I. Sushman

"…”As irrigators lead water where they want, as archers make their arrows straight, as..."

Sat, 02 Mar 2013 01:26:01 -0500

“…”As irrigators lead water where they want, as archers make their arrows straight, as carpenters carve wood, the wise shape their minds.””

- The Buddha

Welcome to the Era of the Light Footprint | New Republic

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 14:13:22 -0500

Welcome to the Era of the Light Footprint | New Republic:

WASHINGTON DIARIST JANUARY 29, 2013 Welcome to the Era of the Light Footprint Obama finally finds his doctrine

"Every man, wherever he goes, is encompassed by a cloud of comforting convictions, which move with..."

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 20:42:00 -0500

“Every man, wherever he goes, is encompassed by a cloud of comforting convictions, which move with him like flies on a summer day.”

- Bertrand Russell

Eric Hoffer on "Power"

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 14:15:05 -0500

Absolute power is partial to simplicity. It wants simple problems, simple solutions, simple definitions. It sees in complication a product of weakness - this tortuous path compromise must follow. There is thus a certain similarity between the pattern of extremism and that of absolute power. ~ Eric Hoffer, The Passionate State of Mind

One of my favorite Xmas albums.

Fri, 21 Dec 2012 13:15:19 -0500

One of my favorite Xmas albums.

Denial “The entire spiritual dilemma, you know, boils down to only one problem—denial....

Wed, 28 Nov 2012 14:28:36 -0500

Denial

“The entire spiritual dilemma, you know, boils down to only one problem—denial. Denial that everything which is born will die. Denial that everything I want to keep—identity, possessions, friends, family, lovers, health, life—will be lost. That denial, that continual avoidance of this simple, basic, undeniable truth, obscures my true nature by forcing everything I do and everything I think to serve an unconscious strategy—a strategy of denial—so that instead of simply living, which means allowing whatever is to be, and whatever arises to arise, I continually attempt to protect myself against the pain of that simple truth: nothing that I think I have, nothing that I think I am, has any permanence whatsoever. It never did, and it never will.

Everything, even my imagined “self,” awakened or not, dies in every moment, to be replaced in the next moment with a new version of what I think I am. Because such total impermanence is terrifying, we paper it over by creating a story of who I am. A story, we imagine, can continue. But that story, which is only a thought-form, obscures what I really am: the endless awareness in which that story, along with everything else, is born and passes away.
In each moment, be honest. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, to which you can cling for security. Accept that fact—for it is a fact—accept that pain, stop telling yourself the story of denial, and all will become clear without any effort whatsoever.” ~ Robert Saltzman

Audio

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 18:37:35 -0500

Jonathan Haidt: Religion, evolution, and the ecstasy of self-transcendence

Sat, 03 Nov 2012 17:09:14 -0400

Jonathan Haidt: Religion, evolution, and the ecstasy of self-transcendence

Bob Dylan’s newest…

Tue, 18 Sep 2012 16:31:03 -0400

Bob Dylan’s newest…

Something to brighten your day. I’ve never head this guy...

Wed, 22 Aug 2012 18:09:03 -0400

Something to brighten your day. I’ve never head this guy before. Funny and cool.

Besides sharing b’days, Robert Allen Zimmerman and I share...

Mon, 13 Aug 2012 21:46:07 -0400

Besides sharing b’days, Robert Allen Zimmerman and I share similar tastes in music. A great `ol skool playlist.

