Yes, I caved in to peer pressure and watched two episodes of Glee (haven't seen any of season 1) and it's becoming a guilty pleasure.
And O.K., I know this has nothing to do with spirituality (well, not entirely true because it's about love); I know it's the ultimate in cheesiness; I know it's auto-tuned like mad, but I'm a total sucker for romance and sentimentality. Ignore this post if you don't enjoy corniness and camp like I do. The following are the musical scenes from "Furt" (season 2, episode 8) (Sorry for the poor video quality, but it's what I found on YouTube.):
Glee's rendition of "Marry You" by Bruno Mars.
Glee's rendition of "Just the Way You Are" by Bruno Mars.
I like how they take superficial pop songs from the radio and add a little depth and storyline to it and thus give it an extra dimension. These scenes from the show just warmed my heart and made me smile.
__________________
Season 2, episode 9: "Special Education."
Glee's rendition of "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Religion in the East vs. the West
"The West has missed having a Gautam Buddha. Jesus is not at all a comparison to him. Jesus is simply a Jew, believing in all the Jewish dogmas. He is faithful—in fact, a little too much. Gautam Buddha is a rebel; he is not a follower of anyone. Nor is Lao Tzu a follower of anyone. They don't have any scriptures, they don't have any belief systems. They have searched on their own, alone—risking, because they are moving away from the crowd on the lonely path, not knowing where this journey is going to end, but trusting their heart, experiencing small indications that peace is growing, that love is flowering, that a new fragrance has come to their being, that their eyes are no longer full of dust, of the past. A tremendous clairty and transparency . . . and they know they are on the right path.
There is no guide, and you will not meet anybody on the path to inquire how far the destination is. It is a flight from the alone to the alone. But once a man finds truth on his own, naturally he becomes aware that no organized religion is needed—it is a hindrance—that no priest, no mediators are needed; they will not allow you to reach the truth. Such a man, who has found the truth, becomes a master.
[...]
The greatest contribution has come from a few masters who attained not only their own freedom but also the freedom of those who loved them. It is simply inconceivable: if you love me, how can I enslave you? If you love me, I will only rejoice in your freedom. When I see you opening your wings into the sky towards the unknown, the far away, the mysterious, that will be my joy; not that you are tethered to a certain dogma, creed, cult, religion, philosophy. These are different names of chains, manufactured by different kinds of people, but their purpose is the same.
Because the West has not known masters . . . . It has known popes, it has known prophets, it has known saviours, it has known saints. It is absolutely unaware that there is a dimension it has missed, and that dimension is the most valuable dimension . . . . Because it has missed it, a great misunderstanding has arisen."
-Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh
There is no guide, and you will not meet anybody on the path to inquire how far the destination is. It is a flight from the alone to the alone. But once a man finds truth on his own, naturally he becomes aware that no organized religion is needed—it is a hindrance—that no priest, no mediators are needed; they will not allow you to reach the truth. Such a man, who has found the truth, becomes a master.
[...]
The greatest contribution has come from a few masters who attained not only their own freedom but also the freedom of those who loved them. It is simply inconceivable: if you love me, how can I enslave you? If you love me, I will only rejoice in your freedom. When I see you opening your wings into the sky towards the unknown, the far away, the mysterious, that will be my joy; not that you are tethered to a certain dogma, creed, cult, religion, philosophy. These are different names of chains, manufactured by different kinds of people, but their purpose is the same.
Because the West has not known masters . . . . It has known popes, it has known prophets, it has known saviours, it has known saints. It is absolutely unaware that there is a dimension it has missed, and that dimension is the most valuable dimension . . . . Because it has missed it, a great misunderstanding has arisen."
-Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
The Plastic Scourge of Modern Civilization
Just for a second think about all the plastic around you, how much you use and how much you throw away everyday. Then realize where the plastic comes from (oil) and where it's going (your body — back into our food supply).
A healthy alternative to plastic? When I was at the Boulder Farmer's Market. All the plastic bags and all the plastic cups were in fact NOT plastic at all but I couldn't see the difference for the life of me. It was all made from corn. It's all compostable.
