Spiritual Riches

Spring bird migration photos 2011

2011-11-26T08:56:00.001-05:00

Author Elizabeth Gilbert on the 'freakishness' of her success

2009-02-14T10:10:00.003-05:00

I posted this a week ago and am still thinking. Like millions of others, I found her book "Eat, Pray, Love" enjoyable and engaging. But on another level, it really sucked. She went on a journey of self-discovery in Italy, India and Indonesia but it it seemed pre-meditated rather than meditative. A book deal-inspired sojourn.

But this "Ted" talk makes her likeable again; she's still thinking and seems to have a good perspective on her success. She suggests that the answer to "artistic" anxiety and depression is to consider artistic gifts as just that -- gifts that come and go, not a part of one's identity. The muse theory modernized.

Winter Retreat

2009-02-07T08:56:00.002-05:00

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Walking Meditation

2008-12-14T15:33:00.003-05:00

I can walk and chew gum at the same time, but have never been able to master the art of the walking meditation.

My friends and relatives who meditate would usually laugh if I confessed that sitting meditation is much easier for me. I could happily sit for 10 days, but the part of retreats I find most stressful are going out for the walks. "You better figure out what that's about," one friend warned me.

I attended Spring Rain Sangha's December one-day retreat this weekend. I was dreading the walking part of the day, as it was way below freezing outside -- windy and overcast. A black ice day.

But the frigid temps must have sharpened my mind, and Jim Bedard's instructions (perhaps the third or fourth time I've heard them this year) finally sank in.

I was able to hear the word "grounded" as the meaningful part of the instruction. As I coordinated my breath with movement of the foot, I realized that I was habitually lifting my back foot before the front foot had finished its work. This is what had been throwing off my breath, and putting my mind into states of confusion.

Once I left that back foot grounded, until it was time to move it, the rest came easy. The breath fell into place, the mind cleared and the ground below me didn't spin.

This came just in the nick of time, as I am headed back to IMS for a New Year retreat. I could hide in the woods during walking meditations in the summer, but winter weather leaves me fewer options ... so I can walk with peace this time.

Advice from Lao-Tze

2008-12-02T19:17:00.002-05:00

Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.
—Lao-Tze

Good colours for fall

2008-11-07T09:43:00.003-05:00

Still Crazy after all these Years: Why Meditation isn’t Psychotherapy

2008-10-22T06:49:00.004-04:00

Patrick Kearney's kind critique of the ambitious styles of Jack Kornfield, Mark Epstein and others who -- in new books -- might be making too much of this whole business about the psychotherapeutic achievements of Western-style Buddhism.

It opens:

"As I read these books I did not feel the excitement that comes from discovering a new and culturally relevant way of encountering the timeless essence of the Buddha-dharma. Rather, I felt somewhat disturbed by what I see as a growing confusion about the nature of Buddhist teachings and a willingness to distort and dilute these teachings, apparently in order to make Buddhist meditation more saleable in our contemporary spiritual marketplace."

It closes:

"Buddhism is not a collection of spiritual or therapeutic techniques. Buddhism is an ocean. If we want we are free to paddle on the edge of the shore, trying a technique here or a therapy there, occasionally getting our feet wet, but staying safely within our limitations. Or we can take the advice of Døgen Zenji, who said: "Arouse the mind that seeks the way, and plunge into the ocean of Buddhism." Ultimately the future of Buddhism in the West will be decided by those who take the plunge, because the paddlers will always draw back and, rather than adapt Buddhism to its new home, will develop new forms of Buddhised psychotherapy. For ultimately we must choose whom we will follow. We can follow Buddha or we can follow Freud; we cannot do both, because they are just not travelling in the same direction."

To read what's in-between, click here

Thanksgiving birds

2008-10-14T09:56:00.001-04:00

"Among Buddhists, geese are revered because they were said to have circled the Buddha as he walk toward the Bodhi Tree before his enlightenment. Consequently, the wise, swiftly flying goose became a symbol of the spread of Buddhism to all corners of the world."
(Encylopedia of Animal Symbolism in Art)

A retreat schedule

2008-09-17T07:56:00.004-04:00

I have pledged to get away for exercise or mental clarity one weekend a month for the next year, though I might have to skip a September time-out due to heavy work load.

Here is what I found for my August retreat weekend: A $299 yoga weekend at Sahayoga in Prince Edward County, taught by the owners of Bliss Studio.

The deal included 5 delicious vegetarian meals, healthy snacks, 2 nights accommodation, 6 yoga classes plus some meditation sessions, and a Reiki massage. Great location and free bikes for a ride on a country road by the lake. I'd never done Kundalina yoga before, so this provided a kick of something new to get my breath work back.

Click here for more photos

New take on meditation

2008-08-27T06:07:00.002-04:00

The great take-away from my stint at Insight Meditation Society this summer was a new theory of meditation practice. It’s been a pleasant transition to adopt this easier manner of sitting and observing. I’m a lazy soul and this works for me.

Christina Feldman, one of the three teachers at this course, said that in recent years her style of teaching meditation had evolved. Lately she has encouraged students to create “spaciousness” around their thoughts. Many of her instructions to students were along the lines of "just take it easy" and see what happens when creating space in the mind. The goal shouldn’t be to empty the mind, but to create space around thoughts and thinking. Worrying and obsessing can thus be detached from the objects /subjects of concern.

