solitary retreat videos

I went on a solitary retreat last February. It was lovely.

Here's a video of Suvarnaprabha while she was on a solitary retreat, speaking to the video camera spontaneously.

maps

I found some maps of Buddhism in the world at Wikipedia. Basically it's in the east. It's not completely updated, but interesting graphic representation none the less.

view on hike at Jikoji

P1010432
Originally uploaded by dpavli

A friend took some photos of the place.

video about Tibet that's not long

Judaism and Buddhism

Judaism is a beautiful religion. I've read The Gift of the Jews. My step-father is Jewish, and I went to some Seders. I went to camp Shalom one summer and learned how to sing Hava Nagila. I worked for 12 years at a school that had holidays for the Jewish calender, and another agency that was owned by someone who was Jewish. An uncle also is Jewish. I live in New York City which Jesse Jackson famously called Heimie-Town. I even live on the edge of a more orthodox neighborhood, where ironically my step-father grew up (considering we met in Madison Wisconsin, and more importantly my mother met). I have some Jewish friends who I don't see enough of.

Which is a long winded way of saying why I like this link, that Sarah Jessica Parker is the latest Jew-Bu.

Here's a quote from the article: "What’s a Jew-Bu? ‘It’s a synthesis of Judaism and Buddhism intended to grasp the best of both religions,’ explains one Hollywood power-player who has been a Jew-Bu for the past decade. ‘It combines Buddhist thought with Jewish theology and structure, in effect incorporating Buddhist traditions such as meditation and chanting into traditional Judaism.’"

And here's a quote about famous Jew-Bu's: "Famous entertainment industry Jew-Bu’s include Leonard Cohen, Goldie Hawn, Kate Hudson, Jerry Seinfeld, Gwynneth Paltrow, Larry David, Jeff Goldblum, Al Franken and Whoopie Goldberg, among others."

Another interesting quote: "Chogyan Trungpa, to talk about forming the Oy Vey school of Meditation."

Also, Lama Surya Das is famously raised Jewish and converted to Buddhism. Same with Jack Kornfeld

Here's another post on the JuBu phenomenon. In the article it says in the FWBO Kulamitra is of Jewish origins.

peace prize

My first link to a Korean site. Lokamitra won a prize for his work with the ex-untouchables in India. Here's a link to a Korean video about it.

more talks

Here's a Vapassana talks site.

Parenting article in Tricycle

"In some ways, it feels as if incorporating children (and other human realities) into Buddhist practice is the last frontier for most practice centers, modeled as they are on a rarified, monastery-inspired retreat model (which, incidentally, is a specialized activity even in Buddhist countries)."

Read here.

Following link, I found a Dharma games site.

history of FWBO video

I haven't seen it yet, but I will watch this about 45 minute video, on the history of the FWBO.

video about retreat

Someone made a video of the retreat.

article from NY Times

Interesting article on Buddhism in Japan.

Greens

We went to a cool restaurant in SF.

DanaKamala

Another great thing about the retreat was to see ex-Dino become DanaKamala.

Retreat

So I asked for ordination into the Wester Buddhist Order several years ago, and they have retreats for the men about once a year. This year the retreat was held at Jikoji. It was lead by Dhammarati, who did a wonderful job. We studied the eight point mind training.

One revelation on the retreat was to find out more about Ksitigarbha. The retreat was on bodhicitta, and I learned a new meditation to facilitate that. Because my last retreat was solitary, I found it was easier to take refuge in the sangha.

The word vipaka was used a lot. It's the fruit of karma.

Also, I was mortified to find out I was the only one who didn't know what Quinoa was. Turns out it's nutritional content is good, it is a more complete protein.

Bookending the trip was a visit to my father and stepmother in Livermore. Tomorrow I fly home and I look forward to being reunited with my wife and children.

trichiliocosm

In searching trichiliocosm, I found Rigpa Wiki, which is, "an online encyclopedia and media library of Tibetan Buddhist teachings designed especially for students of Rigpa and Sogyal Rinpoche."

I'm reading Conze's The Perfection of Widson in Eight Thousand Lines, which came out in 1958. I bought the book, but you can find a PDF file of it here.

In thinking about my approach to the upcoming retreat that begins at 3pm today, I quote the following verses from the The Perfection of Widson in Eight Thousand Lines:

If someone would say, ‘On condition that you have shattered Mount Sumeru,
You will be one who will attain to the foremost enlightenment.’
And if he [then] effects a thought of fatigue or limitation [to his efforts],
Then that Bodhisattva is affected by indolence.

But when there arises to him the mindful thought, ‘That is nothing difficult.
In a mere moment Sumeru [will] break up into dust,’
Then the wise Bodhisattva becomes one who puts forth vigour.
Before long he will attain the foremost enlightenment of the Leaders.

Comedy and the lama

California

I'm visiting my father and step-mother before the retreat. They are kind and good hosts. Meditating is OK with them, they give me space to prepare for my retreat. I'm adjusting to the time zone, recovering from the flight. I'm excited to begin tomorrow.

I'm enjoying a memior called Turtle Feet, about a guys time as a monk in Dharmasala. It's Jack Kerouac without the booze, more intelligent and really spiritual, but with the intense over the top friend, and the odd assortment of characters.

retreat

My ride will be outside in 5 minutes. I'm sad to leave my family. I'm tired from all my responsibilities. I'm excited to go on a trip, to see the guys, to be on retreat. I felt the mindfulness increasing as a kind of anticipation of retreat. Six years isn't a long time, but I have done retreats every year and in the early years I did a lot of retreats before the kids came along.

I was talking at work about how it's hard to lift up the responsibilities when I return from retreat. Time passes, I know, and soon enough I will be back. To be mindful through it all is my goal, and to spend time with friends. One pointed and in the moment, flexible and kind. Open and willing. Wish me luck!

sexy waiting

Batchelor writes in Living With The Devil, "The practice of waiting is to learn how to rest in the nirvanic ease of contingent things. yet waiting is not passive inaction any more than emptiness is nothingness. As an alert stillness that cradles perplexity, it is the ground from which we can respond in unpredictable ways to life's unfolding and the inevitable encounter with others." p 117.

It's been suggested that my path is that of the perfection of patience, so I thought this was interesting. My friend intimated something similar, surprisingly.

Pathing

Stephen Batchelor's book, Living With the Devil, is really good. He's talking about the metaphor of the path, and notes that in other languages you can say "pathing" as a verb.

He write, "The art of creating a path is to do neither too much nor too little." There are many great quotes about path. Tomorrow I go on a sangha hike with Alyssa and Maria, so the term path is even more poignant. I might xerox some pages to read while we're on the hike.

We were lucky enough for Batchelor to agree to meet with the NYC FWBO sangha, when he was in town promoting the book, and he was generous enough to give our sangha a copy of the book. I never got my hands on it, even though I was generous enough to share it when he handed it to me. I broke down and bought a copy for myself. He's one of my favorite Buddhist authors. I highly recommend his books, and especially this one.

Also of note, there are some good talks of his on the Upaya web site, in the podcasts. He also share some talks on his site.

The incomparable Bodhipaksa reviews Batchelor's most famous book Buddhism Without Belief on Wildmind. I couldn't help but add my 2 cents reading his review...