Fallen off the ox

With school work and some personal issues (which is not really an excuse) but I stopped sitting. Which is kinda large no no. More so when I took the precepts this January. So I am going to step it up. I am looking to sit everyday for as long as I can at the same time of the day regardless of if I want to or not.

What happens when we fall of the ox?

Well I get my ass back on the cushion and brush off and try again.

Which brings me to a point. Falling off is almost expected. Not every Buddha out there was really crazy on sitting all the blasted time. They, like everyone else, fell down. They just got back up again.

So here is to falling off the ox and getting back on.

Ciao.

#1 God

I do not know how interested you all will be, but I feel like I could take some time and address some things that come up in my Zen practice.

Bear with me now. I am not a master nor claim to be, but I am simply posting my personal views on a few subjects.


First one that I want to try to explain is God.

First off. I am no Atheist. Many people that I have spoken with, or who ask me about what I do question if I believe in a God. I most certainly do, but I am willing to place money down it is not the same God you are thinking about. My God does not have a white beard, or a vengeance to kill or go against all non-believers. One of my favorite quotes on God that seems to both sum up my beliefs and confuse the shit out of others is: “There is no God and he created you.”

Whoa, deep.

Now hold on a sec. If there is no God how in the hell did he create you? I know, paradox , but hear me out. The God I think about is not watching everything, is not willing to help you win the lottery, pay the rent or have that sexy looking barista take you in the back room and give you that extra treatment. The God that I believe in is everything and nothing. He/She/It is the universe. Not the controller, just the unnamed creator. I take comfort in the fact that this universe is not just scientific chance. Do I believe in heaven, not really. Do I believe in Hell, not really. I like to think of my life as a bubble in a river. I came to be through cause and effect and eventually I will pop, but I will not really die I will just go back to being the river not just an extension of a river. The only reason I came to be a bubble is the fact that the river churned me up. God is the river. God is you, me, the dog shit on your shoe when you are late for work and everything else.

Does this mean I have any beef with anyone else’s belief, nope. I think Jesus, Mohammad, Ra, and all the others are perfectly cool, but they just do not suit me.

Okay now, step two… just a little thing that ‘grinds my gears.’

I do not, will not, ever worship Buddha. Buddha is not a God. Gautama Buddha (The historical Buddha) is nothing but a teacher, not a deity, though some may think so. Dear ol’ Gautama just sat under a tree and taught the way he thought things worked. Sure we, in practice, bow to Buddha but that is out of respect of his teachings, not him. If you wish to get technical if we worshiped Buddha, we would in turn be bowing to everything last thing including the remnants of those fifty hot wings that are now melting away your plumbing; because like every living thing, he was part of the river. He was human. He had a child, a wife, and he got old and died like all of us will do. Do I think the man deserves respect, hell yeah, but do I think he is my God? Nope. Just a man, like every other man out there, he just had a really cool teaching.

Well, this is only the first thing that I am going to post… feel free to comment or ask a question or two but I am just doing this out of curiosity not for confrontation or massive arguments.Take it as you will.

Adios.

Huzzah!

First semester in the bag!

Now time to start sewing, gasp. Wish me luck, but whatever happens I am sure it will be perfect in imperfection right? :D

Ciao!

Sir! News from the frontline.

I am a now an English major.

Pray for all those sad, poor, and decrepit books awaiting my drooling jaws.

Au revoir.

Random shots

Worn.
Vets.
Overbearing.
Disarmed.

Here are a few shots I took at a local graveyard. Kinda cool, and they came out pretty decent for a cell phone camera (looking to upgrade shortly to a nice Canon SLR) but until then this will have to do.

Later.

Leaves fly,
fall and glide to the ground
each one sporting the hue of life.
Hungry worms await their meal

Funny how things work.

I was walking out of my biology lecture today and checked my score which was posted outside of the lecture hall. Not bad for a midterm grade, I am pulling a eighty-three point three. Then I noticed that one of the quizzes that my professor placed on my grade was wrong. She gave me a ten out of ten instead of an eight. I was half tempted to walk away and not say a word, chances are my professor, who has a billion quizzes to enter made a mistake in my favor and I should just walk away knowing that I have a little advantage.

This was not the case. I decided to walk back into lecture and speak to the professor personally. I told her about my grade and what was entered into the midterm. She smiled and said not many would have come up to correct me on that one.

I smiled back and said I am not going to take credit for something that I did not do.

A friend was watching in disbelief as I walked happily away. She looked at me and said that I would make a good Christian. I looked at her and (where I would usually just become rather cynical and trite) said that there are many tenants of Buddhism that carry over and share principles of morality one being not lying. All and all a good day.

On a completely different note:

Wal-mart sells (only online) coffins now...

IF you do not believe me, go to their website and type in 'funeral' the search bar, and scroll down to the bottom of the page. I dare not think what is next on their hit list.

Bye.