Nietzsche

I've been trying to avoid philosophizing abstractly and saying, "Aha, Buddhism is just like this philosopher because..." for several reasons:

-For every comparison, you're going to find differences.
-Buddha didn't seem all that keen on people just working with ideas and arguing about them.
-My experiental practice of Buddhism is pretty...well, I'll just say, pretty inferior. I don't think I could legitimately defend any claim in the entire Buddhist canon with my own experiential evidence. :)

But, we're reading Nietzsche's "Beyond Good and Evil" right now in my Existentialism class (PHIL324), and it really leaps out at me. I just felt like sharing a quote from it. :)

"I shall repeat a hundred times; we really ought to free ourselves from the seduction of words!"

The Past is Gone

In my humble opinion, Bill Murray is the star of the greatest Buddhist film of all time: Groundhog Day.

Tonight I just watched Broken Flowers, also starring Murray. While I wouldn't go so far as to call it a Buddhist film, Murray's character delivers a very Buddhist line near the end of the film:

"The past is gone. The future isn't here yet. All there is... is this."

(movie trailer)

A Lesson in Mindfulness

"Andrew I just finished grading the test. Did you not realize that you had to answer ALL of the essay questions? You answered only the first one. Your grade on the multiple choice was not bad, but losing 50 points on the essays kind of ruins the results. See me on Wednesday"

I just got this email seconds ago. Thanks to my practice thus far I am not flippin' the script but as you can see I have a loooonnng way to go. I took this test in my principles of management class. There was absolutely no reason to rush considering it was even OPEN NOTES.

The Present Moment

Anger

"Paradise belongs to those who control their anger"

-------The Holy Quran-----------

Anger: a strong feeling of displeasure and belligerence aroused by a wrong; wrath; ire.

The idea of this entry came into my mind after reading two beautiful books on "Anger".

Anger: Wisdom for Cooling the Flames by Ven.Thich Nhat Hanh and Burn Anger Before Anger Burns You by J.P.Vasvani. Its not that I have been able to escape from its clutches.

For me, Anger as a subject in itself is so powerful profound & fascinating, its so easy to be in the state of "Anger" these days & exploding left-right-center. The challenge here is not about "Anger" as a problem but understanding the stage why I am Angry?

Anger is a uncontrollable "energy" which can be diverted into developing positive mindset, reflecting on Anger & cooling the flames would help us in realizing ourselves deeply & also answers to the questions which bring us in confusion.

The person who holds on to anger or resentments is, without his/her knowing causing immense damage to himself/herself from within. Hence.....

Let's try to cool the flames......
Let's try to understand Anger.......

Anatman

Nagasena, an elder monk, was discussing the idea of the "Self" with King Milinda. Milinda asked whether the Self is permanent or impermanent and Nagasena replied with a question of his own: "Is the mango tree in your garden sweet or sour?" Milinda replies that he does not have a mango tree in his garden, so how can he possibly answer the question. "Exactly," replies Nagasena.


This is based on an excerpt from the book "The Experience of Buddhism" by John S. Strong.

Excessive

Two Books

When I began studying Buddhism I was able to discard most of the self-help books I had collected over the years. I just didn't need them anymore. But two self-help books in my library offer approaches that I still value. The concepts and techniques in them are complementary to my Buddhist practice, and I wanted to take a moment to get down a few notes about them.

When I Say No, I Feel Guilty, Manuel J. Smith, Ph.D.

Assertiveness does not have to mean aggression, as Gandhi and Martin Luther King showed. This is a book about learning to be more assertive, and to handle conflict with others.

Introduction: Max

Greetings,

I've been putting off my introduction post for awhile now, I figured it was time to start. I'll try to keep it short and simple, as I will do with most of my future posts.

My name is Max. I am a 20 year old student at North Carolina State University. I've moved around quite a bit. I am currently taking a class about Buddhism.

I play ice hockey, listen to hardcore, punk, and metal music, and meditate. I'm straight edge. I've been interested in Buddhism and eastern thought since I can remember.

Shameless plug: you can check out my personal blog here, if you are interested.

Thanks to Ray for allowing me to contribute.

Tears

Tears: A drop of the saline, watery fluid continually secreted by the lacrimal glands between the surface of the eye and the eyelid, serving to moisten and lubricate these parts and keep them clear of foreign particles.
"Be strong they used tell me, Boys don't cry in our culture"
As if Boys ( Men??? ) were born heartless,emotionless,thoughtless,lifeless & what not less........and anyway whats culture got to do with expressing your emotions or rather why should we continue to falsely pretend? Crying does not need to be associated with sadness [ I would speak all this inside myself,soft enough for only me to hear ]

The Eightfold Path

Is the eightfold path important to you? Do you follow it?

I know that you are not "supposed" to want something from your meditation practice, but I do. I don't want to be enlightened, I just want a small amount of simple everyday happiness. I try to stay mindful of the eightfold path because I believe that it is a path to true, non-grasping happiness. It's "non-grasping" because it doesn't involve the things that most people consider will make them happy... a new job, more money, a new lover, etc. Those things aren't bad, it's just that they won't "make" you happy.

Waltz With Bashir

"Waltz With Bashir" is an Israeli film I just saw about a middle-aged man struggling to remember his experiences as a soldier during the invasion of Lebanon in the early 1980's. For some reason he only remembers fragments, so he sets out to find as many old comrades as he can to talk to them about what happened in order to hopefully jog his own memory.

Beginner's answers

This was orignally a comment for Clemente's post. I decided to post it just because the answers became lengthier than I originally thought. I call it beginners answers because I myself am rather green on this path. So if my answers don't seem right please do offer your insight.
here is a very useful lesson by a teacher named Ajahn Chah: http://www.what-buddha-taught.net/Books/Ajahn_Chah_Four_Noble_Truths.htm

Beginner's Questions

I have been listening to Audio Dharma podcasts on Awareness Meditation and they have inspired quite a few questions, some old, some new. I'll try to express them to see if others out there have thoughts about them.

The first question is at the core of the Buddhist philosophy: the theory is that if suffering is caused by craving, and we can stop suffering by removing craving, then we should strive to let go of craving. But then, aren't we craving for the cessation of craving? If we aim at this cessation, if we long for it, are we not falling into the cause of suffering? Isn't some kind of contradiction there?

To Sit Or Not To Sit...

I haven't practiced sitting meditation much this week. I became too goal oriented...I started grasping at the concept of if I sit, I will receive. So I let go. I am constantly practicing the art of letting go. As Thai would say to be like a pebble steadily falling to the bottom of a river bed. I work at a grocery store as a cashier. Its easy work and the mind can easily wander if not careful. I find it a good place to practice. People come through my line and they are in all sorts of moods.