I came home to find an article in the latest issue of Shambhala Sun on the same topic. Pema Chodron describes this new style of spaciousness as an effective technique for becoming untangled from the minutiae of daily life. She calls these moments of enlightenment “gaps.”

“If you take some time to formally practice meditation, perhaps early in the morning, there is a lot of silence and space. Meditation practice itself is a way to create gaps. Every time you realize you are thinking and you let your thoughts go, you are creating a gap. Every time you realize you are thinking and you let your thoughts go, you are creating a gap. Every time the breath goes out, you are creating a gap.”

She goes on to describe a “pause” practice that can be incorporated into daily routine. Hard to do but worth trying out on the occasional crazy work day. And I’m just kidding about being lazy; it actually takes some discipline to achieve these “gaps” of insight in day-to-day life and the training at IMS was invaluable.

Small excerpt here, and worth checking out in the latest issue on stands now.

Lessons from the Dying

2008-08-08T09:22:00.003-04:00

"For those who are willing to learn, the dying offer powerful lessons on how to live with vitality and passion. Most of us do not give death the attention it deserves, and the lessons go unheeded. Every contact with death has the potential to deepen our understanding of life regardless of whether this is a peaceful resolution or an intense dramatic struggle."

It was really just an accident that I spent eight days listening to "Lessons from the Dying," the core teachings of Rodney Smith.

I picked my retreat based on scheduling -- when I could get off work, and where I could travel to easily. Didn't pay much attention to the teacher bios. Given that I spent my winter vacation sleeping in hospice room chair and being present for my mother's final journey, meditations on "Lessons from the Dying" wouldn't have been near the top of my summer wish list.

So what a lucky accident this was, to hear someone speak so eloquently and passionately about what the dying have to tell us about living.

Rodney Smith writes like an angel, but his lectures have strange twists and turns. He can take on an admonishing tone. It was like, "I'm only going to tell you once, so pay attention." It was just what I needed to wake up.

He didn't tell many hospice stories, but he described how anxious people die -- often waking up from their comas again and again to take care of small bits of unfinished business. I'd seen this phenomenon, and wouldn't want it happening to me or anyone else I loved.

It's also a good metaphor for life -- are we just going through life wrapping up one small bit of business after another, or are we seeing the big picture?

To sum up some Smith's "Lessons": If you live a life full of anxiety and despair, you're going to die that way too. And what a shame.

One of the other lecturers recommended incorporating a contemplation of death into daily practice. Not to be morbid or anything... but as an affirmation of life.

Lessons from the Dying

Seattle Insight Meditation Society

The 5 recommended daily contemplations:
- Aging
- Sickness
- Death
- Separation from everything one day
- My responsibilties

And if anything can keep you going, it's just thinking about 'responsibilties' .... nice balance to tack that onto the end of the list :)

8 Days of Silence

2008-07-28T20:28:00.004-04:00

Just back from a retreat at The Insight Meditation Society in Massachusetts, and I feel like the luckiest woman alive ... or the luckiest woman to be approaching death. What I learned is: how you prepare for death has a lot to do with how freely you can live.

A 30-retreat is in the works ... somewhere more challenging and remote. But for now, this will do. The staff at IMS have a pretty good system set up for a crash-course in meditation.

The accommodations were plain but efficient, the food was simple but deluxe, and the schedule was well-organized. Packed with 16 hours a day sitting meditations, walking meditations, a bit of yoga, a few chores, and highly informative instructional sessions and evening dharma talks.

The course was led by two intellectual heavyweights of the IMS movement, Christina Feldmanand Rodney Smith.

My only complaint is that, with 103 students in this session (apparently the largest group IMS has ever hosted), it took almost 5 days for the group to "settle down" and get to work.

But once the real work began, I realized it was worth the wait. A lot like life, you have to organize a group, corral the energies, and then rush to meet deadlines.

The course was so good that I have little to say about it, but a lot to follow up on in terms of practice. I've been out for 8 days now and have meditated each day for at least one hour in the morning, sometimes another half-hour in the evenings, and am starting to get the hang of walking meditation.

Highlights:

Discovered the on/off switch for anxiety (the fight/flight mechanism)and got fast at shutting it off

Learned how to calm the body and the mind in 3 easy steps

How you live dictates how you die ... and thinking about how you're going to die is the most life-affirming thing you can do. Are you going to leave a mess for someone else to clean up? Or are you going to have it all packed up in 16 boxes or less?

Don Valley bike trails

2008-07-02T07:52:00.001-04:00

Edwards Gardens

2008-07-02T07:50:00.001-04:00

The Dana Dilemma: How much should I pay?

2008-06-11T21:28:00.007-04:00

I've been attending a wide range of meditation and yoga groups the past few weeks and have assembled some pointers for choosing a meditation or spiritual group:

- Don't get roped into any one particular meditation group your first six months or year. Make sure to explore different style and teachers, and don't get locked into the guru-mentality. You are not looking for a guru, you are looking for some inner peace and don't need early attachments.

- Listen to your friends, but also use your inner wisdom. Don't sign up long-term contracts with groups claiming to have "the answer." Watch out for (TM) symbols.

