Tibetan Buddhism

Idle Chatter

"Whereas some priests and contemplatives, living off food given in faith, are addicted to talking about lowly topics such as these — talking about kings, robbers, ministers of state; armies, alarms, and battles; food and drink; clothing, furniture, garlands, and scents; relatives; vehicles; villages, towns, cities, the countryside; women and heroes; the gossip of the street and the well; tales of the dead; tales of diversity [philosophical discussions of the past and future], the creation of the world and of the sea, and talk of whether things exist or not — he abstains from talking about lowly topics such as these. This, too, is part of his virtue.

"Whereas some priests and contemplatives, living off food given in faith, are addicted to debates such as these — 'You understand this doctrine and discipline? I'm the one who understands this doctrine and discipline. How could you understand this doctrine and discipline? You're practicing wrongly. I'm practicing rightly. I'm being consistent. You're not. What should be said first you said last. What should be said last you said first. What you took so long to think out has been refuted. Your doctrine has been overthrown. You're defeated. Go and try to salvage your doctrine; extricate yourself if you can!' — he abstains from debates such as these. This, too, is part of his virtue."

- Buddha
Samaññaphala Sutta

This is advice for monastics. Details of right speech were given in this post

Toddler Altruism

Warneken and Tomasello study

Freedom to be Happy

"What we frequently think about and ponder upon becomes the inclination of the mind." - The Buddha

Courage

Entering the arena tense and with clenched teeth is not a display of true courage.

Courage reveals itself when the heart is allowed to soften and open to what is there.

Fear is not a foe to defeat, but a child to take care of with boundless love.

Warrior

The common person perceives every situation as a blessing or a curse;
blessing leading to attachment, curse leading to aversion.

The spiritual warrior perceives every situation as a challenge-
a challenge to be present and to open the heart.

The Guest House

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice.
meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.

Be grateful for whatever comes.
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

- Rumi
Coleman Barks translation

Metta Wishes

May you relax into a loving presence.

Free from fear and worry, may you be peaceful.

May you be happy.

:)

Letting Go

The practice of 'letting go' is very effective for minds obsessed by compulsive thinking: you simplify your meditation practice down to just two words – 'letting go' – rather than try to develop this practice and then develop that; and achieve this and go into that, and understand this, and read the Suttas, and study the Abhidhamma... and then learn Pali and Sanskrit... then the Madhyamika and the Prajña Paramita... get ordinations in the Hinayana, Mahayana, Vajrayana... write books and become a world renowned authority on Buddhism. Instead of becoming the world's expert on Buddhism and being invited to great International Buddhist Conferences, just 'let go, let go, let go'.

I did nothing but this for about two years – every time I tried to understand or figure things out, I'd say 'let go, let go' until the desire would fade out. So I'm making it very simple for you, to save you from getting caught in incredible amounts of suffering. There's nothing more sorrowful than having to attend International Buddhist Conferences! Some of you might have the desire to become the Buddha of the age, Maitreya, radiating love throughout the world – but instead, I suggest just being an earthworm, letting go of the desire to radiate love throughout the world. Just be an earthworm who knows only two words – 'let go, let go, let go'. You see, ours is the Lesser Vehicle, the Hinayana, so we only have these simple, poverty-stricken practices!

Ajahn Sumedo - Letting Go - chapter from Cittaviveka – Teachings From The Silent Mind

Reconnaitre les nuages

fichier PDF

The Second Arrow

Bringing awareness to our emotions helps us to have straightforward or uncomplicated emotions. No emotion is inappropriate within the field of our mindfulness practice. We are trying to allow them to exist as they arise, without reactivity, without the additional complications of judgment, evaluation, preferences, aversion, desires, clinging or resistance.

The Buddha once asked a student, “If a person is struck by an arrow is it painful?” The student replied, “It is.” The Buddha then asked, “If the person is struck by a second arrow, is that even more painful?” The student replied again, “It is.” The Buddha then explained, “In life, we cannot always control the first arrow. However, the second arrow is our reaction to the first. This second arrow is optional.”

As long as we are alive we can expect painful experiences – the first arrow. To condemn, judge, criticize, hate, or deny the first arrow is like being struck by a second arrow. Many times the first arrow is out of our control but the arrow of reactivity is not.

Often the significant suffering associated with an emotion is not the emotion itself but the way we relate to it. Do we feel it to be unacceptable? Justified? Do we hate it? Feel pride in it? Are we ashamed of it? Do we tense around it? Are we afraid of how we are feeling?

Mindfulness itself does not condemn our reactions. Rather it is honestly aware of what happens to us and how we react to it. The more cognizant and familiar we are with our reactivity the more easily we can feel, for example, uncomplicated grief or straightforward joy, not mixed up with guilt, anger, remorse, embarrassment, judgment or other reactions. Freedom in Buddhism is not freedom from emotions; it is freedom from complicating them.

From the IMC website

Wait Without Hope

I said to my soul be still, and wait without hope; for hope would be hope of the wrong thing.

