DVD Review Preview

Here's the press release for a DVD I got today in the mail which I will review.

Press Release (top)

THE INTERNATIONAL BEST-SELLER DEEPAK CHOPRA'S
SEVEN SPIRITUAL LAWS OF SUCCESS

Debuts on DVD May 8, 2007 From Fox Home Entertainment

Inspirational DVD Features Music Icons Olivia Newton John and Dave Stewart and Actor/Director Bill Duke

CENTURY CITY , Calif. – Based on the book that was on the New York Times Best-Seller list for two years, re-knowned Doctor/Scholar Deepak Chopra's most inspirational and universal work comes to DVD on May 8 when Fox Home Entertainment releases
The Seven Spiritual Laws Of Success . Blending the ethereal teachings of Vedanta and the Bhagavad Gita from his native India with forward-thinking transcendental quantum physics, Chopra's works about the power of individual consciousness have become worldwide best-sellers, selling over 40 million copies, empowering followers to gain control of their lives through a deep and meditative understanding of their own spiritual connections to the world.

The Seven Spiritual Laws Of Success features genuine accounts of spiritual awakening and consciousness from Hollywood stars and artists including singer/actress Olivia Newton-John ( Grease ), director/actor Bill Duke ( X-Men: The Last Stand, Predator ) and musician Dave Stewart (The Eurythmics), among others. The DVD also features new music by Newton-John, inspired by her experience with the book's teachings.

The Seven Spiritual Laws Of Success are the principles of pure potentiality, giving, karma, least effort, intention and desire, detachment, and dharma, forming the basis for a more natural and organic lifestyle, allowing personal well-being and enthusiasm for life to govern prosperity and success. Deeply profound and yet surprisingly simple to apply to one's own life, The Seven Spiritual Laws Of Success will be available for the suggested retail price of $19.98 U.S./$21.98 Canada .

DVD Special Features:
The Seven Spiritual Laws Of Success DVD is presented in English Dolby Surround 5.1 with English and Spanish subtitles.

Grand Canyon

IMG_1704
Originally uploaded by withanhauser

Spent some time in the Grand Canyon. My dharmic thought about that is that through meditation, spiritual friendship and dharma study and discussion with friends, is the water, wind and gravity that causes some amazing erosion of the self, which the Grand Canyon can show the potential beauty of.

Where to give money

We had a visit in New York City from our Indian dharma brothers who work for Jambudvipa Trust in India. Next time I'm in a position to give away money, I'm going to give them some. There are still lynchings going on in India! There is real social injustice relating to the habit of the caste system despite being outlawed in their constitution in 1947. There are natural disasters and there are other ways in which the government does not raise up to the challenge of helping it's people. This trust does good work. I will be donating money to them in the future. The OM and mitra who come over were very committed and focused. I was impressed. Goto to their web site to donate some money!

Quote in History of My Going For Refuge

To discover that within myself which I must obey, to gain some awareness of the law which operates in the organic whole of the internal world, to feel this internal world as an organic whole working out its whole destiny according to some secret vital principle to know which acts and utterances are a liberation from obstacles and an accession of strength, to acknowledge secret loyalties which one cannot deny without impoverishment and starvation,--this is to possess one’s soul indeed, and it is not easily either to do or to explain.

John Middleton Murry 1889-1957

Reiki

I just experienced reiki for the first time. Didn't feel much, it was a short session, supposedly they're usually longer. But it was nice to lay down and relax.

The wikipedia article on it reports that scientific studies show it has no greater than a placebo effect, but I think that the placebo effect is worth something--the hope that something good happens is wonderful.

The instructions were, "imagine a white light coming into your head, and you breathing it out." So she put her hands on my shoulders, on my chest and stomach and then knees, and finally my ankles. She said she's tell me when she's done and she did.

She thought I was balanced, no anger pulling energy to my liver.

I'd say it can't hurt. I want to be open to things. There is a part of me that is curious about the scientific community, but there's a part of me that wants to be open to things outside my immediate experience. I have no problem that people make a living doing such things, there are lots worse things.

I like it that a Buddhist discovered Reiki, supposedly enlightened, but I'm also a bit wary. In my tradition, in so far as I understand it, these magical kinds of things are seen as nice, but not really the point. They can be a distraction. I don't have a formal sadhana practice but I'm going to ask for Avalokiteshvara when some day I hope to be ordained into the WBO. The woman who did Reiki on me today said she imagines Jesus Christ.

She talked about healing a woman's breast cancer, and her own heart problems. Of course anecdotal evidence doesn't prove anything, but it doesn't disprove anything either.

I imagine people pro-Reiki might dislike my not embracing it the way they do. I imagine skeptical people poo pooing it. I think people should try it if they can and I hope to try it again.

More Proof That Meditation in Revolutionary

Blakeslee for the New York Times writes, "Recent research has shown that meditation is good for the brain. It appears to increase gray matter, improve the immune system, reduce stress and promote a sense of well-being." in an article dated May 8th 2007. (I can't make the permalink work, but try this link.)

For me meditation is so revolutionary that I choose it over sleep. I'd rather be tired and more aware.

Am I addicted? Addiction is not used for positive beneficial things. When you know something is good for you, it's healthy to want to do it.

I feel more embodied, closer to my experience, I have a greater and more powerful observing ego. And the study shows, better attention.

In one of my favorite sutras, there is all kinds of advice, then they go to the Buddha. The Buddha says, "taht's all good, but I think you should just sit down and meditate till you are enlightened." I'm trying to follow that advice.

