Mind activities of a Stone boy

Coleman Barks has been my favorite poet recently. I have been a fan of Rumi's poetry through his translation work. Even though he claims that he did not work from Persian language directly, his translation captures the spirits of the poet authentically. It is very evident that the heart matter is a universal thing. The spiritual people can recognize the great value in spirit regardless of cultural difference, language barrier, geographical boundary, and all the other seemingly superficial differences... The spirit transcends the named objects. It manifests as universal love. He is also a great poet himself, too. I am deeply touched by his anti-Iraq war poem, "Just this once". Here is the link of the poem that he recites himself . Here are a couple of interviews with him. * Casual interview * On Beauty of Language

"By taking a bit chance of the unknown, I learn so much"

I work in an office building out in the suburb. It is always a hassle to go out for lunch as I have to go into a car and drive to nearby restaurants to eat. One walking option is to take a 10 minute walk to Giant nearby. In light of being green and enjoying the spring weather, it is a wonderful option to walk that 10 minutes. Yesterday, I took the walk again. Yet, I sensed a hesitating energy in me. I walked impatiently, or the impatient feeling was the result of my wanting to get there fast. I, then, got hold of myself and started to concentrate my breathing. I started to remember "Peace is every step" philosophy. The hesitating energy subsided. An insight also occurs in me. I started to realize the merit of enjoying every present moment as possible as I could. Above all, I sense the benefit of keeping up the positive energy in me here and now. I could physically and psychologically experience the negative impact on having a negative energy, such as anger, jealousy, and etc,...

While I was in Bodh Gaya, I had a privilege to attend 3 night of Mahamudra lecture given by Gamapa. The teaching took place at Tergar institute. There was a security check on each person before s/he enters the big hall. It was interesting to see such a phenomena that a spiritual teacher has lots of body guards. I thought that the spiritual teachings are beyond politics. We strive to live in a good life in this not-so-perfect world. Mahamudra is a teaching about the mind in Tibetan tradition. A Song of Realization: The Fivefold Mahamudra 1. If the stallion of love and compassion Does not win the race of altruism, He will not earn the praise of the crowd of gods and humans. So, earnestly focus your mind on this preliminary practice. 2. If your body, the king of the enlightened form, Does not hold the throne of the unchanging basis, Mother dakinis, the citizens, will not appear. So, earnestly focus on seeing your body as the yidam deity 3. If, on the snow moutain, the lama of the four kay...

Last night it was a good cause for celebration as I made my first banana bread in my life. It is so delicious... Above all, it is so easy to make. Here is a recipe that I found online. I put it here and will try this one instead of the one from my cooking bible. Ingredients 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup butter 3/4 cup brown sugar 2 eggs, beaten 2 1/3 cups mashed overripe bananas (about two of them) 1 cup chopped nuts (walnuts preferred) Directions Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs, mashed bananas, and nuts into creamed butter until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake in preheated oven for 55 to 60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bre...

December 25th, 2007 Bodh Gaya is indeed a land of Buddha. Many countries have their presence shown by building a monastery there (including Taiwan!) Yet, it is very rural. I happened to be there when Kagyu Monlan Chenmo was taking place. Pilgrims from all over the world were there. It could appear to be a big Buddhism convention for people not familiar with Tibetan Buddhism. I met a couple of Rinpoches as well as meeting the young Karmapa and heard his teachings. It is truly amazing to meet someone that possesses such a high spiritual wisdom at such a young age. In addition, the place where Sujata fed Buddha Kheer (rice cooked with milk) is very near by surrounded by endless rice fields. It is not far from paradise, perhaps it is due to the compassion of Buddhism, it seems that it is the place where beggars come, too. December 17th, 2007 Varanasi is a very unique place indeed... It is a place for Hindus to come to die and get cremated. I spent a few hours at a Ghat watching the whole c...

Over the Chinese new year, I went with my whole family to a hotel on the eastern part of Taiwan where hot springs are abundant. The main feature in this hotel is spa treatment. It has many hot spring pools that one could dip in. One pool, interestingly, is filled with lots of doctor fish who is ready to eat off you deceased skin. It is an interesting experience, indeed. It feels very itch to be nibbled by those small creature and the feel do feel much smoother after coming out. Here are some reports online. Humans are amazing... They can turn fish into a doctor. :-) * Fresh-eating fish * It is in Turkey , too.

