Halloween

OK, I have to confess this is one of my least favorite holidays of the year and yes, my porch light will be off tonight. However, I wish everyone else to have the best time dressing up (especially grown-ups) and safety to the kids out there freezing their little bones on the rounds for treats. We’ve hit a sudden cold spell here in Portland and I wrapped the outdoor faucets for the first time this fall. It’s supposed to go to 29F tonight. So enjoy everybody and I’ll see you tomorrow.
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Deep Thought: As I bit into the nectarine, it had a crisp juiciness about it that was very pleasurable – until I realized it wasn’t a nectarine at all, but A HUMAN HEAD!!
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(just a little reminder – the Deep Thoughts are from Saturday Night Live. I just think they’re funny)

Maryam

Watched this on DVD this week.  This is probably a film nobody has heard of.  I even forget how I found it.  I ordered it from the library. Lately, I’ve avoided all information or news about the mideast. I just feel so annoyed with how powerless we seem to be as individual citizens to stop all the bloodshed in these countries. The story in this particular film takes place during the days when the Shah of Iran was in this country getting treatment for cancer and in Iran Americans were taken hostage. The central character is a high school age Iranian girl of upper middle class who has grown up here and is really not politically aware of these issues. When her young male cousin arrives from Iran with a lot of idealistic anger, she is forced by this and the events of the day to open her eyes. She becomes the victim of prejudice from her classmates among other things. I found the film strikingly levelheaded and evenhanded. Well acted as well. And I learned something. By the way, it’s in English. It’s about an American family who just happen to be of Iranian descent. 5 stars out of 5

Here’s a test for your brain..
www.bbc.co.uk/science/hottopics/intelligence/quiz.shtml

It says I think like a woman.  How bout you?

Looking Closely at the World

OK, so this was my best photo from darkroom class last night. I was out walking desperately around my neighborhood so I could fill up my two rolls of photos I was supposed to bring and found this photography stuff is really having an influence on me in terms of paying more attention to the visual miracles around me every day – not only objects or scenes, but light and shadows. This is a good thing for a person who tends to live a lot in her head. So can you tell what this is?
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Deep Thought: Many people think that history is a dull subject. Dull? Is it “dull” that Jesse James once got bitten on the forehead by an ant, and at first it didn’t seem like anything, but then the bite got worse and worse, so he went to a doctor in town, and the secretary told him to wait, so he sat down and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and then finally he got to see the doctor, and the doctor put some salve on it? You call that dull?

Trichotillomania

My 76-year-old neighbor told me that her great granddaughter at age 6 is pulling out her lashes and eyebrow hair to the point where it is noticeable. I’d not heard of this symptom before, though I recall my daughter twirling her hair around her finger a lot in childhood. Apparently, it falls into the category of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and can be caused by a number of things and has no particular treatment. In this case, the little girl’s parents have just gone through a nasty divorce and her mother has immediately married again. I’m thinking now of all the little people in the world who are coping in the only way their instincts tell them to with the hard rough edges of life and wishing that each and everyone of them will get a hug from someone today.
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Deep Thought: I think a good product would be “Baby Duck Hat”. It’s a fake baby duck, which you strap on top of your head. Then you go swimming underwater until you find a mommy duck and her babies, and you join them. Then, all of a sudden, you stand up out of the water and roar like Godzilla. Man, those ducks really take off! Also, Baby Duck Hat is good for parties.

14 Precepts from Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist Monk

“Do not be idolatrous about or bound to any doctrine, theory, or ideology, even Buddhist ones. All systems of thought are guiding means; they are not absolute truth.

Do not think that the knowledge you presently possess is changeless, absolute truth. Avoid being narrow-minded and bound to present views. Learn and practice non-attachment from views in order to be open to receive others’ viewpoints. Truth is found in life and not merely in conceptual knowledge. Be ready to learn throughout our entire life and to observe reality in yourself and in the world at all times.

Do not force others, including children, by any means whatsoever, to adopt your views, whether by authority, threat, money, propaganda, or even education. However, through compassionate dialogue, help others renounce fanaticism and narrowness.

Do not avoid contact with suffering or close your eyes before suffering. Do not lose awareness of the existence of suffering in the life of the world. find ways to be with those who are suffering by all means, including personal contact and visits, images, sound. By such means, awaken yourself and others to the reality of suffering in the world.

Do not accumulate wealth while millions are hungry. Do not take as the aim of you life fame, profit, wealth, or sensual pleasure. Live simply and share time, energy, and material resources with those who are in need.