-T.S. Eliot

Usually when we wait, we charge the experience with hope or dread. We are living in the future. If instead, we could not shape the waiting with any expectation, but simply be open to what arises, we are not struggling with the way things are in the present. There is nothing to fix. What arises includes feeling the emotions of hope and fear. This time however, they are also witnessed by awareness. "Oh! here's hope, welcome, oh, and this too! welcome!".

Dropping expectations, waiting becomes simply being.

Being Peace

Happiness is not an individual matter. When you are able to bring relief, or bring back the smile to one person, not only that person profits, but you also profit. The deepest happiness you can have comes from that capacity to help relieve the suffering of others. So if we have the habit of being peace, then there is a natural tendency for us to go in the direction of service. Nothing compels us, except the joy of sharing peace, the joy of sharing freedom from afflictions, freedom from worries, freedom from craving, which are the true foundations for happiness.

-Thich Nhat Hanh

Being nothing, you are everything

You live in illusion and the appearance of things. There is a reality, but you do not know this.
When you understand this, you will see that you are nothing.
And being nothing, you are everything. That is all.

- Kalu Rinpoche

Emptiness

Form is emptiness and emptiness is form.

Clouds appear, change and dissolve in the sky. Behind the gray clouds, the sky is there, ever present. Without the sky, there cannot be clouds.

Our thoughts and emotions are the clouds in the sky which is our awareness.

Picture frames of a movie are projected on a screen. Likewise, thoughts, emotions, sensations and moods are projected on the screen of awareness. Even when all we experience is the drama of our lives, the thoughts appear, change and dissolve in the awareness. Without awareness, there cannot be thoughts.

Forms appear out of emptiness. Clouds in the emptiness of the sky, thoughts in the emptiness of awareness.

By realizing the presence of awareness and the impermanence of all it witnesses, one can start to tame the mind, learning to detach from the drama and rest in the awareness itself. Memories, plans, thoughts and emotions stop solidifying into "who we are" but become clouds witnessed by our awareness. This way, we stop being egocentric and separate.

Patience and perseverance

From there, one can start to change the contents of the mind and nurture positive states. One practices cultivating lovingkindness and compassion.

Like any skill, practicing positive mind states takes patience and perseverance. Lovingkindness and compassion bring inner and outer peace.

Inspired by Tenzin Palmo's dharma talk about emptiness

Meditation

An old Chinese Zen Master once said, "Some of you are taking me literally when I say, 'Don't think,' and you are making your minds like a rock. This is a cause of insentiency and an obstruction to the Way. When I say not to think, I mean that if you have a thought, think nothing of it."

Right Speech

The criteria for deciding what is worth saying

[1] "In the case of words that the Tathagata knows to be unfactual, untrue, unbeneficial (or: not connected with the goal), unendearing & disagreeable to others, he does not say them.

[2] "In the case of words that the Tathagata knows to be factual, true, unbeneficial, unendearing & disagreeable to others, he does not say them.

[3] "In the case of words that the Tathagata knows to be factual, true, beneficial, but unendearing & disagreeable to others, he has a sense of the proper time for saying them.

[4] "In the case of words that the Tathagata knows to be unfactual, untrue, unbeneficial, but endearing & agreeable to others, he does not say them.

[5] "In the case of words that the Tathagata knows to be factual, true, unbeneficial, but endearing & agreeable to others, he does not say them.

[6] "In the case of words that the Tathagata knows to be factual, true, beneficial, and endearing & agreeable to others, he has a sense of the proper time for saying them. Why is that? Because the Tathagata has sympathy for living beings."

— MN 58

The Fisherman

An American businessman was standing at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish.

“How long it took you to catch them?” The American asked.

“Only a little while.” The Mexican replied.

“Why don’t you stay out longer and catch more fish?” The American then asked.

“I have enough to support my family’s immediate needs.” The Mexican said.

“But,” The American then asked, “What do you do with the rest of your time?”

The Mexican fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos, I have a full and busy life, señor.”

The American scoffed, “I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds you buy a bigger boat, and with the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats.”

“Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the consumers, eventually opening your own can factory. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually NYC where you will run your expanding enterprise.”

The Mexican fisherman asked, “But señor, how long will this all take?”

To which the American replied, “15-20 years.”

“But what then, señor?”

The American laughed and said, “That’s the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions.”

“Millions, señor? Then what?”

The American said slowly, “Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos…”

ID Please!

Taxonomy - the orderly classification of plants and animals.

Yesterday, I attended a conference given by a pastor/botanist. When asked "what could be done for the general public - and especially the youth - to be more responsible about protecting biodiversity?" he replied the following :

"I would tell them to associate taxonomy and observation of nature. People must learn to identify and recognize what is out there. Identifying plants, birds. If a name cannot be given to an object, no relationship can establish itself between the observer and the observed. To identify a plant makes a big difference. If a person walks past a stranger, he will not respond the same way as if he walks past a person that has been introduced and whose name is known. There is an emotional response that stems from recognizing the person."

Identification and naming can have a powerful effect. It might be the royal road to a stronger sense of connection with nature. Memory and the intellect could be the first step to being more fully cognizant, i.e. emotionally and spiritually.

Life - Lessons from Biodiversity

Diversity and an "intelligent, organized" chaos encourage life.
A rich ecosystem is full of symbiotic relationships between species. There is self-regulation and coevolution.

