tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92236842024-03-14T02:48:55.655+00:00American Buddhist in EnglandMy life in England en route to a PhD in Buddhist Ethics. With banter on London, Buddhism, and whatever else comes to mind.Buddhist_philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14246929532585980356noreply@blogger.comBlogger120125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9223684.post-43020785519597257632008-03-01T22:18:00.004+00:002008-03-01T23:04:57.874+00:00Back in the US, back in the US, back in the USSAI can't help but butcher some Beatles lyrics as I 'cross the pond' yet again, moving back to the joyful, peaceful, prosperous, and free, yes <span style="font-style: italic;">free</span>, United States of America. 'Twas a very sad goodbye, leaving the roommates in London:<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_fyeYpxfdjuI/R8nXw2y2pVI/AAAAAAAAAFo/c7Lh7e1HOKY/s1600-h/IMG_0034.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_fyeYpxfdjuI/R8nXw2y2pVI/AAAAAAAAAFo/c7Lh7e1HOKY/s400/IMG_0034.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5172902881354229074" border="0" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><blockquote>Left to Right: Gianfranco, Sana, me and Sjors behind me, Jim, Shahnaz, Masachi, and Lenart - I'm not sure who's idea it was to have props, but it seems to have worked out ok.</blockquote></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">But I received an equally </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">joyful </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">welcome home by my beautiful fiancée, Kelly, in McLean, VA, where we'll be living for a while. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">So the plan now is to settle in a bit, enjoy the lack of sirens, mice, random people urinating at the entrance of my living space, and other 'charms' of London. </span> Soon we'll be apartment hunting for a place for just Kelly and I - something in the DC area. And planning: wedding planning, financial planning, life planning, future planning, family planning, world peace planning (nope, haven't got to that just yet) - but you get the picture. <br /><br />Oh, and I hope to keep up on my studies. <span style="font-weight: bold;">I'm technically withdrawn from the college until September, but in academia as with so much of life, what </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">technically</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> is and reality aren't always the same.</span> I'll be in touch with my advisors and should make sure I have something pretty substantial to present to them before destroying the earth a little bit more, I mean <span style="font-style: italic;">flying</span>, back to the UK (oh, and yes I will check on cross-Atlantic passenger boats, for sure). <br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">I also got the crazy idea to write a book.</span> I've been thinking of writing a book seriously for a few years now and this just might be my chance. A dear friend of mine in Missoula, <a href="http://www.ravendigitalis.com/">Raven</a>, has published one book and is finishing a second with an excellent niche publisher, Llewellyn, ("New Worlds of Mind and Spirit" is their motto). He thinks they might like something accessible to their audience on Buddhism. I think it would be fun. We shall see....<br /><br />'Tis all for now. Oh, and I'm switching back to my other blog - <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/">American Buddhist Perspective</a>. More there very soon!<br /></div></div>Buddhist_philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14246929532585980356noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9223684.post-35156866120817006682008-02-25T13:20:00.004+00:002008-02-25T17:58:13.125+00:00Blogisattvas, Bristol, and more...Last week was another <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">interesting</span> one in my life (for me at least).<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">HEALTH/STRESS:</span> It began Sunday with wrenching stomach pains and other things a bit on the gross side in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Gozo</span>, where I was vacationing. It could have been 'too much sun' from our day out Saturday, or food poisoning as my GP (doctor for y'all in the US) here diagnosed on Thursday. <span style="font-weight: bold;">It could also have been just another turn in that </span><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://justininengland.blogspot.com/2008/01/back-on-and-in-search-of-buddhist.html">Adrenal Fatigue</a><span style="font-weight: bold;"> thing I may have. </span> With this I seem to have nearly <span style="font-style: italic;">all</span> of the listed symptoms.<br /><div style="text-align: center;">~<br /></div><span style="font-weight: bold;">PHD UPDATE: Once back in London I had a meeting with my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">advisors</span> </span>- a brainstorming session that would <span style="font-style: italic;">hopefully </span>set me on track for the summer to work on my own from the states. It was fantastic. <span style="font-weight: bold;">I came away wishing I could somehow smuggle Professors <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Keown</span> and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Caygill</span> in my back pocket back to the states (just pop them out once a week for more brainstorming and pep-talks) </span>:) I'll have to post more on the details, but we came away with a further plan/outline for my thesis, something like:<br /><ol><li>Methodology</li><li>Literature Review</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Ethics as a Path </span><br /></li><ol><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Buddhism </span>(from greed, anger, delusion toward <span style="font-style: italic;">freedom</span> from these)<br /></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Kant </span>(from drives, desires and inclinations toward <span style="font-style: italic;">freedom/autonomy</span>)<br /></li></ol><li>Case studies: perhaps death and dying, perhaps sex with animals (ha! apparently a bit of an issue for both early Buddhists and Kant - should make for juicy discussion)</li></ol>I can't wait to be rested enough and have the time to <span style="font-style: italic;">really dig in</span>!<br /><div style="text-align: center;">~<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">TRAVELS:</span> Now I'm very happily in Bristol, where I did my Buddhist Studies MA. I'm staying with my good friend <a href="http://holeofmightymouse.blogspot.com/">SJ</a>, who was a housemate of mine back then. <span style="font-weight: bold;">I've had the pleasure to meet up with old <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">coursemate</span> Mary and her boyfriend Alex yesterday and today I've just met up with Ken Robinson, a fascinating retired gentleman who has made a home for himself in the Buddhist Studies department here in Bristol.</span> Tomorrow I'll hopefully see my old advisor, Paul Williams, and meet several of the new students before catching <span style="font-style: italic;">a bus</span> back to London.<br /><div style="text-align: center;">~<br /></div><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">BLOGISATTVAS</span>:</span> In much more lighthearted good news, I have won a pair of <a href="http://blogisattva.blogspot.com/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Blogisattva</span> Awards</a> this year. I won a couple in 2006, the inaugural year for them, and was nominated for a few last year. So it was quite a lovely surprise to come up as a winner again this year. I should note that I was on this year's selection committee (but abstained in all cases from voting for myself - of course). The above link will give you the full list of winners - I highly recommend them all! My own awards came in the form of:<br /><ul><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Best New Blog, 2007</span>: <a href="http://progressivebuddhism.blogspot.com/">Progressive Buddhism</a>, a group blog with contributions by Ordinary Extraordinary [Justin <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Farquar</span>], <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">WH</span> [William Harrison], Nacho <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Cordova</span>, Buddhist_philosopher [Justin Whitaker], <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">odin</span> [Paul <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Jahshan</span>], Tom [Tom Armstrong], and Joe in 2007.</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Best Achievement Blogging on Matters Philosophical or Psychological</span> [blog, blogger]: American Buddhist [the combination of <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/">American Buddhist Perspective</a> (1/1-9/23/07) & <a href="http://justininengland.blogspot.com/">American Buddhist in England</a> (9/23-12/31/07)]; Justin Whitaker</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Best Opinion or Political Blog Post</span> ["post"; blog; blogger]: "<a href="http://justininengland.blogspot.com/2007/12/politics-toward-buddhist-imigration.html">Politics: toward a Buddhist immigration policy</a>"; <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">American Buddhist in England</span>; Justin Whitaker</li></ul><div style="text-align: center;">~<br /><div style="text-align: left;">I'm most surprised by the Political Post award, as it is typically a subject I avoid (half jokingly I'd say I don't talk politics unless I have either lots of energy or lots of alcohol in me). But I do keep up on the news and did see something recently that made me smile. <span style="font-weight: bold;">It was when Hilary Clinton said during a debate something to the effect of, "whatever happens next, I am proud to be here on stage with <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Barack</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Obama</span>."</span> Now, while everyone and his sister seems to have their own (often cynical) spin on this, I found it to be very beautiful, like a moment of genuine humanity in the otherwise very cruel and ego-driven game of politics. Of course soon enough they were back at it, but that is the nature of <span style="font-style: italic;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">samsara</span></span>, isn't it?<br /><br />I, for one, will do what I can to see <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Obama</span> in office next January. But first - the countdown on the right is telling me I have 3 days, 3 hours, and 3 minutes before I touch down in DC - a far more important milestone in my little life for the time being.<br /></div></div></div></div>Buddhist_philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14246929532585980356noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9223684.post-2960549468030059942008-02-21T12:40:00.003+00:002008-02-21T13:36:16.653+00:00Life: Homeward BoundShortly before my Malta trip we decided I should cut short my stay in London and get me back to the US, so..... Well, the countdown clock on the right might have tipped you off, but I'm headed back now in just a week.<br /><br />The plan now?<br /><ol><li>Withdraw (temporarily - until September) from the college.<br /></li><li>Continue to work at my own pace, maybe focus on languages (Pali and German) for a bit.<br /></li><li>Get back to DC: rest.</li><li>Apartment hunt: someplace between central DC and out in the boonies west of there (like <a href="http://www.roundhillva.org/default.asp">Round Hill, VA</a> - population: 500)</li></ol>Simple enough? After a very tiring few months in London, I think so. Going from a city map that looks like this:<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_fyeYpxfdjuI/R719aYbW3dI/AAAAAAAAAFg/xEMIy0cMCy4/s1600-h/LONDON.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_fyeYpxfdjuI/R719aYbW3dI/AAAAAAAAAFg/xEMIy0cMCy4/s320/LONDON.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5169425839478463954" border="0" /></a>To (potentially) this:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.roundhillva.org/default.asp?page=24"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://www.roundhillva.org/images2/RoundHillStreets.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>certainly has its appeal. So, adios for now, London. I look forward to resting up and spending plenty of QT with my fiancee. But first, a quick trip to Bristol to see old friends over the weekend :)<br /><br /><br />* For when we do get that apartment: <a href="http://www.businesscreditcards.com/bootstrapper/50-practical-home-office-feng-shui-tips/">Feng Shui Tips</a>Buddhist_philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14246929532585980356noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9223684.post-77774019247160958992008-02-16T15:38:00.005+00:002008-02-16T20:08:58.448+00:00A Blakey day<span style="font-weight: bold;">One of my housemates in London is doing his MRes on Blake and at some point came up with the adjective: </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Blakey</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">. </span>Today I was sent this quote (below) and stumbled across the image below that somewhere out in the Buddha-blogosphere...<br /><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" ><span class="317350614-16022008"><blockquote>To see a world in a grain of sand,<br />And a heaven in a wild flower,<br />Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,<br />And eternity in an hour.<br />............<wbr>....</blockquote></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_0cnTxioYS1I/R6hIDjGRfZI/AAAAAAAAAI0/TsstinASYkE/s1600/431359594_505cab8e8c.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_0cnTxioYS1I/R6hIDjGRfZI/AAAAAAAAAI0/TsstinASYkE/s1600/431359594_505cab8e8c.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">There is something humerously ironic about so much of contemporary life; in how true both of these statements </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">from Blake can be </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">(one of simple and profound unity, one of a child's endless desires). </span>Today we had a beautiful picnic, Margaret and Bruce and I, in a protected little cove on the Northwest side of Gozo. There we had just the sound of the sea and the wind, the occasional flower or bit of sand, but mostly we just basked in the sun until the clouds rolled in. It was fantastic, filled with plenty of moments of "eternity in an hour"(the downside being that an eternity in the Mediterranean sun can really knock you out, but anyway).<br /><br />The irony is in just how much work it took to find this blissful simplicity: a train, a plane, a mini-bus, a ferry, and a car. <span style="font-weight: bold;">So maybe I'm a bit like that little child, too - only now waving down with <span style="font-style: italic;">a big grin</span> from the moon.</span><br /><div style="text-align: center;">~</div>On a not so Blakey but related theme (Buddhism), I had a chat with one of my housemates before I left last Tuesday: a Korean woman named Soyoung, an artist and Taoist. <span style="font-weight: bold;">She observed that people here [London] talk a lot about fixing things in the world, the problems </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">out there</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">. </span>But nobody seems to look at themselves. I agreed.