Do not maintain anger or hatred. As soon as anger and hatred arise, practice the meditation on compassion in order to deeply understand the persons who have caused anger and hatred. Learn to look at other beings with the eyes of compassion.

Do not lose yourself in dispersion and in your surroundings. Learn to practice breathing in order to regain composure of body and mind, to practice mindfulness, and to develop concentration and understanding.

Do not utter words that can create discord and cause the community to break. Make every effort to reconcile and resolve all conflicts, however small.

Do not say untruthful things for the sake of personal interest of to impress people. Do not utter words that cause diversion and hatred. Do not spread news that you do not know to be certain. Do not criticize or condemn things you are not sure of. Always speak truthfully and constructively. Have the courage to speak out about situations of injustice, even when doing so may threaten your own safety.

Do not use the Buddhist community for personal gain or profit, or transform your community into a political party. A religious community should, however, take a clear stand against oppression and injustice, and should strive to change the situation without engaging in partisan conflicts.

Do not live with a vocation that is harmful to humans and nature. Do not invest in companies that deprive others of their chance to life. Select a vocation which helps realize your ideal compassion.

Do not kill. Do not let others kill. Find whatever means possible to protect life and to prevent war.

Possess nothing that should belong to others. Respect the property of others but prevent others from enriching themselves from human suffering or the suffering of other beings.

Do not mistreat your body. Learn to handle it with respect. Do not look on your body as only and instrument. Preserve vital energies (sexual, breath, spirit) for the realization of the Way. Sexual expression should not happen without love and commitment. In sexual relationships be aware of future suffering that may be caused. To preserve the happiness of others, respect the rights and commitments of others. Be fully aware of the responsibility of bringing new lives into the world. Meditate on the world into which you are bringing new beings.

Do not believe that I feel that I follow each and every of these precepts perfectly. I know I fail in many ways. None of us can fully fulfill any of these. However, I must work toward a goal. These are my goal. No words can replace practice, only practice can make the words.

Painter You are the prodigal of my generation, spending shape and color endlessly upon the canvas of our unworked dreams…

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Deep Thought:  Whenever I see an old lady slip and fall on a wet sidewalk, my first instinct is to laugh. But then I think, what if I was an ant, and she fell on me. Then it wouldn’t seem quite so funny.

Happy Birthday #38 to My Jane

Today is the day that Jane was born 38 years ago in San Francisco. We actually lived in North Beach then but shortly moved to the Haight Ashbury district. It was 1965 and that whole scene was just taking off. After 13 hours of labor at UC Hospital where a wonderful intern gave me a crash course in breathing, Jane emerged at 9 lbs. 11 oz. She was 2 weeks late and I had been running up and down stairs and had even gone to the movie Bonnie and Clyde to see if I could scare myself into labor. I shared a room with a couple whose baby was born with a facial hemangioma, so I felt especially blessed that Jane was perfect. During labor I had no thoughts at all, just complete involvement with the work at hand, but immediately after I thought, if only time could stop here and the world could stay this innocent forever. So wherever you go today Jane, remember you are loved just as much as you were at that first moment of your life.
Visit Jane here at turtle_dove in my sidebar.
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Deep Thought: We tend to scoff at the beliefs of the ancients. But we can’t scoff at them personally, to their faces, and this is what annoys me.

Italian for Beginners
Just watched this on DVD this weekend. It’s a Danish film with subtitles, but even if you’re not a foreign film fan try it out. It’s the sweetest tale of a handful of people who join the same beginning Italian class and all manage to find romance there through a series of delightful events. Each character is very individually developed and charming in their own way. 5 stars out of 5.

…The Buddha went quietly on his way, lost in thought. His peaceful countenance was neither happy nor sad. He seemed to be smiling gently inwardly. With a secret smile, not unlike that of a healthy child, he walked along, peacefully, quietly. He wore his gown and walked along exactly like the other monks, but his face and his step, his peaceful downward glance, his peaceful downward-hanging hand, and every finger of his hand spoke of peace, spoke of completeness, sought nothing, imitated nothing, reflected a continuous quiet, an unfading light, an invulnerable peace….
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This is Siddhartha’s description of the Buddha in the book Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse written in 1951. I guess I read it first when I was in my 20′s. It was my entry point to the world of eastern religion, which growing up in a non-religious family in rural Oregon I’d never encountered until then. I so wanted the world to be a gentle place and still do, and it so isn’t. Yet it would seem it is possible to walk quietly through the ungentle world and remain peaceful.
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Deep Thought: If you define cowardice as running away at the first sign of danger, screaming and tripping and begging for mercy, then yes, Mr. Brave man, I guess I’m a coward.