QUITTING and NOT

 Blogging and Posting

This morning I wondered why.  The screen's an empty canvas, a lump of clay, a bolt of cloth, a blank page--a creative outlet.  And though I'm thinking about possible readers or viewers, I'm doing it for myself essentially, doing it because something wants to manifest.  It's the same with photography - Sometimes the picture leads, sometimes the thought leads to a picture, and one thing leads to another so I'm not quitting yet. I'm still entertaining myself.

(Notebook cover a gift from blog buddy Laura)

International, National and Local News

A trio guaranteed to bring you down even when the sun shines, so I'm retiring from the 'need-to-know' syndrome and quitting my daily plunge into the abyss.

"Way Down We Go"
by Kaleo

(5 Minutes)

https://youtu.be/9WIU5NN1Q0g

However, I don't believe "we get what we deserve" - we get what we get for reasons we can only speculate about...blame the roads taken and chance. As to the current political moment; no one deserves it,
not even 'Godzilla'

(2 minutes forty seconds that felt like twenty minutes)

https://youtu.be/ORSvf8eVa0g

PS
I was in a mood 
~*~

GOING ON
"Exercise is good for people, as everyone knows. But scientists have surprisingly little understanding of its cellular impacts and how those might vary by activity and the age of the exerciser."
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/23/well/move/the-best-exercise-for-aging-muscles.html?mc=aud_dev&mcid=keywee&mccr=domdesk&kwp_0=368382&kwp_4=1375948&kwp_1=607007

LINKS

Wiki - Kaleo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaleo_(band)

Wiki - Godzilla

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godzilla
 

TIBETAN TANGKAS TODAY

March 10th 2017

Tibet House USA
22 West 15th Street
NY NY

Entrance Mural

The Gallery
This exhibition features sacred tangka artworks created by internationally acclaimed master artist and tangka painter Karsang Lama from the Dharmapala Thangka Center of Kathmandu in Nepal.

Tibetan sacred paintings are unframed and can be rolled up, often depict Buddhist deities.
(detail)

 In this show, both peaceful and wrathful deities from the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions will be on display.

 The role of wrathful iconography is to provide protection for religious practitioners as well as sacred Tibetan Buddhist sites.
 
 Guests discussing the Tangka
"The Wheel of Life"

 Dolls and Animals
On permanent display

The Shop
Stocks Books, CDs, Videos, cards, Incense, Jewelry and other items

Sonam is always helpful and knowledgeable

 Beautiful Guest

Orchid in the Shrine Room

 Avalokiteshvara
(Shrine Room)

 Executive Director, Ganden Thurman talking to guests

 Beautiful Guest

 Beautiful Persons 3 and 4

~*~

Magazine

~*~
March 10th 1959
Several thousand Tibetans surrounded the Dalai Lama's palace to prevent him from leaving or being removed. The huge crowd had gathered in response to a rumor that the Chinese communists were planning to arrest the Dalai Lama when he went to a cultural performance at the People's Liberation Army's headquarters. This marked the beginning of the uprising in Lhasa

~*~

LINKS

Current Exhibition
https://tibethouse.us/exhibition-tibetan-thangkas-today/

Price List and Thumbnails
https://www.dropbox.com/s/zk4p0msbcucfsy9/tangkas_price_sheet.pdf?dl=0

Avalokiteshvara
http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/history/guanyin.htm

Tibetan Uprising

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1959_Tibetan_uprising

HONORABLE DR, MING ENG M.D.

 After a full weekend of severe discomfort friends I'm here to report that I have begun a new Rx medication, and though I'm not glad to be resorting to this route, I am glad that it has the potential of stabilizing my distress.  It will take a few months to have any definitive result, and diet will be a part of the treatment. The no fiber diet I've been on since diagnosis last July, according to the most current research, may not be the optimal choice.  A gluten free diet has been known to be effective.  The two are in conflict and I need to resolve that.  If you wish any more boring details see the links at the bottom.

Tuesday
Doctors appointment.  I was entertained by this design magazine while I waited.  This lucky fellow inherited his grandparents estate outside Florence, Italy.
(sigh)


 A carved stone at the Doctors office.
Of course I forgot to ask about the Chinese symbol.

Just having a treatment available made me feel so much better.  I took this 'selfie' in the office after my appointment. Can you sense the relief?

While walking back East toward home I had a playful encounter with this dapper salesman through the window of one of those furniture design showrooms that is perpetually empty.  I had stopped to take a photo of the setting when he entered the frame and I mimed that I wanted to take a shot in case he wanted to move away.  Instead, he was delighted and we mimicked each others gestures for several minutes and ended with a bow.  The security guard stepped in too. There are multiple reflections ghosting giving the image a surreal cast.

This was the place

Another design showroom across the street had this setting which I found most disconcerting and know I would never be comfortable in a room dominated by a headless, arm less woman with drip marks and scars. Would you?

Further East on Park Avenue these building painters caught my eye

They've whited out the last advertisement that was there in preparation for some new image to be applied. Tiny workers on a big job. Risky business.