<br /><br />Our little college seems to be cause-central, but it is all (how to put this kindly?) <span style="font-style: italic;">superficial</span>. One example is the Burma protests last fall. They threw together some people to join the London march, but half bailed out, and those who made it just seemed to be there to take pictures (you can see them all in my photos - ha!). <span style="font-weight: bold;">A discussion on the topic I attended wound up being led by a socialist reporter who ranted about the "Western Imperialists' hand" behind all of this. </span> I brought up China (the country most funding the oppressive military junta) and was shot down with the response that we can't really look at the big countries on this one - we must <span style="font-style: italic;">organize the student movement</span>!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Mentioning "the movement" seemed to push a button in many of the students because they began buzzing and nodding in agreement. </span> The idea of blaming "Western Imperialists" but not looking at the big countries pushed some of my logical consistency buttons and I kept quiet for the rest of the rally, or discussion.<br /><br />Anyway, back to the story. So, Soyoung, the Korean woman, tells me this and I say, <span style="font-weight: bold;">"Yes, but for me at least I can empathise. I need quiet and time to really look within - when I do get that, I get very introspective and I become creative and thoughtful and all those wonderful things.</span> But when the world is a cacophony as it is here, the body seems to be on high alert and every sense organ (including the mind, which for us Buddhists <span style="font-style: italic;">is</span> a sense organ) is turned outward."<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />She thought for a moment, and then said two very profound words:</span><br /><blockquote style="font-weight: bold;">"lotus flower."</blockquote>For those who haven't had "Buddhist similes 101" the lotus flower is a symbol of the purity of perfect awakening emerging from the muck (they like to grow in gross muddy ponds) of ordinary life. Sort of like the Western idea of "every rose has its thorn" or something like that.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">So, me being "smart" and not wanting to be one-upped spiritually, I came back with, "well, even a lotus needs decent conditions, right? It can't grow in rock." </span> All of which I thought was very clever - yes we need to see ourselves as overcoming the muck of daily life, but we <span style="font-style: italic;">do</span> need proper conditions to do our spiritual work...<br /><br />She didn't have to think much this time. She just rolled her eyes and said:<br /><blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold;">"philosophy!" <span style="font-style: italic;">and laughed...</span></span><br /></blockquote>Buddhist_philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14246929532585980356noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9223684.post-81124113160282507292008-02-12T13:16:00.000+00:002008-02-12T13:31:48.945+00:00Life: Whirlwinds Strike Again<blockquote style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Sometimes life moves fast, sometimes it moves slow.<br />Grace happens when we move at the speed of life.</blockquote>Suddenly life around this sentient being is getting awfully fast. I'm just 45 minutes away from my train to Gatwick airport, where I'll depart for a three-hour flight to Malta, then a quick taxi ride to the ferry where my good friends Margaret and Bruce expect to be awaiting me to accompany me to their place on the island of Gozo. Yay!<br /><br />Then, seven days in Gozo. <span style="font-weight: bold;">I'm bringing only my camera and three books: Kant's </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Metaphysics of Morals</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">, A book on Buddhist Ethics, and -get this- a </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">novel </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">(I haven't read one of those in who knows how long).</span> Oh, and a notebook and a journal.<br /><br />After that, a day or two in London - meeting my advisors - and then on to Bristol for four days to visit SJ and other friends from my MA days. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Then just two more days in London, one really, and I fly back to the US - for good (on the 28th).</span> Just in time to see my beautiful fiancée lead a Socrates Café in McLean VA (fitting, as it was at such a Café that we first met!).<br /><br />So... the whirlwind cometh (<span style="font-style: italic;">again</span>). And, provided I keep up with it, not much should be rattled up and it looks like it will drop me back on earth <span style="font-style: italic;">right where I need to be</span>.Buddhist_philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14246929532585980356noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9223684.post-26180903544856985332008-02-11T12:49:00.000+00:002008-02-11T16:44:08.734+00:00Living: memedI've been memed - <a href="http://www.patiastephens.com/">Patia</a> has tagged me with the 4 Things meme.<br /><br />4 Jobs I've Held:<br /><ol><li>Dish washer, prep cook, cook: Yat Son Chinese Restaurant, Helena, MT<br /></li><li>Bookkeeper (the old IGA grocery store in Missoula where the Good Food store is now)<br /></li><li>Tutor for first-year medical students in Medical Ethics, Bristol, England<br /></li><li>Program Coordinator, the Center for Ethics, Missoula, MT<br /></li></ol><br />4 Movies I've Watched Over and Over Again:<br /><ol><li>Pink Floyd: The Wall<br /></li><li>A Beautiful Mind<br /></li><li>Ashes and Snow<br /></li><li>The Peaceful Warrior<br /></li></ol><br />4 Places I've Been:<ol><li>Aran Islands, Ireland<br /></li><li>Honolulu, Hawai'i, USA<br /></li><li>La Alhambra, Granada, Spain<br /></li><li>Florence, Italy<br /></li></ol><br />4 Places I've Lived:<br /><ol><li>Helena & Missoula, Montana<br /></li><li>Cheney, Washington<br /></li><li>Bristol, England<br /></li><li>London, England<br /></li></ol><br />4 TV Shows I (<span style="font-style: italic;">used to</span>) Watch:<br /><ol><li>Mr. Ed<br /></li><li>Gilligan's Island<br /></li><li>MacGyver</li><li>Discovery Channel (<span style="font-style: italic;">everything</span>)<br /></li></ol><br />4 Radio Shows I (<span style="font-style: italic;">used to</span>) Listen To<span style="font-style: italic;"></span>:<br /><ol><li>G. Gordon Liddy (<span style="font-style: italic;">AM conservative talk radio</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> - </span>I 'monitored' his show when I worked in commercial radio in Helena, MT)<br /></li><li>KBGA College Radio 89.9 (<span style="font-style: italic;">everything - </span>undergrad days in Missoula)<br /></li><li>BBC News and Commentary (Bristol, UK)<br /></li><li>NPR (<span style="font-style: italic;">everything</span> - especially News, Pea Green Boat & Prairie Home Companion)<br /></li></ol><br />4 Things I Look Forward To:<br /><ol><li>Spring (yes! - borrowed from Patia)<br /></li><li>Our next president (YES - also borrowed from P.)<br /></li><li>Teaching again, and most of all....<br /></li><li>Seeing my love, Kelly, sooooon!!!<br /></li></ol><br />4 Favourite Foods:<br /><ol><li>Indian Curry<br /></li><li>Salmon</li><li>The Cosmopolitan Bohemian meal: artisan bread, Italian cheese, Australian wine</li><li>Potato Soup<br /></li></ol><br />4 Places I'd Rather Be:<br /><ol><li><span style="text-decoration: underline; font-style: italic;"></span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iX6LFrCe9Vc"></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Anywhere</span> with Kelly<br /></li><li>Watching the sun set from Mount Sentinel (Missoula)<br /><a href="http://www.sorellasdayspa.com/"></a></li><li>Admiring the BIG Sky over Helena, MT<br /></li><li>see #1 above<br /></li></ol><br />4 People I email regularly:<br /><ol><li>Kelly<br /></li><li>My mum<br /></li><li>Bristol Friends<br /></li><li>Ali in Missoula<br /></li></ol><br />4 People to Tag:<br /><ol><li><a href="http://seekinghbmontana.blogspot.com/">Chris</a></li><li><a href="http://holeofmightymouse.blogspot.com/">SJ</a></li><li><a href="http://zenunbound.com/blogmandu.html">Tom</a><br /></li><li><a href="http://justininengland.blogspot.com/"></a><a href="http://forestwisdom.blogspot.com/">Greg</a><br /></li></ol> <span class="post-footer"> <em></em> </span>Buddhist_philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14246929532585980356noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9223684.post-31004857057473640922008-02-10T00:56:00.001+00:002008-02-10T02:32:15.872+00:00Living: return to nature<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/buddhist_philosopher/2252636383/in/set-72157603880386073/"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2045/2252636383_08e7eec23a.jpg?v=0" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Epping Forest pond reflection</span><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;">I spent much of today in Epping Forest with friends. Oh, the blessing of nature...<blockquote>We drank greedily of the blossom-sweet air, breathing in birdsong and the chatter of leaves skipping across the moss-green carpet. Tiny, colorful rocks demanded my attention as if I were a child, and laughter poured out of crevaces long covererd by London soot. We wandered, not lost, but free - free from paths and the pretense of time and destination.<br /><br />Eventually our empty stomachs reminded us of our mortality and we descended again to earth and to London... </blockquote>Sometimes we are lucky enough to be given <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/buddhist_philosopher/2252643035/">a sign</a> of how life is supposed to be. And we're luckier still if we <span style="font-style: italic;">see </span>it.<br /><div style="text-align: center;">~<br /></div>A few years ago a friend passed me on a Sunday morning as I sat beneath a tree in front of my Missoula apartment. He called from his car window, "why aren't you at church?"<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/buddhist_philosopher/2252645963/in/set-72157603880386073/"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2317/2252645963_a8cf5d74af.jpg?v=0" alt="" border="0" /></a>I just smiled, looked up for a moment, and said, "I am."<br /><div style="text-align: center;">~<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/buddhist_philosopher/2252648803/in/set-72157603880386073/"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2053/2252648803_0c192dfe27.jpg?v=0" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Justin + sunshine + nature = happiness. (add good friends to flavor)</span><br /></div></div></div>Buddhist_philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14246929532585980356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9223684.post-78647446690062088122008-02-08T22:04:00.000+00:002008-02-10T00:55:58.660+00:00Living: Insight from the Dalai Lama<span style="font-weight: bold;">Today's words from the Dalai Lama calendar from my brother are worth meditating on:</span><br /><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">If a person's basic state of mind is serene and calm, then it is possible for this inner peace to overwhelm a painful physical experience. On the other hand, if someone is suffering from depression, anxiety, or any form of emotional distress, then even if he or she happens to be enjoying physical comforts, he will not really be able to experience the happiness that these could bring.</span><br /></blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold;">The point here, I take it, is that what is 'out there' around us is not nearly so important as what is 'in here' in our own minds. </span> <span style="font-style: italic;">Dharma </span>teachers are often quick to tell stories of travels in India and Tibet, amongst the poorest people of the world, where they were greeted with kindness and joy - and often gifts - in contrast to the folks in wealthy western countries where people are stingy and cynical.<br /><br />Yet I think it is equally important to state that we all need good conditions to cultivate the serenity and calm which is naturally inherent within us. Even a Pope or Dalai Lama, in the midst of utter chaos, will find life incredibly difficult. Think of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsangyang_Gyatso,_6th_Dalai_Lama">sixth Dalia Lama</a>, raised in turbulent times, shrouded even from potential teachers for many years, a virtual prisoner well into his teens. Or of <a href="http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/anti-semitism/pius.html">Pope Pius XII </a>in the chaotic years of WW II.<br /><br />We all need the <span style="font-style: italic;">initial conditions</span> for happiness: some degree of peace and quiet, safety and sufficient nourishment. <span style="font-weight: bold;">But beyond these, and these are amazingly readily available if we search for them, </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">it is upon us</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> to do the work of cultivating the inner peace which is the mark of the sage, the yogi, the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">sensai</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">. </span><br /><br />In are difficult times, it is always fair to seek greater comfort. This is part of our human nature and the realization that <span style="font-style: italic;">we all</span> have difficult times. Even as hard as it is to seek help, it is equally wonderful to be asked, and to be trusted in another's time of need. <span style="font-weight: bold;">This is the beauty of humanity: we care for each other. Even when our reasons escape </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">reason</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">, we care. </span> And we want to help.Buddhist_philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14246929532585980356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9223684.post-87287801221900703182008-02-07T11:57:00.000+00:002008-02-07T14:42:09.222+00:00Living: SunseekingFor about six months now, I've been a subscriber to <a href="http://www.mercola.com/">Dr. Mercola's</a> twice weekly newsletter, thanks to a recommendation by Kelly's friend, Liz, on their blog. <span style="font-weight: bold;">I would very strongly recommend it myself; his no-nonsense advice and copious research, not to mention headlines like </span><a style="font-weight: bold;" id="DataList1__ctl1_SingleCategoryResultList__ctl2_HyperLink1" class="resulttext1" href="http://v.mercola.com/blogs/public_blog/Soft-Drinks--Disease-in-a-Can-652.aspx">Soft Drinks: Disease in a Can</a><span style="font-weight: bold;"> have won me over. