lotusinthemud

still twittering

snapshots of my life, news and links:

• 14:45 Nice Guardian article on rising popularity of Twitter bit.ly/BX6Xf ~ pointed out by @paulhaynes #
• 14:49 my sangha's planning on going to the Tibet Film Festival tinyurl.com/cj5gph #
• 15:23 watching Ojo Retreat Day 2 - (b) The Sense Base: Taste tinyurl.com/coxckq #
• 17:27 Why wld hackers in China break into 1300 computers belonging to the Dalai Lama & 100s of foreign emb..? sn.im/ev4g4 via @newscientist #
• 19:01 San Francisco 4.4 #Earthquake is.gd/pHhZ via @kenleyneufeld ~ hope all are well #fb #
• 19:51 online virus (that has infected 10m computers) or April Fool's joke? tinyurl.com/cz9pjb ~ via @guardiannews #fb #
• 21:51 ordering more Pu Erh tea to replace the cake I gave Dharmavidya tinyurl.com/dlkwqe #fb #
• 09:03 wonderful - FB befriended by Buddhist Chaplain at Newcastle University, Australia #fb #
• 09:37 tibet news digest 14 - 27 march 2009 tinyurl.com/d3gcf3 #buddhist #buddhism #
• 13:20 oh, Hillary Benn, you have so many of your father's mannerisms #
• 13:34 Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction for Iraq Vets with PTSD tinyurl.com/djwljm via @WilliamHarryman #fb #
• 14:06 NBO and Humanists make joint statement on G20 tinyurl.com/cmgrhx #

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nbo and humanists make joint statement on g20

Here is a joint statement from NBO ( Network of Buddhist Organisations) and British Humanist Association:

 

On the occasion of the visit of G20 Leaders for their London Summit on 2 April, the Network of Buddhist Organisations and the British Humanist Association have issued the joint statement below. Largely based on a similar statement organised by Archbishop Rowan Williams, it demonstrates, in the words of Hanne Stinson, BHA's Chief Executive, 'that you do not have to believe in a god to share the same concerns'.

 "We acknowledge the severity of the current economic crisis and the sheer complexity of the global and local challenge faced by political leaders. They, and we, have a crucial role to play in recovering that lost sense of balance between the requirements of market mechanisms that help deliver increased prosperity, and the moral requirement to safeguard human dignity, regardless of economic or social category.

"Many people are suffering as a result of the economic crisis. The World Bank estimates that 53 million more people could fall into absolute poverty as a result of the crisis. The likelihood is that more will face significant hardship before it comes to an end, and those who are already poor suffer the most. Along with the leaders of the G20 we all have a duty to look at the faces of the poor around the world and to act with justice, to think with compassion, and to look with hope to a sustainable vision of the future.

::read more

nbo and humanists make joint statement on g20

Here is a joint statement from NBO (Network of Buddhist Organisations) and British Humanist Association:

 

On the occasion of the visit of G20 Leaders for their London Summit on 2 April, the Network of Buddhist Organisations and the British Humanist Association have issued the joint statement below. Largely based on a similar statement organised by Archbishop Rowan Williams, it demonstrates, in the words of Hanne Stinson, BHA's Chief Executive, 'that you do not have to believe in a god to share the same concerns'.

 "We acknowledge the severity of the current economic crisis and the sheer complexity of the global and local challenge faced by political leaders. They, and we, have a crucial role to play in recovering that lost sense of balance between the requirements of market mechanisms that help deliver increased prosperity, and the moral requirement to safeguard human dignity, regardless of economic or social category.

"Many people are suffering as a result of the economic crisis. The World Bank estimates that 53 million more people could fall into absolute poverty as a result of the crisis. The likelihood is that more will face significant hardship before it comes to an end, and those who are already poor sufferthe most. Along with the leaders of the G20 we all have a duty to look at the faces of the poor around the world and to act with justice, to think with compassion, and to look with hope to a sustainable vision of the future.

"We wish therefore to draw attention to some of the promises made by the international community in recent times - with our wholehearted support - that risk being postponed by the pressing concern to rectify market failures.  We need to be properly conscious that all communities include, and must pay special attention to the needs of, poor, marginalised and vulnerable people.  To forget their needs would be to compound regrettable past failures with needless future injustices.

tibet news digest 14 - 27 march 2009

- Kalon Tripa says Tibetans ready to talk
- Three foreigners detained in Kathmandu
- Bomb blast in Kardze
- Monks taken for 'study' after peaceful protest
- Karmapa gives rare interview
- Luxury train to Lhasa postponed
- China arrests a Tibetan civil servant
- China approves "modern redesign" of Lhasa
- Nun stages protest march in Kardze
- Fear of more HIV infections
- Youths and monks held for marking uprising anniversary
- Arrests over farming boycott
- Tibetan writer arrested
- Danish PM hopes to meet Dalai Lama in May
- Chinese bank lends to mines in Tibet
- Ragya monastery encircled and under severe restriction
- Tibet re-opens to foreign tourists from April
- Tibetan writer-photographer arrested in Gansu Province
- Nuns arrested in Kardze
- China block footage of Tibet violence on YouTube
- Peace conference "postponed" after Dalai Lama refused visa