Uniformity, squareness weaken and destroy life.
A poor ecosystem promotes parasitic relationships between species. The system is out of balance and self-destroys in an attempt to steady itself.


Diversity and an "intelligent, organized" chaos in diet encourage health.
Diversity and an "intelligent, organized" chaos in physical activity encourage health.
Diversity and an "intelligent, organized" chaos in the one's activities and interests encourage mental health.

Uniformity in diet, physical, interests, daily activities destroy health and life.

Similarly, diversity and an "intelligent, organized" chaos in communities, societies, nations encourage harmony. There is self-regulation and "coevolution".

Uniformity, too much regulation, too much systematic organization, weaken and destroy communities, societies, nations, the environment. There are parasitic relationships. There is gradual destruction - including the environment's - in an attempt by Gaia to steady itself.

Lovingkindness - The Metta Sutta

This is what should be done
By one who is skilled in goodness,
And who knows the path of peace:
Let them be able and upright,
Straightforward and gentle in speech.
Humble and not conceited,
Contented and easily satisfied.
Unburdened with duties and frugal in their ways.
Peaceful and calm, and wise and skillful,
Not proud and demanding in nature.
Let them not do the slightest thing
That the wise would later reprove.
Wishing: In gladness and in safety,
May all beings be at ease.
Whatever living beings there may be;
Whether they are weak or strong, omitting none,
The great or the mighty, medium, short or small,
The seen and the unseen,
Those living near and far away,
Those born and to-be-born,
May all beings be at ease!

Let none deceive another,
Or despise any being in any state.
Let none through anger or ill-will
Wish harm upon another.
Even as a mother protects with her life
Her child, her only child,
So with a boundless heart
Should one cherish all living beings:
Radiating kindness over the entire world
Spreading upwards to the skies,
And downwards to the depths;
Outwards and unbounded,
Freed from hatred and ill-will.
Whether standing or walking, seated or lying down
Free from drowsiness,
One should sustain this recollection.
This is said to be the sublime abiding.
By not holding to fixed views,
The pure-hearted one, having clarity of vision,
Being freed from all sense desires,
Is not born again into this world.

Layers

There once was a princess – Ar – who lived with her parents, the king and queen. The king and queen had overextended themselves, and had for some time relied on loans they obtained from a dragon who lived in the area, dragons having lots of gold and such.

The time came for the king and queen to pay the dragon back, but they didn’t have the money to do it. So they met with the dragon to see what could be worked out. As was the way in those days, they told the dragon that the only thing they had left was their daughter, Ar. The dragon thought about it for a few minutes, and said that he’d accept their offer, would take the princess as his wife, and would become a part of their family.

The daughter was as distressed as you might imagine, but showed more wisdom than her parents. She fled the city to a village on the outskirts of the forest, to a hovel where an old, wise woman lived. She told the old woman of her plight. When she was done with her story, the woman said, “Don’t worry so much. Here’s what you should do…”

Ar listened carefully, and when the old woman finished her instructions, Ar thanked her, and returned home.

Soon enough the wedding day came, with lots of celebrations and toasts and talk and ceremony. Ar was nervous, but dressed for the wedding, as the old woman had instructed her. Ar and the dragon were married. After the dinners and toasts and talk were all done, Ar and the dragon withdrew to their wedding chamber, and Ar said to the dragon, as the old woman had instructed, “Would you like me to undress, so we can consummate our marriage?” The dragon, responded, “Yes!” Ar then said, “One more thing – it would be fitting for you to remove as much as I do. Do you agree?” The dragon, highly motivated, agreed quickly.

Ar then began removing her wedding gown, and the dragon removed such trappings as he’d put on in honor of the occasion. But as Ar removed her gown, there was another gown beneath it. She looked to the dragon, and began to remove her second gown. The dragon, having only put on one layer of clothing for the event, began to peel off its skin. Dragons, like snakes and lizards, sometimes shed their skins, so it wasn’t too painful to do so. But as Ar removed her second gown, there was a third beneath it. The dragon, seeing this, used its claws to carve away its scales. Beneath Ar’s third gown was a fourth, and a fifth, and more – she had followed the old woman’s instructions to put on ten gowns. As she removed each gown, the dragon clawed off more and more.

As she took off her gowns, and as the dragon carved away more and more, Ar saw that his shape began to change. By the time that Ar had removed her tenth gown and stood before the dragon uncovered, the dragon carved away his tenth layer and stood before Ar, now a beautiful young man.

-As told by Jack Kornfield

Moving On

"There is a rather nice story of two monks walking from one village to another and they come upon a young girl sitting on the bank of a river, crying. And one of the monks goes up to her and says, 'Sister, what are you crying about?'. She says, 'You see that house over there across the river? I came over this morning early and had no trouble wading across but now the river has swollen and I can't get back. There is no boat.' 'Oh', says the monk, 'that is no problem at all', and he picks her up and carries her across the river and leaves her on the other side.
 
And the two monks go on together.
 
After a couple of hours, the other monk says, `Brother, we have taken a vow never to touch a woman. What you have done is a terrible sin. Didn't you have pleasure, a great sensation, in touching a woman?' and the other monk replies, 'I left her behind two hours ago. You are still carrying her, aren't you?'

