Fall weekend

- happy hour with ex-coworkers: learned there are cities underground in Paris, the kitchen there with the swirly sink fixtures were so modern

- rummage sale: bumping elbows for jewelry and mad rush to get kids clothes

- photos at homestead farm and kids playing

- 6 mile run on Sunday with brunch then soccer again

yogaville trip report

where we are now versus where we want to be
live in the present moment and you will not be afraid of death
our mind can be filled with distortions or thoughts - assess if the bulk of these overtaking you from living in the moment

five needs: spiritual, emotional, social, intellectual, physical (hatha)
need balance in these needs, a constant coil of these needs
too much distortion or overtaking in one of these can lead to unhealthy imbalance

TSA: right thinking, speaking, and actions need to be in parallel with each other
gratitude, earnestness, awareness

follow the ten commandments but in all of us we now what is right and wrong

to really serve God, serve others

concentration - meditation - nirvana

breathing techniques - 3 step breathing
top of the legs - abs - lungs - collar bone
exhale fully, but not forcefully

sitting pose should feel weightless - half lotus tuck in foot - sitting pillow on bottom
adjust shoulder back and forth until between - hands on knees with thumb and forefinger touching
roll head back and forth until middle

vegan meals
kale
salad - beets, cucumber, yogurt sauce
tofu
beans
bread
honey
cereal
fresh fruit cutting board

hiking to Lotus Shrine
overlook
deer in forest

meditation blobs to Lemon

cold shower refreshing

charlottesville - mall
bang restaurant - humorism drink

spiritual roller coaster ride

we suffer, acknowledge it

embrace the suffering, let yourself feel the suffering (before stopping it so you can find the origin of it)

keep mindful intentions and awareness of the interconnected world

we are conditioned beings, we need to detach ourselves in reflection to understand our individual distortions

we can act a certain way but we are fooling ourselves when we do not lead from the heart

the heart plays tricks on us thus the need to reassess our actions through examining origins of suffering and meditation

we are only human, never perfect

live in the present, happiness is a fleeting moment.

BuddhaFest 2010!!!

I attended one session of BuddhaFest at AU.  Sensei Ryomen spoke and then we watched the movie, The Colors of Compassion.  There was also a panel after the movie.  Here are my notes from the session.  They are for me to organize my thoughts but also I felt like there would be friends who would want to know what I learned.

We are One and the Many.  Of many one (just like Masons).  The relative and the absolute.  We need to look intimately at differences.  Intimacy is great related to Zen.  The teacher asked the student, What is the business beneath the patch robe?  Studying the Buddha way and not reaching the realm is a painful thing.  The student did not know the answer. Teacher says, Intimacy.  And the student was awakened.  The Teacher asked, "Can you hear the birds sing?".  Can you hear the beating heart?  We should be focusing on how we are to each other than how to do precepts. 

Ban-sho is a famous Haiku in Japanese. 

Into the Ancient pond, frog jumps
waters sound

in 1995 a book called 100 frogs was published which was 100 translations of this poem.  Endless translations. 

Reonin - on death bed poem

66 times these eyes held
changing autumn
only listen to the voice of the pines and cedars
when no wind stirs
(what's underneath that patch robe?)

Realizing life with no division.  There are so many differences, experience the impact of them.  There are daily micro aggressors and anticipated rejections. 

We are all hungry for a loving embrace.  Buddha had taught 84,000 teachings.  The path to transformation and liberation. 

We need to learning our own sufferings, learn compassion, and kindness and forgiveness.

The one and the many.  Steady in out practice.  Cultivation of focused attention.  Fearless compassion. 

Core spiritual ailments: Privledge, power, and oppression ( from ignorance belief that others less, numb from sufferings of others, blinded, one hurts - all hurts)

Antedote to ignorance, cultivate an open heart. 

Some people are greedy and seem to think it is deserved. 