When I was visiting Bastyr University in Kent, Washington, I had lunch there and all their cups and cardboard trays were also entirely compostable and you wouldn't know the difference from conventional toxic products. The only possible problem is cost. I'm assuming it costs more but we should keep in mind the long-term costs of using a cheap, toxic product that winds up back in our own bodies.
Here's more information about the compostable, biodegradable cups from one of the manufacturers.
A healthy alternative to plastic? When I was at the Boulder Farmer's Market. All the plastic bags and all the plastic cups were in fact NOT plastic at all but I couldn't see the difference for the life of me. It was all made from corn. It's all compostable.
When I was visiting Bastyr University in Kent, Washington, I had lunch there and all their cups and cardboard trays were also entirely compostable and you wouldn't know the difference from conventional toxic products. The only possible problem is cost. I'm assuming it costs more but we should keep in mind the long-term costs of using a cheap, toxic product that winds up back in our own bodies.
Here's more information about the compostable, biodegradable cups from one of the manufacturers.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
(FYI: This entry is identical to the post I made to Shida Book Club.)
I just finished this intense personal account of the 1996 Mt. Everest disaster. More than half of the book is primarily exposition and background information on the sport of mountaineering and on the individuals involved. Then once they've reached 8,000 meters (approx. 26,000 ft) and things start getting dicey with the oncoming gale, the books starts getting seriously tense and I couldn't put it down, literally. While, the book is engrossing and truly an important warning for any inexperienced climber harboring romantic notions of reaching the roof of the world, this should serve as a sobering realization that Mt. Everest or Sagarmatha is no small feat that relies not merely on technical skill and experience but also interminable will, self-discipline (to turn back around at the agreed-upon time even within a stone's throw of the summit), timing, and sheer luck.
I'm very grateful that Krakauer summoned the courage and resolve to write this harrowing personal account of the tragedy, but at the same time I can't help but agree with some of the criticism by the relatives of the deceased. At many times throughout the tale, Krakauer seemed to heavily criticize certain individuals or even groups of people who he felt directly contributed to the disaster. As I wasn't there I cannot judge the veracity of these allegations but they just rub me the wrong way.
Scott Fischer's sister, Lisa Fischer-Luckenback wrote:
What I am reading is YOUR OWN ego frantically struggling to make sense out of what happened. NO amount of your analyzing, criticizing, judging, or hypothesizing will bring the peace you are looking for. There are no answers. No one is at fault. No one is to blame. Everyone was doing their best at the given time under the given circumstances.
No one intended harm for one another. No one wanted to die.
What did shock me was how he described how callous some individuals were. For instance, the Japanese team who apparently saw the dying Ladakhis on the trail coming up from the Tibetan side of the mountain and merely ignored them without offering any assistance whatsoever. Then when interviewed about it, their (Hanada and Shigekawa) only response was, "We didn't know them. No, we didn't give them any water. We didn't talk to them. They had severe high-altitude sickness. They looked as if they were dangerous."
"Shigekawa explained, 'We were too tired to help. Above 8,000 meters is not a place where people can afford morality.' Turning their back on Smanla and Morup, the Japanese team resumed their ascent, passed the prayer flags and pitons left by the Ladakhis at 28,550 feet, and—in an astonishing display of tenacity— reached the summit at 11:45 A.M. in a screaming gale."
This passage made me take pause and I had to put down the book for a minute and get something to drink since I could not comprehend putting the dubious goal of reaching the summit over helping fellow human beings on the brink of death.
Having lived for a period of time in Taiwan myself it was also disheartening to hear of the poor actions and behaviors of the Taiwanese team, which was apparently universally panned and derided by the other groups. First for the incompetence in mountaineering and for their debacle on Mt. McKinley in Alaska where they placed the lives of others in danger. This time on Everest, when one of their Taiwanese team members fell to his death while trying to evacuate his bowels, the team leader, 'Makalu' Gau, just replied, "O.K." on the radio and continued to make his ascent to the summit. (He later explains his questionable actions and attitude in an interview in "Frontline: Storm Over Everest," but I'm wondering if this was just rationalization ex post facto.)