Wednesday
I rested and posted about International Women's day, then spent time at the Zendo meditating.

Today
I slept a lot, made soup, watched an old movie, read my news pages, answered emails and posted a few things at face book.  Now I'm going to read some favorite blogs, drink anti-inflammatory tea and curl up under the comforter waiting for the snow and chill.

~*~

Links

Information Site
http://www.microscopiccolitisfoundation.org/

Dietary Conflict

Mayo clinic gluten free
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/gluten-free-diet/art-20048530

Mayo clinic fiber free
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/low-fiber-diet/art-20048511

Doctor

http://www.drenggastroenterology.com/provider/hon-ming-eng-md

THOUGHT

Opinion
From Heather Richardson, professor of History at Boston College
(edited slightly only for punctuation and line sense in this blog context)

"I don't like to talk about politics-- political history is my job after all, but there is an important non-partisan point to make: What Bannon is doing, most dramatically with the ban on immigration from seven predominantly Muslim countries-- is creating what is known as a "shock event.  Such an event is unexpected and confusing and throws a society into chaos. People scramble to react to the event, usually along some fault line that those responsible for the event can widen by claiming that they alone know how to restore order. When opponents speak out, the authors of the shock event call them enemies. As society reels and tempers run high, those responsible for the shock event perform a sleight of hand to achieve their real goal, a goal they know to be hugely unpopular, but from which everyone has been distracted as they fight over the initial event. There is no longer concerted opposition to the real goal; opposition divides along the partisan lines established by the shock event. The Executive Order banning entrance has had all the hallmarks of a shock event. It was not reviewed by any governmental agencies or lawyers before it was released, and counter-terrorism experts insist they did not ask for it. People charged with enforcing it got no instructions about how to do so. Courts immediately have declared parts of it unconstitutional, but border police in some airports are refusing to stop enforcing it. Predictably, chaos has followed and tempers are hot. My point today is this: unless you are the person setting it up, it is in no one's interest to play the shock event game. It is designed explicitly to divide people who might otherwise come together so they cannot stand against something its authors think they won't like. I don't know what Bannon is up to-- although I have some guesses-- but because I know Bannon's ideas well, I am positive that there is not a single person whom I consider a friend on either side of the aisle-- and my friends range pretty widely-- who will benefit from whatever it is. If the shock event strategy works, though, many of you will blame each other, rather than Bannon, for the fallout. And the country will have been tricked into accepting their real goal. But because shock events destabilize a society, they can also be used positively. We do not have to respond along old fault lines. We could just as easily reorganize into a different pattern that threatens the people who sparked the event. A successful shock event depends on speed and chaos because it requires knee-jerk reactions so that people divide along established lines. This, for example, is how Confederate leaders railroaded the initial southern states out of the Union. If people realize they are being played, though, they can reach across old lines and reorganize to challenge the leaders who are pulling the strings. This was Lincoln's strategy when he joined together Whigs, Democrats, Free-Soilers, anti-Nebraska voters, and nativists into the new Republican Party to stand against the Slave Power. Five years before, such a coalition would have been unimaginable. Members of those groups agreed on very little other than that they wanted all Americans to have equal economic opportunity. Once they began to work together to promote a fair economic system, though, they found much common ground. They ended up rededicating the nation to a "government of the people, by the people, and for the people." Confederate leaders and Lincoln both knew about the political potential of a shock event. As we are in the midst of one, it seems worth noting that Lincoln seemed to have the better idea about how to use it."

Related
from me
If shock works, fear is holding it's hand so people will need training and practice. Sprint is selling drone games, but before this one arms itself and the Perky Parrot becomes an Eagle with it's talons out, It might be wise to remember that war is not a virtual game. I'm thinking about friendly chess matches in real time and space, about the value of diplomacy, about the future of humanity and the planet. We might turn our thoughts to finding common ground.


~*~

Fakery
Faux turn of the century Iron work jacks up the real estate value of buildings, faux flooring and trim adds to the rent once old spaces have been rehabilitated to accommodate the market rate.  Faux gardens, fountains and malls with steel chairs and tables dot the territory to imitate congenial space for human habitat. Human beings are affected by their habitats, either conforming to or rebelling against them. We are not comfortable in sham worlds and seek authenticity even when we don't know that's what we really want and need. When I think about what the settings were meant for, I free myself.     

 ~*~

Propaganda

Around the corner from my apartment, a bus stop advertisement is pushing the positive when I just heard NPRs broadcast about the waste fraud and misappropriation of funds meant to help Vets directly that the VA seems to continue to perpetrate with abandon while paying for advertisements like this.  "An investigation by NPR and local member stations found that: the VA has about the same number of new hires as the VA would have been projected to hire without the additional $2.5 billion; the new hires weren't sent to VA hospitals with the longest wait times; and the VA medical centers that got new hires were not more likely to see improved wait times."  If we think, we can't be fooled.