That is what we do. We carry our burdens all the time; we never die to them, we never leave them behind."

- Jiddu Krishnamurti, Freedom From the Known

Heaven and Hell

A big, burly samurai comes to a Zen master and says, "Tell me the nature of heaven and hell."

The Zen master looks him in the face and says, "Why should I tell a scruffy, disgusting, miserable slob like you? A worm like you, do you think I should tell you anything?"

Consumed by rage, the samurai draws his sword and raises it to cut off the master's head.

The Zen master says, "That's hell."

Instantly, the samurai understands that he has just created his own hell - black and hot, filled with hatred, self-protection, anger, and resentment. He sees that he was so deep in hell that he was ready to kill someone. Tears fill his eyes as he puts his palms together to bow in gratitude for this insight.

The Zen master says, "That's heaven."

The view of the warrior-bodhisattva is not "Hell is bad and heaven is good" or "Get rid of hell and just seek heaven." Instead, we encourage ourselves to develop an open heart and an open mind to heaven, to hell, to everything.

Only with this kind of equanimity can we realize that no matter what comes along, we're always standing in the middle of a sacred space. Only with equanimity can we see that everything that comes into our circle has come to teach us what we need to know.

-Pema Chodron, Comfortable with Uncertainty

Wendell Berry Interview

Keith Jarrett - Autumn Leaves

Short & Educational - The Problems with Consumerism in a Nutshell

Our enormously productive economy... demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction, in consumption... we need things consumed, burned up, replaced and discarded at an ever-accelerating rate - Victor Lebow (1955)

Kant - What is Enlightenment?

Immanuel Kant, symbol of German Idealism, wrote an essay in 1784 answering the question: "What is enlightenment?". The text is essentially giving individuals exhortation to use their own reasoning instead of remaining the idle believers and followers of men of authority.

It is a beautiful hymn to freedom.

Short excerpt of the English translation :

"
Enlightenment is man’s emergence from his self-imposed immaturity. Immaturity is the inability to use one’s understanding without guidance from another. This immaturity is self-imposed when its cause lies not in lack of understanding, but in lack of resolve and courage to use it without guidance from another. Sapere Aude! “Have courage to use your own understanding!” — that is the motto of enlightenment.

Laziness and cowardice are the reasons why so great a proportion of men, long after nature has released them from alien guidance (naturaliter maiorennes), nonetheless gladly remain in lifelong immaturity, and why it is so easy for others to establish themselves as their guardians. It is so easy to be immature. If I have a book to serve as my understanding, a pastor to serve as my conscience, a physician to determine my diet for me, and so on, I need not exert myself at all. I need not think, if only I can pay: others will readily undertake the irksome work for me. The guardians who have so benevolently taken over the supervision of men have carefully seen to it that the far greatest part of them (including the entire fair sex) regard taking the step to maturity as very dangerous, not to mention difficult. Having first made their domestic livestock dumb, and having carefully made sure that these docile creatures will not take a single step without the go-cart to which they are harnessed, these guardians then show them the danger that threatens them, should they attempt to walk alone. Now this danger is not actually so great, for after falling a few times they would in the end certainly learn to walk; but an example of this kind makes men timid and usually frightens them out of all further attempts.

Thus, it is difficult for any individual man to work himself out of the immaturity that has all but become his nature. He has even become fond of this state and for the time being is actually incapable of using his own understanding, for no one has ever allowed him to attempt it. Rules and formulas, those mechanical aids to the rational use, or rather misuse, of his natural gifts, are the shackles of a permanent immaturity. Whoever threw them off would still make only an uncertain leap over the smallest ditch, since he is unaccustomed to this kind of free movement. Consequently, only a few have succeeded, by cultivating their own minds, in freeing themselves from immaturity and pursuing a secure course.
"

Gesundheit! :-s

Market punishes good deeds :(

This is a 'Yes Men' prank, the dude doesn't work for DOW :D The company's stock lost 3 billion dollars when people thought they were going to do the right thing. It went right back up when stockholders learned that DOW wasn't going to pay a cent. Bit of a hit for capitalism if you ask me - nice on paper, not so cool in practice.

more info here: http://www.poptech.org/popcasts/?viewcastid=254

Wendell Berry - Eating is an Agricultural Act

A Canadian WWOOFer introduced me to Wendell Berry. I cannot wait to read his books.

Every once in a while we find people who become spiritual companions and guides, kindred souls who share similar intuitions and thoughts. These people can dispel the ominious sense of isolation arising from the frustration of not sharing the same views as peers or mainstream culture. Thoreau, Spinoza, Epicurus, Patanjali, Masanobu Fukuoka, Michael Pollan, Michel Onfray are a few in my Pantheon. They will certainly have to make a little room for Wendell Berry very soon.