- Don't pay more than you can afford for a single public lecture. A two-hour evening event with a top lecturer should cost no more than $35. A weekend workshop shouldn't run more than $500, unless they are providing accommodation and meals.

- Dana works... There are many good and serious meditation teachers and groups who work on the 'dana' or donation system.

- How much should I leave for 'dana'? If it isn't obvious and you need to do a bit of math, here's a formula: Consider the sum your teacher might need to live for a month. Estimate what he/she needs to earn for the month off that one weekend. Count the number of students in the room. Divide by that number of students, and then add whatever else for personal appreciation of the teachings.

Okay, that should be enough monkey-mind material for one sitting today, and it still won't add up.

Just make sure that it's more than you would spend on a typical weekend of movies, dining out and other entertainments.

- Watch out for the volunteers who help run these 'dana' teachers' business tables. If you encounter a cliquish group of people who seem over-efficient or too friendly/too cool, there could be a cult-like atmosphere or a replication of the ancient "church-ladies" syndrome. Avoid, ignore, do not pay attention to their pecking order.

- Well-run weekend or week-long retreats have a sliding scale. There could be basic fee for room & board, and some options to pay more if you can afford it. And then another dana offering for the teacher.

- Four final words: Moderation in all things.

The Wise Heart

2008-06-09T21:00:00.014-04:00

Jack Kornfield provides a clear communication of what the 'science of mind’ and Buddhist psychology is all about. Chapter after chapter, he lays it out in the same easy steps. Accumulation of a life's worth of wisdom. You can read an excerpt

Speak or act with a deluded mind and sorrow will follow you
As the wheel follows the ox who draws the cart
Speak or act with a clear mind and happiness will follow you
As closely as your shadow, unshakable.
- Dhammapada

Walking the Noble Eightfold Path in Manolos

2008-06-08T21:15:00.005-04:00

I was expecting to get an intellectual kick out of Shakespeare this weekend, but silly me. It was the "Sex and the City" movie that turned out be the thought-provoking entertainment.

Unexpected, but casting those cartoonish women into a classic 2-hour plus movie gave the scripwriters something to chew on. The movie wasn't as funny as the TV series, but it had meaning.

I can't spoil the plot... but you can see Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha deal with some universal truths over the course of the film. They learn their lessons the hard way. For those of you who've seen it, some clues without giving too much away for those who haven't:

Right view (wrong - Carrie's attitude to wedding)
Right intention (wrong - the reasons for wedding)
Right speech (Miranda's big 'oops')
Right action (Big's big freeze)
Right livelihood (Samantha's career woes)
Right effort (the Mexico jaunt)
Right mindfulness (Carrie's new assistant gets things rolling...)
Right concentration (The final writing)

I was reading Jack Kornfield's new book before the movie, and the coincidences were just waiting to be noticed.

Really astonishing about the long-awaited SATC movie was how bitter and strange these four characters were at the beginning of the movie.

It's as though they'd been emotionally and intellectually frozen since their early 30s, and all of a sudden unfrozen in time at the beginning of the movie, in their mid-40s. They had some catching up to do. Happens to a lot of us.

Skipped yoga to sit and watch this for 3 hrs

2008-06-08T10:40:00.003-04:00

I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,
Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,
Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,
With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine:
There sleeps Titania sometime of the night,
Lull'd in these flowers with dances and delight;
And there the snake throws her enamell'd skin,
Weed wide enough to wrap a fairy in:
And with the juice of this I'll streak her eyes,
And make her full of hateful fantasies.
(2.1.249-258 - A Midsummer Night's Dream)

As my headline makes clear, I "watched" this performance. Listening wasn't the main skill required, as the play was delivered in 8 languages, and when the English kicked in, it was heavily accented.

This is one of Shakespeare's most poetic plays, so it was interesting to see it transformed as a muscular, passionate and even at times violent retelling. The words were pounded out by the actors. The Cirque du Soleil-style acrobatics could have been annoying.... but they happened to be appropriate to the story.

One of my high school teachers insisted on teaching Shakespeare's comedies as tragedies, and he really made a great point about "The Merchant of Venice." You can find these dark tales in all the comedies, and this Royal Shakespeare Company production certainly extracts the darker meanings of "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

Shakespeare didn't much approve of using elixirs and potions to win a lover's affection, and was dismissive of all the foolish grasping of his mortal characters. "And with the juice of this I'll streak her eyes/And make her full of hateful fantasies." Watching the lovers group and regroup as the poisons are passed around -- an exhausting "story of the night."

10-Day silent retreat planning

2008-05-31T07:27:00.005-04:00

I chose The Insight Meditation Society for my summer retreat .... mainly for the setting, which appears in photos and in Google Earth maps as spacious and light-filled.

Other advantages:

Up to 90 students at a time
Experienced teachers
Daily yoga class
A nearby pond
Forest refuge
Library

Now I have sit weeks to get in shape, and my plan is to step up my yoga, get to the gym three times a week, and listen to tapes of the teachers I have signed up with to get used to their voices.

