No thanks, non merci, nej tak, no gracias, etc

All of these 'nos' are to nuclear energy wherever it is being produced. I remember 'nej tak' being a slogan from the 80s (?). What has happened to our position on nuclear energy? It seems to have eroded, and sadly some influential Australians have participated in this process by proponing nuclear energy as the answer to the energy issues of our future (what future?).

Well with limited knowledge on my side to argue soundly, I still say 'no thanks'. The mistake we are all making in my eyes is to think our lives can be lived as they are now (why would you want to anyway but won't go there). We are putting our heads in the sand if we assume that. There are too many of us on the planet and a certain percentage of us are using far too much energy, and our 'needs' and lifestyles are destroying the planet, which, we should remind ourselves, is a living thing with innocent life that we are dragging down with us - no, pushing in front of us. As usual we are prioritising ourselves over everything else. Most humans would have to agree on at least this point. And most humans who are contributing to this waste of life are not admitting that they have a problem with species being threatened - they are able to avoid relating to the pain of an arctic bear that has to swim for miles simply to find somewhere to lob his beautiful white body, not to sunbake but to survive. It is harder to feel sorry for sharks perhaps as Australians have a fear of them and see them as the enemy, but the reality is that sharks play a crucial role in our ecosystem. It is big picture stuff and requires a very big step away from ego-driven needs and wants. And who wants to feel that world pain? I would rather not but it is always with me.

So what am I saying now that I have rambled down the path of love and emotion? That we must consider a different life path, one that is inclusive of all living things. At the moment we don't even include our own species let alone others. And saying yes to nuclear energy is not doing this, it is thinking we can solve a problem that is getting bigger and bigger. It is thinking we are smarter than we are. In fact a species that would 'progress' towards its demise is not smart at all. As the American Indians have said, No tree has branches foolish enough to fight amongst each other. (This is a quote from A Dare a Day)

Puja

In Buddhism, puja (Sanskrit & Pali: pūjā) are expressions of 'honour, worship, devotional attention'. Acts of puja include bowing, making offerings and chanting. These devotional acts are generally performed daily at home (either in the morning or evening or both) as well as during communal festivals and Uposatha days at a temple. (Wikipedia)

The practice
1. Clear the space – eg burn incense or chant Om
2. Ask for protection and guidance (to teachers, Buddha etc)
3. Do salutations (to Buddha, teachers, family members etc)
4. Ask for help to stay focused in your day/life (eg chant, do affirmations)
5. Practice prayerfulness – connection to spirit (eg meditation)
6. Express gratitude – for what you have etc
7. Say direct prayers for others (eg family members, enemies, for self) – watch the words you use
8. Do affirmations – remind yourself of who you truly are: ‘I am the essence of creation’

Wisdoms
Everyone you meet is a teacher.
Drop it all, choose again.
Read the book ‘The secret’ for words of wisdom.
We live in a desensitised world. As you operate from the spirit level, you become more sensitive to what is happening around you.
Vedanta means truth. These practices are drawn from Vedic texts.
Different beings/icons represent different aspects of God, so you might use Krishna, the elephant god and/or Buddha, or a photo of someone you know in your puja.

Bees and other insects (etc)

This could well be an Ode to bees. Bees are once again visiting my increasingly humble domain (1907 Edwardian-style house). They have a fascination for the mini-orb back wall because it is penetrable due to their size and its fissures, and because of its penetrability there have been bees nests/hives within the walls in the past. Bees have an appreciation for history. They began coming a few weeks ago and my human antenna said 'uh-oh, here's a problem I will have to react to'. Well they buzzed around for a week or so, and then one day around midday there was suddenly a whole lot more of them, like about a thousand! That night, they cuddled up together in a hive-like swarm, one on top of the other in a way that said they would not be lonesome that night. Time to act. We put a creosote laden rag in the hole that they were going through to the inner wall. They don't like creosote - who does? That stuff is so strong you can smell it up the street. That got rid of most of them. But a few hangers on are still persistently building a beautiful cone-shaped nest in which to lay their eggs (apparently, as I haven't done biology since my teens). It is white with cells that look like honeycomb, and a pure form. They will not leave this creation and I don't blame them. However this requires a further act from me, preferably one that is as guilt-free of harming them as possible. More to come...
My other thought extending from this is that there will be environmental refugees of the non-human kind as time progresses global warming and insects, rodents etc seek a friendly place to cool their feelers, legs and other body parts. I suspect that my house will fill their requirements because it is not of the concrete jungle variety that is more frequently being called a 'home' in my area.

