My 37th Christmas.
I have not participated in the tradition of giving and receiving presents on Christmas Day since 2001. I was angry and confused on why after September 11th our President didn't ask us to love more, to give more, to understand more... He asked us to shop more, to show the world that we would not let the "freedom haters, the evil doers" stop us and our economy. I was dismayed, I've spent some great December 25ths since then. I always spend time contemplating the teachings of Jesus and his call to humans to love thy enemy as you would love thy self which stands out during these times we follow in the news. I've gone hiking, i've spent the day in meditation and one year I drove down to Boston walked the Freedom trail and had dinner in China Town. One of my favorites was when I spent the day demolishing the old Kitchen at the Stone Church while we were renovating her back in 2003. I still do not participate in the gift process as I just believe this world needs less consumption. We will not destroy the Earth, we will only destroy ourselves.
This year I spent it with my family with a much better understanding of family. My Uncle got engaged, my 17 yr old cousin gave me a ride in his Jeep we even went off road a bit, I won a few bucks at the poker game and many more laughs! And we went Ice Fishing on a beautiful country pond in Brookfeild Mass. And I got a some time just to be with my family which I hope to do more of in 2008, which is at the gate. I hear the buzzer, smell the fresh and I look forward to what it will put in front of me.
Next up I'm heading back out on the road with my friend Derek around Jan. 8th. We are going to work at a Buddhist Retreat Center in Florida for a week long retreat. We are driving down and will wander on either side of the trip. Our plans are still coming into focus.....
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
The 8 Fold Noble Path
(1) RIGHT VIEW: Right view consists of an understanding of the Four Noble Truths: Right view also consists of an understanding of kamma: "Beings are the owners of their actions....whatever deeds they do, good or bad, of those they shall be heirs."
(2) RIGHT INTENTION: Right intention consists of the intentions of Renunciation, Good Will (Metta) and Harmlessness. The intention of renunciation means that the pull of desire (craving) is to be resisted and eventually abandoned, because it is the root of suffering. "Turning away from craving becomes the key to happiness, to freedom from the hold of attachment." The intention of good will (metta) involves the development of selfless love for other beings. The intention of harmlessness involves the development of thought guided by compassion, the wish that all beings will be free of suffering.
(3) RIGHT SPEECH: Right speech means abstaining from false speech, slander, harsh or hurtful language, and idle chatter.
(4) RIGHT ACTION: Right action means abstaining from killing other sentient beings (not just human beings), abstaining from stealing, and abstaining from sexual misconduct (sexual relations which are harmful to others).
(5) RIGHT LIVELIHOOD: Right livelihood means earning one's living in a righteous way: legally, honestly, peacefully, and without producing harm and suffering for others.
(6) RIGHT EFFORT: Right effort involves the undertaking of four "great endeavors": (a) to prevent the arising of unwholesome mental states (such as sensual desire, ill will, dullness and drowsiness, restlessness and worry, and doubt), (b) to abandon arisen unwholesome mental states, (c) to arouse wholesome mental states (such as the seven factors of enlightenment: mindfulness, investigation of phenomena, energy, rapture, tranquility, concentration, and equanimity), (d) to maintain arisen wholesome states.
(7) RIGHT MINDFULNESS: "The ultimate truth, the Dhamma, is not something mysterious and remote, but the truth of our own experience...It has to be known by insight...What brings the field of experience into focus and makes it accessible to insight is mindfulness." Right mindfulness is cultivated through the practice of the four foundations of mindfulness: mindful contemplation of the body, feelings, states of mind, and phenomena.
(8) RIGHT CONCENTRATION: Right concentration (one-pointedness of mind) "makes the mind still and steady...opens vast vistas of bliss, serenity and power," and helps us to "generate the insights unveiling the ultimate truth of things." It is developed through meditation on specific objects
(2) RIGHT INTENTION: Right intention consists of the intentions of Renunciation, Good Will (Metta) and Harmlessness. The intention of renunciation means that the pull of desire (craving) is to be resisted and eventually abandoned, because it is the root of suffering. "Turning away from craving becomes the key to happiness, to freedom from the hold of attachment." The intention of good will (metta) involves the development of selfless love for other beings. The intention of harmlessness involves the development of thought guided by compassion, the wish that all beings will be free of suffering.