I am looking forward to a summertime retreat because of sandals. Of all the things think about. When I reflect back on my November retreat, one of my strongest memories is of having to take shoes off, put then back on, 30 times a day in the dharma centre's "mud rooms." These rooms were crowded, a bit dirty, very damp and really, really cold. The repeated routine was more challenging than any 5 a.m. meditation. (1) Hang up coat in freezing cold mud room. (2) Hang up bag (3) Untie shoes/boots (4) Jostle for space for shoes and self in the crowded room (4) pick up bag and move on... do it all over again upon exiting in 45 minutes. Repeat at shower room, dining hall, tea house, everywhere.

I envision the transitions between walking and sitting meditations will be flowing at IMS, every "change" will be marked by casually kicking off a pair of sandals.

Some other challenge will of course present itself (mosquitoes?), but at least it won't be another mud room madness.

Shakespeare's Buddha Nature

2008-05-10T08:51:00.007-04:00

I dipped back into the works of William Shakespeare for a few hours this week, after reading a New Yorker profile on actor and The Globe theatre founder Mark Rylance. (Full article is not online, but here's the abstract.)

Much of the article focuses on Rylance's split from The Globe, which came about after Rylance went public with his doubts about the authenticity of the "real" Shakespeare. He falls into the camp that believes a group of other writers are responsible for the body of work attributed to W. Shakespeare.

I flipped through Harold Bloom's book, "Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human," to see if I could detect multiple voices in some of the works, as Rylance suggests. That kind of scholarship is beyond my talents at this time, so will set that aside as a retirement project.

What I did notice: Even in the comedies, the works reveal a number of Zen-like meditations on the "seed bearing powers of nature"(Measure for Measure), that left me wondering if there's been any Buddhist analysis of Shakespeare's work.

Google turned up a plethora of essays comparing Hamlet's despair to the Eastern experience of Satori, then this ... a full analysis of the works with praise from no lesser expert than Harold Bloom: "Whacking Buddha: The Mysterious World of Shakespeare and Buddhism."

On order now from a used bookseller ... more on this in a couple of weeks. But am enchanted by the online excerpts from "Whacking Buddha." The author, Mark Lamonica, is willing to argue that Shakespeare either knew of the Buddha and his teachings, or that he was reincarnated as a Buddha in his own lifetime. ("It happens, especially in Buddhism.") But he doesn't seem stuck in any of his arguments, he's just having fun with them.

"What I would like to put forth in this work.... Technically, Shakespeare was a living Buddha by Buddhist definition: a bodhisattva, literally, an 'enlightened being.' I'll be the first to admit my theory is audacious, and it should be because there hasn't been anything fresh and outrageously inventive on Shakespeare since my last book, Junkyard Dogs and William Shakespeare. The way I look at it, it's way overdue."

Quiet time at Granville Island Market

2008-05-06T03:57:00.008-04:00

Photography has been a part of my meditative practice the past year. Working with this little camera has allowed me to close my mind to other concerns, and concentrate on just a few things.

On retreat last fall, I replaced some of my walking meditations with photo meditations, and felt better for it -- though am not sure the organizers of the retreat approved of my adaptations.

These walks with the camera are truly meditative. I avoid if possible taking pictures of people, to avoid distraction. Keep eyes lower to ground and follow the simplest steps. Digital cameras make this a breeze.

Breathe.
Choose flash or no-flash.
Occasionally go macro.
Pay attention to the objects,
See what other settings the objects require.

I had a profound experience past couple of weeks, helping my mother pass away into the next world. Self/no self came into play. Here and there, took time for self with meals at salad bars and walks in Vancouver parks. I'd lived there for years but never really seen the city the way my camera did.

My favourite day with the camera was on a stroll through Granville Island's market. Mom and I shopped here together hundreds of times over the years. This was a good place to feel some of the sorrow of the day. When I dropped by her favourite deli, they had sold out of her chicken pies. So there's a picture here of an empty row where her chicken pies used to be. That's a small picture to capture the feelings of that last day.

False Creek - Charleson Park

2008-04-25T00:49:00.003-04:00

Not sure, but I don't think this park existed when I lived in Vancouver. The construction around False Creek is astonishing, but for every new condo development, there seems to be an equal amount of park development.

Buddhist e-cards

2008-04-18T08:56:00.005-04:00

I rarely send e-cards, but happened on a good source this morning.... check out the range of offerings at The Buddhist Channel's site:

http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/gcards

Signs of Spring

2008-04-02T08:48:00.002-04:00

Top 100 Rated Films based on Dharma Content

2008-03-27T07:50:00.003-04:00

Dharma Flix offers hundreds and hundreds of movie titles with "Dharma-related" content, and some smarts and sensibility in the rankings.

My favourite movie of 2007, "Into the Wild," is on the list. There is nothing explicitly "Buddhist" on the screen, but it is an extraordinary portrait of an extreme spiritual journey. Poetic, lyrical, mystifying ... it offers no answers, just tells a story with words, music, images.

Lama Boy - Crank it Up

2008-02-27T06:06:00.007-05:00

This one's making the rounds and getting lots of laughs, from Buddhists and rappers:

Inspired by a true story! Monks turn to rap music to recruit

This one's being taken way too seriously ...

