lotusinthemud

still twittering

snapshots of my life, news and links:

• 17:45 twitpic.com/47rf0 - Hiroshima Peace tree. Ambleside, Cumbria. (via @cragchris) #
• 18:40 Can the world cope if #swineflu goes pandemic? tinyurl.com/clz63v (via @newscientist) #
• 19:08 A Life in the Day: The Dalai Lama tinyurl.com/cttrfr #buddhism #
• 19:12 Dalai Lama Calls America 'Champion of Freedom' tinyurl.com/cogdd5 #buddhism #
• 19:27 seeing its transparency tinyurl.com/cw84pa #
• 19:39 dharamsala: forging tibetans’ future tinyurl.com/d55cpv #buddhism #tibet #
• 19:41 "As long as anger dominates our disposition, there is no possibility of lasting happiness." ~ HH the Dalai Lama (via @tinybuddha) #
• 19:51 beyond the clouds the sun is always shining tinyurl.com/c5bd3f #
• 21:08 World Health Organization to declare swine flu a pandemic, BNO News confirms: adjix.com/59rk (via @BreakingNews) #
• 21:27 Ben, who is cool under fire - oh yes? #apprentice #
• 21:38 not all Geordie males are as set in their ways as Philip! #apprentice #
• 21:43 WHO director-general Margaret Chan just called for less hugging in response to #swineflu. (via @newscientist) ~ Buddhist bowing, then? _/I\_ #
• 21:49 twitpic.com/48drf - Bluebells, Stockghyll Lane, en-route to Wansfell, Ambleside. (from @cragchris) #lakedistrict #
• 08:22 RT @bklynyogini: "Meditation is giving a huge meadow to a restless cow." Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche (via @mommymystic) #
• 08:26 ready for 2nd coffee of morning (to swallow vitamins with) before heading of for 1st Chaplains' meeting (Newcastle team) @ Northumbria Uni #
• 12:02 both Chaplaincy team meetings over, now UNN International Lunch #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

the dalai lama on america

 FNC

His Holiness the Dalai Lama poses with his FOX News mug after an interview.

The Dalai Lama praised American democracy and said he thinks President Obama is realistic and open, in an exclusive interview with FOX News during his five-city tour of the United States.

The Tibetan spiritual leader, in addition to discussing the value of kindness and compassion, spoke of his admiration for the United States.

"I think basically America is a champion of freedom, democracy, liberty," he said before a series of lectures at the University of California, Santa Barbara. "Occasionally the administration neglects these principles, but overall, I think these principles are very much alive in this country."

It still is unclear whether he will have an opportunity to meet with President Obama this fall when he visits Washington D.C.

"He seems, I think, very realistic, very open," the Dalai Lama said, "and he always reaches out to other people, even though some people create some problems. He always reaches out. That's, I think, wonderful. Very good."

::read more

what does the dalai lama do all day?

My day starts at 3.30am.

I recite an inspirational stanza in praise of Buddha Shakyamuni.

It reads: “Enthused by great compassion/You taught the immaculate teaching./To dispel all perverted views/To you, the Buddha, I bow.” I recite that with prayers in prostration. After that, analytical meditation. What is Buddha? What is self? I reflect on emptiness — the ultimate reality — and altruism. All human beings are the same: we all want happiness and we do not want suffering. Then the treadmill, jogging for 40 minutes. If you hold the rail firmly you can recite a prayer and meditate too. But you must take care or you might fall off!

dharamsala: forging tibetans’ future

by david hayes

The attitude of the authorities in the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the Dalai Lama and exiled Tibetans is reminiscent of the response of Joseph Stalin when the Soviet dictator was advised to avoid conflict with the Catholic church: "How many divisions does the pope have?"

Beijing's routine contempt is echoed in Unhappy China, a bestselling work by a group of self-styled spokespersons for Chinese nationalism. One of the authors says that China has no need to argue with the west about whether Tibet was part of China historically or is part of present-day China legitimately: China just needs to make the fact clear that China occupied Tibet in 1959. What can the west do? The case for brutal realism and "hard power", in which actual control matters more than any moral or historical justifications, reveals a significant current of thought in contemporary China (see Song Xiaojun, Wang Xiaodong, Huang Jisu, Song Qiang & Liu Yang, Unhappy China [Jiangsu, People's Press, 2009]). Temtsel H! ao is a journalist based in London

The answer to the updated version of Joseph Stalin's question is clear from a visit to Dharamsala in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, where the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile have been based since their flight from Tibet fifty years ago. Tibet's spiritual leader has not a single division, except for some (unarmed) bodyguards in his residence. Along the mountain road leading to Dharamsala, a visitor can see many soldiers - but they are Gurkha, and belong to Indian army garrisons stationed nearby. Indeed, many come here precisely because Dharamsala represents the values preached by the Dalai Lama and embodied by the Tibetan exile communities: the harmony of Tibetan and Indian cultures, the quiet inspiration of the spirit, "soft power".

beyond the clouds the sun is always shining

(T)his enlightenment of the Buddha's was profound and brilliant, accurate and powerful, and also warm and compassionate. It was like the sun behind the clouds. Anyone who has taken off in an airplane on a grim and gloomy day knows that beyond the cloud cover the sun is always shining. Even at night the sun is shining, but then we can't see it because the earth is in the way, and probably our pillow also. The Buddha explained that behind the cloud cover of thoughts - including very heavy clouds of emotionally charged thoughts backed up by entrenched habitual patterns - there is continual warm, bright, loving intelligence constantly shining. And even though in the midst of thoughts, emotions, and habitual patterns, intelligence may become dulled and confused, it is still this intelligence in the midst of thoughts and emotions and habits that makes them so very captivating, so resourceful and various, so inexhaustible.