(3) RIGHT SPEECH: Right speech means abstaining from false speech, slander, harsh or hurtful language, and idle chatter.
(4) RIGHT ACTION: Right action means abstaining from killing other sentient beings (not just human beings), abstaining from stealing, and abstaining from sexual misconduct (sexual relations which are harmful to others).
(5) RIGHT LIVELIHOOD: Right livelihood means earning one's living in a righteous way: legally, honestly, peacefully, and without producing harm and suffering for others.
(6) RIGHT EFFORT: Right effort involves the undertaking of four "great endeavors": (a) to prevent the arising of unwholesome mental states (such as sensual desire, ill will, dullness and drowsiness, restlessness and worry, and doubt), (b) to abandon arisen unwholesome mental states, (c) to arouse wholesome mental states (such as the seven factors of enlightenment: mindfulness, investigation of phenomena, energy, rapture, tranquility, concentration, and equanimity), (d) to maintain arisen wholesome states.
(7) RIGHT MINDFULNESS: "The ultimate truth, the Dhamma, is not something mysterious and remote, but the truth of our own experience...It has to be known by insight...What brings the field of experience into focus and makes it accessible to insight is mindfulness." Right mindfulness is cultivated through the practice of the four foundations of mindfulness: mindful contemplation of the body, feelings, states of mind, and phenomena.
(8) RIGHT CONCENTRATION: Right concentration (one-pointedness of mind) "makes the mind still and steady...opens vast vistas of bliss, serenity and power," and helps us to "generate the insights unveiling the ultimate truth of things." It is developed through meditation on specific objects
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Communication with my lawyer
ME:
Mulls how you feeling?
MULLS:
Yeah, I'm okay, just got to keep fighting through it, giving 110 percent at all times, not letting the man get to me, keeping hope alive, speaking truth to power, you know, that kinda shit.
ME:
On a short hallway leading to a square door I know I think, but not sure I know. I work, sleep, cry, race. I grasp, desire and shove my way to the middle. I only know today I will get my game to the point of relaxation and kill the many thoughts that would bring me back to the hallway.
MULLS:
The geo-centric days are gone and Earth is still a sphere,
Objects in the mirror may be just as they appear,
We spin around the sun and call each trip we make a year,
Thirty more years of this and, people, I am out of here.
Mulls how you feeling?
MULLS:
Yeah, I'm okay, just got to keep fighting through it, giving 110 percent at all times, not letting the man get to me, keeping hope alive, speaking truth to power, you know, that kinda shit.
ME:
On a short hallway leading to a square door I know I think, but not sure I know. I work, sleep, cry, race. I grasp, desire and shove my way to the middle. I only know today I will get my game to the point of relaxation and kill the many thoughts that would bring me back to the hallway.
MULLS:
The geo-centric days are gone and Earth is still a sphere,
Objects in the mirror may be just as they appear,
We spin around the sun and call each trip we make a year,
Thirty more years of this and, people, I am out of here.
Monday, December 3, 2007
WINTER!!
Winter...
snow, cold, deep blue skies, favorite hats, memories of skiing in snow up to your chest, and surviving snow as hard as the end of an aluminan bat. A time to reflect a time to plan a time to share tea with friends and strangers, to listen to new music, relax, feel blessed to have to ability to feel the cold. Eat soup and play scrabble. Feel the backend of your car slide out on the slippery roads. Winter, it's cool!
snow, cold, deep blue skies, favorite hats, memories of skiing in snow up to your chest, and surviving snow as hard as the end of an aluminan bat. A time to reflect a time to plan a time to share tea with friends and strangers, to listen to new music, relax, feel blessed to have to ability to feel the cold. Eat soup and play scrabble. Feel the backend of your car slide out on the slippery roads. Winter, it's cool!
I took this photo in March o7! Mt. Everest is the Black Rock!
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