Chinese proverb: Three moves equal one fire

2008-02-26T21:28:00.002-05:00

THE THREE UNIVERSAL TRUTHS

1. Nothing is lost in the universe
The first truth is that nothing is lost in the universe. Matter turns into energy, energy turns into matter. A dead leaf turns into soil. A seed sprouts and becomes a new plant. Old solar systems disintegrate and turn into cosmic rays. We are born of our parents, our children are born of us.

We are the same as plants, as trees, as other people, as the rain that falls. We consist of that which is around us, we are the same as everything. If we destroy something around us, we destroy ourselves. If we cheat another, we cheat ourselves. Understanding this truth, the Buddha and his disciples never killed any animal.

2. Everything Changes
Life is like a river flowing on and on, ever changing. Sometimes it flows slowly and sometimes swiftly. It is smooth and gentle in some places, but later on it snags and rocks crop up out of nowhere. As soon as we think we are safe, something unexpected happens... Our ideas about life also change. People once believed that the world was flat, but now we know that it is round.

3. Law of Cause and Effect
The third universal truth explained by the Buddha is that there is continuous changes due to the law of cause and effect. This is the same law of cause and effect found in every modern science textbook. In this way, science and Buddhism are alike.

The law of cause and effect is known as karma. Our thoughts and actions determine the kind of life we can have. Every moment we create new karma by what we say, do, and think. If we understand this, we do not need to fear karma. It becomes our friend. It teaches us to create a bright future.

The Buddha said,
"The kind of seed sown
will produce that kind of fruit.
Those who do good will reap good results.
Those who do evil will reap evil results.
If you carefully plant a good seed,
You will joyfully gather good fruit."
- Dhammapada

Tonight, got life scaled down again to just 26 boxes

2008-01-25T23:06:00.000-05:00

Am a bit concerned that images have just been in B&W lately, but will add more colour during the rebuilding ....

Resolution Time

2007-12-31T13:35:00.000-05:00

Above is a picture of de-cluttering in progress. This is just one of the many piles of shredded files from 2007.

I made a new year’s resolution last year, this time, and started working on it on the afternoon of Dec. 31st: Get rid of one box of “stuff” each week of 2007, and see what my life is like at the end of it. I had hoped it might lead to moving to a smaller apartment, or a larger home.

I missed some weeks (vacation, illness) … so some weeks I did two or three boxes all at once. It’s an approximate measurement covering smaller items such as books and clothes, and every once in awhile a big honking piece of furniture. I gave away some chairs that didn’t quite suit my livingroom, and tossed to the sidewalk a shelving unit I’d built years ago for a larger home.

Most often, there’s just the small ‘box a week’ cardboard cluttering the hallway as it get filled with little things: an old lipstick, a set of chopsticks unlikely to be needed, some non-essential CDs.

By end of year, I’d realized my new, uncluttered life needed a different kind of space, and so I am moving… to a smaller but more ordered apartment.

Am also thrilled that, for the first time in my life, a resolution stuck with me all year. For 2008, I have more resolve to build, on more serious matters. This 'box a week' was good practice.

'Intuition' by John Robinson, 1993

2007-12-15T09:37:00.001-05:00

Outside The Fields Institutute at University of Toronto (on College St. between Spadina and St. George.)

John Robinson was a British sculptor with a fondness for geometry and math. He used the concept of Borromean Rings, linked rings that cannot be pulled apart, then turned the 2-D circles into 3-D squares to make "a real figure."

The sculptor's explanation:

"For me this sculpture represents a knotted core of stability within the centre of knowledge, from which comes sparks of originality and invention, often for no apparent reason. We call these sparks INTUITION. The sparks shoot in all directions, but come from the core of experience. Many viewers of these pages will have seen the film 2001, and will remember the opening scenes! INTUITION plays a major part in the creative progress of our species, and will probably be the saviour of our civilisation in the future."

"A real figure" from a core experience. Love the stuff about the knotted core of knowledge.

More from U of T campus -- an inspirational place:

Serenity, Now

2007-12-04T00:09:00.001-05:00

I haven't been able to get away from work in time to make Tuesday night meditation at Springrain sangha, but these CDs keep me tuned up.

Meanwhile, does anyone know of a good meditation group on weekends? Not too fond of rushing from work during the week into a silent group.

Weekend Reading

2007-12-02T22:49:00.001-05:00

These two particular publications are more like anthologies than magazine. Full of great book excerpts, poetry, artwork and ideas. Usually spend a couple of weeks poring over these issues.

This time, it was a quick and greedy read. Most impressive, both Tricycle and Shambhala were quick to add a late-breaking story on the recent uprising in Burma, full of much more insight -- from a spiritual perspective -- than the wire coverage last month.

Reading Habits

2007-11-28T22:21:00.000-05:00

"Verses From the Center, A Buddhist Vision of the Sublime," by Stephen Batchelor.

A new translation of the writings and poetry of the 2nd century monk and philosopher Nagarjuna, considered the second-most important voice in Buddhism. (Guess who was the first?)

Nagarjuna is considered "the poet of emptiness." An excerpt from page 67 of Batchelor's book, to give you a sample:

For Nagarjuna, the Buddha did not preach a doctrine of "no self.' What characterizes an awakened perspective is the awareness that any dogmatic position is incompatible with freedom. Nagarjuna remarks:

Buddhas speak of "self"
And also teach of "no self"
And also say "there's nothing"
Which is either self or not.

