need to trust. And this teacher, this authority, is everywhere. You don't have to go to some special place to find this incomporable teacher, you don't have to have some ...

I'm trying to cultivate my spiritual garden. I've been slacking off recently and have fallen out of the habit of reading and meditating (bad Dharma..bad, bad, Dharma!). I'm going to try and post a daily thought from the many Buddhist sutras and teachings I have..mostly because I think it'll encourage me to absorb and think about what I'm reading, but also because I think it's goig to be interesting and useful to get some different perspectives. I learned some interesting things about peopl...

I was reading some of Pascal's 'Pensees' ( Blaise Pascal, 1623-1662) and thought that just for fun I'd post the Wager to see what kind of response it got... It goes something like this: "If you believe, and God exists, you gain everything. If you disbelieve, and God exists, you lose everything." In other words... "It makes more sense to believe in God than to not believe. If you believe, and God exists, you will be rewarded in the afterlife. If you do not believe, and He exists, ...

I'm conducting an exercise in self-discipline for the next couple of days. I'm not going to talk about anyone else unless they are in my presence. That means no gossip, no unnecessary chatter. I'm doing it as part of an exercise in 'right speech'.  I'm immersing myself in my buddhist practice again, and 'right speech' is a key element of that. My husband thinks it's great....says it will probably be the most peaceful day off he's ever had! He doesn't think that I'll be able t...

Tom Daschle has lost SD to John Thune. I've had the dubious pleasure of meeting Tom a couple of times....and I don't care for him.  He's manipulated the people and he's lied. He's paid people for their vote, and he's deliberately targeted the Native American population, going so far as to pay people for their vote (he was also accused of registering dead Natives to vote and of bussing intoxicated people to the polls last time around) He's used scare-mongering tactics,...

I found this quote about mindfulness, and thought that it applies especially well in the current climate of political insanity: 'What does it mean to be mindful?  It means to be fully aware right here, concentrating on what is going on inside....But mindfulness is not necessarily concentrating on an object. Being aware of confusion is also being mindful.  If we have all kinds of things coming at our senses -noises, people demanding this and that -we cannot concentrate on any one of ...

For no particular reason (other than I feel like it) and in no particular order (just as I recall them).... 'Do not weep; do not wax indignant.  Understand'    -Baruch Spinoza. 'You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.....You must do the thing you cannot do'.   - Eleanor Roosevelt 'We have met the enemy and he is us'   - Walt Kelly 'Nothing in the world can take the place o...

From the Dhammapada, the sayings of The Buddha: Do not think lightly of evil, saying "It will not come to me".  Even a water-pot is filled by the falling of drops. Likewise the fool, gathering it drop by drop, fills himself with evil. Do not think lightly of good, saying "It will not come to me".  Even as a water-pot is filled by the falling of drops, so the wise man, gathering it drop by drop, fills himself with good.  

There's a Buddhist saying that 'when the student is ready, the teacher will appear'. I found this in my daily readings book this morning.... 'Right Aspiration is what develops in the mind once we understand that freedom of choice is possible. Life is going to unfold however it does: pleasant or unpleasant, disappointing or thrilling, expected or unexpected, or all of the above! What a relief it would be to know that whatever wave comes along, we can ride it out with grace. If we got re...

I've been talking about food a lot recently, and it's made me think about what I eat...if I can reconcile what I eat with my Buddhist path. I've always held the philosophy that if I'm not having something killed specifically for ME then that's ok. Buddhist monks eat whatever is given to them, they have the thought that beggars can't be choosers (and I agree). For a while a couple of years ago I tried to be vegan. I ate no meat, no dairy products, and no eggs. I cooked using tempeh and...

I was reading about attachment and desire today. Buddhist philosophy is that attachment and desire lead to suffering (Dukkha), but that's not what I'm blogging about. I found an excerpt from my book that I think describes attachment very well: 'What happens when we do not let go? Asians have a very clever trap for catching monkeys. People hollow out a coconut, put something sweet in it, and make a hole at the bottom of the coconut just big enough for the monkey to slide its open ha...

I'm having a little get together at my house today. I'm teaching people how to meditate and about the basic precepts of Buddhism. 'Teaching' is really the wrong word to use....it's more of a guidance process.  I'm not telling them anything they don't already know; I'm just opening the door and pointing them in the direction of the dharma path. It's going to be good for me to have other people to talk to about this; I've been practicing mainly solo thus far and a sangha (community) ...