::read more

tibet news digest 14 - 27 march 2009

- Kalon Tripa says Tibetans ready to talk
- Three foreigners detained in Kathmandu
- Bomb blast in Kardze
- Monks taken for ‘study' after peaceful protest
- Karmapa gives rare interview
- Luxury train to Lhasa postponed
- China arrests a Tibetan civil servant
- China approves "modern redesign" of Lhasa
- Nun stages protest march in Kardze
- Fear of more HIV infections
- Youths and monks held for marking uprising anniversary
- Arrests over farming boycott
- Tibetan writer arrested
- Danish PM hopes to meet Dalai Lama in May
- Chinese bank lends to mines in Tibet
- Ragya monastery encircled and under severe restriction
- Tibet re-opens to foreign tourists from April
- Tibetan writer-photographer arrested in Gansu Province
- Nuns arrested in Kardze
- China block footage of Tibet violence on YouTube
- Peace conference "postponed" after Dalai Lama refused visa

the difference between love and attachment

The near-enemy of love is attachment. Attachment masquerades as love. It says, "I will love you if you will love me back." It is a kind of "businessman's" love. So we think, "I will love this person as long as he doesn't change. I will love that thing if it will be the way I want it." But this isn't love at all - it is attachment. There is a big difference between love, which allows and honors and appreciates, and attachment, which grasps and demands and aims to possess. When attachment becomes confused with love, it actually separates us from another person. We feel we need this other person in order to be happy. This quality of attachment also leads us to offer love only toward certain people, excluding others.

~ Joseph Goldstein

the difference between love and attachment

The near-enemy of love is attachment. Attachment masquerades as love. It says, "I will love you if you will love me back." It is a kind of "businessman's" love. So we think, "I will love this person as long as he doesn't change. I will love that thing if it will be the way I want it." But this isn't love at all - it is attachment. There is a big difference between love, which allows and honors and appreciates, and attachment, which grasps and demands and aims to possess. When attachment becomes confused with love, it actually separates us from another person. We feel we need this other person in order to be happy. This quality of attachment also leads us to offer love only toward certain people, excluding others.

~ Joseph Goldstein

still twittering

snapshots of my life, news and links:

• 15:50 another bokashi bin emptied -> garden, bin washed + beside kitchen sink, replacing full bin -> morning rm to ripen tinyurl.com/d74srv #
• 15:58 HOW TO: Survive the New, New Facebook ow.ly/1Cn5 ~ from @RazorNylon #
• 16:02 Plant uses Twitter to tell you it needs water bit.ly/gdGOz via @RazorNylon ☺ #
• 16:40 listening to the short Ojo Retreat talks again tinyurl.com/d36lv8: Introduction to the Sense Bases #fb #
• 16:53 another Ojo Retreat talk tinyurl.com/d36lv8: Day 1a Mindfulness of breathing from an Other Power perspective (6 mins) #fb #
• 16:57 interesting post from @TheCharmQuark ~ a bit of processing, talk about responsibility: bit.ly/16bfRw #
• 17:08 Dharmavidya on the sense of smell ~ the next Ojo Retreat talk: Day 1c (4 mins) tinyurl.com/d36lv8 #fb #
• 17:27 updating Adium www.adiumx.com/ #fb #
• 17:47 lunch of veggie sausages, broccoli, carrots and mashed potato made for me by P #gratitude #fb #
• 19:07 #gratitude for Twitter and Facebook #fb #
• 20:41 updating websites with meditation dates, April - June, at NCL & UNN unis #
• 21:04 tinyurl.com/c2lg47 (via @addthis) #
• 21:32 thinking of how massively the internet has benefited me since I started using it 10 years ago #gratitude #
• 21:40 New Scientist ~ 'Consciousness signature' discovered spanning the brain ~ via @WilliamHarryman #
• 22:06 time to go upstairs, have ginger tea and travel with the ents for a while #
• 09:40 The new Rigpa.Org site is live is.gd/pCwR ~ via @lotsawa #fb #
• 09:45 Buckingham Palace during Earth Hour: tinyurl.com/d38rvc ~ via@earthhour #fb #
• 09:48 making phonecalls, starting with my mother #
• 11:31 "Kindness & Friendship" over "influence & followers" any day. So says @MeditationHelp Namo Amida Bu #fb #
• 12:10 chatting to a birthday mate via Facebook #

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still twittering

snapshots of my life, news and links:

• 14:05 Jack Kornfield on 'near enemies' tinyurl.com/dacykm #
• 14:09 Pema Chodron: 'it's part of being human to feel discomfort' tinyurl.com/dnhhgo #
• 14:14 Checking out tinyurl.com/dnxz2m #
• 16:57 wondering whether I can record on Ustream...trying out my iSight #
• 18:03 There's nothing like a webcam for showing you at your best (rolls eyes) #fb #
• 20:25 5 minutes to lights out! www.earthhour.org/home/ #fb #
• 22:30 Oh yes, Spring forward 1H - Summertime #fb #
• 11:01 canada discovers cyber spy network tinyurl.com/ckfuv2 #
• 12:36 causing me to smile ~ "Laughter is not at all a bad beginning for a friendship." ~ Oscar Wilde via @AlanDavidson #fb #
• 13:54 that which you think is 'i' is not real tinyurl.com/dewdpd #
• 13:56 HH the 2nd Dalai Lama: 'i' is an imputation tinyurl.com/cx9ken #

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water meters in all uk homes by 2030 to ease shortages

Many parts of the country face crippling water shortages in the near future unless immediate action is taken to protect precious supplies, according to an Environment Agency (EA) report to be published this week. Measures include compulsory water meters in every home.

The EA warns in the Water Resources Strategy document that many rivers, particularly those in south-east England, could be reduced to a trickle in summer by the middle of the century because of climate change. On average, flows are likely to be cut by 50 to 80%.

::link