Q&A or Slumdog Millionaire

I have just finished the book Slumdog Millionaire (originally Q&A). It was brilliant to use another two 'ls'. The film is a lot different, seeming to retain just the concept. This makes the book all the more enjoyable as there is no need to compare it to the film. The last line of the book is guaranteed to bring a tear to the eye - Because luck comes from within. Really though, Ram Mohammed Thomas is a character you have to like, because of his compassion for other humans. He chooses to help people rather than not, and connects with people in ways that affect his 'luck'. Because he is a communicator, he meets people who craft his ability to know the answers to quiz questions in the TV quiz show that is the backdrop to his life. Others would call it serendipity.

This is the third book I have read about India lately. The others being The White Tiger and Shantaram. The main character in The White Tiger is not likeable (rather, cunning and driven by circumstances), but a lot about India (particularly corruption, also a theme in Q&A) is portrayed in this novel. Whilst reminders of what India is are in Shantaram too, the main character is not (for me) charismatic, but has more of a gangster mentality. However, as with Ram in Q&A, he too connects with people. This can change the nature of your life. Being cut off makes less things possible. One thing that emerges from all three novels is that India is a place where things can happen by chance. In a country of so many millions living in close quarters with each other, unpredictability would have to be a key aspect of life.

King Lear - play with feeling

I saw King Lear in Adelaide the other night at Festival Theatre. The play was performed by the State Theatre Company and John Gaden played Lear. Gloucester was also brilliantly played. These two white bearded and old-enough actors were brilliant in their roles, conveying the frailty that comes with age and others' reaction to age. In the play, age is like walking a tightrope, being observed by an audience looking for false (perhaps fatal) moves. So the play is about, I now think - don't know what I thought it was about when I studied it at university years ago - old age and relationships with children, once those children are adults. Love and its changing nature in other words. It was very moving. The ad for the play has the line 'Be careful who you listen to' and certainly the two old men Lear and Gloucester seemed to be poor judges of character, but like all of Shakespeare's tragedies there is a considerable amount of conspiracy to wade through. Hopefully normal life is not like that but who knows? Loyalty and love, played by Cordelia (Lear's daughter) and Edgar (Gloucester's son) was very heart melting. One of the last lines was (in modern day English):
Speak what we feel , not what we ought to say
Good advice from Will who was about 40 at the time, about 10 years from his own death not in his 80s as with Lear but at 52.
Modern-day wise, there are many children who seemingly betray their parents by putting them in nursing homes and not giving them a return of care for what they received themselves in childhood, so it will be hard for many to view this play without thinking of their relationship with their own parents, whether happy or sad.

Humans vs non humans

This is an interesting quote I found in Earth Circles:

The deepest cause of the present devastation is found in a mode of consciousness that has established a radical discontinuity between the human and other modes of being and the bestowal of all rights on the humans. The other-than-human modes of being are seen as having no rights. They have reality and value only through their use by the human. In this context the other than human becomes totally vulnerable to exploitation by the human, an attitude that is shared by all four of the fundamental establishments that control the human realm: governments, corporations, universities, and religions - the political, economic, intellectual and religious establishments. All four are committed consciously or unconsciously to a radical discontinuity between the human and the nonhuman.

Thomas Berry, The Great Work (New York: Random House, 1999), 4.

Arborophobia

What a great word! It was apparently coined by Robin Boyd, an urban critic, and means 'hatred of trees'. You could certainly believe it in the urban Adelaide of today, where people use leave busters and other human-made objects to get rid of the mess made by trees which insist on dropping their leaves and generally doing what trees do. Palms are acceptable because they do not drop leaves and do not send roots into plumbing or lift up house foundations. 'Yuppies' are notorious for loving palms and they abide in many Adelaide gardens, along with the must-have urban pool.

A zen poem by an American - how did he know?

My favourite poems have always been the ones I don't really 'get'. Wallace Stevens' poem 'The Snowman' is one of those and I wish my memory would allow me (or I would give myself time) to learn it off by heart as it is a good one to remind one of the mysteries of life. After it became a favourite, I then found an article that declared Wallace Stevens to be a Zen poet and said why. That made me happy. Here is the poem:

The Snowman
One must have a mind of winter
To regard the frost and the boughs
Of the pine-trees crusted with snow;

And have been cold a long time
To behold the junipers shagged with ice,
The spruces rough in the distant glitter

Of the January sun; and not to think
Of any misery in the sound of the wind,
In the sound of a few leaves,

Which is the sound of the land
Full of the same wind
That is blowing in the same bare place

For the listener, who listens in the snow,
And, nothing himself, beholds
Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is.