Here is a poem that I've got during the first sangha of the year. There are so many paths leading to the homeland. They all talk to me in silence. I invoke the Absolute. Spring has come to every corner of the ten directions. Its song, alas, is only the song of departure. From Call me by true names, by Thich Nhat Hanh My interpretation: There are many spiritual paths in this life, and yet they all point to the same source, the homeland, or God, the ultimate reality. Each one of them reveals the direction to that ultimate in silence while I am on this journey of quest. Now, the wonderful timing has come. It touches all my senses and my whole being. The chirping birds, the blue sky and white clouds, the germaniting seeds all whisper a song to my ears... It is a song of departure, a departure for the ultimate. Here is the poem that my dear friend got.. We will meet today. We will meet again tomorrow. We will meet at the source every moment. We will meet each other in all forms of life.

This poem illustrates the relationship between a spiritual seeker and his / her teacher. Chickpea to Cook (translated by Coleman Barks) A chickpea leaps almost over the rim of the pot where it's being boiled. "Why are you doing this to me?" The cook knocks him down with the ladle. "Don't you try to jump out. You think I'm torturing you. I'm giving you flavor, so you can mix with spices and rice and be the lovely vitality of a human being. Remember when you drank rain in the garden. That was for this." Grace first. Sexual pleasure, then a boiling new life begins, and the Friend has something good to eat. Eventually the chickpea will say to the cook, "Boil me some more. Hit me with the skimming spoon. I can't do this by myself. I'm li...

This Rumi's poem inspires me this morning. I couldn't help putting it down here. TENDING TWO SHOPS Don't run around this world looking for a hole to hide in. There are wild beasts in every cave! If you live with mice, the cat claws will find you. The only real rest comes when you're alone with God. Live in the nowhere that you came from, even though you have an address here. That's why you see things in two ways. Sometimes you look at a person and see a cynical snake. Someone else sees a joyful lover, and you're both right! Everyone is half and half, like the black and white ox. Joseph looked ugly to his brothers, and most handsome to his father. You have eyes that see from that nowhere, and eyes that judge distances, how high and how low. You own two shops, and you run back and forth. Try to close the one that's a fearful trap, getting always smaller. Checkmate, this way. Checkmate that. Keep open the shop where you're not selling fishhooks anymore. You...

Here is a few sites that I found that teach you how to swim faster! What a wonderful time that we live on. One can only wish that one day that knowledge can be downloaded into one's brain as that in the movie of Matrix. * Swim drill * From a youtube clip

I was a bit emotional after attending Archbishop's talk so I decided to write him an email, but I did not have his email address, so I sent it to the National Cathedral. To my surprise, I got a response. (I removed the names for anonymous reason.) Dear Mr. Stone Boy, I followed up on your request that your email be forwarded to Archbishop Tutu . I learned just a few minutes ago that it was, indeed, forwarded to his office in South Africa. Staff assistant Cathedral College - Hide quoted text - -----Original Message----- From: Stone Boy Sent: Wednesday, November 14, 2007 3:22 PM To: Cathedral College Subject: Re: The Spirituality of Reconciliation Dear Sir, I attend the speech delivered by Archbishop last night. Would you please relay my attached message to him? Thank you, -Stone Boy PS: attached message Dear Archbishop, I had the honor to attend your speech tonight at National Cathedral. I appreciate very much your words at the end to encourage people to bring out the best in thems...

Tonight I helped paint toe nails of a friend and I couldn't help thinking of the times when I touch up my car with thick paint.

This is another wonderful song by Leonard Cohen. Anthem The birds they sang at the break of day Start again I heard them say Don't dwell on what has passed away or what is yet to be. Ah the wars they will be fought again The holy dove She will be caught again bought and sold and bought again the dove is never free. Ring the bells that still can ring Forget your perfect offering There is a crack in everything That's how the light gets in. We asked for signs the signs were sent: the birth betrayed the marriage spent Yeah the widowhood of every government -- signs for all to see. I can't run no more with that lawless crowd while the killers in high places say their prayers out loud. But they've summoned, they've summoned up a thundercloud and they're going to hear from me. Ring the bells that still can ring ... You can add up the p...