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">One of Dr. Mercola's commonly discussed topics is the fact that most of us in the developed world do not get enough sunshine. </span> That's right, <span style="font-style: italic;">not enough</span>. I don't know about you, but I grew up with the message that <span style="font-style: italic;">'too much sun can give you cancer</span>' but nobody told me that <a href="http://v.mercola.com/blogs/public_blog/New-Evidence--Sunshine-DOES-Slash-Your-Cancer-Risk-20485.aspx"><span style="font-style: italic;">'too little sun can give you cancer too</span>'</a> - until now (<a href="http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2007/07/11/shocking-cancer-society-ad-criticized-for-lack-of-evidence.aspx">another article</a>, and <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,2237470,00.html">another</a>). And for the cancer we do get, the most common cause is our poor diet (too much processed food, filled with too many - sometimes carcinogenic - additives).<br /><br />But, beyond cancer, <span style="font-weight: bold;">too little sunshine</span> obviously puts many of us (myself included) into quite a funk. As for dealing with these winter blues, <a href="http://www.mercola.com/2004/dec/29/winter_blues.htm">Dr. Mercola has some great suggestions</a>:<br /><ul><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Get sun! A light-box or </span><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://products.mercola.com/light-bulbs/">full-spectrum light bulbs</a><span style="font-weight: bold;"> will also help. </span> Two years ago I flew to Hawai'i for a week and felt like I was walking on clouds for about three weeks even back in Missoula. In six days I'll be visiting friends on the tiny island of Gozo, Malta, where the forecast is for plenty of sunshine and highs in the 60s. And I've just ordered a six-pack of the above bulbs for Kelly in DC.<br /></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Exercise more - and keep it fun</span>. Even when I don't <span style="font-style: italic;">feel like it</span>, I still manage to get to the gym four or five days a week. Sometimes I'm there for as little as 20minutes, but even then I feel good <span style="font-style: italic;">that I went</span>. Often enough, though, I manage 40minutes to an hour and walk out feeling really great.<br /></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Avoid comfort foods</span>! Starchy/sugary foods actually stimulate quick bursts of serotonin (the 'good mood' hormone) in our brains, so we do <span style="font-style: italic;">feel good</span> when we eat them. But it's a short-lived high, followed by a blood-sugar crash and (often enough) feelings of guilt for our indulgences. Eat more fresh veggies - green stuff especially.</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sleep</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">!</span> Our bodies follow the rhythms of the day pretty darned well, producing the 'sleep hormone' <a href="http://www.mercola.com/2002/jan/5/depression.htm">melatonin </a>earlier as the days grow shorter. Unfortunately, most of us have lives and schedules that don't allow us to listen to our bodies and <span style="font-style: italic;">sleep more</span> in winter months. Change this! Cut back activities in the darkest winter months as much as possible - your body, moods, and friends will thank you for it.</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Get <a href="http://www.mercola.com/2004/feb/14/omega_3_depression.htm">more Omega 3s</a>.</span> These are fats (that's right, you're supposed to eat more fat!) found most commonly in fatty fish like wild salmon (but NOT farmed salmon), and also in some vegetable products such as flax seed and rapeseed oils and walnuts (<a href="http://www.omega-3.se/en/food.html">a good webpage</a>).<br /></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Change your routines</span>: pamper yourself; journal/reflect on your day and life; get out to the country - or out <span style="font-style: italic;">of </span>the country if you can; clean (especially if this is <span style="font-style: italic;">new</span> to you); listen to good music, etc. I've been LOVING my new noise-canceling headphones, listening to uplifting pop music and to the <span style="font-style: italic;">gayatri mantra</span> (see below) - a wonderfully soothing and uplifting Sanskrit chant.<br /></li></ul><br /><object height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/RuUhZxkr194&rel=1"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/RuUhZxkr194&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="355" width="425"></embed></object><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Beatles: Here Comes the Sun<br /><object height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/LSSIlx9hiu8&rel=1"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/LSSIlx9hiu8&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="355" width="425"></embed></object><br />Nina Simone: Here Comes the Sun<br /><object height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/PuHOYometes&rel=1"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/PuHOYometes&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="355" width="425"></embed></object><br />Richie Havens: Here Comes the Sun<br /><br />I hope you like this song as much as I do! :) I grew up with lots of Richie Havens, too, so it brings me a smile just to hear his voice.<br /><object height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/nFq9aKGIJY8&rel=1"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/nFq9aKGIJY8&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="355" width="425"></embed></object><br />The <a href="http://www.eaglespace.com/spirit/gayatri.php">Gayatri Mantra</a><br />--<br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:85%;">May all beings be well,<br />may all beings be happy,<br />may all beings be free from suffering.</span><br /></div></div>Buddhist_philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14246929532585980356noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9223684.post-80225513107434470552008-02-06T12:53:00.000+00:002008-02-06T13:03:38.697+00:00Living: ReflectingI received this as an email today. Somehow it just seems perfect (more to follow):<br /><br />SMITHS REFLECTS/GOES HOME<br /><br />SUBMISSION DEADLINE 12th February<br /><br />Hello everybody, we are starting on a new issue of Smiths, <span style="font-weight: bold;">the themes are </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Reflections/Home (working title.)</span> We are asking you to reflect back on your lives, and give us submissions of the contemplative kind, in any form: stories, articles, objects, postcards. Etc.<br /><br />Often going home, away from <span style="font-weight: bold;">the whirlwind of uni life</span>, is a good time for this kind of reflection, and with the majority of us not coming from central London, going back to our home towns for a stint with our parents can be quite a sobering experience. <span style="font-weight: bold;">We want you to tell us about your other lives, what you get up to away</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">from Goldsmiths.</span> With the media often being London–centric, this issue of Smiths is the definitive non-London issue.<br /><br />Some examples of articles we would like submissions about..<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">- Photos of ‘home’.</span><br />- Reviews/interviews with people you knew who are now in bands (whether they are famous or still local).<br />- Interesting traditions from your hometowns.<br />- Fashion photography (perhaps examining the ‘makeover’ process some people undergo when coming to a new city/uni).<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">- Postcards from your hometowns,</span> perhaps with stories etc on the back.<br />- Any experiences which are very much nostalgic to you now.<br /><br />We would also like you to submit photos which could be on the front of a postcard for New Cross, the photos would need to encapsulate how you feel about New Cross (and surrounding areas), a postcard you could send to someone who doesn’t live here. 4 winning photos will be chosen and published as pull-outs in the magazine.<br /><br />Please note- We would like submissions of the above things, but this is in no way a final list. PLEASE BE CREATIVE with your ideas around this theme, remember you can write about ANYTHING as long as you feel it links to the theme in some way, and as stated before, submissions can be in any form.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1353/554755551_682b6e5eba.jpg?v=0"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1353/554755551_682b6e5eba.jpg?v=0" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">'home'</span><br /></div>Buddhist_philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14246929532585980356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9223684.post-50960489014904818252008-02-05T11:51:00.000+00:002008-02-05T13:08:33.393+00:00Living - moving?<span style="font-weight: bold;">Today I visited another hall of residence for a potential move, Raymont Hall. </span> It has some pros and cons I'll need to mull over for a day or so; feel free to chime in with advice.<br /><br />Pros:<br /><ul><li>It's on <span style="font-weight: bold;">a quiet road</span> in a residential neighborhood, I now live on a major highway in a busy neighborhood.<br /></li><li>The room would be a bit bigger with <span style="font-weight: bold;">a nice desk</span>, my own toilet and shower, and a larger window, overlooking either <span style="font-weight: bold;">a quiet internal garden/courtyard</span> or facing out where it would get several hours of direct <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">sunlight</span>.</li><li>Laundry services are on-site; right now I have to walk a couple blocks to do laundry.<br /></li></ul>Cons:<br /><ul><li>It's 15 minutes' walk from college, I'm about 5 minutes now (a small thing).</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">The kitchens there are </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">filthy</span>; the kitchens here, despite the mice, are <span style="font-style: italic;">immaculate </span>in comparison.</li><li>No internet in the rooms (this may be a pro though if it means I get more work done).<br /></li><li>It is $30/week more in rent.</li></ul><span style="font-weight: bold;">The people</span> there (and thus potential noise from them) are a bit of a mystery. I know a couple people living in the hall, but none near where I would be (A2 or A18). <span style="font-weight: bold;">I <span style="font-style: italic;">really, really</span> like the people in my hall, </span>so I would be leaving them and the daily kindness and support that they give me.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">There is also the fact that I'll only be in London for about six more weeks (my ticket to DC and, more importantly, Kelly, is purchased for <span style="font-style: italic;">March 25</span>). </span> Of that six weeks, I already have a week booked in Gozo (<span style="font-style: italic;">many many thanks to Margaret and Bruce!</span>), and will spend about eight days in Bristol this month and next (<span style="font-style: italic;">many many thanks to SJ!</span>). So that only leaves about four weeks, twenty-eight or so days. Is it worth it to move for so short a time? I know I'll survive here at Batavia Mews; but I also know I won't <span style="font-style: italic;">thrive</span>. At Raymont I <span style="font-style: italic;">might </span>thrive, or then it could worse somehow...<br /><br />Anywho... something I'll mull over for a day or so. Please feel free to give thoughts or things for me to think about. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Thanks.</span>Buddhist_philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14246929532585980356noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9223684.post-69532339937303095562008-02-04T13:27:00.000+00:002008-02-04T16:52:34.655+00:00Living - Goodies from Home<span style="font-weight: bold;">Today a bit of joy came in the form of a package from my folks in Montana. </span>Enclosed were three things: a Christmas card from our jeweler with nice photos of Kel's ring, a daily Dalai Lama calendar from my brother, and noise canceling headphones I ordered.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_fyeYpxfdjuI/R6cjkf-4XCI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/3WW50E03d0U/s1600-h/Ring_mo_anam_cara.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_fyeYpxfdjuI/R6cjkf-4XCI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/3WW50E03d0U/s320/Ring_mo_anam_cara.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5163134607771065378" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Mo Anam Cara</span>, Gaelic for <span style="font-style: italic;">My Spiritual Friend (</span>or <span style="font-style: italic;">soulmate). Kelly recognized this spiritual bond between us from <a href="http://whatisworthknowing.com/unexpected-wisdoms/">our very first evening together</a>.</span></span><br /></div><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_fyeYpxfdjuI/R6cjRv-4XBI/AAAAAAAAAFI/D2NxEgEzOQg/s1600-h/Ring_claddagh.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_fyeYpxfdjuI/R6cjRv-4XBI/AAAAAAAAAFI/D2NxEgEzOQg/s320/Ring_claddagh.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5163134285648518162" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Claddagh: Heart, hands, and crown. "Let love and friendship reign." With an emerald in the heart for our soul-home, Ireland, the Emerald Isle.</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_fyeYpxfdjuI/R6ckZ_-4XDI/AAAAAAAAAFY/18bgOwbtE-o/s1600-h/justin_happy-headphones.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_fyeYpxfdjuI/R6ckZ_-4XDI/AAAAAAAAAFY/18bgOwbtE-o/s320/justin_happy-headphones.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5163135526894066738" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Wow, silence! Or at least very close.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Dalai Lama wisdom to come - soon! I also took a walk today to some other potential flats to live in but they weren't so great. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Tomorrow I'll see another one where I hear they have authentic sunshine, </span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >a garden, </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">rooms with balconies and they serve you Piña Coladas at sunset. </span>Ok, I made up the Piña Coladas part but the rest is true I swear.</span><br /></div></div>Buddhist_philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14246929532585980356noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9223684.post-51012350566611022542008-02-02T21:07:00.001+00:002008-02-02T21:12:55.303+00:00Quote of the Day:<span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"><blockquote>Primum vivere, deinde philosophari</blockquote></span>First live - <span style="font-style: italic;">then</span> philosophize.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_fyeYpxfdjuI/R6TcaP-4XAI/AAAAAAAAAFA/3OJIRabmm3c/s1600-h/justin+at+Kings+College.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_fyeYpxfdjuI/R6TcaP-4XAI/AAAAAAAAAFA/3OJIRabmm3c/s400/justin+at+Kings+College.