"His nonfiction serves as an extended conversation about the life he values. According to Berry, the good life includes sustainable agriculture, appropriate technologies, healthy rural communities, connection to place, the pleasures of good food, husbandry, good work, local economics, the miracle of life, fidelity, frugality, reverence, and the interconnectedness of life. The threats Berry finds to this good life include: industrial farming and the industrialization of life, ignorance, hubris, greed, violence against others and against the natural world, the eroding topsoil in the United States, global economics, and environmental destruction. As a prominent defender of agrarian values, Berry's appreciation for traditional farming techniques, such as those of the Amish, grew in the 1970s, due in part to exchanges with Draft Horse Journal publisher Maurice Telleen. Berry has long been friendly to and supportive of Wes Jackson, believing that Jackson's agricultural research at The Land Institute lives out the promise of "solving for pattern" and using "nature as model."

The concept of "Solving for pattern", coined by Berry in his essay of the same title, is the process of finding solutions that solve multiple problems, while minimizing the creation of new problems. The essay was originally published in the Rodale Press periodical The New Farm. Though Mr. Berry's use of the phrase was in direct reference to agriculture, it has since come to enjoy broader use throughout the design community."

The teachers are everywhere. What is wanted is a learner.

Eating is an agricultural act.

The most alarming sign of the state of our society now is that our leaders have the courage to sacrifice the lives of young people in war, but have not the courage to tell us that we must be less greedy and less wasteful.

Reductionism (ultimately, the empirical explanability of everything and a cornerstone of science), has uses that are appropriate, and it also can be used inappropriately. It is appropriately used as a way (one way) of understanding what is empirically known or empirically knowable. When it becomes merely an intellectual "position" confronting what is not empirically known or knowable, then it becomes very quickly absurd, and also grossly desensitizing and false.

We Americans are not usually thought to be a submissive people, but of course we are. Why else would we allow our country to be destroyed? Why else would we be rewarding its destroyers? Why else would we all— by proxies we have given to greedy corporations and corrupt politicians— be participating in its destruction? Most of us are still too sane to piss in our own cistern, but we allow others to do so and we reward them for it. We reward them so well, in fact, that those who piss in our cistern are wealthier than the rest of us.

We need to confront honestly the issue of scale. Bigness has a charm and a drama that are seductive, especially to politicians and financiers; but bigness promotes greed, indifference, and damage, and often bigness is not necessary. You may need a large corporation to run an airline or to manufacture cars, but you don't need a large corporation to raise a chicken or a hog. You don't need a large corporation to process local food or local timber and market it locally.

Laugh.
Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful
though you have considered all the facts.

What I stand for
is what I stand on.

Whether we and our politicians know it or not, Nature is party to all our deals and decisions, and she has more votes, a longer memory, and a sterner sense of justice than we do.

The Problem With Philosophy

What is considered a philosopher nowadays?

1. A person who has read the books on the official syllabus of the department of philosophy of his university.


2. A person who had to clearly define which current of philosophy he belonged to in order to be acknowledged.


3. A person who had to learn how to publish a university paper with the proper form.


4. A person who publishes and teaches.


5. A person who is a philosopher from 8 to 12 and 2 to 5, on week days only, and who stops being a philosopher when he comes home and when he takes a vacation.

"Philosopher" has become a profession/career in academia.

A philosopher is not a person who leads a life of wisdom anymore. He is not a person who tries to embody values or a worldview. He is simply a person who has learned concepts, writes papers for his peers and teaches.

The philosopher has dissociated philosophy - the love of wisdom - from his lifestyle.

In ancient Greece, a Cynic, a Stoicist, an Epicurean, a Pythagorean, a student of the Academy or the Lyceum could be recognized in the streets of Athens. Philosophy permeated all the aspects of their lives. By the way a person was dressed, by the way he made decisions and by his behavior, one could easily identify which school of philosophy he adhered to. Each was free to find a lifestyle congruent with their temperament.

A Stoicist would show rigorous asceticism. An Epicurean would strive for a wise balance of pleasure. A Cynic would show no consideration for social convention. In this way, simply by observing how each would eat, how each would sleep, how each would interact with others, it was possible to determine their worldview.

Families often fail at giving guidance and providing answers.
Schools usually fail at giving guidance and providing answers.
Religion often fails at giving guidance and providing answers.
Ideology fails at giving guidance and providing answers.
Society as a whole has failed at this task.

People throughout the world are aligning their behavior. The way they eat, the way they dress, the type of art they appreciate, what they buy, what they dream about. Uniformity has killed initiative, intuition and creativity in man.
Philosophy has become inaccessible to humanity, it is held hostage by academics. For centuries, Church has hijacked the role of beacon in the West. An intellectual elite has favored the complex conceptual form of philosophy. A form which keeps out all who have not gone through the tedious process of breaking through curtains of concepts and poor syntax.

Philosophy should not be intellectual exercise or a profession. It should offer everybody the means to emancipate. It should help them find balance in their lives. It should give them a coherent way of looking at the world they are living in. It should give them the intuition of what is a proper way of behaving in it.

Most people - at least at some point in their lives - want to learn about philosophy, about psychology, about spirituality, about political science. Unfortunately they do not feel capable to explore these fields. They have been given a complex by their families, their schools, their religion, their society. They end up by rejecting the possibility to emancipate in their frustration.

May the situation change.

WWOOFing Chronicles - Tenth Week Poise

As I am gathering skills and experiencing many new situations, there is an euphoric sense of growth and purpose.