~*~

She Thinks of Me
Out of the blue, dear Cynthia Craig sends these natural products from the Healing Root in Vermont.

The very essences needed to boost immunity, ease pains, heal wounds, promote calm and more.  So helpful these gifts are, and so nourishing the kind thought that sent them my way, I'm grateful.

 ~*~

Values

Bottom-line thinking and supply-side economics, like bottom-feeder ethics are last and least best of all possible options for promoting a healthy society.  How then can a poor man or woman respond to the enormous and many powerful entities that pervert health and wellness into insurance plans that don't insure either?  How can we think our way through the raging torrent of thoughtless deconstruction pouring out of the new administration in Washington?  What actions might be of the most value to invest in now?  Since we must find ways to 'insist, resist and persist', may they be from a base of clarity and calm thoughtfulness. My own energy is limited by my individual capacity on many fronts. Group energy can be chaotic unless the group agrees to cohesive purpose and effective means.  I'm not a strategist, nor do I have the strength once mine in youth. I value kindness, empathy, courage and intelligence above all. 

May all beings find effective means for their values and energies.
 May all beings be happy, safe and at peace with whatever comes to them in life.

~*~

LINKS

 National Public Radio on Vets
http://www.npr.org/2017/01/31/512052311/va-hospitals-still-struggling-with-adding-staff-despite-billions-from-choice-act



Read Raven and Sparrow
http://ravenandsparrow.typepad.com/raven_and_sparrow/2017/02/coughing-up-a-hairball.html

Taking Root
http://www.takingrootvt.com/

CHANTING with MANY

Saturday November Fifth

2016

At Home
(shelf above my computer)

Krishna Das and Friends
Church of St.Paul and St Andrew
West End Avenue at 86th Street
New York City

 Packed to the Rafters

"How Good it is When Brothers and Sisters
Dwell together in Harmony"

Musicians
krishna Das-vocals and Harmonium, Guitarist-David Nichtern, Keyboard-John McDowell, Nina Rao-Kartals, Mark Egan-Bass, Arjun Bruggemen-Tabla, and Jerry Marotta-Percussion.

 ~*~

Looking down

 11PM

 The End

 ~*~

Flashback
November
2015
Before he began his annual kirtan in the soaring beauty of the Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew, Krishna Das joined Prana, the overtone singing group led by Baird Hersey, for this sweet Capella version of My Foolish Heart/Bhaja Govinda

 ~*~

 How it Feels to Chant

~*~

Afterwards with two dear old friends
Judy who decorates the stage, and Joanne from Dharma Mittra

 Home by Bus with friends Wendy and Joanne
1AM
Turned the Clocks Back
~*~

LINKS
Krishna Das Website
http://krishnadas.com/

Krishna Das Music
 https://www.youtube.com/user/KrishnaDasMusic

Krishna Das Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/KrishnaDasMusic/

Prana
 http://www.pranasound.com/

Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew

http://stpaulandstandrew.org/

LOVE AND FEAR

Annual Gala

October 25 2016

New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care

 Masonic Hall

46 West 24th Street

NY. NY

~*~

Cocktails and Gourmet Vegetarian Hors D'oeuvres

*

Piano by Rob Schwimmer

*

Contemporary reading of "The Women of Trachis" featuring David Strathairn and Tamara Tunie, directed and modernized by Bryan Doerries

*

Performance by Mare Winningham

https://youtu.be/-cQ_tN_mitw

~*~

Carmine Branagan, Center director

 *

*

 *

*
"Awake at the Bedside"
(LINK)

 Carol Stangby
*

 *
(note black hightops)

 *

*
Koshin Paley Ellison and Robert Chodo Campbell

*

"Love and Fear"

This film is a vignette of the contemplative care work of the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care in New York City. The poem, "Love and Fear" is by the poet Michael Leunig, from the book "A Common Prayer," published by Harper Collins.

https://youtu.be/scztb2cyGJQ

~*~

In this world of dreams, drifting off still more;
and once again speaking and dreaming of dreams.
Just let it be.

-Ryoken-

~*~

Note

The camera, a Pentax digital, sometimes with flash, sometimes not.  I can assure you was sober as a church mouse, taking random shots from various locations, and have no explanation for the often ghosting images, though likely due to movement of subjects and unfocused lighting.  One or two photographs are clear because the subjects held a pose.  For the most part I circulated quietly.  The food was superior, water and wine fine, guests animated, entertainments powerful, and a significant amount was donated for the continuing work of the center in ongoing training and program offerings.

~*~

LINKS

NYZCCC

http://zencare.org/our-vison/

"Awake at the Bedside"

Contemplative Teachings on Palliative and End of Life Care

http://awakeatthebedside.com/

The Reading

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_of_Trachis

Mare Winningham

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mare_Winningham

David Strathairn

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Strathairn

Tamara Tunie

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamara_Tunie

Bryan Doerries

"Theater of War"

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/04/books/review/the-theater-of-war-by-bryan-doerries.html?_r=0