Never Forget
Nine Eleven
Author: Benn Bell
Fork in the Road
Celestial Tip of the Day
Celestial tip of the day: when hiking on the orange Trail in Jefferson Memorial Forest, when you first start out, if the Sun is over your left shoulder when coming back be sure that the sun is over your right shoulder, that way when you come to the fork in the road you will take the right one. That is all.
White Water
Haiku for You
The white water rushes
through the throng of rocks
only to settle in the pool below.
AFGHANISTAN IS BLEEDING
Peace Demonstration for Afghanistan this morning in Louisville, Kentucky
How to Fix It
Poem
How to fix it
Leave a legacy of love
Shovel shit against the tide until you reach the end of the line
Everyone has a story
And nearly everyone undergoes a startling metamorphosis
By morning
All is emptiness under the moon
The umbrella academy offers scant protection.
The Five Powers
Buddhism by the Numbers
The Five Powers
- Faith
- Diligence
- Mindfulness
- Concentration
- Insight
Mindfulness leads to concentration, and concentration leads to insight and to faith.
According to the Lotus Sutra, all sentient beings have the Buddha nature.
“Buddha” comes from the root verb “budh”, which means wake up.
Every moment is the opportunity to water the seeds of happiness in yourself.
Based on the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh
The Five Aggregates
Buddhism by the Numbers
The Five Aggregates
A human being is composed of Five aggregates (skandas): form, feelings, perception, mental formations, and consciousness.
- Form – Means our body including the five sense organs and our nervous system.
- Feelings – There is a river of feelings inside of us. Our feelings are formations, impermanent and without substance.
- Perceptions – Noticing, naming, conceptualizing, perceiver and perceived. All suffering is born from wrong perceptions. Understanding, the fruit of meditation, can dissolve our wrong perceptions and liberate us. “Where there is perception, there is deception.” -Diamond Sutra.
- Mental Formations – There are 51 mental formations present in our store consciousness in the form of seeds. Every time a seed is touched it manifests on the upper level of our consciousness as a mental formation. With daily practice we are able to nourish and develop wholesome mental formations and transform unhealthy ones. Freedom, non-fear, and peace are the result of this practice.
- Consciousness – Consciousness in this context means store consciousness, which is the basis of everything that we are, the ground of all our mental formations. Consciousness contains all other aggregates and is the basis of their existence. Consciousness is simultaneously both collective and individual.
The five aggregates are interconnected or as Thich Nhat Hahn says, “Inter-are.”
The Fauna of Costa Rica
Photo Essay on the Rich Biodiversity of Costa Rica
Humming Bird (picture taken by my guide Grievens)
Costa Rica is a beautiful country rich in Biodiversity.
The Four Immeasurable Minds
Buddhism by the Numbers
The Four Immeasurable Minds
- Love, compassion, joy, equanimity
- If you learn how to practice love, compassion, joy, and equanimity, you will know how to heal the illness, anger, sorrow, insecurity, sadness, hatred, loneliness and unhealthy attachments.
- Whoever practices the Four Immeasurable Minds together with the Seven Factors of Awakening, the Four Noble Truths, and the Noble Eightfold Path will arrive at deep enlightenment.
- The first aspect of true love in Buddhism is friendship.
- The second aspect of true love is compassion.
- The third aspect of true love is joy. True love always brings joy to us and the ones we love.
- The fourth element of true love is equanimity: nonattachment, nondiscrimination, even mindedness, letting go. If your love has attachment, discrimination, prejudice, or clinging it is not true love. This is the wisdom of equality.
Based on the teachings of Thich Nhat Hahn
Flora of Costa Rica
Rich Biodiversity
Costa Rica is one of the most Biodiverse countries on planet earth. While we were there we were able to enjoy a rich variety of flora in vivid living color. I share some of that experience with you in the following pictures.
Ghost Dog 