Tiger sighting

Since going to India in June-July 2009, I have a new respect for William Blake. I saw a tiger (more than one) in a natural environment whilst there, and at first viewing, quite close from an open jeep, tears unpredictably rolled down my cheeks. The best kind of crying.

I don't really know why I had this reaction, but guess it was the power of the beast or perhaps its beauty. Some things are best left unanalysed. So here is the poem. I don't know if William Blake had actually seen a tiger, but regardless, he recognised a higher being played out in its beauty that may be what I reacted to:

The Tyger (from Songs of Experience)
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare sieze the fire?

And what shoulder, & what art.
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & what dread feet?

What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

When the stars threw down their spears,
And watered heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

1794

Pine now a palm

I saved the tree. It has had a severe pruning and now looks more like a palm (long trunk) than a pine, but it is still standing guard on one side of my house. I am very happy about this and now want to save the whole neighbourhood from becoming a desert. From little things big things grow! I will include a photo sometime soon of my beautiful trimmed tree.

More about the tree

I have decided not to cut down my frontyard pine tree. The offer was to pay for cutting it down and replace it with a suitable tree in an advanced state of growth (you can buy them at about 3 metres tall). The pine is not an Australian native and everyone knows that pine needles can be a pain. So whilst it was a difficult request to deal with it was put in the most attractive way by the new owner. It was still a hard decision as I have lived with that tree for more than 20 years and it is much older than that. When you buy a house it takes years to get to know not just the house and its foibles but also the garden if you are lucky enough to inherit one. And the seasons, and the birds and other wildlife (which unfortunately includes rats).
In recent years I have seen the suburb change, as you do. Houses have been bulldozed to make way for flats/units, some of which are 2 storey. In the process trees and shrubs have also been cleared. There is a vacant block up the road that has a beautiful old gum at the front. It cannot be removed because it is 'significant' - that is, the trunk 1 metre above ground is 2 metres in girth or more. I am wondering if it will survive the building process and how much it will be respected. Some of the work is pretty rough on the surrounds whether intentional or just the outcome of big machines.
We all live in changing times and suburbs, and many want both worlds - a nice environment but one that doesn't impinge on their lifestyles (in the form of having to pick up leaves, trim branches and the other inconveniences of nature). We are all so busy that the old ways, when home owners used to enjoy doing things around their property on the weekends and saw it as part of their role, are dying. Now we want patios and home entertainment that is more clinical, and doesn't rely on nature for comfort. (My pine tree provides valuable shade in summer as I don't have air conditioning. This is 'significant' - last year we had 10 days of over 40 degrees centigrade heat.) However, one day this conflict between lifestyle and the environment will have to change. It may be too late by the time it happens, that is my concern.

'I own a tree'

There is an ad on prime time TV that shows a guy standing in his backyard with his partner, looking up at a tree and saying 'I own a tree. I've never owned a tree before.' I hate ads but that particular ad I had a soft spot for, as although the guy was obviously a new home owner, it was the tree he related to (OK it was an ad and it worked).
Well now that is significant for me. Because I own a tree. A big pine tree in the front yard on the western side. Perhaps 30 feet tall, maybe more. Big. The canopy is half over my roof and half over the next property. At the moment there is no house on that property. But there will be. And I had a call from the new owner, a nice bloke, proposing that I cut down my tree so that their cars will not have pine cones and resin dropped on them while they are in the drive.
So what do I do? I would never cut down that tree left to my own choice. All right, it does put a lot of stuff in the gutters which is an ongoing problem, and no doubt affects the rainwater that goes into my two tanks on that side of the house. I don't drink that rainwater - not yet, but if it gets dry enough over the next few years I may. But sulphur crested cockatoos and Major Mitchells flock into that tree (and the one on the other side). There are 50 to 100 of them. They swoop in, usually early in the morning, and then they quietly chew. If you go outside you can see glimpses of their whiteness and hear some crunching noises but that is all. After a while you can hear a pelting noise - that is them dropping the chewed pine cones onto the roof and ground. This routine can go on for an hour. Then all at once they fly from their different positions in the tree as if a gun has gone off. They squawk and scream and fly off. It is a racket. When you look around you can see bits of pine cone everywhere - strewn on the footpaths, in the garden, on the verandah roof (and in the gutters, sigh). It is a treat not just for them but for me. And a laugh.
I guess some of us love trees and the shade and natural unpredicatable events they bring, and some of us love cars.

