Trekking the Mind...

When Effort Comes Naturally

Trekking any spiritual path is a balancing act. As you gain effort and mastery, you also gain ease. That means that while you may work harder, the effort will come more naturally. While you will certainly encounter new distractions—and who does not?—you also have the means to overcome them. Do not be discouraged. There is always a new moment in which to experience living kindness.

–Donald Altman, from Living Kindness (Inner Ocean Publishing)

Is there a photo?

When sending a post to a blog, by email, with a photo attached... the QUESTION is...

Will the photo (attachment) be included in the blog post?

We shall know the answer in moments.

The Wondering Mind Must Know Now!

The Patio of the Mind

If you sweep the patio in November after leaves have fallen, you wouldn't expect it to stay clean forever. The patio is like the mind. Mindfulness meditation practice can feel like sweeping the mind and clearing away the thoughts strewn about making a big mess.

 

 

 

---- Have you swept lately?

The Drum

"Another gift of the drum, in learning to play it and appreciate it, is that it brings you peace. When you play the drum, you take your frustrations out on the drum itself, instead of on people. The energy you put into drumming is the kind of energy that will change your mood. When you are drumming, you really forget yourself, and probably certain aggravations too, things that might trouble the mind. You may even find solutions to problems while you are playing. You may become resigned to certain  things that may otherwise be bothersome. Drumming helps you reestablish your faith in yourself and your abilities. Drumming just does so much for you, especially if you are enjoying what you are playing. You become tuned in to so many positive ideas that you forget the negative. Drumming can be the beginning of a healing process for what is troubling your soul. You can learn to say "Look, things will change if I can just learn to exercise some patience and forebearance."

-- Babatunde Olatunji
from The Beat of My Drum, an autobiography

Babatunde Olatunji

"One of the most enduring gifts for anyone who plays the drums is the realization that drums are powerful instruments for unity, for bringing peopleof all levels, of all cultures, together through their equal contributions. No one person's contribution is greater than anyone else's. The drum is the great equalizer. When you play your part, and I play my part, it means the kind of collaborationt hat allows your light to shine as well as mine, because we both stay in rhythm and the whole effect is powerful."

"The important thing is not to play for anyone's satisfaction but your own. You are the one that has to feel good, to feel happy, to be in a good mood. Then you can inspire others. You have to feel good about yourself first."

--- Babatunde Olatunji
from The Beat of My Drum, his autobiography

Anger

Mastering Our Anger

We need to master our own anger before we can help others do the same. When the flames of anger flare up, we tend to lash out at those who have watered our seeds of anger. It is like finding our house on fire, and instead of putting out the flames, chasing those we think started it. Arguing with others only waters the seeds of anger in us. When anger rises, return to yourself and use the energy of mindfulness to embrace, soothe, and illuminate it. Do not think you will feel better if you can make the other person suffer, too.

–Thich Nhat Hanh, from Teachings on Love (Parallax Press)

Be Happy Now

You Can Be Happy Right Now

Many of us think that happiness is not possible in the present moment. Most of us believe that there are a few more conditions that need to be met before we can be happy. This is why we are sucked into the future and are not capable of being present in the here and now. This is why we step over many of the wonders of life.

–Thich Nhat Hanh, from Be Where You Are (Parallax Press)

Should?

One Reason We Get Angry

The trigger for much of our anger is frustrated expectation. We sometimes invest so much of ourselves in a project that when it doesn't turn out as it should we become irate. All 'shoulds' point to an expectation, a prediction for the future. We might have realized by now that the future is uncertain, unpredictable. Relying too much on an expectation for the future, a 'should', is asking for trouble.

–Ajahn Brahm, from Opening the Door of your Heart (Lothian Books)

Let Go and Keep Your Balance

It is important to realize that to identify oneself as a meditator or a spiritual person or even a Buddhist can be another way to get caught or lose one's true balance. This is like carrying a raft on your head instead of using it for a vehicle to the other shore. The purpose of meditation is not to create a new spiritual identity, nor to become the most meditative person on the block, who tells other people how they should live. To practice is to let go.

--Joseph Goldstein & Jack Kornfield, from Seeking the Heart of Wisdom

Cyrano de Bergerac

To sing, to laugh, to dream,

To walk in my own way and be alone,/Free, with an eye to see things as they are,

A voice that means manhood - to cock my hat/Where I choose - At a word, a Yes, a No,

To fight - or write. To travel any road/Under the sun, under the stars, nor doubt

If fame or fortune lie beyond the bourne -/Never to make a line I have not heard

In my own heart; yet, with all modesty/To say: "My soul, be satisfied with flowers,

With fruit, with weeds even; but gather them/In one garden you may call your own."

So when I win some triumph, by some chance,/Render no share to Caeser.

In a word, I am too proud to be a parasite./And if my nature wants the germ that grows

Towering to heaven like a mountain pine,/Or like the oak sheltering multitudes.

I stand not high it may be – but alone!

One's True Abode

Dwelling in one's true abode, unconcerned with this and that, the river flows tranquilly and the flowers are red.