Of course, this book isn't entirely a chronicle about the foibles and frailties of man, but also about the triumph and heroism of common people. Stuart Hutchinson and Neal Beidelman stepped up when others collapsed due to hypoxia, hypothermia, severe altitude sickness (HAPE or HACE), and/or severe fatigue. Also, Rob Hall died almost entirely due to the responsibility he felt as leader of the expedition. He stayed up on the summit because Hansen could not budge without bottled oxygen. He could have easily left him and gone down to base camp but heroically and obdurately, he refused to leave him and as a result died due to exposure.
I think this message from a Sherpa hits the message home:
I am a Sherpa orphan. My father was killed in the Khumbu Icefall while load-ferrying for an expedition in the late sixties. My mother died just below Pheriche when her heart gave out under the weight of the load she was carrying for another expedition in 1970. Three of my siblings died from various causes, my sister and I were sent to foster homes in Europe and the U.S.
I never have gone back to my homeland because I feel it is cursed. My ancestors arrived in the Solo-Khumbu region fleeing from persecution in the lowlands. There they found sanctuary in the shadow of "Sagarmathaji," "mother goddess of the earth." In return they were expected to protect that goddesses' sanctuary from outsiders.
But my people went the other way. They helped outsiders find their way into the sanctuary and violate every limb of her body by standing on top of her, crowing in victory, and dirtying and polluting her bosom. Some of them have had to sacrifice themselves, others escaped through the skin of their teeth, or offered other lives in lieu. . . .
So I believe that even the Sherpas are to blame for the tragedy of 1996 on "Sagarmatha." I have no regrets of not going back, for I know the people of the area are doomed, and so are those rich, arrogant outsiders who feel they can conquer the world. Remember the Titanic. Even the unsinkable sank, and what are foolish mortals like Weather, Pittman, Fischer, Lopsang, Tenzing, Messner, Bonington in the face of the "Mother Goddess." As such I have vowed never to return home and be part of that sacrilege.
I'm not sure if sacrilegious hubris is what truly angered Sagarmatha and caused her to wreck revenge on her hapless victims but ever since the British first decided to conquer the world's tallest mountain, she has claimed 200 lives and a 120 of those lifeless remains are still frozen on her slopes.
(For those interested, you can read the original Outside magazine article authored by Jon Krakauer here.)
I just finished this intense personal account of the 1996 Mt. Everest disaster. More than half of the book is primarily exposition and background information on the sport of mountaineering and on the individuals involved. Then once they've reached 8,000 meters (approx. 26,000 ft) and things start getting dicey with the oncoming gale, the books starts getting seriously tense and I couldn't put it down, literally. While, the book is engrossing and truly an important warning for any inexperienced climber harboring romantic notions of reaching the roof of the world, this should serve as a sobering realization that Mt. Everest or Sagarmatha is no small feat that relies not merely on technical skill and experience but also interminable will, self-discipline (to turn back around at the agreed-upon time even within a stone's throw of the summit), timing, and sheer luck.
I'm very grateful that Krakauer summoned the courage and resolve to write this harrowing personal account of the tragedy, but at the same time I can't help but agree with some of the criticism by the relatives of the deceased. At many times throughout the tale, Krakauer seemed to heavily criticize certain individuals or even groups of people who he felt directly contributed to the disaster. As I wasn't there I cannot judge the veracity of these allegations but they just rub me the wrong way.
Scott Fischer's sister, Lisa Fischer-Luckenback wrote:
What I am reading is YOUR OWN ego frantically struggling to make sense out of what happened. NO amount of your analyzing, criticizing, judging, or hypothesizing will bring the peace you are looking for. There are no answers. No one is at fault. No one is to blame. Everyone was doing their best at the given time under the given circumstances.
No one intended harm for one another. No one wanted to die.
What did shock me was how he described how callous some individuals were. For instance, the Japanese team who apparently saw the dying Ladakhis on the trail coming up from the Tibetan side of the mountain and merely ignored them without offering any assistance whatsoever. Then when interviewed about it, their (Hanada and Shigekawa) only response was, "We didn't know them. No, we didn't give them any water. We didn't talk to them. They had severe high-altitude sickness. They looked as if they were dangerous."
