transit: mars sextile saturn

quote: "every thought is a prayer..." -t
"who you are when you're 'on' is who you truly are, who you are when you're 'off' is the self that doesn't exist" -d

"...as they poured across the border, i was cautioned to surrender, ..this i could not do, ... i took my gun and vanished..." -leonard cohen

"And what is right concentration? There is the case where a monk — quite withdrawn from sensuality, withdrawn from unskillful (mental) qualities — enters & remains in the first jhana: rapture & pleasure born from withdrawal, accompanied by directed thought & evaluation. With the stilling of directed thought & evaluation, he enters & remains in the second jhana: rapture & pleasure born of composure, unification of awareness free from directed thought & evaluation — internal assurance. With the fading of rapture he remains in equanimity, mindful, & fully alert, and physically sensitive of pleasure. He enters & remains in the third jhana, and of him the Noble Ones declare, 'Equanimous & mindful, he has a pleasurable abiding.' With the abandoning of pleasure & pain — as with the earlier disappearance of elation & distress — he enters & remains in the fourth jhana: purity of equanimity & mindfulness, neither pleasure nor pain. This is called right concentration."

------------------

"And what is the development of concentration that... leads to mindfulness & alertness? There is the case where feelings are known to the monk as they arise, known as they persist, known as they subside. Perceptions are known to him as they arise, known as they persist, known as they subside. Thoughts are known to him as they arise, known as they persist, known as they subside. This is the development of concentration that, when developed & pursued, leads to mindfulness & alertness.

-----------------------

I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying near Savatthi, in Jeta's Grove, Anathapindika's monastery. Now at that time King Pasenadi Kosala was together with Queen Mallika in the upper palace. Then he said to her, "Is there anyone more dear to you than yourself?"

"No, your majesty," she answered. "There is no one more dear to me than myself. And what about you, your majesty? Is there anyone more dear to you than yourself?"

"No, Mallika. There is no one more dear to me than myself."

Then the king, descending from the palace, went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, having bowed down to him, sat to one side. As he was sitting there, he said to the Blessed One: "Just now I was together with Queen Mallika in the upper palace. I said to her, 'Is there anyone more dear to you than yourself?'

"'No, your majesty,' she answered. 'There is no one more dear to me than myself. And what about you, your majesty? Is there anyone more dear to you than yourself?'

"'No, Mallika. There is no one more dear to me than myself.'"

Then, on realizing the significance of that, the Blessed One on that occasion exclaimed:

Searching all directions
with one's awareness,
one finds no one dearer
than oneself.
In the same way, others
are fiercely dear to themselves.
So one should not hurt others
if one loves oneself.

Q: Do you ever experience rages? Even Jesus had rages.

A: Don't compare me with Jesus. He is a great master, a great master. . . . But as to your question, when I was younger, I did get angry. In the past 30 years, no. One thing, the hatred, the ill-feeling, that's almost gone.

Q: What do you do for leisure, to relax?

A: I like to let my thoughts come to me each morning before I get up. I meditate for a few hours and that is like recharging. After that, my daily conduct is usually driven by the motivation to help, to create a positive atmosphere for others. I garden . . . gardening is one of my hobbies. Also, reading encyclopedias with pictures. [Laughs.] I am a man of peace, but I am fond of looking at picture books of the Second World War. I own some, which I believe are produced by Time-Life. I've just ordered a new set. Thirty books.

Q: Really? Why does the Reincarnation of Compassion have such a fascination with one of the most terrible events in human history?

A: Perhaps because the stories are so negative and gruesome, they strengthen my belief in nonviolence. [Smiles.] However, I find many of the machines of violence very attractive. Tanks, airplanes, warships, especially aircraft carriers. And the German U-boats, submarines. . . .

Q: I once read that as a little boy in Lhasa, you liked war toys.

A: Yes, very much. I also had an air rifle in Lhasa. And I have one in India. I often feed small birds, but when they come together, hawks spot them and catch them -- a very bad thing. So in order to protect these small birds, I keep the air rifle.

Q: So it is a Buddhist rifle?

A: [Laughs] A compassionate rifle!

Q: So what are your weaknesses and faults?

A: Laziness.

Q: It is said that you get up at 4 in the morning. How can you be lazy?

A: It's not that kind of laziness. For instance, sometimes, when I visit some Western countries, I develop an enthusiasm to improve my English. But when I actually make the effort to study, after a few days, my enthusiasm is finished. [Laughs.] That is laziness. Other weaknesses are, I think, anger and attachments. I'm attached to my watch and my prayer beads. Then, of course, sometimes beautiful women. . . . But then, many monks have the same experience. Some of it is curiosity: If you use this, what is the feeling? [Points to his groin.]

Q: Sir, your laugh is world famous -- what makes you laugh?

A: There is something in my family . . . a tendency to laugh a lot. One brother, Gyalo Thondup, doesn't laugh too much. Another, Lobsang Samten, was very fond of cracking dirty jokes. A third, Taktser Rinpoche, he also laughed a lot. And Tibetans generally are very good-natured. In my childhood, I had a religious assistant who always told me, "If you can really laugh with full abandonment, it's very good for your health."

Q: In closing, I read somewhere that you are predicting that the 21st century, unlike the 20th, is to be a century of peace and justice. Why?

A: Because I believe that in the 20th century, humanity has learned from many, many experiences. Some positive, and many negative. What misery, what destruction! The greatest number of human beings were killed in the two world wars of this century. But human nature is such that when we face a tremendous critical situation, the human mind can wake up and find some other alternative. That is a human capacity.

full article: www.dharmaweb.org/index.php...York_Times

sometimes
when with a
poem
anger rushes
in
like being thrown
from
horse into
pluming
smoke
dust
softly
barreling dust
-stay conscious
but keep yer
eyes
from
getting
touched


Haiku

Resting in the mid-
dle way, like the heart, a lit-
tle left of center



TAXI #1206

mr. johnson
regular custo-
mer
goes out
to ‘sydneys’
for waffles
and wine
put his
walker in
trunk
fabulous five
dollar ride
always
he picked
up
slow and
drunk



lying in bed
thinking of how in
grade school
slide-tackled michelle
guerts on the ice
mid-winter
her coming up after, so
sad ‘why did you do
that’
i still don’t know
why i did it



everything changes
except that fact
everything
cause and effect
without first cause
the Buddha said
we’ve been suffering
since beginningless time

what do you think




zazen is no-zazen
today is not-today
apples are a full cart per horse
springtime



teeth are for
biting and
crushing things to eat
genitals are
for
relating (trungpa)




olly
jazz musician
picked up 923
club washington avenue
told me he was 53
feeling ‘absolute’
‘not too absolute’ though
told him i’m 29
he said you look
like you play
guitar
said his
favorite to play
was
xylophone




mindful of
breathe
but
not controlling the
breathe

eating from the bowl
the cat is
no-longer
hungry





as
a
child
my emotions
were
stolen
from me like
a
forgotten
toy



rain morning
rain morning hold
rain taxi
rain morning
rain taxi shell



1933
barbed wire
hairnet
parents poor
and just being
born
a Christ figure
and Christmas dustbowl
depressive electric
manic america




yer
heart
like an
ocean like
yer
mind

nightmare
mouth
of
river




shore
found
you guys
interesting
bored




hurricane
treat you
like
a
straw dog
in
this
empty
universe
yer parents
already
dead




to liken
this
fruit to
my little life
button
coat
afternoon
walk




old
mr. johnson
drunk and
‘god-damned foot’
burping in the car
the only emptiness
he has now is in
a glass of
wine