It's over till it starts again

As the weeks roll by in 7-day lots, this phrase 'It's over till it starts again' seems an apt epithet (what a tongue twister!). I work 4 days a week in a workplace, and when Thursday is over there is a 3-day space of time before Monday. When you are old (if you are lucky enought to get there) and you look back over your whole life (if that is what you do), is this how it appears - as chunks of time organised over 1-week periods? I used to be able to account for every year of my adult life, and probably still could. Partly because I did a lot of applying for jobs and structured my life according to what year I had done what. Lately the structure has been more 'project-based' (eg it took me 7 years to do a Masters degree).
Which approach slows life down, which is what it would be really nice to do? Or is there a completely different way of 'measuring' life? The answer in buddhist or meditational terms would be to take each moment as it comes. This removes the routine-like aspect of time.
As usual I started this post with a different sense of where it would go. That is writing for you. Not sure now what I was really trying to say...except that I was excited that this was a 6-word description of my current life.

Steps to happiness

The following notes are adapted from Meditations from the Tantras, a thin book with some very 'river deep, mountain high' advice.

What causes 'human suffering' in the mind (this has to be distinguished from starvation, thirst and other basic needs)?

• ignorance or unawareness of reality
• the ego
• likes or attractions towards objects
• dislikes or repulsion towards objects
• the strong aversion or fear of death

How to remove these causes?
Slowly and systematically reduce them:

1. Continuously practise self awareness to attain a calm and tranquil state
   
2. Find out these deeper problems by practising antar mouna meditation. Make a mental or written record of what is revealed during the practice
   
3. Brood over their manifestations and realise that they do indeed bring about unhappiness and suffering (deeply)
   
4. Use auto suggestion and reprogramming (best time is after meditational practices, on waking or before sleeping):
   replace mentally disturbing thoughts with their opposites
   repeat the auto suggestion with intensity and feeling for a few minutes
   believe in the auto suggestion whole heartedly
   
5. Make the mind stronger so that it is less influenced by external events by slowly developing detachment to everything and every person.
   Identify yourself with the centre of consciousness rather than the body-mind. What we think is our present state of consciousness and not the subtle essence of life itself - the body and mind are only instruments of action, perception and thought.
   Be a witness - you are not your mind, thoughts, body etc. Practise this intellectually
   
6. Recognise that 'this too will pass' - thoughts and emotions are temporary
   
7. Consciously will the body to become whole, strong and balanced.
8. At the same time as 2 and 3, practise:
   self restraints - non violence, truth, honesty, sexual control, non possessiveness
   observances - purity, contentment, austerity, self study, self surrender
   

Cars the death of us

Another tragic news story but with a more personal bent as one of the victims is the son of someone I know. There have been 9 deaths in 9 days on South Australian roads - the latest news release. This is turning out to be a year of high road deaths. Ads and other efforts have not made a difference so what will? We have a lot of drag racing in South Australia and no doubt the whole of Australia. The culprits are generally young people who don't think much about death and don't think they will die. This time (and it is not the first) an innocent person unfortunate enough to be on the road at the same time was killed and his girlfriend seriously injured. Wrong place wrong time. But that is not enough. We can't accept these events and dismiss them as 'tragic'. We shouldn't get over them. It is surely time to do something about the car manufacturing industry and other players in this game. The sides of Australian roads are littered with flowers - stobie poles and trees wear them, markers indicate death and serious injury.
So for a start, what is hard about addressing the speed that cars can go at? Any car you buy has a speedometer that goes to 200 or more kph. Perhaps making cars specifically for the racing industry that can go faster (ie special circumstances). When are we going to get a politician who takes this up as a main issue? We have a 'no pokies' politician. What about a 'no fast cars' politician. My mind cannot think clearly about other measures but this is a start. Cars are the enemy. If we can't get rid of them let's get them back under our control. The Australian scifi movie The cars that ate Paris I have often thought was revolutionary. A remake reality movie will be The cars that ate Australia.

Gary Synder poem - pure and simple

I love this poem by Gary Snyder, especially the last 3 lines. It encapsulates everything we should be trying to do with our lives and lifestyles:

For the Children

The rising hills, the slopes,
of statistics
lie before us.
the steep climb
of everything, going up,
up, as we all
go down.

In the next century
or the one beyond that,
they say,
are valleys, pastures,
we can meet there in peace
if we make it.

