I get why people enjoy and use Twitter, Twitter just never held any interest for me. Maybe now that His Holiness, The Dalai Lama is now using Twitter, I just may give it a try. How cool would it be to know that HH is heading out for a cup of tea with some other monks over in Dharamsala. Maybe we’ll learn that HH can kick butt in MariovKart.

Just as I have been slow to get Twitter, I was also slow to get Facebook. I had a Facebook account for two years and had not done anything with it until my older Brother, John suggested that we use it as a way to stay in touch. Well that was all I needed, and now Facebook is part of my daily routine. Perhaps it can be the same with Twitter. Say I’m having a hard day and need some support because my shenpa is causing me to act out. I’ll just twitter HH and see what HH thinks. Say I need a little support that day, just send out that info on Twitter, and then HH and the rest of my posse can do some Matri for me. I like that idea.

Yesterday, along with many of thousands of others here in Ann Arbor, I sat and listened to two hours of teachings from His Holiness, The Dalai Lama. Much of what H.H. taught was quite detailed and a bit esoteric, and thought I can’t admit to understanding every aspect of his teachings, it was wonderful to be in his presence, albeit in a college basketball arena. The last time I saw H.H. speak was some 20 years ago when I still lived in Bloomington. Back then the Dalai Lama was not the media superstar he’s become today. There was no real security back then, no massive crowds, but the kind heart and wonderful laugh is the same from 20 years ago.

Without going into too much discussion on what H.H. said, I will pass along a paragraph from a sheet that was handed out to all attendees of all of his teachings. They are beautiful and well worth reading…

In conclusion, those who, like myself, consider themselves to be followers of Buddha, should practice as much as we can. To followers of other religious traditions, I would like to say, “Please practice your own religion seriously and sincerely.” And to non-believers, I request you try to be warm-hearted. I ask this of you because these mental attitudes actually bring us happiness. As I have mentioned before, taking care of others actually benefits you.

There is much I love about Buddhism, but one thing I’ve never been able to figure out is what’s with all the numbers? There are lists of the eight this, the four that, the 37 this and on and on.

Last night Patti and I were joking about it and so this morning she sent me a link to this page which details the various lists.

Here’s the lists without the member items:

The Four Noble Truths

The Eightfold Path (ariya-magga)

Three Characteristics of Existence (of Conditioned Phenomena)

Three Pillars of Dhamma (dharma) or Grounds for Making Merit

Three Poisons/Defilements (Kilesas – lit. torments of the mind)

Continue reading “This Buddha Goes to 11” »

One of the things I love about Carlos Santana (besides his genius guitar playing) is the gentle yet firm way he expresses his views of the world and what’s happening to it. In a time when it’s so easy to sink to anger and frustration, it’s wonderful to see Carlos’ clarity of vision…

“Peace has never come from dropping bombs. Real peace comes from enlightenment and educating people to behave more in a divine matter. I do envision a world where water, electricity, food and education would be for free in the next 25 years for everyone on this planet. That’s the beginning of dismantling fear, anger and politics and religion. The real evil in this world is politics and religion. Spirituality is the antidote because it is free.”

Read more of Carlos Santana’s unique views.

Visit Santana’s beautiful (high bandwidth) website.