Rather than regarding concepts such as "self" and "no self" as the basis of a doctrinal position, which can be upheld or refuted, Nagarjuna treats them as terms within a strategic discourse of freedom, which are employed therapeutically to address the needs of specific situations...."

Good thinking to accompany to the non-thinking mindfulness practices. Nagarjuna's use of plural on 'Buddhas' is significant... this is a great translation of a great work.

Stephen Batchelor's best-known book is "Buddhism without Beliefs," a splendid introduction to the practice for those who resist anything that might remind them of past and unpleasant experiences with religion or cult. Buddhist practice in its purest form is neither....

Related Links:

And Batchelor's latest book reminds me of one of my favourite, life-changing texts:

Psychoanalysis and Buddhism

Snippet: "A major area in which psychoanalysis may be able to contribute to Buddhism is its understanding of transference and counter-transference. Spiritual traditions may underestimate the power of these phenomena and the stubbornness of character traits."

In closing, just a bit more from Batchelor's "Verses from the Center":

"To be empty is no longer to be full of oneself."

Question: How do I connect this thought with the concept of blogging, which seems to be so full of self? Can I strip the ego from this blog?

Homeopathy 101

2007-11-25T17:39:00.000-05:00

Much of the credit for my improved mental focus and well-being goes to something more powerful than the meditation.

It’s unlikely I could have achieved so much on my recent five-day silent retreat, had it not been for the recent doses of a powerful homeopathic remedy.

When my friends ask what I mean about homeopathy, I get feedback along the lines of – ‘yah, I took St. John’s Wort once’ or ‘what vitamins are you taking?’

True homeopathy is far more mysterious and scientific than anything you might get doled out at a health food store, or over-the-counter at a drug store.

The practice has been around for more than 200 years, working from the concept that “like cures like”, and that very minute doses of something similar to what ails you can prompt the body’s immune system to heal itself.

Mirjana Milanovic, the practitioner I’ve been seeing, is an MD as well as a homeopathic doctor, and a teacher at the Ontario College of Homeopathy. She was recommended to me as a “genius” at diagnosis and treatment.

I’d seen a couple of other homeopaths years ago in Vancouver who didn’t seem to have the same gifts of wisdom, intuition and solid medical understanding of underlying issues and patterns as Dr. Milanovic.

Still not sure what the remedy is – it’s some kind of mineral. The first dose in mid- September prompted some minor external healing through the skin. The second in October was a plunger to my internal systems, and the third and fourth this month were in the category of tune-ups.

Result: Eating better, sleeping soundly, thinking clearly.

Other changes she recommended, which I am following as well:

Mostly vegetarian diet (eating some fish)
An alkalizing foods diet (for dietary balance)
Paying attention to triggers of stress (easier to do now that I’m sleeping)
And the meditation… I was considering the retreat, and Dr. Milanovic urged me to try it, in a convincing tone.

PS -- If anyone doubts the potency of this remedy, check in with me and try talking to me about something serious or worrisome the few days after I've taken one. You'll see... I won't be able to get worked up or annoyed about anything.

Wikipedia entry on Homepathy

(**After reading this, am guessing my remedy might be sodium chloride)

5 Days of Silence

2007-11-18T08:33:00.001-05:00

Meditation Vacation

2007-11-07T23:07:00.001-05:00

I ventured into a five-day silent retreat with Philip Starkman and Jim Bedard, a couple of Toronto-area Buddhist practitioners who lead the well-respected SpringrainSangha. The retreat was held at the rustic Dharma Centre of Canada.

If you thought the hard part would be not talking for five days, that turned out to be a breeze. The organizers set up a number of other challenges and obstacles to take your mind off the silence, and to totally erase any worries you might have left behind in your city/work life.

In the three hours or so of spoken-word orientation on Thursday evening, I was given a daunting schedule of meditation, sent to a cabin far away from the main centre and the bath house, and assigned a set of daily chores.

The chores were my big hindrance. The were supposed to take about an hour, from 11 am until 12 noon, but my assignment spread out over many hours as they involved laundry and vacuuming – difficult chores that involved working around other peoples' schedules.

There was lots else to focus on... here's a sample of the daily routine:

5 a.m. Wake up
5 to 6 a.m. Walking meditation
6 to 7 a.m. Pranayama, chanting, sitting meditation
7 to 7:45 Walking meditation
7:45 to 8:30 Sitting meditation....

.... and that's just before breakfast. A packed schedule like this leaves very little time for idle thought or worry, and that’s the part I enjoyed the most. Busy, busy, busy … just taking care of basics.

One day it was just so beautiful, I sat out a session to sit in the sun and lazed about for an hour. We had 5 glorious days of warm November weather, with brilliant skies at night to see a full sky of stars and even one shooting star.

Highlights:

Learned something. The meditation focused on Metta practice, one of the essential teachings of the Buddha and something that had been quite challenging for me. Still is, but came away with some solid techniques and a better understanding of the work.

Detoxed. The first couple of days were a mental “detox” and I eliminated some bad habits and thoughts.

Ate well. Physical detox was speeded along by the fine food, and by eating only twice a day. Have been trying to follow a new diet the past couple of months, the alkalizing foods diet, and the vegetarian meals at the Dharma Centre were superb. Taught me that bland eating can be fun, if the basic ingredients are well-chosen.