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5162493416398412802" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >(from my daytrip to Cambridge with housemates)</span><br /></div>Buddhist_philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14246929532585980356noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9223684.post-26210116437768133832008-02-01T13:55:00.000+00:002008-02-01T15:14:56.673+00:00Reflecting on Aristotle, (1 of 4)I've just read the chapter on Aristotle in "Ethics in the History of Western Philosophy" and found his thought to be incredibly close to that of Buddhism. A major part of my thesis, it seems, will be in showing some of the key differences and why Kant may provide coverage of those differences. I also found Aristotle to be incredibly close to Kant...<br /><br />Some notes (those in black are roughly exegesis, <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">in red are my thoughts/interpretations</span>):<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">First, while in Plato we find a "radical and sound alternative" to Athenian democracy</span> (the same democracy that exhausted itself in a 30 year war with Sparta and executed its greatest thinker, Socrates), <span style="font-weight: bold;">in Aristotle we instead find a detached and conservative ethics.</span> <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Aristotle's work is less a critique of his society and more an attempt to raise up and clarify its highest attributes</span>. Aristotle's three works on ethics: the <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=aristot.+eud.+eth.+1214a">Eudemian Ethics,</a> <a href="http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/nicomachaen.html">Nicomachean Ethics</a>, and the <a href="http://caae.phil.cmu.edu/cavalier/80130/part1/sect1/texts/R_Aristotle.html">Magna Moralia</a> are all closely related to politics <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">rather than strictly individual ethics</span>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Happiness</span>, or flourishing (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eudaimonia"><span style="font-style: italic;">eudemonia</span></a>) for Aristotle is to be accomplished by building a rich inner life as opposed to the (perhaps later <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoicism">Stoic</a>) ideal of simplifying one's needs and expectations. Aristotle asserts that man is by nature a social/political creature, and that one cannot flourish in isolation.<br /><br />To distinguish which goods lead to happiness and which do not, Aristotle asks what is the particular nature of humanity, apart from all other creatures. <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">The oft cited analogy is that of asking what is the nature of a knife apart from other kitchen utensils: it cuts. A good (or virtuous, Aristotle uses the same term, </span><a href="http://www.wsu.edu/%7Edee/GLOSSARY/ARETE.HTM"><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">areté</span></a><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">) knife cuts well.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Humanity's special nature, that which sets us apart from other creatures is our </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">employment of reason</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">, our ability to act either rationally or irrationally.</span><br /><br />'Ok,' you might think, 'it is our best nature to act rationally, so we <span style="font-style: italic;">ought</span> to do that, right?' Well, strictly speaking, no. <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">This is a case of the philosophical problem known by the fancy term: the </span><a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naturalistic_fallacy">naturalistic fallacy</a><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">, aka. the is/ought problem. The problem is the reasoning that just because something </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">is</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"> that it therefore </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">should be</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"> that way. A simple example to illustrate this is to say, '<a href="http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=87&art_id=vn20080130032440206C823030">ethnic cleansing</a> and <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/kenya/story/0,,2250424,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront">perhaps soon genocide</a> are again happening in Africa. We can say this 'is' a fact but certainly we would not say it 'ought to be' that way.' Some things that </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">are</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">, are wrong. </span><br /><br />Aristotle gets around this by positing the <span style="font-style: italic;">virtues</span> as the principles by which to judge whether something is good or bad. <span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Reason</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"> is on the </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">is</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"> side (of the is/ought divide). So reason itself cannot be employed to determine the rightness or wrongness of an action: you could have a very </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">reasonable</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"> war criminal and a fairly irrational (but otherwise harmless) store clerk.</span> What is needed as an logically external standard, and that is the virtues. <span style="font-weight: bold;">They are external because they flow not from human nature </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">per se</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">, but from the practical nature of society </span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">and thus may vary from one society to the next</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">.</span><br /><div style="text-align: center;">~<br /></div>In the next post I hope to finish the exegesis on Aristotle, covering his discussion on the relationship between moral and intellectual virtues as well as his determination of what makes an act <span style="font-style: italic;">right</span>.<br /><br />Third, I will point out some of the continuity and difference in Kant's though. And finally I hope to finish with a comparison of some of these ideas in Aristotle to Buddhist ethics.Buddhist_philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14246929532585980356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9223684.post-2817936855405122008-01-31T17:06:00.000+00:002008-01-31T17:10:39.549+00:00Quote of the Day:From my friend Kristy back in MT:<br /><blockquote>It's too bad that London isn't more fun for you. I envisioned you wearing your long black coat walking up the steps of a museum but I've changed that mental picture to you living in a ghetto and cooking noodles in a small dirty kitchen with a bunch of dirty people all waiting to take a shower.</blockquote>That pretty much sums it up!<br /><br /><span id="_ctl0_lblContent">N.B. <a href="http://www.jigsawhealth.com/articles/adrenal-fatigue-syndrome-dietary.html">Tips for overcoming adrenal fatigue</a>: Laugh as often as possible since this increases the parasympathetic supply to the adrenals.</span>Buddhist_philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14246929532585980356noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9223684.post-20396204809405150042008-01-31T10:15:00.000+00:002008-01-31T12:14:55.462+00:00Back on and in search of Buddhist EthicsI am happy to say that I feel like I am recovering from my recent stress overload and I'm getting back to work.<span style="font-weight: bold;"> I may have been (and still am to some point) suffering from </span><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.jigsawhealth.com/articles/adrenal-fatigue-syndrome-symptoms.html">adrenal fatigue syndrome</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">, which I take to be a fancy name for stressed out (with no break). </span>According to some, this is the <span style="font-style: italic;">most</span> under-diagnosed illness of the 21st century. From the link above:<br /><span id="_ctl0_lblContent"><blockquote>You may have Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome if you are experiencing any of these symptoms: <ul><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Fatigue, lethargy </span><ul><li style="font-weight: bold;">Lack of energy in the mornings, and also in the afternoon between 3 and 5 pm</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Often feel tired between 9 and 10 pm, but resist going to bed</span> </li></ul></li><li>Lightheadedness (including dizziness and fainting) when rising from a sitting or laying-down position</li><li>Lowered blood pressure and blood sugar</li><li style="font-weight: bold;">Difficulty concentrating or remembering (brain fog)</li><li style="font-weight: bold;">Consistently feeling unwell or difficulty recovering from infections</li><li>Craving either salty or sugary foods to keep going</li><li>Unexplained hair loss</li><li>Nausea</li><li>Alternating constipation and diarrhea</li><li>Mild depression</li><li>Decreased sex drive</li><li style="font-weight: bold;">Sleep difficulties</li><li style="font-weight: bold;">Unexplained pain in the upper back or neck</li><li>Increased symptoms of PMS for women – periods are heavy and then stop (or almost stop) on the 4th day, only to start flow again on the 5th or 6th day</li><li style="font-weight: bold;">Tendency to gain weight and inability to lose it – especially around the waist</li><li>High frequency of getting the flu and other respiratory diseases – plus a tendency for them to last longer than usual</li></ul></blockquote></span>The bold ones are symptoms I've definitely had. If you find yourself nodding as you go through the list, check out the above link for tips on <a href="http://www.jigsawhealth.com/articles/adrenal-fatigue-syndrome-dietary.html">lifestyle and diet changes that can help out</a>.<br /><div style="text-align: center;">~<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Current Studies:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Right now I am clarifying my reasons for choosing Kantian ethics to help shed light on Buddhist ethics.</span> Part of that involves working with Howard Caygill here, a Kant specialist, to formulate a very rich and subtle understanding of Buddhist ethics. This means getting beyond "Kant the formalist" where the Categorical Imperative is seen as the basis of his ethical system.<br /><br />Kant is usually presented as giving <span style="font-style: italic;">only </span>these abstract formulations: <span style="font-style: italic;">act so as to treat all rational beings as ends and not merely as means</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">act upon maxims such that you could will that these maxims be universal</span>, etc. These sound nice, but also seem hopelessly detached from our daily lives, and thus pretty useless as ethical guidance. However, statements like this make up only one tiny corner of Kant's ethical world. <span style="font-weight: bold;">It has been the error of countless thinkers after Kant to single these out as the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">essence </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">of Kant's ethical thought and to ignore the rest. </span><br /><br />At the same time, Buddhist ethics <span style="font-style: italic;">seem</span> to have some similarly hopelessly detached notions such as non-self (<i>anattā</i>) and <span style="font-style: italic;">dhamma</span>, a term that can be variously translated as: law, eternal law, the liberating law, the underlying law of reality, duty, morality, thing, the teaching, the Buddha's teaching, and so on. <span style="font-weight: bold;">And just like Kant's Categorical Imperative, these are not terms that are helpful to <span style="font-style: italic;">everyone </span>on the Buddhist path (a householder, for instance, is often simply taught to follow the five precepts and cultivate generosity). </span><br /><br />However, for the philosophically minded, which in the Buddha's day included himself, many learned Brahmins, and his own monks and nuns, a fuller understanding of the nature of reality is needed. This philosophy was not for its own sake, but because the Buddhist goal of <span style="font-style: italic;">nibb</span><i>ā</i><span style="font-style: italic;">na</span> is equated with seeing things as they truly are (<span style="font-style: italic;">yathā-bhūtaṃ</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:-1;" ><b></b></span>). <span style="font-weight: bold;">This </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">seeing</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> certainly needs to be accompanied by active moral cultivation of the precepts and </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">pāramitās</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> or virtues. </span> Yet it may be said that one who is swift along the path <span style="font-style: italic;">without seeing</span> quickly goes astray. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">So my thesis will posit that such notions as no-self and </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">dhamma</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> form a sort of conceptual </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">light at the end of the tunnel</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> for those traversing the Buddhist path. </span>This is how Kant saw the <span style="font-style: italic;">moral law</span> and his Categorical Imperatives, as <span style="font-style: italic;">ideals</span> to be sought after rather than formulas to be calculated. And so with <span style="font-style: italic;">dhamma</span>. While at first it may seem like a hopelessly vague or abstract term, perhaps a relic of Brahmanism that modern Buddhists can be rid of, it turns out to have deep soteriological value as a goal toward which to strive.<br /></div></div>Buddhist_philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14246929532585980356noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9223684.post-35265986166830576412008-01-29T20:14:00.000+00:002008-01-29T20:42:33.058+00:00Tuesday's LessonsWell I'm happy to report that most of the angst underlying Sunday's post seems to have gone away. It's hard to say exactly how or why it left, or what brought it on in the first place. But some things I've learned that might help for the future:<br /><ol><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Kelly and I have lots of <span style="font-style: italic;">wonderful, amazing</span> people in our lives that both want us to be happy and have great advice and helpful solutions. </span><br /></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">I need a regular meditation practice;</span> I've had one here twice a week for a few weeks, but more would be good.</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">When I'm stressed my inclination is to withdraw. </span> This can be okay, even good, at times. But at this time, me withdrawing is the exact opposite of what Kelly needs. I need to keep her informed with what's going on here (even when it's not pretty).