To climb these coming crests
one word to you, to
you and your children:

stay together
learn the flowers
go light

— Gary Snyder, from Turtle Island

'Islands of understanding in an endless sea of mystery'

I love this quote. It is from Ian Lowe's book A big fix, and actually refers to our understanding of the complex natural systems of the Earth. On the other hand, I can relate to it totally, not because I live on an island (Australia) but because life has always been a mystery to me - the way society works, the way people communicate. And when there have been islands of understanding, they have been 'inexpressible', as Rilke says. In a way I have wandered 'lonely as a cloud' through life, unable to 'get it'.
Someone told me once 'don't take life so seriously'. Is that the answer, or is it that we don't take life seriously enough? But trying to grasp or understand life just makes it more elusive. And that also brings in the reality question. Now I have ground to a halt.
So what do I understand about life after all these years? That it is important, and so is death. That all living things are important. That all living things feel. That caring is crucial to happy living but can also make living painful. That belonging is a human need that helps us survive emotionally. (This also probably applies to other living things in a more life-and-death way). That life is a gift it is tragic to waste. As Vipassana says 'May I be happy, may all beings be happy.' The image is by Rex Ray

A balanced view

Interesting isn't it, that there is still debate about global warming? Isn't it great that we live in democracies where this can happen? That we can talk about something while the cows keep farting until we are blue in the face - from not being able to breathe.
Barry Brook on the radio the other day was asked about the importance of having a 'balanced' view about global warming - making sure that all opinions were represented. Interestingly he works at Adelaide University with a colleague who is getting lots of publicity on the other side of the debate - Professor Ian Plimer - who does not deny global warming but sees environmental changes as 'inevitable and unavoidable' (sorry, this is a Wikipedia quote rather than the real thing - time issue). They are both working for the same institution. Presumably there have been no punchouts in the corridors or staff bar. That is the nature of academia - civilised.
It's hard to argue calmly and rationally about something as potentially divisive and life threatening as global warming. It is probably upstaging terrorism at the moment and the media/business moguls are recognising this by calling it the new terrorism (this from an American site called Green is the new red.
Anyway Barry pretty much said (from memory) that you can only present a balanced view up to a point. At that point, the view tips in favour of one or the other side, usually through evidence. Which is saying that time will tell. This is unfortunate, as we don't have time and the debate has been raging for at least 40 years. Perhaps that will be seen as humankind's biggest downfall in the annals of whatever civilisation follows us (unlikely that one will but still) - 'Them humans talked too much.'
It's likely that the Western world is divided into three main camps: those who deny global warming altogether (throw in those who think it will take generations/hundreds of years); those who think it's nothing to do with us (which to me is a cop out as it means we Westerners can keep on keeping on); and those who believe (as I do) that we are responsible for speeding up what is probably a natural process (and aren't there the graphs to prove it?), and we could therefore do lots about it. As someone has said: 'We don't want to have to say sorry to our grandchildren.' So let's stop being reasonable and democratic and recognise that harsh methods are required. We need a Churchill!

Giving back to the earth

I went to a talk recently about breathing. I am interested in breathing (apart from the obvious reason of staying alive). Anyway, the speaker talked about a technique where you breathe in energy from the earth through your feet, take it up through your body and then breathe it out through the top of your head. A common enough breathing exercise that I have come across at other talks and workshops.
But now I think - haven't we taken enough energy from the earth already? How about giving some energy back to the earth? At a yoga weekend once, we were introduced to an exercise where we imagined breathing in all the 'black' of the world (ie negativity, impurities etc) and converting it to 'white' (positivity, goodness, purity etc), then breathing it out into the world again. Many people at the workshop objected to this exercise. It was not a good PR tool. But I think the so-called 'new age' too often has a 'what's in it for me' approach that is about more of the same - not giving but taking.
So let's focus on what we can give back to this ailing world of ours, be it energy, love, or just plain old respect.

What is meditation? Notes for a would-be meditator

These notes are taken straight from Meditations from the Tantras, my battered pink book of many years ownership and sadly, less use. Writing this blog may change all that. Here we go - a picture through statements:

Higher stages of meditation are difficult to attain if we don't remove most of the compulsive fear that we have in the lower mind.
The ideal situation is where an external object is experienced, yet at the same time awareness of oneself is not lost.
The aim of meditation is to give a glimpse of the inner life and eventually to connect it with the outer life.
We are continually in a state of tension because we do not know ourselves (our inner nature). We often do things that are contrary to our nature which causes conflict.
Unity between what we are and what we want would cause meditation to occur spontaneously.
We can experience knowledge as a feeling or emotion. We can mentally feel the truth of an idea or emotionally sense that something is true.
The deeper aspects of life show themselves during meditation.

I am a believer in meditation. I must be, because whenever anyone tells me they have a problem and asks for advice my immediate answer is 'meditate'! (They don't ask me any more.)

