Sorry I've been away for a while. Briefly, The job hunt is on-going, I'm currently doing one graphic design class at Montgomery College (and plan to do more), and plan to go to Iowa next month.
But what I wanted to tlak about is the passing of George Carlin. The man was an icon, totally fearless in his comedic attacks on hypocracy and stupidiity. It's rare to find that kind of combo of raw intellect, fast wit, and shear balls to pull off some of the routines he did. The 7 Dirty Words, of course. Baseball and Football.
Plus his acting in the "Bill and Ted" movies, "Dogma", and his last role in Kevin Smith's "Jersey Girl", in which he turned off the goofy facial expressions and ended up being doing a more believable acting job then Ben Affleck.
He will be missed. But, as Jon Stewart said Monday night, "we've got hours of film". So in a way, he won't ever really completely die.
-LWWD
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Monday, May 12, 2008
Quick Update from the employment Bardo
A quick update: I left my old job to take a new one at Discovery Channel. Unfortunately, The project I am supposed to be working on ran into some SERIOUS technical difficulties. So, even though on paper I am an employee, In reality I've been on hold, not working for a month.
Expect further developments soon.
On the plus side, It has let me do over 5 weeks (so far) of in-house retreat. Averaging 6 hours a day (with some days off on weekends to do the normal errands) is not perfect, but it's a LOT better practice-wise than I've ever done.
I've focused on Ngondro (of course). I'm aiming at pre-Prostration stuff, though. VKR has said the 4 Reminders should be inseparable from a vajrayana meditator, and Loppon Jann Jackson (IMO, the very illustration to me of what one can do in one lifetime while balancing practice time, work, and relationships - the ultimate Upisaka - I would even say "Ultrasaka" :)) has said that "at the very least, after doing this stuff for a while, one should never criticize anyone ever again."
(I've been re-reading my notes for the past year, finding the stuff I wrote down, but never internalized).
I realized that neither of the above is true of me - yet. So, I've been working on the 4 Reminders and Mind Training a lot (as well as the 4 Immeasurables, and try to REALLY understand refuge.)
Speaking of which, it's time to go practice for a couple hours, and then get some more resumes out.
Peace.
-LWWD
P.S. - Meli and I, kind of as an anniversary present for ourselves (5 years flew by fast!), have started doing yoga at Willow Street Yoga in Silver Spring. I am finding all kinds of wonderful ways my body doesn't like to bend. :)
Expect further developments soon.
On the plus side, It has let me do over 5 weeks (so far) of in-house retreat. Averaging 6 hours a day (with some days off on weekends to do the normal errands) is not perfect, but it's a LOT better practice-wise than I've ever done.
I've focused on Ngondro (of course). I'm aiming at pre-Prostration stuff, though. VKR has said the 4 Reminders should be inseparable from a vajrayana meditator, and Loppon Jann Jackson (IMO, the very illustration to me of what one can do in one lifetime while balancing practice time, work, and relationships - the ultimate Upisaka - I would even say "Ultrasaka" :)) has said that "at the very least, after doing this stuff for a while, one should never criticize anyone ever again."
(I've been re-reading my notes for the past year, finding the stuff I wrote down, but never internalized).
I realized that neither of the above is true of me - yet. So, I've been working on the 4 Reminders and Mind Training a lot (as well as the 4 Immeasurables, and try to REALLY understand refuge.)
Speaking of which, it's time to go practice for a couple hours, and then get some more resumes out.
Peace.
-LWWD
P.S. - Meli and I, kind of as an anniversary present for ourselves (5 years flew by fast!), have started doing yoga at Willow Street Yoga in Silver Spring. I am finding all kinds of wonderful ways my body doesn't like to bend. :)
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Guru Yoga, The Passing of HH Mindroling Trinchen; 4 weeks 'TIl Welfare
Since I last posted, there's been a big event in the rag-tag bunch of misfits that are the sangha around Khandro Rinpoche.
Her father, His Holiness Mindroling Trinchen,played with his dog, sat up in meditation posture, smiled, and passed away.
It's one of those "practice like your hair is on fire" reminders, really.
I've been doing Guru Yoga, as Khandro Rinpoche requested.
(For anyone reading this (is there anyone reading this?) who doesn't know what this is, it is visualizing the embodiment of all the Buddhas of the Three times (especially one's root teachers) sitting in front of you in the form of Padmasambhava, the dude who brought the Vajrayana dharma to the Tibetan Plateau (which includes Nepal, Mongolia, and large chunks of Siberia and China) generating devotion to him, and then dissolving him into yourself.
It's a way of using devotion (which is the transformative element in all the REAL religious traditions) to transcend ones' constant 'me-orientedness'. The Sufi's do this, Hindus do it, and Rabboni Yeshua bar Yosheph wasn't just talking to hear Himself talk when He said "Love God with all your heart".
The thing that is different in Buddhist tantra compared to everything else is the part when that which is being supplicated is then dissolved in oneself.
It's a nice skillful means of making it clear that "that Great Wonderful thing that is being supplicated/prayed to/etc. is the same as you." Or, if you are especially thick-headed (like me), then it's "that Great Wonderful thing that is being supplicated/prayed to/etc. is the same as you, Dumb-ass!!!"
So, I've been doing as Rinpoche asked. I've been doing most of my practice in bed the past couple weeks, though, since my usual shrine room is filled with furniture and stuff since our office got flooded by the upstairs neighbor's radiator.
Also, Daisy the Dog and the kitties love the bed.
Peace and stuff.
Her father, His Holiness Mindroling Trinchen,played with his dog, sat up in meditation posture, smiled, and passed away.
It's one of those "practice like your hair is on fire" reminders, really.
I've been doing Guru Yoga, as Khandro Rinpoche requested.
(For anyone reading this (is there anyone reading this?) who doesn't know what this is, it is visualizing the embodiment of all the Buddhas of the Three times (especially one's root teachers) sitting in front of you in the form of Padmasambhava, the dude who brought the Vajrayana dharma to the Tibetan Plateau (which includes Nepal, Mongolia, and large chunks of Siberia and China) generating devotion to him, and then dissolving him into yourself.
It's a way of using devotion (which is the transformative element in all the REAL religious traditions) to transcend ones' constant 'me-orientedness'. The Sufi's do this, Hindus do it, and Rabboni Yeshua bar Yosheph wasn't just talking to hear Himself talk when He said "Love God with all your heart".
The thing that is different in Buddhist tantra compared to everything else is the part when that which is being supplicated is then dissolved in oneself.
It's a nice skillful means of making it clear that "that Great Wonderful thing that is being supplicated/prayed to/etc. is the same as you." Or, if you are especially thick-headed (like me), then it's "that Great Wonderful thing that is being supplicated/prayed to/etc. is the same as you, Dumb-ass!!!"
So, I've been doing as Rinpoche asked. I've been doing most of my practice in bed the past couple weeks, though, since my usual shrine room is filled with furniture and stuff since our office got flooded by the upstairs neighbor's radiator.
Also, Daisy the Dog and the kitties love the bed.
Peace and stuff.
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