Delusion of something to protect, grasping false security ( us versus them)

Antedote - deep confidence and endless trust - in ourselves

Mashumiroshi poem

Difficulty of undivided life
chopped into endless differences
all this diversity, dichotomy
nothing other than undivided
life manifesting as differences
mutual respect and appreciation
dharma, unconfined life

I have arrived, I am home.

no more suffering

With our conditioned mind, how can we be free?
Through practice. 

Breathe in - relax
Breathe out, smile

Qui suis je?
Don't let your skin confine you
Chance to break free to home
Collective energy - mindfulness

Feel not, take the pain of suffering - embrace the pain do not stop, see where it leads what feelings it tells you, fear not the pain of suffering, accept and you will be free

Practice walking - freedom and solidarity

Ancestors are alive in me, If I am free they are free

Liberation revolution

Flower - see into it and you see the cloud, the rain, the sunshine which makes it be
Touch the sun by touching the flower

To be is to be inter-be

Be by yourself - alone

Skandhas

Form is emptiness and emptiness is form.

Nirvana

Steeping in their voices.  Together we are one. 

It wasn't me - to release the pain

5 or 14 mindfulness trainings
Interconnected me and world
Real dept of homeland secuirty

four noble truths
-there is suffering

transform for myself and mother

Buddha is not God. 

Lead from the heart. 
Embrace anger, touch the pain, suffering
lead from vulnerability
lead from suffering
then you will achieve liberation.

what is happiness?

Is happiness what you feel in a given moment?  How can we make promises for happiness when we do not know how time will change things.  I don't think happiness is a constant.  But than how do you know if you are unhappy temporarily or worse?  Do things have to change to get better or do you have to change or will things work it self out?  What if everything is a process and not a result?  Than can we really define what happiness is?  Maybe a happy moment is a path to unhappiness or vice versa?

planets and stars

So his dad bought him a glow in the dark planet set and hung them from the ceiling.  What touched me was that he also adhered tiny glow in the dark star stickers to the ceiling next to the planets.  After seeing them over and over again many times, I just realized that his dad actually put the star stickers on with exact placements of where the stars are at night; I located the little dipper and the big dipper, orion, etc.  Sometimes you just don't see what is in front of you until you take a breather.  Same thing happened the other week when ucci and I went to go eat brick oven pizza on a school night.  We walked to a nearby park afterwards and it was so hot and humid I wanted to leave.  Ucci insisted we stay and look for turtles and fish but it was obvious to me there were none.  I tried to get him to go but he refused.  Finally once I relaxed and sat down, I started noticing things.  I actually noticed tons of small fish that were invisible to the eye, and then we found three crawfish too.  It was fun pointing them out to ucci and he appreciated the experience.  Why is it so hard to enjoy the moment and relax?

Afternoon fun

So we had a little bit of fun after I picked up my son from preschool.  We went to the toy store and grabbed a toy bat and ball (foamy) and then to the card store to grab a bday card for gramps, then to the supermarket for dinner items, a quick trip to the playground as it got dark.  He told me tonite he wants to marry a hula dancer, this comment came out of nowhere and then he asked to see a youtube clip of hula dancers.  Lately he calls me wonder woman and he wants to be called batman.  It is really cute cause he jumps into pretend play as superhero characters.  He's got a funny bowl cut right now which I am not too crazy about but at least his hair is not in his face anymore for now.  He is the most precious when he prays before meals.  I also love it when he brushes his face against mine or touches my face gently with his hand. 

um...mic check..1..2..mic check...

So I am just starting to realize it is good to get a reality check on your thoughts by sharing it with others - otherwise it is hard to sometimes realize you are making distortions or under/over exaggerating stuff. What is reality anyways? It is definitely not what you see, you can see things and miss a ton of stuff, or only see what you think you see or want to see. Also from one angle things look a lot different from another. So what is reality? Is it what you believe? Nope cause what you believe can change. So there is no real reality. So what can we rely on? I think it's our own beliefs and values and spiritual/religion connections.