Reality is for those who can handle drugs

Tom Robbins once said 'Reality is for those who can't handle drugs' which was a clever play on 'Drugs are for those who can't handle reality'. Well I have a new take: 'Reality is for those who can handle drugs'. I bought a book last night - David Michie's Hurry up and meditate. The title says something about how the book will read. Straightforward and to the point. There is a quote in the book attributed to Einstein (other quote sources range from the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius to the American writer Henry Miller): 'Reality is an illusion, albeit it a persistent one.'
In the state of samadhi (Meditations from the tantras) 'the self-consciousness of the mind disappears. The duality of object and perceiving subject disappears so that the object and subject become one.' The book says it is almost impossible to describe this state but has a pretty good go at it. A friend commented that people might experience the same thing through drugs. I pointed out that they might get a glimpse of it, but it would not be lasting (other effects of the drug might be though!). Whereas someone who has jumped mind and other hurdles to finally experience samadhi 'maintains deep wisdom and peace and expresses it in everyday activities.' This conversation led me to the above twist on the original and the title for this blog.

Crickets

Well it has finally really rained instead of being a predicted occasional light shower that never happens. Raining is painful here in this dry state of South Australia, and becoming more painful as we have rivers that dry up and become diseased, and global warming kicks in. Is it the laugh of a higher power that places that need rain are getting drier, and places that don't need it are getting wetter? And so on. I dream occasionally of what the world would be like if we could make a melting pot of the weather - throw it in, mix it all around, and have an outcome of moderation all over the world. Four seasons. Or would it be like colour and come out an awful mucky green or black? (Not knowing enough about colour I probably have this wrong, but have mixed paints enough to picture the mucky green at least.)
Anyway, yesterday morning after really heavy rain the preceding day (hell/heaven we ran the risk of actually getting drenched) I went outside and realised there was a new sound in my humble garden. Crickets. Not visible but present. What do they do normally? They must be quietly living, waiting for a reason to sing/rub their feet together or whatever it is (I forget) that makes that sound. It was music to me anyway. I wanted to get there right under the ground with them and join the party.

Letting things get old

I went to an Australian Conservation Foundation event the other night featuring Professor Ian Lowe. He was a very good speaker, clear and plain. His main comment about how to address climate change was that we need to be more energy efficient. This brought to mind many things. My local council is having an exhibition with an environmental theme, and I had the idea to create an installation from my 22-year-old (and looking it) kettle and my not-quite-as-old hot water bottle. They go together anyway, and they both bit the dust around the same time. The kettle looked bad (like it had been on endless camping trips where it sat over an open fire) but the main reason I disposed of it thoughtfully was because it began to leak from the bottom so was no longer functional. The hot water bottle's rubber disintegrated when I filled it up one night, also rendering it useless. I gave the kettle to a friend to recycle the metal. The hot water bottle I kept with the public installation in mind, thinking to title it 'Letting things get old' (although the friend suggested I should call it 'Letting things get very dirty').
My mother, who was 10 when the Great Depression started (1929), hated old things, wanted everything to be new. At the time I was a hippy engrossed in old clothes, the older the better - 1940s, 30s, 20s. I even got my mother to make one of my grandmother's dresses 2 or 3 sizes smaller, and still wear it now. I have a vest of my grandfather's which I never wear but cannot part with (it has a darned hole - really).
Well all this gets round to asking why do we dispose of things so unthoughtfully? Partly because they probably don't last as long anyway (I can put this to the test with the new kettle which is the same brand), as we all know by now that it is not in capitalism's favour to make things that last. And partly because we don't appreciate old things, right down to people. But that would get me on to a whole other subject. I intend to explore the energy efficiency concept further, but one aspect is production (and over production).

Every breath you take...

Detachment, non-attachment, vairagya - are they the same thing? Apparently so, according to Sri Swami Sivananda at least: 'Vairagya is the opposite of Raga (attachment). Vairagya is dispassion. Vairagya is detachment.' (http://www.dlshq.org/discourse/aug2001.htm)
I find the concept mystifying - how do you achieve real detachment? When I try to observe my body and mind in this way, I find I then become attached to my heartbeat or some other aspect of the practice, but it still feels like attachment. I am attached to my detachment if that makes sense. It is hard to describe.
I have been singing the Sting song 'Every breath you take, every move you make, I'll be watching you' on and off over a period of time. It just comes into my head. Now I think it is a good song for self observation, sharpening the senses, being more aware. Maybe with practice I can sing it with detachment.