</li><li style="font-weight: bold;">I'll be much, much better when I'm out of London!</li></ol>Right now I'm on the fence regarding moving out. I was leaning toward it but then my housemates all told me how sad they'd be if I left (some making reference to things I have fixed, others not). (to them - <span style="font-weight: bold;">Thanks</span>) One even offered to call Kelly and tell her they'd be sad, and how it's pretty horrible here, but that it's only two more months. <span style="font-weight: bold;">To those who have offered me places to stay for a visit </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">outside of London</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">, YES and YES.</span> So no move, but some travels. And some more meditation. Now back to our previously scheduled programing of Buddhist ethics and Kantian drivelings.... :)<br /><br />Oh, but one last note. <span style="font-weight: bold;">One of my great professors back in Montana, Albert Borgmann, offered his students a sort of 'key' to or formula for happiness:</span><br /><ol><li>Think about the <span style="font-weight: bold;">things that you do</span> that make you most happy</li><li>Think about the <span style="font-weight: bold;">people that you are with</span> when you are most happy</li><li>Think about the <span style="font-weight: bold;">place where you are</span> most happy, &</li><li>Remember these three.</li></ol>I've got great people here (and many more that aren't here), and I am blessed to be able to study the subject that I love, but the <span style="font-style: italic;">place</span> here.... well.Buddhist_philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14246929532585980356noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9223684.post-805038393477972432008-01-28T02:28:00.000+00:002008-01-28T02:59:30.029+00:00Sunday Night Ramblings<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/buddhist_philosopher/1437785613/in/set-72157602156289423/"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1348/1437785613_c71598c8a1.jpg?v=0" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">It's noisy in (my part of) London. </span> I hear sirens day and night, going right by my flat about every 10-15 minutes. I am told that the next neighborhood (<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6338755.stm">Peckham</a>) has the highest gun crime rate in England. We (four blocks away) are <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7027045.stm">close behind</a>.<br /><br />It's noisy too in my flat. The walls are thin. I can hear/take part in conversations in the next room over or the hallway, or with the people a floor below me. What's worse is that my room is next to the kitchen. <span style="font-weight: bold;">I'm growing to associate food with noise. </span>I know exactly when half of my flatmates eat. I'm growing to dislike people who eat late.<br /><br />Our sink clogged this week. My flatmates wait for it to fix itself (like it did before). And it will, again, after I scoop out the water, plunge it a bit with my hands, and eventually buy drain cleaner to pour down two or three times. <span style="font-weight: bold;">(this time even that isn't working)</span><br /><br />A couple times this week I've made precious progress on my ph.d. thesis and upcoming (March) panel presentation. <span style="font-weight: bold;">But at this rate neither will be ready in time.</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/buddhist_philosopher/2219354320/"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2277/2219354320_875b143693.jpg?v=0" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">And, worst of all, Kelly and I are quarreling. </span>Some of it is small stuff like dessert selections for our wedding. Sometimes it's bigger though, like how we handle and what we need under stress. We have only known each other for seven months, so these changes can be frightening. When we first met she was, to use a label commonly placed on her, a superwoman. <span style="font-weight: bold;">She had grace and confidence and inquisitiveness that I found… intoxicating. I couldn’t wait each day just to see her again (thinking about it reminds me of how much I love her and how grateful I am to call her my fiancée). </span>I was apparently not so bad off myself: meditating, living close to nature, grounded.<br /><br />Today, however, we are far apart from one another. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Both of us are in spiritually toxic environments, <a href="http://whatisworthknowing.com/mean-girls/">her in DC</a> and me in S.E. London.</span> The other night I was disturbed around 2am by some young students returning to a neighboring flat when one of them screamed at our security guard, “Wake up! I’ll git you sacked! I’ll git you sacked!" and to his friends, "Eeeez sleeeepin’!” All of that (and things not appropriate to post here) was repeated several times as his friends apparently corralled the young man into this flat. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Deep down I know this is all a lesson. And that life is flux, and that we mustn’t cling. </span><br /><br />But I still get frustrated. I didn’t come here for lessons. I didn’t come to learn about contemporary issues in British immigration and gun crime. I didn’t come to learn about navigating relationships in difficult times. I came to get a (bloody!) university education. <span style="font-weight: bold;">I came, and paid – oh so much money – to be <span style="font-style: italic;">free </span>to be immersed in the ambrosia-like waters of Buddhist Ethics; to eat, sleep, and breath Buddhism and philosophy. </span><br /><br />Ha!<br /><br />Gosh oh golly, <span style="font-weight: bold;">I guess life had its own plans </span>for me.<br /><br />The important thing, according to my Kantian-Buddhism, is not how well I do here or the particulars of my relationship with Kelly at any given time. <span style="font-weight: bold;">The important thing is staying connected with my core - grounded, acting instead of reacting, observing and smiling. </span><span>I</span>t is when we are connected that we succeed. It was being grounded that (I believe) helped me get here in the first place, and made me so handsome and irresistible to Kelly not so long ago.<br /><br />Breathing, listening... at about 2:30 each night the sounds of the city are replaced by song-birds outside my window. They make me laugh. They remind me of home. <span style="font-weight: bold;">At the same time they bring me <span style="font-style: italic;">here, </span>they teach me to <span style="font-style: italic;">let go </span>of how I want it to be and <span style="font-style: italic;">to love how it is.</span></span>Buddhist_philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14246929532585980356noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9223684.post-34928002646566928172008-01-26T23:29:00.000+00:002008-01-27T00:00:44.886+00:00A compass in stormy seasTaken from Charles Muller’s Resources for East Asian Language and Thought<br />Translated during the summer of 1991 by Charles Muller<br />Revised, July 1997<br /><blockquote>1.The Tao that can be followed is not the eternal Tao.<br />The name that can be named is not the eternal name.<br />The nameless is the origin of heaven and earth<br />While naming is the origin of the myriad things.<br />Therefore, always desireless, you see the mystery<br />Ever desiring, you see the manifestations.<br />These two are the same–<br />When they appear they are named differently.<br /><br />Their sameness is the mystery,<br />Mystery within mystery;<br /><br />The door to all marvels.<br /><br />(The above is borrowed from <a href="http://thezenfrog.wordpress.com/2007/12/18/the-classic-of-all-classic-scriptures-in-taoist-literature-tao-te-ching/">Zen Frog<br /></a><a href="http://thezenfrog.wordpress.com/2007/12/18/the-classic-of-all-classic-scriptures-in-taoist-literature-tao-te-ching/#more-2369">Read more</a>)</blockquote><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/buddhist_philosopher/2184323414/in/set-72157603688697179/"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2342/2184323414_438d60ece2.jpg?v=0" alt="" border="0" /></a>Sigh. I take solace in eternal wisdom like this when the seas around me grow stormy. I just watched the movie, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0434409/">V for Vendetta</a>, in which one of the quotes is:<br /><blockquote>"...artists use lies to tell the truth, while politicians use them to cover the truth up."</blockquote>I might add to that something like:<br /><blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold;">"philosophers hold to truth for dear life, while Buddhists accept all truth - and move on."</span><br /></blockquote>In those terms, when life gets a bit hairy, I become much more of a philosopher and less of a Buddhist. But, my love of wisdom, my <span style="font-style: italic;">philo sophia</span>, comes when, through philosophizing I come to the realization that I must move on.<br /><br />I read today in <a href="http://www.goldsmiths.ac.uk/history/staff/h-caygill.php">Howard Caygill's</a> book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Art-Judgement-Howard-Caygill/dp/0631165967/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201390836&sr=8-5">The Art of Judgement</a>, on Kant's 3rd Critique, that Kant envisioned philosophical critique as the <span style="font-style: italic;">activity of self-orientation</span>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">I think about what that means: </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">the activity of self-orientation</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">. </span> I think its essence demands that I say nothing more here; perhaps it's like a koan - not meant to be answered, but used to smash through old truths and allow the new ones. Ah, but I've said too much. Shhhh...Buddhist_philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14246929532585980356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9223684.post-73291070522040800862008-01-24T11:46:00.000+00:002008-01-24T16:44:43.977+00:00Life: Global Warming, Polution, and Interconnectedness<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2391/2203928116_b3f77b7b26_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 517px; height: 386px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2391/2203928116_b3f77b7b26_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Last summer I helped organize the 2nd annual Environmental Ethics Institute in Missoula, MT. Above is Don Brown, former counsel to President Bill Clinton, speaking about the moral implications of consumption in wealthy nations. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Brown, who I found out also considers himself to be a "Buddhist-Kantian" (that's two of us so far), spoke passionately about the duty and responsibility of the rich and powerful. </span>I was saddened that, even there, many in the audience responded with phrases like, "not my fault," and "not my problem."<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">It seems that evidence of human-caused global warming and environmental destruction are everywhere these days. </span>We again saw record breaking heat this summer in Montana and now I guess we have a record-hot January in London, causing premature blooming of trees and flowers. <span style="font-weight: bold;">It's difficult, with all the news and statistics and conflicting diagnoses and prescriptions, to know just what to do.</span> For me it was helpful to take the <a href="http://www.myfootprint.org/">ecological footprint</a> test again. <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/06/philosophy-if-everyone-lived-like-you.html">I took it last June</a> and, living in beautiful Montana, discovered that I consumed enough to require 3.8 planets. This time around I guess I'm doing a bit better, down to 2.7 planets. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_fyeYpxfdjuI/R5h8zf-4W_I/AAAAAAAAAE4/51C1mtrSXdc/s1600-h/environmental_footprint.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_fyeYpxfdjuI/R5h8zf-4W_I/AAAAAAAAAE4/51C1mtrSXdc/s320/environmental_footprint.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5159010597353315314" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">What I make up for in compacted living and not driving anywhere, I seem to lose in having my food imported from all over the world: bananas from Costa Rica (I think I'll give up on these again), apples from Italy (not so far I suppose), fish from Indonesia and Siberia! </span> Speaking of fish, I've been trying to eat more of it to boost my energy levels - mentally and physically - with good success. The downside is that, along with the global warming problem, humans are dumping <span style="font-style: italic;">tons</span> of toxins into the environment, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/24/opinion/24thu3.html">toxins that eventually make their way back - to us</a>.<br /><br />The other night, some of my flatmates went to a dance performance nearby, in which the choreographer was commissioned by the government to make a statement on the environment. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.arts-services.co.uk/Glacier.htm"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://www.arts-services.co.uk/Images/LRGlacier-Shoot-1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> The result, <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.arts-services.co.uk/Glacier.htm">Glacier</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">, brings to the audience the painful struggle and death of animals caught in oil and the gradual melting of glaciers, signifying the steady death of society.</span><br /><blockquote><strong><em>Glacier</em></strong> will paint a <span class="style29"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);font-size:85%;" ><strong><em><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);font-size:85%;" ><strong><em><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);font-size:85%;" ><strong></strong></span></em></strong></span></em></strong></span></span>glistening and sometimes disturbing picture of society reflected on an icy surface which is gradually thawing away, beautifully distorting the mirrored image. (from their <a href="http://www.arts-services.co.uk/Glacier.htm">website</a>)<br /></blockquote>It ends, I am told, with one of the performers frozen in ice with lines of oil being injected into her with intravenous needles.<br /><br />But, on a more optimistic note, recently my friend Margaret invited me to take part in <a href="http://www.earthhour.org/">Earth Hour 2008</a>, which I definitely would love to participate in (sound good, Kelly?).<br /><object height="323" width="465"><param name="movie" value="http://www.earthhour.org/flash/earth_hour.swf"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="bgcolor" value="#011c2d"><param name="FlashVars" value="path=http://www.earthhour.org/flash/earth_hour_flv.flv&playerSkin=http://www.earthhour.org/flash/EHAll.swf&img=http://www.earthhour.org/flash/earth_hour_flv.jpg"><embed src="http://www.earthhour.org/flash/earth_hour.swf" flashvars="path=http://www.earthhour.org/flash/earth_hour_flv.flv&playerSkin=http://www.earthhour.org/flash/EHAll.swf&img=http://www.earthhour.org/flash/earth_hour_flv.jpg" quality="high" bgcolor="#011c2d" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" height="323" width="465"></embed></object><br /><br />Speaking of the 2007 Earth Hour in Sidney, Australian actress Cate Blanchett stated, "it's very rare in the pace of modern life that we stop and think about how much we consume and the way we live our lives... so, I think it's a beginning."