we are all figments of our own imagination.
that is why it is a good idea to cultivate that imagination. without imagination, we become trapped by knowledge and become intellectual casualties. imagination sparks within us adventure, courage, vision and compassion.
"i imagine, therefore i evolve!" (… or at the very least, i imagine i evolve)
This story was initially conceived by Sangeeta as a present for a friend (who never got around to seeing it), but was written largely by prad many years ago. Sangeeta will be illustrating it sometime in the next several decades. If you know your chess or your life, you are welcome to play it out.
Light shines in and there was a deep grumbling throughout the box …
"Do we have to get up?" cried one of the contents.
There was once a very evil robber who had committed atrocities galore. He had come to the realization that he was in big trouble with a large account of bad karma due to his egocentric activities.
Somewhat repentant, he went to a great sage to see what could be done before the revenue collectors came after him. The sage said that his actions had been so evil that there really wasn't much hope for him and that he was due for several lifetimes of nastiness.
There are many stories told about Buddha the Compassionate One. They carry the eternal message with a simplicity that any child can understand. Here is one of those gems.
The Buddha is taking a walk. He gazes at the beauty of the flowers of the field and says: "O trees and flowers of the field! How trustfully you turn your faces to the sun! And how trustfully nightingales and doves take shelter in you! Alas! man hurts the birds and slays the animals! The wisdom of man is drenched in blood!"
(Image generated by Microsoft Designer.)
This article deals with confusion and distress that can materialize for humans who put cats on vegan diets.
While I tend to be agnostic, there are many aspects of various religions I admire, a viewpoint which permits one to not hold arrogant perspectives like 'my religion is better than yours'. This competitive attitude has been largely responsible throughout history for barbaric behaviour in the name of God who would be least appreciative of having One's 'children' slaughtering 'children' - with self-proclaimed Christians mutually slaughtering self-proclaimed Muslims mutually slaughtering self-proclaimed Hindus mutually slaughtering self-proclaimed whatevers etc etc
A prominent western philosopher had come to Japan to study with a zen master through an exchange program. The two of them sat down for a traditional tea.
While waiting the philosopher thought he'd 'break the ice' by telling the zen master a bit about himself. Well, he started and a bit became more and more and more. He talked about his ideas of the history and development of philosophy and about the lack of consistency in different areas of thought and the problems associated with applying logic to situations considered unbroachable through logic.
You want to get good on the internet so you can get things done effectively and efficiently. This article will show you how.
There is a very beautiful story from the Hindu mythology's Mahabharata that provides an insight to the meaning of our existence.
Five brothers who were kings and their wife, the queen (this happened through a misunderstanding of the concept of 'sharing' as expressed by their mother) after a long reign were embarking on their final journey - to heaven. To do so they had to trek up a mountain and along the way they were joined by a dog. The climb was so arduous they began to die off. Even the second oldest brother, the 'hercules' of his era, fell.
Fallacious argumentations in animal rights and vegan discussions are identified according to the rules of logic. This guide exposes standard logical fallacies that repeatedly appear and demonstrates their invalidity.
This article summarizes some food combining principles from chapter 26 of Shelton's book The Science and Fine Art of Food and Nutrition. Shelton advocated strict vegetarianism (also known as dietary vegan) as well as eating foods in their natural raw state.
It is important to note that food combining has nothing to do with protein combining which was an amusing bit of panic prevalent in the 1970s and 1980s when some people thought that the vegetarian has to eat foods in certain proportions in order to get a proper protein balance. This misconception persisted partly because of a misinterpretation of Frances Lappe Moore's idea that one has to combine foods in order to get the same protein balance that meat provides. Some people thought she meant the vegetarian has to combine foods so as to get the right balance of proteins which of course assumes that meat has the right balance of proteins for humans. This notion is complete nonsense as evidenced by clinical studies as well as by the historically healthy existence of vegetarians throughout history. Meat does not provide the 'right' combination of proteins, nor is it at all desirable to food combine to simulate that protein profile (which of course varies anyway depending upon the source).
This article will be of no interest to women and children so they needn't read any further. This is a masculine issue that we do not usually wish to discuss openly. It is an awkward matter and appears unavoidable once we reach a certain age. While we can pretend it is of no importance or even disguise the effects, we should be honest with ourselves, our loved ones and have the courage to be forthright in our integrity. This is why I wrote this article, so that all the males here who have been so afflicted can be supported by others, and, without embarrassment, can this part of their lives, face.
This is a story we often tell to those who feel they have suffered a loss of a loved one of any species.
Fireworks are a severe problem for many: wildlife, farm animals, pets, people with PTSD and anxiety. They are seen by some as a traditional and/or cultural means of celebration. Hence, jurisdictions often allow such activities which are a blatant abuse of an individual's basic rights.
People sometimes get into a tizzy about whether to help others or help themselves. There is no need to see the issue as an either-or.