Listening, really listening

So what does it take to really listen? I have probably been a poor listener all my life, but have only become aware of it in the last 20 years or so, and really started thinking about the qualities that make a good listener.
A friend did me a favour in my 30s. We were sitting in the kitchen having a rave with another friend. Both were from interstate so I didn't see them very often. Anyway this friend was talking about a topic, and I picked up on something she said within that topic that really interested me. So I asked a question on that aspect, but it wasn't pertinent to the whole topic, it was a sideline. She refused to answer my question, even though I asked it twice. This got me thinking. I felt snubbed but had the sense to explore why she might not have answered. It was not that she was a cruel person. After some consideration, I realised that I was following my own interests not hers, so I had sidelined the conversation into my own agenda.
And this is the key - if you are listening to someone, how hard is it not to start thinking your own thoughts? And then to follow through? I had this really badly in my 30s as I was in emotional and mental anguish, and was very fearful when I interacted with people. So was always thinking 'When they stop talking I will have to say something, but what?' This of course did not make me a good listener, amongst other things, and I was very lonely.
Thankfully things have improved but it has taken a long time and I am still training myself to be a good listener. So what is good listening? I think it is when you are detached enough from yourself and your own thoughts to be able to listen to someone else and what they are really saying. If you are an excellent listener you can hear what is behind the words as well, and maybe enlighten them with some observation they weren't aware of. That is doing them a real favour and enriching the interaction - quality time. Another advantage of this sort of communication is it becomes more spontaneous, even creative, and can lead anywhere, and somewhere that is of interest to you that you hadn't even dreamed of.
It is a goal that I haven't yet achieved, but am improving in daily as I become more mindful. Where have I failed most? In my own backyard. My son has made me aware since his teens or even earlier of what a crap listener I am. I often interrupt him or go off on my own thoughts. This was an anguish of my own childhood (as the youngest) and caused me huge pain in later years. So it is both believable and unbelievable that I am doing the same with my own child. I can only improve....and it is never too late.

Sounds of silence - listen up...down and all around!

Having never been a TV watcher, and not really a music listener, I have spent time sitting listening...to what? To my thoughts, to sounds of the neighbourhood, to 'white noise'. straining my ears to hear. Sometimes in the middle of the night in bed my listening has been driven by paranoia, when there was noone else in the house. But it is fun to 'listen out' - up, down and all around, as far as the ear can hear, to see if you increase the aptitude of your ears to pick up sounds further and further away. Like that, I have heard dogs talking to each other, probably suburbs away, birds singing at odd times like between 10pm and midnight, when you would think they would be asleep. I don't think I have 20/20 hearing as the sounds of young people talking are often a mumble to me. But I am sure the ear can be trained to hear better, just as the eyes can become accustomed to walking at night. So far I have only really mastered this one by negotiating the hallway without hurting myself, but out in the bush it is a whole different experience.
When meditating this means I can hear my heart beating, or sometimes something more (atoms bouncing around?). At any rate, I like it. Now that I have got hold of a deep ecology book, Bill Devall's Simple in means, rich in ends: practicing deep ecology (the practicing bit drew me to it), I am delighted to see a section on 'Silence' which states 'Silence is intuitively valued. Well-being of humans and other animals is partly determined by quiet.' And of course, 'quieting our chattering minds' (something I attempt to do often).
It is ironic that Rachel Carson's book is called Silent Spring. When I walk on the beach or in a park and see people with headsets on, I often think her prediction has already arrived in another form. (But would like to add that music can be a wonderful thing.)

Deep ecology, what is it?

Again to Wikipedia, deep ecology is 'a body of thought that places greater value on non-human species, ecosystems and processes in nature than established environmental and green movements' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_ecology). Deep ecology supports 'the claim that, like humanity, the living environment as a whole has the same right to live and flourish.' It 'is concerned with the fundamental philosophical questions about the impacts of human life as one part of the ecosphere.' Sorry for all the quotes but that is as much as I know. However for the amount of times I have felt that we as a society do not value other life and put ourselves above other living things, this 'smacks true' to me and feels like a system I can support and believe in. It takes Animal farm (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_Farm) a step further in terms of egalitarianism and it is ironic that this story has animals as characters representing human society.
I hope to find a book about deep ecology that is readable. Years ago I tried to read one (forget the title and author) and could not get past the preface.

Most events are inexpressible

I love this quote from Rilke, whom I have never read:

'Things are not all so comprehensible and expressible as one would mostly have us believe; most events are inexpressible, taking place in a realm which no word has ever entered, and more inexpressible than all else are works of art, mysterious existences, the life of which, while ours passes away, endures.'

Given that I knew nothing about him I went to Wikipedia to find out more, and love this description of his work: 'His haunting images focus on the difficulty of communion with the ineffable in an age of disbelief, solitude, and profound anxiety.' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainer_Maria_Rilke)

Anyway this quote probably expresses how I feel - that it is hard to speak of the deepest and truest things and sometimes it works once you get through the crap of what you don't mean. Mostly though words can't do it as thought and sense experience seems to form only the vaguest shapes in my mind.