<br /><br />A beginning indeed, and a momentous one. The video is, to me, amazingly moving and inspiring. March 29, 8pm. It puts a smile on my face to think about.Buddhist_philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14246929532585980356noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9223684.post-26391847948195186242008-01-22T21:09:00.000+00:002008-01-22T23:56:37.063+00:00Kant and Buddha on HappinessIn my (slow but sure) continued reading of Harvey's article on Free Will [<a href="http://www.buddhistethics.org/14/harvey2-article.html">view</a>] [<a href="http://www.buddhistethics.org/14/harvey2-article.pdf">print</a>] I have found another in-road into Kantian analysis and thought.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_fyeYpxfdjuI/R5ZtNRT05LI/AAAAAAAAAEo/-UgWtIA-718/s1600-h/kant2b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_fyeYpxfdjuI/R5ZtNRT05LI/AAAAAAAAAEo/-UgWtIA-718/s320/kant2b.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5158430497951769778" border="0" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >~ Kant ~</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">For Kant, happiness is something we make ourselves </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">worthy</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> of by following the moral law. </span>That moral law, importantly (and oft misunderstood) is <span style="font-style: italic;">not</span> something 'out there' - as in religious or political laws or rules. <span style="font-weight: bold;">The moral law comes from us.</span> But it is also <span style="font-style: italic;">not</span> subjective, it is objective (and universal) because it is based in what we all share as humans: reason. Reason for Kant is a term of art. It isn't used as we use it today, in the <span style="font-style: italic;">instrumental </span>sense: 'he reasoned his way through the situation,' or 'accountants are very reason-based people.' There, reason can be replaced by 'calculate'.<br /><br />In Kant, reason is the faculty which takes us beyond ourselves as subjective, limited beings. <span style="font-weight: bold;">It is what compels us to </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">do the right thing</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> even when we cannot explain this to others.</span> It is the faculty by which people saw that slavery was wrong even when religion and politics sanctioned it. It is the faculty through which we see the dignity and irreducible value of every other human being (and, some would say that it eventually reaches to non-human animals as well).<br /><br />You can see why Kant is so easily and often misunderstood. It is easy to read him without understanding his use of terms.<br /><br />In any case, that is Kant on Reason (in a nutshell). <span style="font-weight: bold;">By employing our reason we learn to see things from others' perspectives, we learn to see the good and dignity in others, in short, we quit being so <span style="font-style: italic;">selfish</span>. </span>For Kant it is our selfishness, and our selfish use of reason (here as mere calculation) that is the main cause of suffering in the world. The second cause of suffering is merely following the dictates of others.<br /><br />The 'good Christian' for Kant was the one who, <span style="font-style: italic;">using his reason</span>, determined that there <span style="font-style: italic;">must</span> be a God and that one really <span style="font-style: italic;">ought</span> to act for the benefit of all people as much as possible, utterly regardless of whether this will bring you benefit or not. <span style="font-weight: bold;">A good Christian was </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">not</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> for Kant one who worked to please or impress the priests or parishioners or to master the dogma.</span> Similarly, the good citizen realizes, <span style="font-style: italic;">through reason</span>, the importance of a flourishing and stable society and the danger of revolution. The good citizen is <span style="font-style: italic;">not</span> the one who carefully or mindlessly follows rules. Sure, impressing people and following rules have their place, but for Kant, <span style="font-style: italic;">doing the right thing</span> (morality) would always trump either of these - and <span style="font-style: italic;">morality</span> is the proper aim of all of us.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >~ Buddha ~</span><br /></div><blockquote>It is in this fathom-long carcass, (which is) cognitive (<span style="font-style: italic;">sanynyimhi</span>) and endowed with mind (-<span style="font-style: italic;">mana</span>-), that, I declare (lies) the world, and the origin of the world, and the stopping of the world [<span style="font-style: italic;">nirvana</span>], and the way that goes to the stopping of the world (S.I.62). {in Harvey, p.75} </blockquote>Harvey comments on this thus:<blockquote>Within the confining parameters set by a certain meaning-world, one has some freedom of action in accordance with one's degree of awareness and reflection. A more full and accurate meaning-world, closer to seeing things as-they-really-are and thus less affected by ignorance, opens up new possibilities, which are closer to the experience of nirvaana-the unconditioned (<span style="font-style: italic;">asankhata</span>).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_fyeYpxfdjuI/R5Zt6BT05MI/AAAAAAAAAEw/bZ2kHuAduEM/s1600-h/Kant-Buddha.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_fyeYpxfdjuI/R5Zt6BT05MI/AAAAAAAAAEw/bZ2kHuAduEM/s320/Kant-Buddha.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5158431266750915778" border="0" /></a> </blockquote>My Kantian-Buddhist angle on this would say that our <span style="font-style: italic;">degree of awareness </span><span style="font-style: italic;">and reflection</span> is roughly the same as Kant's use of Reason (in the non-calculative sense). <span style="font-weight: bold;">The more irrational we are, the more we are slaves to a very narrow meaning-world - generally determined by our religion or political persuasion and the people we have regular contact with. </span>Our use of reason (generating <span style="font-style: italic;">awareness</span>) allows us to <span style="font-style: italic;">rise above</span> this, giving us a 'more full and accurate meaning-world.'<br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.05pt;">Our suffering is so much a result of our concepts - our attempts to box in the world and make it predictable (my friend and fellow blogger, <a href="http://woodmoorvillage.typepad.com/zendo/">Nacho</a>, often remarks on the fact that Buddhism seems to be the only religion to stress the moral importance of accepting <span style="font-style: italic;">uncertainty</span>). And where do we get these concepts? From other people and social, political, and religious institutions. <br /></p>But this is not to deny the importance of institutions and other people. We need both of these. <span style="font-weight: bold;">The problem only arises when institutions and people claim to give us some sort of certainty, or we seek certainty in them. </span>This is a problem because change or flux is fundamental to reality. And flux (<span style="font-style: italic;">anicca</span>) is fundamental to seeing-things-as-they-really-are (<span style="font-style: italic;">yatha-bhuta).<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Nirvana</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">, it would seem, is the fullest acceptance of flux - or fullest recognition thereof. </span>It is a rising above the happy-one-moment, sad-the-next that dominates samsaric existence. This is a <span style="font-style: italic;">true happiness</span>, one unconditioned by the vicissitudes of daily life, one which runs much deeper.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">So for both Kant and Buddha it seems that happiness is a result of disentangling ourselves with the ways of the world around us in search of something deeper. </span> This 'something deeper' was for Kant the 'moral law' and for Buddha the <span style="font-style: italic;">dharma</span>. For both this was the goal of a good life. For both, bad things could still happen - living morally or according to <span style="font-style: italic;">dharma</span> is no guarantee that things will be hunky-dory. The Buddha still had to confront angry elephants, a serial killer (<span style="font-style: italic;">angulimala</span>), and his jealous and murderous cousin <span style="font-style: italic;">devadata</span>. In recognizing this, Kant was quite clear that living a moral life is no guarantee of happiness - <span style="font-style: italic;">stuff </span>will still happen - but it does guarantee that we are <span style="font-style: italic;">worthy</span> of happiness, that is, we can rise above the <span style="font-style: italic;">stuff</span> as it assails us.Buddhist_philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14246929532585980356noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9223684.post-53959819872088901332008-01-20T23:10:00.000+00:002008-01-23T11:04:38.842+00:00Life: wandering 'round London<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/buddhist_philosopher/2205549973/"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 261px; height: 348px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2346/2205549973_eeeca1f95f_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;"> London can be a dark and dreary place, especially these days when we seem encased in clouds and the sun, when it does cut through, sets around 4pm. </span>'Tis even drearier to sit around my flat (see my<a href="http://justininengland.blogspot.com/2008/01/life-my-house-is-famous.html"> earlier post</a>), or the <a href="http://justininengland.blogspot.com/2007/09/life-orientation-week-done-acceptance.html">Goldsmiths library</a>, or most anywhere else in my neighborhood.<br /><br />Luckily I have adventurous flatmates. Sjors (pictured) is one such flatmate. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Born on the tiny Dutch island of (insert unpronounceable Dutch word), Sjors has since sought a life of international travel and artistic media stuff. </span><br /><br />Yesterday we ventured south and west on foot up Telegraph Hill and then on randomly until we found <a href="http://www.fonc.org.uk/">Nunhead Cemetery</a>. <span style="font-weight: bold;">The place was </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">amazing</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">. First thing was saw? </span><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/buddhist_philosopher/2206338384/">A fox</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">!</span> After that we meandered up its main avenue toward the burnt-out church in the middle.<br /><br />I'm not sure why, but I always feel a little extra sense of peace when I'm in cemeteries. Perhaps its the R.I.P. mantra engraved on so many headstones. Perhaps it's an extra jolt of awareness that there are bigger problems in the world than those I face each day. Perhaps it's knowing that I'm surrounded by people who... can't really talk to me. <span style="font-weight: bold;">It has all the people-feeling, without the people-noise.</span> I get that in churches too - the big, quiet churches where no one talks. 'Tis nice.<br /><br />In any case, I came away feeling refreshed. Last weekend we ventured to Blackheath, a very nice (posh, villagy) area not far from here. <span style="font-weight: bold;">I think we're starting a tradition.</span><br /><br />Oh, I can't help but toss in this poem I found on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brockley">Brockley</a> wikipedia page (it seemed appropriate on so many levels):<br /><p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linton_Kwesi_Johnson" title="Linton Kwesi Johnson">Linton Kwesi Johnson</a> mentions Brockley in his poem "Inglan Is A Bitch". He spells it "Brackly" as this is roughly how it sounds in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamaica" title="Jamaica">Jamaican</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patois" title="Patois">patois</a>:</p> <dl><dd><i>dem a have a lickle facktri up inna Brackly</i></dd><dd><i>inna disya facktri all dem dhu is pack crackry</i></dd><dd><i>fi di laas fifteen years dem get mi laybah</i></dd><dd><i>now awftah fifteen years mi fall out a fayvah</i></dd></dl>Buddhist_philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14246929532585980356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9223684.post-81713666513434888722008-01-19T02:21:00.000+00:002008-01-20T00:35:53.083+00:00Buddhist Ethics, Free Will, and the logic of KarmaIt seems like it's been forever since I've posted on Buddhist Ethics, and almost that long since I've done any work on it. Oh well. We're moving past that slump now with a bit from an article fresh off the press (well, electronically, and it may be a few months old, hard to tell). The article is:<br /><blockquote style="font-weight: bold;"><em>"'Freedom of the Will' in the Light of Theravāda Buddhist Teachings"</em> by Peter Harvey [<a href="http://www.buddhistethics.org/14/harvey2-article.html">view</a>] [<a href="http://www.buddhistethics.org/14/harvey2-article.pdf">print</a>] from the 2007 edition of the Journal of Buddhist Ethics.</blockquote>I should note a <span style="font-style: italic;">big kudos</span> to <a href="http://www.livingdharma.info/about_mentors.htm#Asaf">Asaf Federman</a>, a former coursemate of mine at Bristol (and soon-to-be co-panelist, more on that to come), who is cited frequently and approvingly by Harvey.<br /><br />The one point that I wanted to post today was <span style="font-weight: bold;">Harvey's modern logical extension of of the Buddhist concept of Karma</span>. <blockquote>While the idea did not exist in the pre-modern era, contemporary Buddhists are able to say that, as one gets one's genes from one's parents, and one gets one's parents from one's past karma, then any genetic influence on character, and thence behavior, is itself a mode of karmic influence. (p.47)<br /></blockquote><span style=";font-family:Gentium;font-size:11;color:black;" lang="EN-GB" ><span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:Justin%20Whitaker" datetime="2008-01-19T02:19"></ins></span></span>This is something <a href="http://justininengland.blogspot.com/2007/10/buddhist-ethics-figuring-out-karma.html">I discussed a bit a while back</a>. In that post I discussed the Buddhist five <span style="font-style: italic;">niyamas</span>*. Though it is never, as far as I know, made explicit in primary or commentarial literature, <span style="font-weight: bold;">I think these sets of causality may be seen as nested, that is, all that falls within a narrower category </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">necessarily</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> falls within the next larger.