This week, I have been receiving too much attention, too much trust, too much praise. Even April, the stubborn, unpredictable horse is treating me with respect and is cooperatively following my orders. In the fields, Marco and I have been working very efficiently, the farming was late on schedule, we managed to make it so we are slightly ahead of schedule. Efficient coordination of efforts, the proper balance of initiative and caution, a silently shared trial, silently shared satisfaction after work well done. It was supposed to take three days to get the permaculture garden back in shape, he did it one. It was supposed to take two days to plant the amount of potatoes I planted in an afternoon. It was supposed to take several days to sow the seeds we got ready in the greenhouse in a scorching afternoon.

A few nights ago, John, enthusiastic with my capacity to teach him philosophy, organized a "philosophical evening" I was to lead. The next evening, I talked and talked, they listened, took notes, some faces lit up, most seemed deep in thought. At the same time, Tom was improvising on oriental scales with his flute. Then, I listened to them, gave them metaphors, fables, parables and aphorisms to back up or nuance their ideas. We shared laughs, sighs and respect until very late at night.

It is all simply intoxicating. The six young Swedish carpenters left. Men separated by age, language, background, were hugging, dancing, singing, sharing warmth for hour upon hour. We were all filled with a Dyonisiac sense of immediacy. Nietszche makes much more sense all of a sudden.

Is it Spring?

People never really deeply change, I have simply been exposed to new situations. The events we experience reveal aspects of who we are. We are not our minds separated from the physical world. Our minds adapt to the what our senses pick up from what surrounds us. Imbalances are sometimes increased, other times reduced. Many parameters have an influence : season, weather, age, food, people around us, house we are living in, sounds around us, amount of sleep, type of food, physical activity, natural cycles, music listened to earlier, conversations recently involved in, etc.

Finding balance brings poise.

Be Epicureans!

If a man can find a life purpose, if he can be driven by faith or by vision, may he follow his calling as long as his faith or vision respects all life and individual freedom. However, may he never succumb to dogmaticism or ideology.

For the other man, figuring out what provides pleasure without bringing harm to himself, others or nature, can still create a sense fulfillment or at least contentment.

--

The majority of men lead lives of quiet desparation filled with illusions of pleasure - pleasures which bring about harm to their bodies and later to their minds, which create suffering for themselves and in others. To all those : do not surrender, be Epicureans!

Find pleasure.
Find pleasure in the natural rather than in the always artificial.
Find pleasure in moderation rather than in constant excess.
Find pleasure in the present rather than in thinking only about past or future.
Find pleasure in seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, smelling, rather than only in possessing.
Find pleasure in sharing rather than only in hoarding.

If you accept your bodies first, you will accept yourselves.
If you accept yourselves, you will accept others.
If you accept others, you will be concerned about mankind.
If you are concerned about mankind, you will respect nature.

The Musician

--0--
It sits in a darkened room.
It gazes in awe at the shimmering reflections of a sun's rays sporadically gracing the cell's door.
"There must be a stream. There must be a window."
No sound, though.
Oh.
It hears a sound.
[--- http://www.deezer.com/track/832031 ---]
Not a mere shiver on the back but a life unveils.
It finds an instrument and it learns.
An orchestra backs him.
He is content.
Lost.
He grows weary.
Bebop.
He morphs.
He plays.
Freedom dazes him.
He begins to melt.
"Why create music when you can just walk out the door and see the world?"
He walks out.
He sees many a dark hall.
He chooses, walks, and finds others.
He is joined by others.
The world has suddenly expanded.

--22--

Now... why did he not climb out the window I ask myself?
Did he not want to see the stream?
Was there a stream?
Climb?
Who?
I?
You?
Me?
Death?
Life?
Age?
Hope?
Fear?
Music?
Happiness?
Family?
Control?
Sheep?
Goats?
Hills?
Freedom?
AI?
Flight?
Dogs?
...to list a few...

--80--

Age?
Too late...

WWOOFing Chronicles - Sixth Week Lessons

Five days before moving to Farm #3, here are a few lessons I've learned so far.

• Humility - A 71 year old carrying heavier logs than me, limberly climbing and balancing on trees like a young man. Driving hours, carrying, pushing, pulling, dragging, rubbing, scratching, sawing, climbing, squeezing. 7 days a week, most of the year with very few breaks and for several decades. Wow! A 33 year old mother of two with remarkable endurance doing gruelling work on the fields while dealing with a very busy schedule and an overall exhausting lifestyle. Some incredible life stories. People with practical skills and a very sharp intuition when it comes to designing, building, fixing, timing, driving, etc.

• Physical Condition - a 78 year old farmer working all day long in the vineyards looking like he barely turned 50. Farming develops a strong back, mostly from handling tools in the field, carrying, lifting and putting down. More sleep and food are required.
  

• Farming equates with scratches, cuts and bruises.

• Intellectual surprises - I have rarely met as many intellectually stimulating people in so little time. Both farms I've been staying in have something in common: no TV. In Ardèche, the radio would usually either be tuned in on France Culture or France Musique. Jazz and classical music were the two main genres listened to. Courrier International in farm #2 and Le Monde Diplomatique in farm #1 were usually thorougly read. Both hosts and many farmers met have travelled extensively and possess a lot of knowledge about cultures and a deeper perspective than most about history, politics etc. I did not expect to meet a farmer who read Kant's Critique of Pure Reason!
  