"Shigekawa explained, 'We were too tired to help. Above 8,000 meters is not a place where people can afford morality.' Turning their back on Smanla and Morup, the Japanese team resumed their ascent, passed the prayer flags and pitons left by the Ladakhis at 28,550 feet, and—in an astonishing display of tenacity— reached the summit at 11:45 A.M. in a screaming gale."
This passage made me take pause and I had to put down the book for a minute and get something to drink since I could not comprehend putting the dubious goal of reaching the summit over helping fellow human beings on the brink of death.
Having lived for a period of time in Taiwan myself it was also disheartening to hear of the poor actions and behaviors of the Taiwanese team, which was apparently universally panned and derided by the other groups. First for the incompetence in mountaineering and for their debacle on Mt. McKinley in Alaska where they placed the lives of others in danger. This time on Everest, when one of their Taiwanese team members fell to his death while trying to evacuate his bowels, the team leader, 'Makalu' Gau, just replied, "O.K." on the radio and continued to make his ascent to the summit. (He later explains his questionable actions and attitude in an interview in "Frontline: Storm Over Everest," but I'm wondering if this was just rationalization ex post facto.)
Of course, this book isn't entirely a chronicle about the foibles and frailties of man, but also about the triumph and heroism of common people. Stuart Hutchinson and Neal Beidelman stepped up when others collapsed due to hypoxia, hypothermia, severe altitude sickness (HAPE or HACE), and/or severe fatigue. Also, Rob Hall died almost entirely due to the responsibility he felt as leader of the expedition. He stayed up on the summit because Hansen could not budge without bottled oxygen. He could have easily left him and gone down to base camp but heroically and obdurately, he refused to leave him and as a result died due to exposure.
I think this message from a Sherpa hits the message home:
I am a Sherpa orphan. My father was killed in the Khumbu Icefall while load-ferrying for an expedition in the late sixties. My mother died just below Pheriche when her heart gave out under the weight of the load she was carrying for another expedition in 1970. Three of my siblings died from various causes, my sister and I were sent to foster homes in Europe and the U.S.
I never have gone back to my homeland because I feel it is cursed. My ancestors arrived in the Solo-Khumbu region fleeing from persecution in the lowlands. There they found sanctuary in the shadow of "Sagarmathaji," "mother goddess of the earth." In return they were expected to protect that goddesses' sanctuary from outsiders.
But my people went the other way. They helped outsiders find their way into the sanctuary and violate every limb of her body by standing on top of her, crowing in victory, and dirtying and polluting her bosom. Some of them have had to sacrifice themselves, others escaped through the skin of their teeth, or offered other lives in lieu. . . .
So I believe that even the Sherpas are to blame for the tragedy of 1996 on "Sagarmatha." I have no regrets of not going back, for I know the people of the area are doomed, and so are those rich, arrogant outsiders who feel they can conquer the world. Remember the Titanic. Even the unsinkable sank, and what are foolish mortals like Weather, Pittman, Fischer, Lopsang, Tenzing, Messner, Bonington in the face of the "Mother Goddess." As such I have vowed never to return home and be part of that sacrilege.
I'm not sure if sacrilegious hubris is what truly angered Sagarmatha and caused her to wreck revenge on her hapless victims but ever since the British first decided to conquer the world's tallest mountain, she has claimed 200 lives and a 120 of those lifeless remains are still frozen on her slopes.
(For those interested, you can read the original Outside magazine article authored by Jon Krakauer here.)
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Massive Attack's Controversial Music Video (NSFW)
This explicit music video with graphic audio and visual is a modern masterpiece of the genre. For adults only.
"Paradise Circus."
"Paradise Circus."
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
It Turns Out, Seeing is NOT Believing...
This video shows how the mind play tricks on you when there is an inherent contradiction seen.
BBC 2 Horizon's show on the McGurk Effect.