-Kakuan
Chinese, 12th century

Planetwalker

17 years of silence,  22 years of walking.

From the book, Planetwalker, by John Francis:

"It seems that all change begins unseen or at least unnoticed in the journey that we call life."

"Kindness, I have discovered, can come from the most unlikely people in the most unlikely circumstances, making it all the more meaningful."

"On this tiny planet,and in this precious moment, we have the chance to live in peace together."

"Everybody should take a piece of the earth and walk in the spirit of peace, courageously encountering whatever they find."

Imagination!

Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.

-- Albert Einstein

This makes it sound so easy!

Becoming a buddha

There is a simple way to become a buddha: When you refrain from unwholesome action, are not attached to birth and death, and are compassionate toward all sentient beings, respectful to seniors and kind to juniors, not excluding or desiring anything, with no designing thoughts or worries, you will be called a buddha. Do not seek anything else.
--Zen Master Dogen, Moon in a Dewdrop, edited by Kazuaki Tanahashi

from Everyday Mind, edited by Jean Smith, a Tricycle book

DESTINY

"It is better to live your own destiny imperfectly than to live an imitation of somebody else's life with perfection."

 

Quoted from the Bhagavad Gita in Eat Pray Love.

Chai Cookies

Ingredients

Base recipe:

• 2 sticks butter
• 1 1/3 cups dark brown sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon cloves
• Pinch salt
• 2 tablespoons water

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Sift flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt into the creamed butter and blend well adding water last. Make into 24 even balls and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown on the edges.

Alternate flavors:

Chai Cookies:

• 1/4 teaspoon cardamom
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup crystalized ginger, chopped

Sift cardamom and pepper with flour and fold chopped crystalized ginger in at the end.

Coffee Cookies:

• 2 tablespoons instant espresso

Cream butter, sugar and espresso, then add sifted flour mixture.

Reduced-Guilt Apple Crisp

Juicy Apple Crisp Apples never let you down: You can get them year-round, and you can use just about any variety in this quintessential always-works dessert. With this kind of dependability, who needs chocolate?

1/2 cup regular oats
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon thawed apple juice concentrate
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
8 cups sliced peeled Granny Smith apple (about 2 pounds) (Sue used macintosh)
1/4 cup thawed apple juice concentrate, undiluted
2 tablespoons water
3/4 cup vanilla light ice cream

Preheat oven to 425°.

Combine first 6 ingredients; set aside.

Combine the granulated sugar, cornstarch, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and salt.

Place the apple slices in an 11 x 7-inch baking dish, and sprinkle with the cornstarch mixture.

Pour 1/4 cup juice concentrate and water over the apple mixture.
Top with the oat mixture.

Bake at 425° for 25 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown. Let stand for 15 minutes. Serve with ice cream.

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 1 cup apple crisp and 2 tablespoons ice cream)

CALORIES 258 (16% from fat); FAT 4.6g (sat 2.4g,mono 1.2g,poly 0.5g); IRON 1.2mg; CHOLESTEROL 10mg; CALCIUM 56mg; CARBOHYDRATE 55.2g; SODIUM 101mg; PROTEIN 2.2g; FIBER 3.4g

Cooking Light, JANUARY 2001

Sue's notes: I put extra topping on. I didn't have concentrate juice, or cider, or anything, so I used the juice from a can of peaches (pear juice). That worked great. We didn't have ice cream either, but we'll get some.

original post:
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=printerFriendly&recipe_id=222976

Thanksgiving 2008

We enjoyed our annual gathering in New Hampshire. We had lots of Computer Fun.

Turkey
Blintzes--The Video
Community Cooking
Very Many Computers
Animoto and Photoshop ... (For everything else... there's mastercard!)





Sandy, we hope you enjoyed the day!

Near Enemies

Near Enemies

The near enemies are qualities that arise in the mind and masquerade as genuine spiritual realization, when in fact they are only an imitation, serving to separate us from true feeling rather than connecting us to it. . . .

The near enemy of loving-kindness is attachment. . . . At first, attachment may feel like love, but as it grows it becomes more clearly the opposite, characterized by clinging, controlling and fear.

The near enemy of compassion is pity, and this also separates us. Pity feels sorry for "that poor person over here," as if he were somehow different from us. . . .

The near enemy of sympathetic joy (the joy in the happiness of others) is comparison, which looks to see if we have more of, the same as, or less than another. . . .

The near enemy of equanimity is indifference. True equanimity is balance in the midst of experience, whereas indifference is withdrawal and not caring, based on fear. . . .

If we do not recognize and understand the near enemies, they will deaden our spiritual practice. The compartments they make cannot shield us for long from the pain and unpredictability of life, but they will surely stifle the joy and open connectedness of true relationships.

- Jack Kornfield, A Path with Heart

Dharamsala Recipe Blog

Thanks to the Global-Lab Trekkers for this link to a blog of recipes from India.

Follow the links, and you might even find chai!

http://www.aambrosia.typepad.com/