Memorial day

my family hates war
dad stood his ground against the draft
moms dad destroyed the italian fascist supply lines in a warhawk and then later watched the russians from space
brother sniped "middle easterners" who took shit way too seriously and got a leg concussion that resulted in amputation
fathers father sniped distant cousins called krout where the battlefront buldged
"I" write passionate stories in the form of music

Permanent witness

Everything is impermanent
But myself.

If I were impermanent I could not realize that other things are impermanent, as I would only exist in an instant, in which everything would be permanent, in fact, eternal, as time would not exist for me.

Therefore, I am not impermanent.
But, am I permanent?

The Ultimate Dimension: Foundations of (Buddhist) Reality

Toward the end of Living Buddha, Living Christ, Thich Nhat Hanh speaks about the Ultimate Dimension, which can be defined as nirvana. Before that, he talks about the five skandhas, or, the five aggregates which shape reality. I had some ideas about nirvana from previous readings and lectures, but the five skandhas are new things for me to realize. Reading about the two views, ultimate dimensions and skandhas, in succession led me to this composition:

These five skandhas:
Body – form; stores of ‘self’ and ‘ego’
Feelings – biochemical, physiological and reactionary patterns of energy formations
Perceptions – mental constructs, informed by environment, e.g., culture, society, conditioning, habit
States of mind – house particular ranges of perceptions and feelings
Consciousness – irreducible stage upon which the body and concept of ‘I’ is built, comparable to such cosmic conceptions as dark matter and akashic field

Lam Rim Overview

Just a quick post to share a video I found while on YouTube. This is the first video in a series of Lam Rim teachings by Thubten Chodron. The teachings aren't so much an in depth presentation, as they are more of an overview that covers key points. In any case, I hope you enjoy them.



More videos from Sravasti Abbey can be found at - http://www.youtube.com/user/sravastiabbey

bathroom wall dharma combat

So i'm giving(as opposed to taking) a shit in my schools one bathroom and figured i'd give a gift to those in the future who occupy the same throne as me. I decided to scribble "Form is emptiness, Emptiness is form" on the wall. It was a nice little reminder for all to keep on pooping. Anyway the other night i go in to do my business and what do I see but a response to my tag. The well thought out reply was: Fuck you, you fuck. To which i replied: No shit, Sherlock. In online gaming this would be the time to say gg noob.

You are being watched!

My mind is feeling self-conscious,
because I'm watching it!

bullshit

Harry G. Frankfurt, a Princeton philosophy professor, wrote a cool little book entitled "On Bullshit" a few years ago. In it he analyzes the difference between lying, and bullshitting. A liar cares about the truth, and doesn't want you to know the truth. A bullshitter, on the other hand, isn't really concerned with the truth. A bullshitter will say whatever is necessary, lies, truth, half-truth, whatever... because what the bullshitter is really hiding is their real agenda. Frankfurt felt this was an important distinction to make because there is so much bullshit in our society, in the media and in politics for example.

loss

So someone I knew died today in a freak accident. I knew them, but I did not know them well, so therefore I am not overcome with sadness. I feel in this situation we can only let those who truly knew them well be sad for them, and let ourselves be a support to those people. A fundamental teaching in Buddhism is impermanence, even with ones own life. There is no escape from physical death. Death is part of living.

hellwo

i never experienced infinite loving kindness before until a couple days ago. my experiences have been rather redundant....so now i'm a redundicant...i renounce redundancy...whatever that means hahahaha.


one love,
A.Dyer.Harris8.15

The Short Version

I had originally planned on writing a post about attachment to impermanent phenomena, and the confused views that are the root of such attachments. I had been thinking about the content of such a post for a few days now, and it was shaping up to be quite lengthy. But that's all changed now. I was just reading some of the Dhammapada when two lines seemed to stand out in particular.