Sometimes people think they themselves are the primary concern. The ancient Greek story goes that Narcissus saw his own reflection in a pool of water and fell madly in love with himself, eventually meeting his demise from this affliction.
While such examples of morbid self-love do exist, most people don't tend to follow in the flowersteps of Shelley's narcissi from The Sensitive Plant:
A man and his wife having lived into their old age chose to leave behind their worldly possessions and follow the path of spirituality. They lived in the cleanliness of poverty filling their days with praying instead of preying.
As they had no longer had a home of their own, they walked the dirt roads with the same reverence as though these led to heaven itself.
One day during such a walk, the man who had moved several yards ahead of his wife saw a sparkling on the side of the road. As he moved closer to it, he realized that it was a beautiful jewel which had fallen from someone's necklace possibly. Afraid that his wife would be tempted to covet such a treasure, he casually walked to it and started trying to kick dirt over it, all the while looking back to make sure his wife didn't see what he was doing.
I first saw this Eagle on Craigslist while looking for a car to possibly replace my wife Ranjana's Toyota Tercel. Of course, unlike the Tercel, this one ate gas, was large, had manual transmission and wasn't drivable. So the idea of a replacement was somewhat ludicrous.
Motivation
Most people are waiting to be motivated. They hide, hoping that motivation will seek. Being motivated before you act is an amusing game we play with ourselves. Can you imagine life functioning on that principle? Does the young eagle wait to be motivated in order to fly? Was the newborn motivated just before birth? Do a thing because it needs to be done: motivation will follow the action!
Commitment
Life owes us nothing: we owe it everything. Therefore, squander yourself in any action you take. Apathy, indifference and self-doubt are killers of commitment and will ruin your resolve: 'one who hesitates is lost'. Become whatever you do. Commitment is life itself!
Meditation is a real chance for you to connect with yourself. Most of us go through life knowing the person we spend the most time with, the least.
What meditation is happens to be a question that volumes have been written about. Anytime there is such a lot of discussion on an issue, you can be sure that no one really knows the answer. That's what is so nice about the Zen approach to it. Zen essentially says that it doesn't matter what we know, because we never really do (my son Kyron says, "No one knows anything"). It's not even important to get something out of meditation. What is important, is just to practise it. In other words, make 'the journey, the destination'.
There is an ancient Hindu story about the messenger Narad who used to travel between heaven and earth to maintain 'communications' so to speak. On one such trip to heaven, he happened to go past two yogis practising in an effort to prepare for Nirvana. Each asked Narad to find out how long he would have to wait.
So Narad checked out the situation for the yogis up in heaven and on his way back he dropped by to tell each their ETA.
Some well-intentioned people create arguments by equating the concept of natural with the concept of good. I say they are well-intentioned because it is by no means done out of malice or prospects of winning debate points. However, the equation is not valid. In fact, within philosophical circles it is known as the 'appeal to nature' fallacy.
The first problem we have is that it is unclear what 'natural' really means. The second problem, though perhaps not as difficult, is understanding what is 'good'. Most people seem to realize at a personal level that pain, ill-health, death are probably not good things while vibrancy, well-being, some extent of self-determination generally are good things. However, the idea of 'natural' is wrapped in murkiness and therefore lends itself to most peculiar self- serving manipulations.
Gandhi's "become the change you wish to see in the world" is unfortunately one of those horribly misapplied items that is circulated with wild abandonment by some people who feel they've suddenly been struck with enlightenment. The idea nevertheless is a good one provided one understands what it really means and where the phrase really has relevance. Below is one such instance.
You may know the delightful story about the mother who went to Gandhi to get him to ask her boy to stop eating sweets (the kid wasn't listening to her apparently and she figured she'd bring in the big guns!). Gandhi said he would but asked her to come back in 2 weeks. When she did, he told the kid to stop eating sweets with some rationale for doing so. Awestruck by the great Mahatma, the boy readily agreed!
This work came about as a result of having to defend two venomous onslaughts on the nobility of physics. Unfortunately, certain people don't seem to realize the universality of this simple truth - physics is everything! The word physics means the knowledge of nature and nature is all encompassing.
Those engaged in other disciplines have a great deal of difficulty ap preciating the immeasurable debt they owe to physics. They don't seem to like it when they are told that their discipline is really physics, but called by a different name. For instance, math is just numerical physics, chemistry only wet physics, biology but living physics, history merely old physics, languages necessarily talkative physics and psychology purely thoughtless physics. The list can go on and on.
The process of folding paper is a rewarding one since it provides an opportunity to exercise one's creativity within strict outcomes. Furthermore, the finished product of this activity has various utilitarian applications as will be illustrated in the second part of this article. Though many types of folding exist, we will restrict ourselves in this document to the class of bifolds. Future articles may be published which deal with folding of greater complexities.