This Sunday I attended a talk given by a senior member in my sangha. The talk emphasizes the point that one could get all the love he needs from himself. There are many ways to paraphrase this concept. It is self-love, the foundation of being able to love others. It is the concept that one could find all the happiness from within rather than from the external sources. It is the concept that one should be self sufficient without the need to count on others to provide happiness. It is an interesting concept that I have been exploring for many years. I still could not get it emotionally even though I understand it literally. I guess that it is the ultimate solution to the feeling of loneliness and being alone. When one is feeling lonely, usually it is the case when one needs some sort of love, companionship, feeling of connection with others, caring, and etc. If one could provide those kind of loves to oneself, one would not feel lonely any more. In a way, it makes so much sense that ther...

I will make an effort to study this ancient text every day until I finish it. Here is the entry in Wikipedia. I will attempt to study these versions. Translated by Derek Lin Translated by J. Legge Translated by D.T. Suzuki & Paul Carus This one has original Chinese Text. I recalled back in the days (in high school). We tried to study the original texts. We (at least I) could not understand it. I only got the fuzzy meaning of it. Till this day, it is still fuzzy to me. The text was written in such ancient Chinese which could be written as in Greek to us. Since I am in the West now, many people here consider this as a sacred text, I will give another attempt to read it. Perhaps, with the help of multiple translations, I will finally gain some meaning of this text. My comments: There are 81 chapters of this book. The first chapter is the most famous one that contains this opening line "The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao The name that can be named is not the etern...

I came across this interesting concept that is summarized by this word. Here is the first paragraph from Wikipedia. To say that something is "ineffable" means that it cannot or should not, for overwhelming reasons, be expressed in spoken words (as with the concept of true love). It is generally used to describe a feeling, concept or aspect of existence that is too great to be adequately described in words, or that inherently (due to its nature) cannot be conveyed in dualistic symbolic human language, but can only be known internally by individuals. In Zen it is often said that (by analogy) the finger can point to the moon but is not the moon; likewise words and actions can point towards what is ineffable but cannot make another know it. Here is the entry .

I had a good fortunate to visit this reserve with my whole family a week ago. It has giant cypress trees dotted in a beautiful forest area. I saw one tree named as "The Bear's den" and it claims to be 2,800 years old. (Well, it is not as old as this one .) This is almost unthinkable to me. That tree has been around before Buddhism was created! It is beyond my comprehension. That tree has witnessed all the super fast advancement of human civilization. It must bear lots of wisdom in it. What an odd logic I drew. Still, I feel the calming effect very much while walking in the forest. It is a treasure place from Taiwan.

While I was on vacation visiting my brother's family, my brother and my nephew gladly told me about Thunderbirds TV Series that they purchased in DVD format. Even my sister was hymning the main theme of the background music and I was impressed. I vaguely remembered watching them when I was way too little. I remember that there are 5 aircrafts, number 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. That was about it. I don't remember any character's names, not to mention that it was a foreign language to me at that time even though it was translated into Mandarin. Now, my English is so much better than before. I could clearly understand the whole episode. I am impressed by how advanced the idea and imaginative spacecrafts were even by today's standard. So, without further adieu. Here is the wikipedia entry of this .

The Roman politician and philosopher Cicero (1-6-43) tells the famous story about the Syracusan tyrant Dionysius II and his courtier Damocles, which he had read in the History of Timaeus of Tauromenium. The anecdote is often told as a reminder that for a powerful man, there's always danger, although the real point of the story is that happiness is fragile. This translation of Cicero's Tusculan disputations 5.61 was made by Gavin Betts. Indeed this tyrant [Dionysius II of Syracuse] himself gave his judgment as to how fortunate he was. For when one of his flatterers, Damocles, mentioned in conversation the wealth of Dionysius, the majesty of his rule, the abundance of his possessions, the magnificence of the royal palace and denied that there had ever been anyone more fortunate, he said, 'So, Damocles, since this life delights you, do you wish to taste it yourself and make trial of my fortune?' When Damocles said that he desired this, Dionysius gave orders that the man be...