</span> One example of such nesting is found in the similar categorization in the natural sciences, which may go something like this:<br /><br />1) all that is, is determined by laws of <span style="font-weight: bold;">quantum mechanics</span><br />2) within that is the category of (observable) <span style="font-weight: bold;">classical physics</span><br />3) within classical physics are organic things governed by <span style="font-weight: bold;">biological laws</span><br />4) certain <span style="font-weight: bold;">biological things</span> appear to have <span style="font-weight: bold;">mental states*</span><br />*since the mental is so poorly understood in Western thought, no proposal that these be governed by laws has yet caught on.<br /><br />Notice that this is a sort of 'bottom-up' nesting, from the littlest things to bigger and bigger. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Many materialists will simply leave it at biology and say that mind is 'reducible' to that level (thus avoiding messy talk of </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">mind </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">all together). </span><br /><br />And here's the Buddhist model (with my nesting interpretation):<br /><br />1) all that is, is within <span style="font-style: italic;">dhamma-niyama</span><br />2) within that is a category of (moral) action, the <span style="font-style: italic;">kamma-niyama</span><br />3) within <span style="font-style: italic;">kamma-niyama</span> are <span style="font-weight: bold;">mental actions, </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">citta-niyama</span><br />4) only within mind (<span style="font-style: italic;">citta</span>) are organic or cyclical processes, <span style="font-style: italic;">bija-niyama</span><br />5) and within that is the category and laws of mere matter, <span style="font-style: italic;">utu-niyama</span>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Buddhist nesting theory is 'top-down'. It starts with the big, abstract stuff, </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">dhamma</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">, and works </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">down </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">to the material world. </span>This makes matter itself a consequence of cyclical processes, which one could stretch to (match with contemporary physics and) say that the creation of universes itself is a cyclical process and it only within these that matter may be produced. More difficult to match up with any Western thought is the idea that organic or cyclical processes themselves are an outcome of mental actions, or that those fall on moral foundations.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Yet in Buddhism, at least in Tibetan expositions I have heard, </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">everything</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> does rest on moral, or </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">karmic</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">, foundations.</span> Even our non-volitional actions, like rolling over and hurting a bug in our sleep (or a mouse if you're me), can only happen because our karma led us to have <span style="font-style: italic;">this </span>body and live in <span style="font-style: italic;">this</span> place. Yes, it would be silly (not to mention pedantic) to attribute <span style="font-style: italic;">every little thing </span>to karma - to some past deed.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Later in the paper, Harvey explicitly asks: </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Is everything due to karma?</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> (p.50) </span>He suggests, that it is <span style="font-style: italic;">not</span> karma, but <span style="font-style: italic;">other</span> forms of conditioning that can be the cause of experiences (p.51):<br /><blockquote>At S.IV.230-231, the Buddha discusses the various causes of the experiences (feelings/sensations: vedayitāni) that a person might have. They can originate:<br /><p style="margin: 0in;"></p><blockquote>in bile...in phlegm ...in the winds (of the body) ...from a union of humors (of the body) ...born of a change of season ...born of the stress of circumstances ...due to (someone else’s) effort (opakkamikāni)… and some things that are experienced here, Sīvaka, arise born of the maturing of karma.</blockquote><p></p><p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;"> </p><p style="margin: 0in;">It is thus seen as incorrect to say that, "Whatever this person experiences, whether pleasant or painful or neither painful nor pleasant, all that is due to what was done earlier." </p> </blockquote><p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;"></p> <span style="font-weight: bold;">But how does this match up with Harvey's logical extension of karma above? </span> Certainly if we wish to say that things caused by "(someone else's) effort" are <span style="font-style: italic;">not</span> due to karma, then wouldn't <span style="font-style: italic;">our <span style="font-style: italic;">conception</span></span> (so clearly a result of our parents' effort) be <span style="font-style: italic;">not</span> karmically caused? It seems to turn on how you interpret the Pali canon passage cited above. I take it to say that it is incorrect to attribute every experience to some (particular) past action (<span style="font-style: italic;">karman</span>). Harvey is interpreting it as saying that there are experiences for which karma (our past volitional actions) has no causal role.<br /><br />But then another question comes to mind. If being born as a human is due to karma, as all schools of Buddhism emphatically claim, then <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">aren't all experiences in </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">this human body</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"> due to that same karma?</span> </span> Now, that is emphatically <span style="font-style: italic;">not</span> to negate other causal factors. If I have a belly-ache, it makes more sense to investigate the Thai food I ate last night, <span style="font-style: italic;">not</span> what I did in a past life. I take this to be what the Buddha was suggesting here.<br /><br />It is said that in this passage the Buddha was specifically refuting Jain theory. This fact supports my interpretation. The Jains focused so heavily on karma that they sought both to create no new karma (through an ultra-minimalistic lifestyle) and to burn off remaining karma through austerity (<span style="font-style: italic;">tapas</span>). In this context we can see that the Buddha is simply giving a less radical, more common-sense teaching: <span style="font-weight: bold;">"maybe you are sick because of the 'changing of the seasons' or because someone sneezed on you, (in cases such as this) don't worry so much about </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">karma</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">." </span>He is not making the more radical claim that there are certain things in our life completely outside the sphere of <span style="font-style: italic;">karma</span>.<br /><br />*<span style="font-size:85%;"> niyama = conditions, constraints, or laws - see p.199 of Keown's <u>Dictionary of Buddhism</u>, 'Fivefold Lawfulness' or 'natural order' in Nyanatiloka's <u>Buddhist Dictionary</u>, p.135.</span>Buddhist_philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14246929532585980356noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9223684.post-33855588400511306502008-01-15T12:18:00.000+00:002008-01-16T17:00:37.134+00:00Life: My house is famous<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/buddhist_philosopher/2195122524/"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2385/2195122524_868a7e79e6.jpg?v=0" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">(<span style="font-weight: bold;">Jan 16 update</span>: I just found a poster from one resident offering anybody $300 to take their place (lease) at Batavia Mews. Yikes! Not only is it unlivable, but </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">we're trapped!</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"> And residents are paying other people to take their places!)</span><br /><br />This week my flat, Batavia Mews, made the front of the <a href="http://www.london-student.net/">London Student newspaper</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The story focuses on the mouse infestation that has run rampant through the flats for the last six or so months, and also discusses a couple other problems students have faced: electrocution (from faulty wiring) and dirty mattresses. </span><br /><br />Here at flat 4, we have had a few of our own problems:<br /><ol><li><a href="http://justininengland.blogspot.com/2007/10/london-sweet-cold-london.html">No heat until mid-October</a></li><li>Clogging sinks</li><li>Clogging shower drains</li><li>Three days in December (19th-22nd) with no heat or hot water - (meaning no showers and lots of cold, stinky flat-mates)</li><li>Loud cleaners (who come with friends and/or chat on their cell phones in the kitchens - right next to my room)</li><li>Broken cabinets (one in the kitchen just fell off its hinges over a week ago, yet to be fixed)</li></ol>We also live right on a major thoroughfare, meaning people with rooms on one side of the house (with old, thin windows) hear traffic noises day and night - the traffic never really stops. And then their is the nightclub half a block away, providing a persistent 'thump, thump, thump' of bass on Friday and Saturday nights, and the heavy 'fire' doors that are rigged to slam shut - they have mechanical arms that are supposed to prevent this, but most of those are worn out, and the creaking hinges (I'm looking for WD-40) and stairs and paper-thin walls <a href="http://justininengland.blogspot.com/2007/10/un-american-not-deep-and-un-buddhist.html">and floors</a>.<br /><br />Hmm... Is that all? I think so. I really don't like to complain, especially about somewhat trivial matters when so many people in the world have it so much worse and I <span style="font-style: italic;">should</span> be spending time on loftier academic-type things. <span style="font-weight: bold;">But, I'm afraid that conditions here have made other thought and work and relationships quite difficult. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">A friend of mine, when I told him that London was draining me, commented that he thought a Buddhist could be happy anywhere.</span> I suppose this is a common misconception, that we can somehow retreat from the world around us with meditation or chanting or some such thing. On the one hand, I could retreat inwards to some extent, focus on immediate tasks and cultivating calm and <span style="font-style: italic;">metta</span>. I think I did this <a href="http://justininengland.blogspot.com/2005/02/blog-on-you-crazy-diamond.html">three years ago when I was in Bristol</a>.<br /><br />But going underground and inward for a bit is not always so easy with the "householder's" life. <span style="font-weight: bold;">The struggle for balance is an almost daily one, between the solitary academic Buddhist and the community and family-oriented guy from Montana. </span> Both sides love nature and silence, and both are far removed from these in Southeast London.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">And I sigh, sitting in my room listening to the banging of utensils and cupboards in the kitchen - and sirens from streets below, looking out over a grey, blustery day in London. </span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Where is my mind?<br />Here?<br />In the kitchen?<br />Outside?<br />Watching over Kelly as she sleeps 4000 miles away?<br />Watching a summer sunset from my favorite perch near Missoula?<br />Where is my mind?<br />ha!<br /></div>Buddhist_philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14246929532585980356noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9223684.post-69435604496235110462008-01-13T12:54:00.001+00:002008-01-13T20:37:47.849+00:002007 in Review (part one)In looking back at a year passing I suppose we search for insights, teachings, and lessons for the coming year. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Or just a quick summary to answer the question: </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">what happened to my year?</span><br /><br />I'll begin with my greatest insight: that <span style="font-weight: bold;">no matter how great last year was, each year has the potential to be even better.</span><br /><br />I say that mainly because, for some reason, I had the idea that at some point in my mid-20s I would reach a peak, after which life simply couldn't be as good. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Granted, I had some great years, so I felt justified in thinking, "It can't possibly get better than </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">this</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">."</span> For instance, going back to 2003, I had a beautiful relationship with T., the second love of my life, and began really growing to <span style="font-style: italic;">love </span>Missoula through community and academic activities. In '04 things with T. ended and I committed myself to intensive self-improvement, with several hours each day in <span style="font-style: italic;">dharma </span>study (via the <a href="http://www.acidharma.org/aci/index.html">Asian Classics Institute</a>) and meditation, and then I was off to Bristol for my Buddhist studies MA.<br /><br />In 2005 I found my feet in my Bristol studies, traveled around England, Ireland, Wales, and Spain, and developed some amazing friendships before returning to Missoula and philosophy studies. '06 began with a trip to Hawai'i, a note from my Bristol advisor that I had been awarded the mark of <span style="font-style: italic;">Distinction </span>on my dissertation, and the rekindling of my wonderful (though long-distance) relationship with Ana in Spain.<br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">2007</span></span><br /><br />The year began well enough, celebrating with friends in Missoula. <span style="font-weight: bold;">I was living in what is known widely as simply, "the 6th Street house," a dilapidated old mansion (which, legend has it, was one of Montana's brothels). </span>An air of unhappiness filled the house, so I was all to happy to spend my time on campus, starting an intensive <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/01/philosophy-religious-musing-or.html">Philosophy of Religion</a> (musings on omniscience and politics) class, working at the <a href="http://www.umt.edu/ethics/">Center for Ethics</a>, and hiding out in my office in the Liberal Arts building.