We used to live near the water when we moved in 1995 to Duncan, BC on Khenipsen Road, beside a First Nations area. It was a very nice place, except for the hunting and fishing that took place there. Unfortunately, not only were these activities legalized, but there were many instances of illegal killings as well. That's what this is - killing regardless of the euphemisms used or the appeal to Indigenous 'rights' that are often put forth as an excuse to commit murder. [For more thorough discussions on this Indigenous issue, see KG's FAQ.]
In 2023 Parks Canada decided to slaughter all deer on Sidney Island British Columbia. This page provides information, resources, and updates on what is an unethical process on many levels. Sign the petition to Save the Sidney Island deer. The page is still in construction.
The following is a well-known tale from the Liezi attributed to Taoist Lie Yukou. It appears in various translations such as A.C. Graham's The Book of Lieh-tzu (p82 pdf) and Eva Wong's Lieh-tzu: A Taoist Guide to Practical Living. The following is quoted from the Thomas Cleary translation (details provided at the end):
Lung Shu said to the physician Wen Chi, "Your art is subtle. I have an ailment; can you cure it?"
The physician said, "I will do as you say, but first tell me about your symptoms."
Above image was modified using GIMP from an illustration by Anna Bhushan for Folio Society's Bhagavad Gita. See other illustrations by Anna at her website.
On the field of Kurukshetra all was tranquil the evening before the battle between the forces of the Kauravas and the Pandavas. Arjuna who was the greatest archer of the latter group, pondered heavily on what was to come. For you see, the Kauravas were his brothers too and when the slaughter began, he knew he would be killing members of his own family.
There is a delightful story told by Sri Ramakrishna about a man who chose to become a sadhu (a holy man who relinquishes worldly possessions and takes a vow of chastity). Under the instruction of his guru, this sadhu lived in a small hut in the middle of the forest. Each morning after his devotional exercises, he would wash and hang his loincloth up to dry. One day, he found that his cloth had been torn to shreds by rats. So he went into the village to beg for another.
Once there was a holy man who had many disciples. He taught them well and revealed how God is in all things.
One day his disciples went out to gather firewood for their ashram and they heard a great commotion!
"Mad elephant! Mad elephant!" was the cry and it seemed to be coming their way. Suddenly, they saw a huge elephant tearing down towards them with others following in desperate pursuit.
Buddha asked his disciples to help the poor during a great famine. A very wealthy man spoke up, "Not all my wealth can feed the hungry - there are so many!"
Others talked loud and long with great consternation wondering how they could possibly solve such a dilemma even for the Buddha!
Then a young girl rose to speak, "Master I am a beggar. I shall feed the hungry as you ask!"
This article was inspired by Angelkate who has been kind enough to let me stowaway on her pirate ship. She has taken me on many an adventure while steering a true course between the water and the sky. We have seen glorious storms and traveled under the vibrant rainbows they leave behind. Perhaps she may agree that what follows is a proper compensation for the never-ending voyage.
Imagine a rosebush.
The roots secure deep into the earth, embedded within a foundation of worthwhile values. We have the support for honorable convictions.
Nanak was a travelling guru. He visited many places in India, Arabia and Mesopotamia.
In Mecca is the Ka'aba, the sacred stone of the Muslims.
One morning nanak was found sleeping with his feet turned to the stone! Some Muslims were furious!
"How dare you be so insulting! How dare you sleep with you feet towards the face of God!"
Gently, Nanak says: "Very well then. Turn my feet to where God is not."
My mother related this story to me about my grandfather. She lived in his household as was often customary with East Indian families in the 1900s. These extended families were usually quite closely knit and often mutually supportive. My mother adored her father-in-law and it was through her that I found out about his character.
One day he came home with a large collection of Indian sweets. Everyone in the large household was surprised. It wasn't anyone's birthday. There was no religious festival. It wasn't even dinner time! What was this all about!
There is a fine story of a poor old lady who was selling some fruit she had gathered in order to make ends meet.
As she walked back and forth on the streets calling people to come and buy, the child Krishna, disguised as a beggar boy, walked up to her asking to eat some fruit from her basket.
She was a kind one and though it would cost her, she didn't refuse him. The child ate every one, thanked her and left!
"I'm too busy!" "I don't have time!" "I have too many things to do!"
Is this you?
Well, at least you aren't bored! One solution may be to do less, but Murphy's truism "Tasks always expand to fill the time allotted" ensures that you will only get less done in more time! Another solution is to use organizational tools that help you to work more efficiently. Though we can't make more time (there are only 24 hours in a day), we can make ourselves more effective.
A zen master was teaching a class.
One fidgety student was bored and gradually got irritated, because he had decided he couldn't grasp the ideas. This is not surprising since zen is not something to grasp. After all, when one asks "How do you carry zen?", the answer is often "in your empty hand."
In any case, such koans were not something this student wanted to deal with, so eventually he spoke out in frustration:
"I can't understand a thing you are saying."