The way you say it

Pema Chodron consistently delivers dharma in a manner that I “get”. So I couldn’t resist posting this snippet from Tricycle.org.The “shaky kind of place” means to me that you do not judge yourself for “right” or “wrong” intentions when you catch them before you act. This is also posted on the Daily Dharma page.

Compassionate action starts with seeing yourself when you start to make yourself right and when you start to make yourself wrong. At that point you could just contemplate the fact that there is a larger alternative to either of those, a more tender, shaky kind of place where you could live.

Pema Chodron

be back soon

I am starting the process of moving into Dallas proper from Grand Prairie, Texas. I hate moving, but when it’s over I will be in my own place (trailer) and very close to theMaria Kannon Zen Center where I will be practicing on a daily basis (that’s my intention anyway).

Moving tends to consume all my mental energy so there may be few or no posts until I get settled in at my new place. I’ll check in for comments from time to time.

Be well

jp

Attention Means Attention

Simple Attention

The secret of beginning a life of deep awareness and sensitivity lies in our willingness to pay attention. Our growth as conscious, awake human beings is marked not so much by grand gestures and visible renunciations as by extending loving attention to the minutest particulars of our lives. Every relationship, every thought, every gesture is blessed with meaning through the wholehearted attention we bring to it.

In the complexities of our minds and lives we easily forget the power of attention, yet without attention we live only on the surface of existence. It is just simple attention that allows us truly to listen to the song of a bird, to see deeply the glory of an autumn leaf, to touch the heart of another and be touched. We need to be fully present in order to love a single thing wholeheartedly. We need to be fully awake in this moment if we are to receive and respond to the learning inherent in it.

–Christina Feldman and Jack Kornfield, in Stories of the Spirit, Stories of the Heart
from Everyday Mind, edited by Jean Smith, a Tricycle book

When I read this I thought that Christina and Jack must have never worked in a deli, fast food joint, or any fast paced, pressurized, environment with customers waiting to get pissed off if their sammich isn’t ready in 3 and a half minutes.

Dharma everywhere

From “Nowadays” in the musical Chigago.

You can like the life you’re living
You can live the life you like
You can even marry Harry
But mess around with Ike

And that’s good, isn’t it grand, isn’t it great
Isn’t it swell, isn’t it fun, isn’t it… but nothing stays

site maintenance

about 4:20 pm….everything should be working and I have two sidebars. something’s don’t make sense but I’ll live with it until later.

site maintenance – I’m stuck

If you are one of the two people who may read this blog, please be patient. I seem to be stuck finding the solution to puting the right sidebar back in its place. If you can help PLEASE do so. Otherwise, I think you can read all the previous posts and we will have to live with this awkward arrangement until I find a solution or give up. Pity, I had a great post to make, heh.

site maintenance

It is probably apparent that I’m working on the site since the right sidebar has disappeared. I paid for the upgrade to configure my own CSS so I’m going to give it my best shot.

It’s about 10:25 my time.

Done

I’m through mutilating the blog design and have returned it to exactly as ti was.

site maintenance

It is 11:45 am central time. I will be redoing sections of the blog until further notice. Some pages may not load.

Skillful Means and Reverse Graffiti

Pollution has left its mark in every city in the world. We may not see it, but it’s there. For example the tunnel you may drive through on your way to work may appear to have gray walls. But they’re actually white underneath the grime.

I love the idea of creating works of art by removing. Not sculpture so much, tho it is included, but drawing by erasing, making crop circles (without destroying another’s property), painting by wiping (at least in watercolor) and such.

Would it not be called skillful means if one man were able to create works of art by REMOVING some dirt from a wall? And would it not then be skillful means if this artwork stimulated others to then clean the ENTIRE tunne mentioned above?. By extension, how much of a city could be cleaned up by using this method?

Well I’m not going to argue about it. Perhaps my understanding of “skillful means” is lacking, but if you don’t consider this anything but cool and positive then, well, you….well. It just is.

Look at all the works of Reverse Graffiti, but especially Alexandre Orion’s. Please read Alexandre’s story as well as the others.

From Digg