UN-believable! UN-workable! | A Bear's Rant

Wed, 11 Jul 2012 02:12:32 -0400

UN-believable! UN-workable! | A Bear's Rant

The Best and Worst Times to Share on Facebook, Twitter

Wed, 09 May 2012 15:51:26 -0400

The Best and Worst Times to Share on Facebook, Twitter:

Man Hysterically Fails at Explaining Klout to His Boss [VIDEO]

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 16:43:53 -0400

Man Hysterically Fails at Explaining Klout to His Boss [VIDEO]:

Each day, Mashable highlights one noteworthy YouTube video. Check out all our viral video picks. In this 3D animation, a man amusingly describes Klout to his boss during a performance review. The overly excited employee mentions “free stuff” (a.k.a. Klout Perks) and explains how he’s in…

Wouldn’t It Be Cool if Shakespeare Wasn’t Shakespeare? - NYTimes.com

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 01:30:58 -0400

Wouldn’t It Be Cool if Shakespeare Wasn’t Shakespeare? - NYTimes.com:

This article from the NYT Sunday Magazine says a lot about the way people communicate today, especially in political campaigns and cable TV news…

“The Shakespeare controversy, which emerged in the 19th century, … was one of the origins of the willful ignorance and insidious false balance that is now rotting away our capacity to have meaningful discussions. The wider public, which has no reason to be familiar with questions of either Renaissance chronology or climate science, assumes that if there are arguments, there must be reasons for those arguments. Along with a right-wing anti-elitism, an unthinking left-wing open-mindedness and relativism have also given lunatic ideas soil to grow in. Our politeness has actually led us to believe that everybody deserves a say.

The problem is that not everybody does deserve a say. Just because an opinion exists does not mean that the opinion is worthy of respect. Some people deserve to be marginalized and excluded. There are many questions in this world over which rational people can have sensible confrontations: whether lower taxes stimulate or stagnate growth; whether abortion is immoral; whether the ’60s were an achievement or a disaster; whether the universe is motivated by a force for benevolence; whether the Fonz jumping on water skis over a shark was cool or lame. Whether Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare is not one of these questions.”

"Watching cable news because you want to be informed is like going to Olive Garden because you want..."

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 17:45:45 -0400

“Watching cable news because you want to be informed is like going to Olive Garden because you want to live in Italy. ~ Andy Borowitz”

Sophia (wisdom) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 17:44:29 -0400

Sophia (wisdom) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thoughts on Gurus and Perfect Masters

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 17:42:00 -0400

As they say in 12 Step programs: “Denial is not a river in Eqypt”.
Using non-dual terms like “formless”, “it’s all one”, “beyond good & evil (Guna-tita)”, etc. to justify what most societies would regard as bad behavior is just disingenuous and/or deluded . If your consciousness is permanently fixed in that realm, you might be able to “get away” with actions that might be condemned in most societies; but I think that even your so-called “perfect masters” (if any actually exist) need to adhere to these moral rules, if only to set a good example for their “non-perfect” devotees and students still stuck in the the world of duality. I’ve seen too many devotees justify and then emulate their Guru’s bad behavior, i.e., abuse of power, violence, lying, denial, theft, spying and harassment, etc. in the name of their guru or spiritual/religious group. This is true cultism.

I think it’s best to judge ourselves and others by the ethics and morality we learned in school, and taught by all great religions and philosophies. It can be summed up in what is commonly referred to as the Golden Rule (from the Christian Bible), but exists in all world religions.
Here’s one from Hindu scripture:
“One should never do that to another which one regards as injurious to one’s own self. This, in brief, is the rule of Dharma. Other behavior is due to selfish desires.”
—Brihaspati, Mahabharata (Anusasana Parva, Section CXIII, Verse 8)
Or from Judaism:
“That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. That is the whole Torah [Wisdom]; the rest is the explanation; go and learn.” ~ Rabbi Hillel the Elder
—Talmud, Shabbat 31a, the “Great Principle”
More here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Golden_Rule

St Louis man says he's the victim of a hate crime | KMOV.com St. Louis

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 01:38:30 -0400

St Louis man says he's the victim of a hate crime | KMOV.com St. Louis

Iraqi poet in St. Louis victim of alleged hate crime :The Poetry Foundation

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 01:37:50 -0400

Iraqi poet in St. Louis victim of alleged hate crime :The Poetry Foundation