• Company - a dog, a donkey and a three year old. Three unexpected encounters that have become revelations. A dog can be an amazing companion. Taking care of a convalescent donkey daily has made me want to spend more time with animals. An adorable three year old rekindles hope in mankind.

• Adaptation - It takes a week to get used to a new setting, two to finally feel settled, three to feel as comfortable as at home. Spending an extended amount time with other people makes you adjust to their behavioral patterns, especially on their territory. It makes you morph into a buffer state where you balance with your core set of behaviors and the environment's dynamics to come to a state of equilibrium. You then feel sufficiently self-preserved while not creating too much tension in the host's space. You pick up their communication habits, and tune in to speed and energy levels.

• Responsibility - With experience come skill and autonomy. It is wonderful to nuture those skills and to have people trust you with them. When you receive a person's encouragement to complete a task unsupervised that could mean a lot of damage if badly done, there is a boost in self-esteem - as long as you have managed to do it properly.

• Beauty - There are absolutely gorgeous areas in France. Living, working and hiking in such environments feeds the soul. Common things in a grandiose setting makes them meaningful.
  

• Food - I don't know if any pursuit is more noble than striving to eat like a frugal gourmet.
  

Combattre, Fuire ou Inhiber

1ère partie



2ème partie

WWOOFing Chronicles - Picture of Farm #1

'nuff said

White Trash

From WHFoods.com

Question: "It's great that you have listed all the healthiest foods we should eat. Can you also share with us the "unhealthiest foods," those that we should avoid?"

"The "unhealthiest" foods tend to be those that least resemble their original natural ingredients and those that have the most added refined and artificial additives. Prime examples are the so-called "white foods"-white sugar, white flour, and white fat, and the gamut of foods in which they are the principal ingredients. It's not that these foods are white in color-many of them are actually not. It's that these foods have had many of their natural components-including their natural colors-processed away. "White foods" is simply the shorthand label that we are using when we refer to these heavily processed, nutrient-depleted foods.

* "White sugar" includes refined sugar cane or sugar beets having virtually all B vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and other essential nutrients removed. Corn syrup is also a "white sugar," made from processed cornstarch and essentially devoid of other nutrients.
* "White flour," analogously, is whole wheat flour minus its nutrient-packed wheat germ and fibrous bran. Nutritionally speaking, white flour is a ghost-like shadow of its original whole grain.
* "White fat" can include rendered animal lard, vegetable oils "hydrogenated" to make them hard at room temperature, and refined fats such as cottonseed oil. Hydrogenation is a chemical process that transforms natural fats into more saturated trans-fatty acids that do not occur naturally and which are strongly associated with cardiovascular disease.

Foods having "whites" as their primary ingredients are frighteningly ubiquitous! Examples include soft drinks, breads, hamburger and hotdog buns, crackers, pasta, pastries and pastry fillings, pies, cakes, frostings, margarine and bread spreads, jellies, sweets and candies, frozen dinners, pizzas, snack foods, doughnuts, candy bars, and cookies-all of which are common snack and convenience foods. Indeed, many of these combine all three whites together-white sugar, flour, and fat! Furthermore, these foods frequently contain artificial colors, artificial flavors, preservatives, texturizing and processing agents, and other additives that further detract from their nutritional stature and your health. These are among the foods that I would consider to be the unhealthiest and the ones that I would avoid."

--

Beyond white foods, one can add potentially very healthy foods ruined by negative production methods such as meat or milk from unhealthy, intensively raised animals. Also, it is good to remember that certain combinations of healthy food can make the end result unwelcome.

The Essence of PU

This flow chart summarizes it all.

Field tested two days ago. B Target compliance, A2 cleared, receptive to screening, close in sight ~ it's all about kino.

I've felt like writing this in a while, finding it cool that the gibberish actually means something.

WWOOFing Chronicles - Prelude

Contact information of WWOOF hosts is only accessible to WWOOF France members.

Believing it wiser not to reveal the precise location and identity of the hosts, I am only posting a very approximative map of where I will probably be staying from March to October.

Among them :

• Four permaculture farms
• Four AMAP (CSA) farms
• Three market farmers
• One farm for herbs
  
• A Yoga center
  
• A Tibetan center
  

Healthy on a Small Planet

Is there a simple way to evaluate the quality of food in terms of health and sustainability?

In the UK, a traffic light food labeling system was introduced in certain supermarkets to indicate whether levels of fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt where safe, moderately high or very high.

While the label is helpful to those aware of their specific health risks - diabetes, cholesterol and high blood pressure - it fails to give the average consumer an indication of how much "quality" a product has.

The obvious pitfall is to disqualify food on the basis of a nutritional configuration. This type of selection belongs to the realm of marketing, the food and pharmacological industries. Buying food intelligently is not to follow the industry's "health” claims. No natural food is inherently unhealthy.