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">As January came to a close</span> and the new semester began, I posted on the <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/01/buddhism-tibet-through-tears.html">terrible situation in Tibet</a> (which only seems to be getting worse). I was quickly overwhelmed with the new semester, <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/01/life-back-at-it.html">teaching a course on Tibetan Buddhism</a> at the University and taking a full load of courses myself.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">February </span>began with an excellent (if I do say so myself) post on <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/02/philosophy-kant-on-happiness.html">Kant and Happiness</a>. I conclude it by saying:<br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic;">I like the youthful exuberance that I see in Kant's philosophy, his revolutionary anti-authoritarianism, his fist-pounding exhortations to self-development and loyalty to our moral sense, his recognition that the world provides a thousand and one distractions and excuses keeping us away from that very moral nature within us.</blockquote>That is followed by yet more brilliant musings on <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/02/philosophy-ah-ha-big-story.html">Genesis as a coming-of-age tale and the book </a><span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/02/philosophy-ah-ha-big-story.html">Ishmael</a>.</span><br /><blockquote>The premise that the world is 'for us' and that we are separate somehow from the rest of creation is the premise of our culture. <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">It is the story we tell our children before bed, but also the story we hear on the evening news and on the</span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"> corporate billboards, in the academic curricula and in the novels we read. </span></span> And, according to <span style="font-style: italic;">Ishmael</span> at least, it is the premise of a dying culture. It is a myth gone bad.</blockquote>And as much as I lament television and major corporations, I did find <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/02/life-good-sunday.html">this to be a wonderful message</a>:<br /><br /><object height="350" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/MBKaLN5zU9Y"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/MBKaLN5zU9Y" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="350" width="425"></embed></object><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.cincinnati-apartments.us/Images/Cincinnati.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 249px; height: 175px;" src="http://www.cincinnati-apartments.us/Images/Cincinnati.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>By mid-February <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/02/life-life-of-buddhist-madman.html">I was moaning groaning with too much work and waxing on about children and society</a>. And by month's end I was in <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/02/life-from-high-up-in-cincinnati.html">a fancy hotel in Cincinnati for an Ethics conference</a>, pondering humanity's (including my own) destruction of the planet.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">In March</span>, an <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/03/life-in-press.html">article was written about me</a> in the college newspaper, I wrote about how <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/03/buddhism-slowing-down-opening-up.html">multi-tasking is actually a huge waste of time</a> (we operate more efficiently when we have only <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">one </span>task before us - as I know all too well!). Then I was lucky enough to find real grounding in <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/03/philosophy-going-native.html">a Native American sweet lodge ceremony</a>, and to ponder the right proper recipe of <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/03/philosophy-balance-striving-and-virtue.html">balance and striving</a> that would result in virtue. The month ended with me in pain, having <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/03/life-short-update-from-england.html">visited England again and Ana</a> and encountering the beginning of the unraveling of our relationship. My reflections consequently turned to my <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/03/time-down-for-regeneration-perhaps.html">previous love and 'levels' of contentment and discussion</a>, and to <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/03/buddhism-grief.html">grief and letting go</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">In April I found myself back in nature, </span><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/04/life-into-light.html">reflecting more positively on life and love</a><span style="font-weight: bold;"> and setting new direction for myself. </span>And then a little diddy on <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/04/philosophy-dali-lama.html">Dali - and philosophy</a><br /><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">"Mistakes are almost always of a sacred nature. Never try to correct them. On the contrary: rationalize them, understand them thoroughly. After that, it will be possible for you to sublimate them."<br /><br /></span>-Salvador Dali<br /><br />Me: <span style="font-weight: bold;">This speaks to our </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">reactive</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> tendencies</span>: problem? fix it! So much of our lives consist of 'quick fixes' and superficial bandages on problems/mistakes that go quite deep in our lives/society. How does the story in Australia go?...</blockquote>Then, perhaps in a subconscious foreshadow of my current living situation, I posted this image and the question:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/04/philosophy-technologically-mediated.html"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://www.banksy.co.uk/indoors/images/oils/CCTV.jpg" alt="from the British/Bristolian artist Bansky - click to see his website and more work" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/04/philosophy-technologically-mediated.html">What does it mean that we "live in a technologically mediated world?"</a><br /><br /></span>That was followed by three posts on <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/04/buddhism-community.html">Buddhism</a> (go figure!): one on <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/04/buddhism-community.html">community</a>, one on <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/04/buddhism-dzogchen-and-mahamudra.html">dzogchen (great perfection) teachings</a>, and one on <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/04/buddhist-ethics-individual-or-societal.html">Buddhist Ethics - communal or individual</a>. I then posted on the <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/04/buddhism-making-campuses-safer.html">Virginia Tech incident</a>, and my - then - current obsession, <b>Regina Spektor: Fidelity.</b><br /><object height="350" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/SGTDRztaCCw"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/SGTDRztaCCw" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="350" width="425"></embed></object><br />And then yet more on Buddhism: <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/04/buddhism-recipe-for-social-action.html">a recipe for social action</a>:<br /><blockquote><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">So before we act [in the world/with our bodies], we need understanding [the activity of clarity in the mind]. </span></span>We need to empty ourselves of notions of how it is supposed to be. From there we can look at the world anew, just soak it up. And from there also we are able to respond without preconditions, without prejudices.</blockquote>and <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/04/buddhism-lessons-from-great-teacher-or.html">lessons on letting go</a>; along with <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/04/life-smiles.html">a lovely bit of Missoula graffiti</a> and <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/04/life-london-here-i-come-maybe.html">my acceptance to the University of London ph.d. program</a> :)<br /><br />With May I think things lightened up a LOT. I finished teaching/studying, regained my footing, spent time in nature (much needed!) and finally got to a Socrates Cafe!<br /><br />Specifically, I started off posting <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/05/buddhism-what-about-me.html">a great video</a> on the value and beauty of living for others; and <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/05/life-ok-im-going.html">my decision</a> (finally) to <span style="font-style: italic;">definitely</span> go to London. Then, as the semester ended, I posted <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/05/teaching-semester-endings.html">a round-up of the term</a>. After that I returned to a regular topic in my thought, <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/05/philosophy-happiness-and-community.html">Buddhism: Happiness and Community</a>, concluding that <span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">"Community is good, but for true happiness, we need solitude."</span><br /><br />Then <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/05/buddhism-change-for-better.html">a very pointed post</a>; feeling perhaps at the hight of my (often very high) disgust for the selfishness and superficiality of Western society. Returning to some of the things I enjoyed so much - time in nature, I blogged about the <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007_05_01_archive.html">beauty and tranquility of Missoula</a>, at times, and the <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/05/buddhism-where-do-we-belong.html">existential questions arising from a close encounter with a young fawn</a>. Then - <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/05/life-every-day-new-dawn.html">Life: Every Day a New Dawn</a><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span> - And new opportunity - to share, grow, exercise, work, play, smile, and be grateful.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/215/516450828_ddf85e09d5.jpg?v=0"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/215/516450828_ddf85e09d5.jpg?v=0" alt="" border="0" /></a>And even more <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/05/life-flickr-madness.html">beautiful Montana nature photos</a>! May ended with <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/05/philosophy-thesis-madness.html">a meeting with my thesis advisor at UM</a> - encouraging me to finish things up - and my <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/05/buddhism-happiness-club.html">formation of a book-club on Happiness</a> (because I can always find ways to avoid doing what I need to do!).<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">June </span>brought my birthday (27 years old!) and plenty of freedom to enjoy, reflect, and to spend time with <a href="http://www.awalkintheworld.blogspot.com/">a very special, beautiful new person in my life</a>.<br /><br />My first post discussed (or lamented - see February stuff) <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/06/philosophy-if-everyone-lived-like-you.html">my ecological footprint</a> in Missoula, which was WAY too high. Then I went on about my thesis - apparently <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/06/philosophy-thesis-madness-2.html">I <span style="font-style: italic;">was</span> making progress</a> - but still got overwhelmed and began pushing back deadlines. Then a nice post from a news story on <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/06/life-depression-meditation-wilderness.html">nature and depression</a> (get enough of the former and you'll likely avoid the latter), and my own particular <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/06/buddhism-from-depression-to-happiness.html">Buddhist interpretation of depression</a>:<br /><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Depression in my experience consists of a brooding, a mind unable to just settle, a disconnection between the world around me and my experience. </span>Meditation then is simply the exercise in settling the mind, over and over and over again, on the breath. It's like a work-out regimen for the mind.</blockquote>In my second encounter with Kelly (after the Socrates Cafe) she mentioned the writer Edward Abbey... My following blog post? <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/06/philosophy-edward-abbey.html">Philosophy: Edward Abbey</a> "Note to self: get/read Edward Abbey (Desert Solitaire, or whatever)... Any of you know this guy? Want to recommend anything from him?"<br /><br />Hehe...<br /><br />The next day (June 7th) I got to look through my teaching evaluations (holding my breath....) and found out that, in fact, most <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/06/teaching-they-love-me.html">everybody had really nice things to say</a> :) - I guess I REALLY am my own worst critic. Then I traveled home to Helena, where <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/06/life-taking-stock-with-film.html">some movies</a> gave me impetus to take stock in life. I also managed to <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/06/life-family-activities.html">get out a bit with the family</a>:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1104/545067880_05df4bda0b.jpg?v=0"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1104/545067880_05df4bda0b.jpg?v=0" alt="" border="0" /></a>Here we all are [me and the family] after a day in Philipsburg, MT mining for sapphires. I then returned to philosophical/Buddhist ponderings with <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/06/buddhism-identity-who-we-are.html">the question of identity</a> (another one of my regular topics), wondering:<br /><blockquote>What exactly does Buddhism teach about "who we are?" Is it to abandon such labels and live purely in the moment? Perhaps is it more to recognize the contingency of all labels, to use them but not be trapped by them? <i>Or could it be that for some, labels, as bonds to history and other beings, are as necessary as the air we breath?</i><br /></blockquote>My last post of the month came on the 23rd, as by this time <span style="font-weight: bold;">I was spending nearly every day with Kelly - still as 'just friends' - but friends with an immediate deep spiritual bond and some major chemistry heating things up.</span><br /><br />And that post, go figure, is about <a href="http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com/2007/06/ecology-quest-for-depth.html">Edward Abbey and the amazing experience granted in true wilderness</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Well that gets us through June; and wow there's a lot there! </span>It interesting to look over. In one sense I'd say it's pretty unremarkable in contrast to prior years. I seemed to be following a trajectory much the same as before. Little there would lead one to expect the major changes about to take place... And 'tis those that will be the subject of a future (very soon) post.Buddhist_philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14246929532585980356noreply@blogger.com0