Sutras Read

There's a site with sutras are read to you.http://www2.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif

Ten Things To Talk About

From the Udana in the Pali Cannon, here are 10 things that talking about them, lead to enlightenment:

There are these ten topics of [proper] conversation. Which ten? Talk on modesty, on contentment, on seclusion, on non-entanglement, on arousing persistence, on virtue, on concentration, on discernment, on release, and on the knowledge & vision of release. These are the ten topics of conversation. If you were to engage repeatedly in these ten topics of conversation, you would outshine even the sun & moon, so mighty, so powerful — to say nothing of the wanderers of other sects.

Now I'm not sure about slagging off other sects, that may be an add on later, but we've been going into depth at sangha night about each one of these topics. Well, we did one day on modesty and had a rather fruitful discussion. There's also a lot of people from England in our group and I've lived in England for more than a year, and we also had some interesting discussion about the various national character. Good stuff, I love unpacking and discussing the Pali Cannon, with the sangha.

Gun Control in America

Adam Gopnik has a good commentary on the shootings in the New Yorker.

To paraphrase, or express what it makes me think, he says that basically every country tightens up it's gun control laws after a horrible gun killing atrocity, and then they don't happen any more. Not so in America where our thick heads are clouded by fears of government intervention, and the fear that we could be invaded and caught gunless. A relative of mine was against gun control. But did she want one? No. So what's she worried about?! She doesn't like the idea of curbed "freedoms" even if it would result in people not being killed, which is what it's all about to me. I'm so sick of reading these articles in the paper. We need gun control! Charlton Heston is not my president (I saw a bumper sticker in North Carolina asserting that once). That stupid slogan "guns don't kill people, people do." Yea, people with guns. Takes both those things. You can't remove the people so remove the guns.

America is an adolescent that is worried about it's autonomy. While it's economic power wanes and fades, it needs to grow up and join it's elder brothers and sisters in Europe, stop acting like a teenage who's out for a drive, craves the freedom to hurt themselves. America needs to mature, grow up.

Until then, get ready for the next gun killing spree.

Peace Pilgrim

Lokabandhu's talk At Home Everywhere on FWBO day 2006 at the Manchester Buddhist Center mentions the Peace Pilgim, who turns out to have an iteresting site.

Birmingham Center has some talks on line.

Japan Society Exhibition in NYC

There's a lovely little story about Fish-Basket Kannon who is a Japanese manifestation of Avalokiteshvara, about some art work at the Japan Society Exhibition in the New York Times.

madhyamavani

There are some interesting articles in madhyamavani. There's an interesting summary by Parami of the last college meeting. There is also the preceptors college blog.

Favorte talk these days

I really enjoyed Bodhidaka's talk on Meghiya on the Padmaloka site (last one as of today).

The sutra he talks about can be found by clicking on this sentence.

Also the Manchester Buddhist Center has a site with talks, haven't gotten around to them yet, but they look really good.

There's a good article on Kumarjeev in a SF paper.

online meditation news database

An interesting online meditation news database.

Obscure Words in A Survey Of Buddhism

Word's I'd never come across reading A Survey Of Buddhism by Sangharakshita:

synoptic--seeing toghether and pertaining to or constituting a synopsis; affording or taking a general view of the principal parts of a subject.

eleemosynary is charity

eremitical is a about a hermit.

coenobitical relates to the monastic life.

xylograph is an engraving in wood.

"barbara, celarent and darii" from p. 240 refers to Aristotle's logic terms. (Page number refer to 2001 edition.)

Bhante Quote

"We should have the courage not of our intellectual convictions but of our transcendental realizations. The doctrinal differences existing between the various schools of Buddhism out to be delight rather than dismay us, for we are thereby stung into keener awareness of the limitations of the intellect, startled into livelier recognition of the purely instrumental nature of the Dharma, and at least awakened into a clearer comprehension of the great truth that, as Buddha himself said repeatedly, Nirvana is atakkavacara, beyond the reach of reasoning."

Sangharakshita, Page 240, A Survey Of Buddhism, 2001 edition.

Ethics, study and support

My next retreat is going to be on ethics. Here are the negative 5 precepts:

1. I undertake to abstain from taking or harming life.
2. I undertake to abstain from taking what is not freely given.
3. I undertake to abstain from causing harm through sexuality.
4. I undertake to abstain from false speech.
5. I undertake to abstain from taking intoxicants that dull the mind.

The positive counterparts are stated as follows:

1. With deeds of loving kindness, I purify my body.
2. With open-handed generosity, I purify my body.
3. With stillness, simplicity and contentment, I purify my body.
4. With truthful communication, I purify my speech.
5. With mindfulness clear and radiant, I purify my mind.

We're going to be studying the 10 precepts from Bhante's The Ten Pillars, sold at Windhorse Publishing, a model of right livelihood cooperative in the movement.

In other news, there's a good site that has the mitra study course we're going to be doing with Vajramati, on the FWBO center support web site.

T.S. Eliot

T.S. Eliot writes in The Coctail Party, "You are nothing but a set of obsolete responses. The one thing to do is to do nothing." Not sure what his true perspective is on Buddhism and whatnot, I'm no T.S. Eliot scholar, but that's pretty dharmic to me.

Vegan Web Site

A cool vegan site is written about in the NY Times.

pictures plus

I found a site that has some pictures of a retreat a while back on Padmasambhava.

Bodhipaksa has some good commentary.

I found a new blog to read by gambhiradaka.