Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Journal Tidbits...
...from the extraordinary experience I had last weekend at Menla Mountain Retreat:
"Develop a mind so filled with love that it looks like space" - The Buddha
Phoenicia, New York
Thursday,May 25th, 2006
6:00 pm
MMM...Seitan in divine Tibetan Barbecue sauce...delicious salad and veggies...
We sat at a table with Robert Thurman, his wife Nena and Sharon Saltzberg....
the avian life rules the air waves here-it is thick with birdchat, song, twitters, chirps,peeps and trills -layers and layers of song, sound, and more song....
And I smell earth. Damp green earth.
After dinner we will all gather in the Conference Center for welcome talks,etc.
The Conference Center is a nice walk away, down a wide dirt path lit by solar lamps -Paul and I walked there earlier- nice and modern. Spacious. An enormous room for lectures, sitting meditation/chanting. Clean. Airy. With its own snack bar and bookstore, comfortable room to read.
We are here for 5 days. The subject: Fierce Compassion.
Why am I here?
Why are we all here?
Why do we all care about even trying to be compassionate?
I need quiet and I need to think...by coming here, I hope to find one and do the other...Peter and Steven have stayed back in NYC so Paul and could have this time alone together....very sweet...since Paul and I have wanted time to further explore Buddhism together...so here we are.
Cell phones do not work. At all.
Computers can, but one must make extra effort to use one. I will not.
7:45pm First Evening Session:
Justin made general announcements...i.e.:
There are many critters alive and walking on this property, besides human ones, I mean...including BEARS! So, walk to and from the Center in pairs...and simply tell them to go away and they will....Buddhist bears....cool....
Meditation -----Jewel Tree ------Silence
Sharon Saltzberg talks about compassion fatigue....NYC breeds it....what do I do in this situation,etc? Is compassion sentimental? Is it weak? No and no....Stupid? No.FIERCE.
We tend to define adventure as an external thing...tomorrow we will be in silence all day...consider that an internal adventure...an extremely radical adventure...silence...all day...
Compassion is the real power of life, not petty vindictiveness or anger...and without WISDOM and SKILL, compassion can be sentimental and weak...wise compassion...mindful...every person has compassion somewhere in them...to evolve to be the odd creature a human is, compassion has to be part of the deal, but there are those who become so alienated they become destructive...
the key point here is: what are YOU? what is YOUR goal in the world?
THAT determines the quality of your connection to the world. If you are looking to evolve into a blissful being, you will find ways to benefit from even the dis-compassionate ones of the earth....in Buddhism, REALITY is good...what is TRUE is SANE and SAFE.....
"He who is heedless or mindless is dead already" -The Buddha
The Four Immeasurables....Lovingkindness, Compassion, Sympathetic Joy and Equanimity.
The awareness of genuine reality is the balm of life...knowing what is real.
The Jewel Tree Meditation ....ends the day.
"Develop a mind so filled with love that it looks like space" - The Buddha
Phoenicia, New York
Thursday,May 25th, 2006
6:00 pm
MMM...Seitan in divine Tibetan Barbecue sauce...delicious salad and veggies...
We sat at a table with Robert Thurman, his wife Nena and Sharon Saltzberg....
the avian life rules the air waves here-it is thick with birdchat, song, twitters, chirps,peeps and trills -layers and layers of song, sound, and more song....
And I smell earth. Damp green earth.
After dinner we will all gather in the Conference Center for welcome talks,etc.
The Conference Center is a nice walk away, down a wide dirt path lit by solar lamps -Paul and I walked there earlier- nice and modern. Spacious. An enormous room for lectures, sitting meditation/chanting. Clean. Airy. With its own snack bar and bookstore, comfortable room to read.
We are here for 5 days. The subject: Fierce Compassion.
Why am I here?
Why are we all here?
Why do we all care about even trying to be compassionate?
I need quiet and I need to think...by coming here, I hope to find one and do the other...Peter and Steven have stayed back in NYC so Paul and could have this time alone together....very sweet...since Paul and I have wanted time to further explore Buddhism together...so here we are.
Cell phones do not work. At all.
Computers can, but one must make extra effort to use one. I will not.
7:45pm First Evening Session:
Justin made general announcements...i.e.:
There are many critters alive and walking on this property, besides human ones, I mean...including BEARS! So, walk to and from the Center in pairs...and simply tell them to go away and they will....Buddhist bears....cool....
Meditation -----Jewel Tree ------Silence
Sharon Saltzberg talks about compassion fatigue....NYC breeds it....what do I do in this situation,etc? Is compassion sentimental? Is it weak? No and no....Stupid? No.FIERCE.
We tend to define adventure as an external thing...tomorrow we will be in silence all day...consider that an internal adventure...an extremely radical adventure...silence...all day...
Compassion is the real power of life, not petty vindictiveness or anger...and without WISDOM and SKILL, compassion can be sentimental and weak...wise compassion...mindful...every person has compassion somewhere in them...to evolve to be the odd creature a human is, compassion has to be part of the deal, but there are those who become so alienated they become destructive...
the key point here is: what are YOU? what is YOUR goal in the world?
THAT determines the quality of your connection to the world. If you are looking to evolve into a blissful being, you will find ways to benefit from even the dis-compassionate ones of the earth....in Buddhism, REALITY is good...what is TRUE is SANE and SAFE.....
"He who is heedless or mindless is dead already" -The Buddha
The Four Immeasurables....Lovingkindness, Compassion, Sympathetic Joy and Equanimity.
The awareness of genuine reality is the balm of life...knowing what is real.
The Jewel Tree Meditation ....ends the day.
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