All natural foods are healthy as long as they are balancing to the eater's constitution, that they are eaten at an appropriate time and season, that they are combined properly, that they are made digestible (with cooking or spices for example), that they are eaten in proper quantity. As a consequence, no "natural" organic food, should be considered unhealthy and attributed a red light. Organic butter might receive a red light in the aforementioned labeling system for its saturated fat content, while it is almost universally life-giving to those eating it in the proper conditions.

Below is an alternative labeling system (open to modifications) which indicates definite risk for health, for the environment or for unfair population exploitation.


Green Light

The Bottom Line:
Healthy. Respectful of the environment. Respectful of workers. Efficient in space and energy. Sustainable.

All foods in this group must be:

• Organic*
• Local
• In Season
• Fair for workers along the entire chain of production and distribution.
• 100% Natural. Without any additives or synthetic chemicals.

List:

• Vegetables
• Fruit
• Whole grains and cereal
• Beans
• Nuts and Seeds
• Oils
• Spices and Herbs
• Beverages
• Unrefined sweeteners
• Eggs
• Dairy**
• Sea Vegetables**
• Honey, propolis, royal jelly, pollen**

Have fresh.
Take into account individual needs (pregnant, diabetes...).
Always include in a varied, balanced diet.

*Organic as in replenishes the soil, respects natural cycles, without chemicals, respectful of the welfare and health of animals, 100% natural, not from large monoculture fields.

**Can have a bad ecological impact, but not as much as “yellow light” or “red light” foods.




Yellow Light

The Bottom Line:
Healthy but either:

• Taxing in resources of space or energy.
• Damaging to the environment or species in excess.
• Addictive.
• Excessively stimulating or dulling.
• Unhealthy when not eaten only occasionally.

All foods in this group must be

• Organic*
• Fair for workers along the entire chain of production and distribution.
• 100% Natural. Without any additives or synthetic chemicals.

List:

• Meat
• Fish
• Poultry
• Coffee, guarana, ...
• Alcohol
• Sweets and candy
• Refined flour, cereal and sweeteners
• All “Green light” foods that are not produced and distributed locally

Red Light

The Bottom Line:
Avoid altogether. Unhealthy, damaging to the environment, damaging to workers, encourages an unethical economy.

• Food grown with chemical pesticides and herbicides
• Genetically engineered food
• Animals fed with food that belongs to this red light list or unsuited for their needs
• Animals not raised in proper conditions for welfare and health
• Fish from polluted water or from intensive fish farms.
• Plants from large monoculture fields
• Endangered species of animals or plants
• Food produced, transformed or distributed in a way that does not respect workers
• Food produced, transformed or distributed in a way that prevents the economic emancipation of poorer countries
  
• Food processed with chemical additives
• Processed oil
• Excessively salty, sweet or fat processed food

Leviathan

WTF!

Maybe

Story about a Chinese farmer

One day, his horse ran away, and all the neighbors gathered in the evening and said ‘that’s too bad.’
He said ‘maybe.’

Next day, the horse came back and brought with it seven wild horses. ‘Wow!’ they said, ‘Aren’t you lucky!’
He said ‘maybe.’

The next day, his son grappled with one of these wild horses and tried to break it in, and he got thrown and broke his leg. And all the neighbors said ‘oh, that’s too bad that your son broke his leg.’
He said, ‘maybe.’

The next day, the conscription officers came around, gathering young men for the army, and they rejected his son because he had a broken leg. And the visitors all came around and said ‘Isn’t that great! Your son got out.’
He said, ‘maybe.’

Music for Sun Salutations

Hypnotic drum beats, powerful didgeridoo, infectious percussion overlays.
Sets the pace for shakti-infused sun salutations.

Découvrez James Asher!

Баба-Яга

Baba Yaga.

Old hag found in Slavic lore, flying around on a birch broom with her mortar using the giant pestle as a rudder. She lives deep in the forest in a house resting on giant chicken legs with all kinds of odd and frightful features and occupants.

Baba Yaga is very wise and a precious source of guidance. To seek her out however, is to expose oneself to great risk for she is known to have a wicked streak, eating children and killing visitors.

A story of three young adults visiting Baba Yaga deep in the forest.

"When the first young seeker comes quaking up to the door of her hut, Baba Yaga demands, "Are you on your own errand or are you sent by another?" The young man, encouraged in his quest by his family, answers, "I am sent by my father." Baba Yaga promptly throws him into the pot and cooks him.

The next to attempt this quest, a young woman, sees the smoldering fire and hears the cackle of Baba Yaga. Baba Yaga again demands, "Are you on your own errand or are you sent by another?" This young woman has been pulled to the woods alone to seek what she can find there. "I am on my own errand," she replies. Baba Yaga throws her in the pot and cooks her too.

Later a third visitor, again a young woman, deeply confused by the world, comes to Baba Yaga's house far into the forest. She sees the smoke and knows it is dangerous. Baba Yaga confronts her, "Are you on your own errand, or are you sent by another?" This young woman answers truthfully. "In large part I'm on my own errand, but in large part I also come because of others. And in large part I have come because you are here, and because of the forest, and something I have forgotten, and in large part I know not why I come." Baba Yaga regards her for a moment and says, "You'll do," and shows her into the hut."

-As told by Jack Kornfield