Meditated well. This was the first time I meditated in a public place without coughing or interruption. The meditation temple was clean and well lit. Such a relief not to be in a moldy church basement.

Made new friends. Not sure if I’ll ever see them again, but it was nice to see new faces and bond with people in unique and non-verbal ways.

Faced fears. I was afraid of a lot of things, like getting too deep into “cultish” life and not being able to get back out. It was like getting to my cabin a half-mile in the woods each night in the dark – and out again in the morning, again in the dark. (They called this cabin setting “The Hermitage” -- see picture at right -- but it was more like “Blair Witch Project.”) I did it – up and down to the cabin, in and out of the meditations. There is always a return.

I was also quite fearful of Metta – my prejudices were that this ‘lovingkindness’ side of meditation was the 'sucky' side of Buddhism. I opened my heart to the practice and dropped some of my defences to what is an essential practice.

Weblink:

SpringrainSangha

King's Cafe

2007-09-30T09:09:00.000-04:00

To see how the Buddha's advice can be put into practice in everyday life, treat yourself to a meal at King's Cafe in Kensington Market. You can eat like a king or queen for under $20.

This has to be the most peaceful restaurant in Toronto. It begins with the service staff: they have beautiful smiles. The tables are spaced out well, the decor is subtle but artful, and no matter how busy it gets, the place is never noisy.

Now, you don't have to be a vegetarian to follow the Buddhist path, but monks are advised to abstain from meat. What the Buddha did say was to "think about where the food came from and the amount of work necessary to grow the food, transport it, prepare and cook it and bring it to the table."

He also warned against pungent foods such as garlic, onions and spices. This is put into practice in the King's Cafe menu, where simple food is cooked with subtle flavouring. They don't even put soya sauce on the table, let alone a spice jar, mustards or other condiments you might find in a common Chinese restaurant.

Like many vegetarian restaurants, the menu at King's does a heavy spread of soy and gluten nuggets that replicate the textures and impressions of meat dishes. Soy drumsticks, kung po 'chicken,' and wheaty 'beef' strips. Don't fall into this trap when you order. Maybe one pretend meat dish, max. The kitchen staff does their tastiest treats with real vegetables, so make sure to order:

Fried green beans. Sesame seed sprinkles are the stars of this dish.
The Lo Chan vegetable platters. The widest assortment of veggies, with the most amazingly flavourful mushrooms.
Spring rolls. I don't know how they deep fry with so little oil residue, but these are magical. The carrots inside the roll still crunch after cooking.

Another mystery? How the place stays so peaceful. There's a lot going on here. A dessert counter, a juice bar, and a little grocery store at the back. Plus the racket of Kensington Market through the doors, which are wide open to the patio in the summer months.

King's Cafe site with directions & phone number

Dalai Lama vs. Halloween

2007-09-20T10:09:00.000-04:00

Public Talk in Toronto, Canada on October 31: Organized by the Canadian Tibetan Association of Ontario. At the Rogers Centre. Ticket prices are $30, $40 and $50. Subject is 'The Art of Happiness,' but he might go off-topic.

Trick or treat?

Slideshow: Temples and Tiles

2007-09-18T21:34:00.001-04:00

KungFu vs. Yoga

2007-09-14T07:23:00.001-04:00

Who do you think would be most offended by this demonstration? The yoga devotees, or the kung fu experts?

I just had to laugh.

On and off the 'Sushi Train'

2007-09-14T06:13:00.001-04:00

My ideal of fast food begins with the concept of the 'Automat,' something I came across in novels set in New York in the 1930s and 40s. These chains were the precursors of fast food restaurants. The best of 20th century technology served up supper. Diners would drop coins into slots, and windows would slide open to offer hearty, freshly-prepared meals.

The Japanese have a good take on fast-food with their version of automated dining. Food fuelled by technology in family-friendly restaurants. In the Kaiten-zushi outlets, booths for four or six are lined up beside long conveyer belts. Just grab what you want; the restaurant staff will count up empty plates at the end of the meal. Soft drinks, tea and juices are available at not extra cost, at self-serve stations at the front of the restaurant. Family of five = approx $30. I loved the automated restaurants in Tokyo and Narita.

Sushi Train, a new Toronto restaurant on Yonge St., just south of Bloor, is offering a similar kind of customer-oriented service. If you're in a hurry to get to a movie, this is a good quick-fix for a meal on the run. But not much else... and you'll be thirsty by the time you get to the movie.

Most of the sushi is prepared in advanced, and sent around to customers on a conveyor belt that runs around the oval sushi bar. Plates are colour-coded to a pricing system, and you grab whatever appeals to you. At your station by the counter, there is a hot water piped in to make your own tea, and boxes stocked with chopsticks, wasabi, and other fixings.

But Sushi Train is a bit too upscale in pricing and ambition, and the food is overdone. They miss the point of the simplicity of automated dining. Good rice and fresh fish is the essence of sushi, but the Sushi Train chefs are using bland rice here, and dolloping on extra toppings and too much of their rich version of Japanese mayonnaise. Salt, sugar and trans-fats are gumming up the works on that conveyor belt.

