There have been growing protests in Burma (aka Myanmar) led by Buddhist monks. Burma is a country close to my heart because a great meditation teacher, S.N. Goenka, calls that country home and credits the land and it's people with maintaining "pure" Buddhist meditation (esp Vipassana) practice for 2500 years. It has always saddened me to know that Burma, the land of beautiful therevada Buddhism, could be home to one of the most oppressive military dictatorships in the world. The quality of a teaching can be judged by the action of it's students, and for a country that's 90% Buddhist to be ruled by a corrupt military junta presents a problem for those considering the teaching as a practical guide to living.
But the Buddhist monks have finally begun to act, and we see how powerful the winds of change can be. The monks have ceased accepting alms from government workers (a hugely shameful thing for them to endure) and have actually taken to the streets in peaceful protest. Hopefully the end result of this protest will be the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and her rightful installment as Burma's democratically elected leader. Suu Kyi is an amazing human being and I don't doubt that Burma's fortunes would change drastically for the better. I mean, I'm really excited! Indeed, the region is so rich in natural resources one could see a more enlightened Burma not only correcting it's current economic woes (the avg yearly income is $175) and loss of freedom (the media is universally pre-censored), but actually growing into a world player. Think Singapore, but with heart.
I for one will be meditating and praying for the success of this peaceful and righteous "insurrection". I hope dearly that the everyday men and women of the repressive, unjust government regime abandon their posts and join in with the protests, and that no blood is spilled. Burma deserves much better than she's gotten over the last 40 years, and by golly I think she's finally going to be set free!
Jim Carrey has a wonderful little video about Aung Sun Suu Kyi, and there are some links to help.
I am not familiar with these organizations, and cannot vouch for them. But they are mentioned in the video and I link them here for your convenience:
humanrightsactioncenter.org
uscampaignforburma.org
Also, send an encouraging email to the UN Secretary General. The UN Security Council needs to get involved.
"The Keys to my Heart" - according to blogthings.com
I don't normally take those survey things, but this one piqued my interest and the answer was fairly accurate (as far as I can tell).
The Keys to Your Heart |
 You are attracted to those who are unbridled, untrammeled, and free. In love, you feel the most alive when your lover is creative and never lets you feel bored. You'd like to your lover to think you are optimistic and happy. You would be forced to break up with someone who was insecure and in constant need of reassurance. Your ideal relationship is lasting. You want a relationship that looks to the future... one you can grow with. Your risk of cheating is zero. You care about society and morality. You would never break a commitment. You think of marriage something you've always wanted... though you haven't really thought about it. In this moment, you think of love as commitment. Love only works when both people are totally devoted. |
Flickr Foibles
A while back I wrote about Flickr's photo hostage thing. I eventually succumbed, and paid up. Now it's happened again. I need a good solution for this. Electronic data is so fragile, and delicate, and yet so useful in electronic form. Perhaps it really is worth $25/year - not just because they host and store my pictures fairly reliably, but because it keeps my pictures safe from my foolishness. In other words, it actually of value to me to limit my own interaction with my data. I wonder if that concept can be applied elsewhere?
The parable of the shoulders
Parable: "A parable is a brief, succinct story, in prose or verse, that illustrates a moral or religious lesson."
(Okay, this isn't really a parable. If I really wanted to write one, I'd talk about a Zebra or Rabbit with tight shoulders, going to two different gurus (perhaps a Gorilla and a Giraffe?) getting different advice. I'm a huge fan of Rudyard Kipling and his Just So Stories, but I find it easier to speak plainly.)
For many, tight shoulders indicate stress. The shoulders ride up against the ears in a universal sign of worry or tension. There are two ways to correct this. The first is to consciously pull the shoulders back and down away from the ears, using the muscles of the back. The other is to identify and eradicate the tension such that the shoulders fall of their own accord.
The former method requires strength, energy, and constant awareness. It is a bit like a dead-man switch, in that when your attention wanders, the shoulders hike up again. However, the benefit is twofold- first, an immediate change is noticed which feels good. Second, one experiences a configuration of the body that is new, and which is now no longer scary.
Of course, this is not a very good long term solution. In particular, one might start causing strain in the back. Eliminating tension is ideal, but a much more subtle task. It is possible! One addresses the psychosomatic cause of the hiked shoulder at the systematic level. It's a bit like taking a systemic pain killer to address pain in just one part of the body.
Meditation is a good way to address this sort of tension. The nice thing about meditation is that it can often address problems you did not previously notice. The body is constantly ravaged by tension, conscious and unconscious, and these knots, hiked shoulders, headaches, etc are evidence of their accumulation.
My own experience with meditation has shown me that one passes through several stages of relaxation. Even if one feels like further relaxation is impossible, one discovers the truth - there was still tension hiding. And this might happen several times during a good sit. Tension and strain like to hide in the deepest places in our body and mind.
(Okay, this isn't really a parable. If I really wanted to write one, I'd talk about a Zebra or Rabbit with tight shoulders, going to two different gurus (perhaps a Gorilla and a Giraffe?) getting different advice. I'm a huge fan of Rudyard Kipling and his Just So Stories, but I find it easier to speak plainly.)
For many, tight shoulders indicate stress. The shoulders ride up against the ears in a universal sign of worry or tension. There are two ways to correct this. The first is to consciously pull the shoulders back and down away from the ears, using the muscles of the back. The other is to identify and eradicate the tension such that the shoulders fall of their own accord.
The former method requires strength, energy, and constant awareness. It is a bit like a dead-man switch, in that when your attention wanders, the shoulders hike up again. However, the benefit is twofold- first, an immediate change is noticed which feels good. Second, one experiences a configuration of the body that is new, and which is now no longer scary.
Of course, this is not a very good long term solution. In particular, one might start causing strain in the back. Eliminating tension is ideal, but a much more subtle task. It is possible! One addresses the psychosomatic cause of the hiked shoulder at the systematic level. It's a bit like taking a systemic pain killer to address pain in just one part of the body.
Meditation is a good way to address this sort of tension. The nice thing about meditation is that it can often address problems you did not previously notice. The body is constantly ravaged by tension, conscious and unconscious, and these knots, hiked shoulders, headaches, etc are evidence of their accumulation.
My own experience with meditation has shown me that one passes through several stages of relaxation. Even if one feels like further relaxation is impossible, one discovers the truth - there was still tension hiding. And this might happen several times during a good sit. Tension and strain like to hide in the deepest places in our body and mind.
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