What is inside....

I have always been intrigued by the inside outside Zen thing, since reading a short story by Hermann Hesse way back called 'Inside and outside'. This story is about 'a little idol that ruptures a friendship'. My memory of the story is that the idol is really ugly to the main character, but that the idol somehow gets a place in his heart so that when it goes missing he notices its absence. Of course my memory of this story could be incorrect after so many years. The Free Online Library says the story reveals Hermann Hesse's 'life's philosophy' that 'our mind is capable of passing beyond the dividing line we have drawn for it. Beyond the pairs of opposites of which the world consists, other, new insights begin.' I think I will need to read this story again. What made the story stay in my mind was that I did not completely understand what Hesse was getting at when he said 'What is inside becomes outside, and what is outside becomes inside.' Since then I have again come across references to inside and outside, mainly as philosophical concepts. The novel/philosophical treatise Sophie's world for example talks about two possible views of the world - as a separate entity with everything seen as completely individual and unique, or as all the one entity that incorporates the viewer and the viewed. There is not necessarily a right or wrong view, just possibilities. Again, intriguing. But then philosophy is, and Zen philosophy is meant to get you thinking or meditating on the concepts or meaning behind imagery. You are not meant to understand them in the first instance.

Meditation for better living

In desperation recently, I decided to avoid falling in a hole by revisiting a book from my past called Meditations from the Tantras. This excellent (pink) book by Swami Satynananda Saraswati offers a program of meditation exercises and philosophy that can save your life! The difficulty is following it without being rigid, in a disciplined way without getting trapped into a pattern that becomes just another habit. Because habit of mind is the exact thing the program is trying to overcome. I say 'program' but it isn't really - the book just offers pathways and you can choose your own way through it depending on what is meaningful for you. The main thing is your motivation. The minute you turn it into a routine that you 'have to do' you've lost the plot. So now I am working on being mindful of my mind. Tricky stuff as my mind wanders all over the place and has been doing so for years. It has had complete freedom so to train myself to pay attention is difficult. But I'm working on it. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to meditate or delve deeper into their own psyche. There are many different ways to do this and I will post separately on these different elements and some of the words of wisdom from this little pink gem. Here is one to close this post: 'Remove these fears, phobias, complexes, likes, dislikes and any other prejudices and we will start to see a clearer picture of the world.'
Note: book is now blue - I have an old copy. 'Blue is the new pink.'

Love is the new black

I would like to say that this is my term (because it is clever, witty and also deep), but it isn't. It's a Paul Frank pop art design. But I like it. Especially because a few years ago I realised the truth of someone (forget who so can't reference right now) who said, 'Whatever the question, love is the answer.' I have come to this realisation in a different way and wording, but happiness is definitely defined by 'soul actions' - what you do for someone else, what you feel. Nothing else matters. But it is also love for nature. I cannot pretend that human beings are supreme in my esteem.

Right intention

Having said I will have to source others re 'right intention', I forgot to do so! Here is one link http://www.vipassana.com/resources/8fp3.php but there are many more if you Google the term. There is also right view from which right intention comes. I had read about these concepts but the term came to my lips in describing a relationship with a friend, and referred to something I have thought about a lot - that it is best if your intentions are pure with regard to relationships, but how easy is that to create? That is, how often is there a subtext of self-interest? How genuine is the interaction, how caring?

About this blog

This blog aims to be not so much self-reflective as self-educating, and if in the process that educates others or taps into what viewers are interested in, that is a contribution to society, and we are all keen to make one, fundamentally, yes?
So the blog will explore a range of topics that interest a 21st century thinker (some topics have also interested past thinkers).
To start with, what does the title mean? In my own words, 'right intention' is about one's motive for doing everything - talking, listening, acting, loving, relating, walking, swimming etc etc. It includes not just right intention with people but also with animals and other living things (the biggest one being the earth). How I have longed to communicate at a deeper level with the world. So far books and the inner workings of the minds of characters have been my only source of deeper connection. So here is this blog.
But to define 'right intention' at a more Vipassana or Buddhist level (as this is where the term originates) I will have to source others. Buddha, in his sojourn under the Bodhisattva tree, observed and categorised his thoughts into two baskets - 'desire, ill will, and harmfulness' (one we are all familiar with) and 'renunciation, good will, and harmlessness'. Ideally the latter is the sort we want, and Buddha was insightfully able to dissolve the undesirable, suffering-provoking thoughts and nurture the life and happiness-giving thoughts, till he experienced only that kind.