BBC 2 Horizon's show on the McGurk Effect.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Excerpt from Fear No Evil by Eva Pierrakos
Blocked Sexual Energy
"Since the pleasure current in the life force primarily manifests itself in your life in what is referred to as sexuality, destructive , blocked energy contains blocked sexual energy. It follows that outer problems must be symbolic or representative of how sexual energy was first blocked by outer conditions... Therefore, every difficult situation in life represents a sexual fixation in the innermost psyche that you fear and run away from. Because you do not face up to this and continue to live with it, the outer conditions become unresolvable; you become more and more alienated from the inner cause where it is still enlivened by the pleasure aspect.
[...]
I have often mentioned that in your most secret sexual fantasies lie the secrets of your conflicts, as well as the key to their resolution. When you find the parallel between the outer problem and the pleasure current in your sexuality, you will be able to make the frozen energy fluid again.
[...]
"Total pleasure is feared for a very important reason: the pleasure supreme of the cosmic energy current must seem unbearable, frightening, overwhelming, and almost annihilating when the personality is still geared to negativity and destructiveness. To put it differently, to the degree that the personality has impaired its integrity, and impurity, dishonesty, cheating, and malice still exist int he psyche, pure pleasure must be rejected. hence the negative pleasure is the only way the entity can experience a modicum of pleasure at all...you must ask yourself, "Where am I not honest with life or with myself? Where do I cheat? Where do I impair my integrity?"
[...]
When you find where you violate your sense of decency and honesty, you can unlock the door which has closed your access to transforming the negative pleasure and forced you to reject pleasure that is unhampered by pain."
-Eva Pierrakos
"Since the pleasure current in the life force primarily manifests itself in your life in what is referred to as sexuality, destructive , blocked energy contains blocked sexual energy. It follows that outer problems must be symbolic or representative of how sexual energy was first blocked by outer conditions... Therefore, every difficult situation in life represents a sexual fixation in the innermost psyche that you fear and run away from. Because you do not face up to this and continue to live with it, the outer conditions become unresolvable; you become more and more alienated from the inner cause where it is still enlivened by the pleasure aspect.
[...]
I have often mentioned that in your most secret sexual fantasies lie the secrets of your conflicts, as well as the key to their resolution. When you find the parallel between the outer problem and the pleasure current in your sexuality, you will be able to make the frozen energy fluid again.
[...]
"Total pleasure is feared for a very important reason: the pleasure supreme of the cosmic energy current must seem unbearable, frightening, overwhelming, and almost annihilating when the personality is still geared to negativity and destructiveness. To put it differently, to the degree that the personality has impaired its integrity, and impurity, dishonesty, cheating, and malice still exist int he psyche, pure pleasure must be rejected. hence the negative pleasure is the only way the entity can experience a modicum of pleasure at all...you must ask yourself, "Where am I not honest with life or with myself? Where do I cheat? Where do I impair my integrity?"
[...]
When you find where you violate your sense of decency and honesty, you can unlock the door which has closed your access to transforming the negative pleasure and forced you to reject pleasure that is unhampered by pain."
-Eva Pierrakos
Personification of Wisdom as a Divine Goddess in the Scriptures
Wisdom 6: 12-16
12 Wisdom is radiant and unfading,
and she is easily discerned by those who love her,
and is found by those who seek her.
13 She hastens to make herself known to those who desire her.
14 One who rises early to seek her will have no difficulty,
for she will be found sitting at the gate.
15 To fix one’s thought on her is perfect understanding,
and one who is vigilant on her account will soon be free from care,
16 because she goes about seeking those worthy of her,
and she graciously appears to them in their paths,
and meets them in every thought.
This passage reminds me of what Prem Baba said, "Take one step towards G-d and G-d takes ten steps towards you."
12 Wisdom is radiant and unfading,
and she is easily discerned by those who love her,
and is found by those who seek her.
13 She hastens to make herself known to those who desire her.
14 One who rises early to seek her will have no difficulty,
for she will be found sitting at the gate.
15 To fix one’s thought on her is perfect understanding,
and one who is vigilant on her account will soon be free from care,
16 because she goes about seeking those worthy of her,
and she graciously appears to them in their paths,
and meets them in every thought.
This passage reminds me of what Prem Baba said, "Take one step towards G-d and G-d takes ten steps towards you."
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