~ Samuel Bercholz, Entering the Stream

beyond the clouds the sun is always shining

(T)his enlightenment of the Buddha's was profound and brilliant, accurate and powerful, and also warm and compassionate. It was like the sun behind the clouds. Anyone who has taken off in an airplane on a grim and gloomy day knows that beyond the cloud cover the sun is always shining. Even at night the sun is shining, but then we can't see it because the earth is in the way, and probably our pillow also. The Buddha explained that behind the cloud cover of thoughts - including very heavy clouds of emotionally charged thoughts backed up by entrenched habitual patterns - there is continual warm, bright, loving intelligence constantly shining. And even though in the midst of thoughts, emotions, and habitual patterns, intelligence may become dulled and confused, it is still this intelligence in the midst of thoughts and emotions and habits that makes them so very captivating, so resourceful and various, so inexhaustible.

~ Samuel Bercholz, Entering the Stream

seeing its transparency

I always say that there's a kind of implicit mindfulness and wisdom in metta practice. The very process of letting go of a distraction implies in some way seeing its transparency, not freaking out over it, not being angry about it, not getting involved with it, not identifying with it. You may not consciously say to yourself, "Oh, look, this moment is changing," but you can't let go of the distraction unless you are actually seeing that. You would be trying to push it away from anger rather than actually letting go. So to do the metta practice, you actually bring forth that level of wisdom.

~ Sharon Salzberg, in Spirit Rock Meditation Center Newsletter, 1997

seeing its transparency

I always say that there's a kind of implicit mindfulness and wisdom in metta practice. The very process of letting go of a distraction implies in some way seeing its transparency, not freaking out over it, not being angry about it, not getting involved with it, not identifying with it. You may not consciously say to yourself, "Oh, look, this moment is changing," but you can't let go of the distraction unless you are actually seeing that. You would be trying to push it away from anger rather than actually letting go. So to do the metta practice, you actually bring forth that level of wisdom.

~ Sharon Salzberg, in Spirit Rock Meditation Center Newsletter, 1997

still twittering

snapshots of my life, news and links:

• 14:21 BBC report on our little Lake District earthquake tinyurl.com/cka25a (via @TheLakeDistrict) #
• 14:22 Just added myself to the wefollow.com twitter directory under: #meditation, #buddhist, #buddhism #
• 14:22 Just added myself to the wefollow.com twitter directory under: #pureland #buddhist #author ( from @dharmavidya) #
• 14:23 (and this includes you!) RT: @thebuddha: Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else. (via @puerhan) #
• 14:24 New blog post: Using thought to still thought tinyurl.com/cfqaxs (from @_wildmind) #
• 14:42 ✤ A fidget of suspects (via @dailylark) #
• 14:46 (@dharmavidya) is pleased to see that the Amida Buddhist network now has 400 members amidatrust.ning.com/ - & is one year old today! #
• 15:34 Official says at least 23 possible swine flu cases in Scotland after at least 14 were discovered in the last hours. (via @BreakingNews) #
• 16:00 how many words does *your* brain hold? tinyurl.com/c2hc4c #
• 16:48 Vidyamala's Living well with Pain and Illness has arrived :-) #
• 09:11 In a democratic society, you're supposed to be an activist; that is, you participate. - Studs Terkel (via @quotesnack) #quotes #
• 09:15 Pls sign UK ME petition demanding ministers attend ME/CFS conference tinyurl.com/cfa3g3 Pls RT (via @Killandra) #
• 09:22 The Dhamma Brothers, Vipassana meditation in jail ~ UK premiere Barbican London Mon May 11th tinyurl.com/cgj36d #fb #buddhism #
• 09:30 taking aspirin in yr 40s cld cut risk of cancer later in life tinyurl.com/cmszud #health #
• 10:11 RT @JanisSharp U.K citiz inc. my son Gary McKinnon given life sentences in U.S 4 non violent crimes tinyurl.com/ce2o9h (via @hen4) #
• 10:13 the blessings of being able to order groceries on-line (Sainsburys) #health #gratitude #
• 10:28 printed Amida Newcastle newsletter to give to Colin when we meet up at lunchtime #
• 10:37 now is the time! tinyurl.com/dne5aq #
• 10:53 all UK homes to get swine flu advice tinyurl.com/d7e57d #swineflu #
• 10:54 Komodo Dragons scary no doubt. big males 110 kilos, 10 feet long, razor sharp teeth, aggressive, fear nothing.. (via @RealBillBailey) #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

now is the time

Do you live as though you have all the time in the world? Having all the time in the world is an illusion. You never know what might happen - an accident, an illness, or a disaster. If you only had moments to live, would you change your priorities? What would you do? Where would you go? How you would interact with your family, friends, loved ones - even strangers? But truly: Why are you not doing these things now?

~ Arnie Kozak, from Wild Chickens and Petty Tyrants (Wisdom)
Timely question!