Now Magazine review of Sushi Train

Sushi for real

2007-09-14T05:55:00.000-04:00

I’d rather not eat in such a rush. A block-and-a-half away, on Bloor near Church, is Ichiriki, a Japanese restaurant with a more spiritual -- and spirited -- approach to dining. The service is slow, the chef can be sullen and incommunicative, the servers are eccentric, and the meal takes about 2 hrs to proceed. Not a place for a pre-movie rush meal, but a place to settle in for the evening.

The setting is sublime. In the window of the restaurant are authentic Japanese sake drums, the kind stocked at Buddhist temples. Inside, a good selection of jazz on the stereo system, exquisite minimalist décor, attractive place settings, and fit for temples, exquisite platters and dinner settings, quiet jazz on the stereo system.

There are three menus: the regular menu, the specials, and daily sushi on a chalkboard, based on what’s come up at the market that day. But everything is prepared to order, and if you know your way around a sushi bar, you can ask for customized dishes. The fish is fresh, the rice is perfect, and there are no gooey sauces, no extra toppings, no mayo from a machine.

The real test was taking my 13-year-old goddaughter for a dinner. She doesn't like fish. Teenagers are pretty firm in their likes and dislikes. But we ordered the black cod and she became a convert. Then she tried the hamachi and and a couple of other bites from the sea.

It took me at least five visits over the summer to win over the wait staff and the sushi chef, who are pretty tough customers, so to speak. They tend to be more comfortable with their Japanese-speaking clientele, who often pack the place on Saturday nights. But they got used to my eccentric ways and on the latest visit, not only tolerated my camera and my questions, actually showed off their work and got into the spirit. "Take a picture!" the chef proudly demanded as he finished off a platter of inside-out sushi for another customer.

Toronto Life review of Ichiriki

The ROM: Every time I walk by, someone's taking a picture

2007-08-24T17:50:00.000-04:00

Kensington Market, pedestrian Sundays

2007-08-17T11:12:00.000-04:00

The temples of Japan

2007-06-22T22:00:00.000-04:00

My brother warned me, before I headed to Japan, that this wasn't one of Asia's most spiritual centres. He wanted me to know not to expect much of my travels to temples.

And, yes indeed, I was dismayed at most of the temples and shrines. Most were historic sites, tourists traps with all the calm of a day at Tokyo Disneyland. Even in Kyoto, there was a hurried bustle as tour groups were bussed from one site to another. Meditation rooms and gardens were roped off or locked up. Monks could be seen buzzing around on motorscooters. Visitors plunked into donation boxes approx $5, to write wishes on pieces of paper or strips of wood, to be burned later at a ceremony.

But my last day in Kyoto I got lost. I was trying to take city buses to a remote mountaintop Zen centre in the outskirts of Kyoto. I spent an hour walking through strange neighbourhoods, finally found the temple, and was again disappointed by the cost and the offerings. On my way down the hill, stumbled into another temple that wasn't even on the tourist map.

This was the Fundain temple, at least 500 years old, but still an active community gathering place. All the signs were in Japanese, but had hunch they were inviting people to sit. Cushions were spread out in every room. Spent an hour there recovering from the heat of summer and the confusion on my map and in my mind.

Afterwards, my meditation friends who know how fraught my practice can be expressed doubts that I was able to clear. But I sat for about an hour, and I think 20 minutes of those were half-decent practice.

No one spoke English there. I knew enough to take some pictures on my way in and out, and left ¥500 in the donation box. (Later found out, online, that admission was ¥400, but unlike all the other temples I visited, there was no cashier to take my money.)

The backyard was a simple Zen garden of raked stones; the fountain had one simple lotus plant. An inside meditation room had a beautiful display of fresh fruits and some burning incense.

"Dry landscape garden laid out in the 15th c. by Sesshu (1420–1506), a famous painter."

I want to go back someday, and spend a full day in this centre. It's not on the map, but I will remember the route. (Didn't get lost at all on the way back to the train station.)

'The Secret' vs. the Dalai Lama

2007-05-28T22:27:00.000-04:00

A friend talked me into buying an iPod, then gave me noise-cancelling headphones to go with them. Who knew this would change my life?

This little bit of technology increased powers of concentration on the spoken-word messages of audiobooks, podcasts and other downloads.

I love reading, but audiobooks have provided me with a new way of drinking in information, more on an emotional/gut level than books allow.

Two of my most-listened-to audio lectures:

- How to Lead a Meaningful Life, by the Dalai Lama

- The Secret, by Rhonda Byrne

What a crazy contrast, these two.

Dalai Lama wins with his sweet way of delivering his message.

Rhonda Byrne is the polar opposite, a crass Australian who offers a New-Agey message of hope for people who want to get rich, lose weight and find the perfect partner. Mostly, get rich.

One of her tricks is to watch the bills come into the mailbox, and re-imagine each sum owing as an incoming cheque. Then add zeroes to it. Another trick is to write a big fat cheque to yourself, tape it to the ceiling over your bed, and stare at it every morning when you wake up. A lot of visualization.

Would love to get rich, but not if had to keep listening to this crazy Australian woman with the horrible accent and crass communications.

So it must have been coincidence but.... shortly after I finished listening to 'The Secret', I did get a big cheque in the mail. (But it had been on its way for months...)