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http://www.mahablog.com/2008/07/22/missionary-position/

Sometimes you run into people who are so clueless you wonder how they dress themselves. Today I ran into a blog being kept by a Christian missionary in Thailand. I’ll just link to one post without comment. It parodies itself.

Here’s a post on another blog that talks about Christian missionary work in Thailand. Techniques for converting the Thais include scare-mongering and emotional blackmail.

Update: Here’s one more — “Buddhist migrants pressured to convert to Christianity.” I bet they’re not as aggressive with the Muslims.

I wish some of these deadheads would stop and think how they would feel if some group representing another religion tried the same tricks on them, or on other Christians. Do unto others, etc.

How often have you been hit up by homeless people sitting at the corner of a busy intersection? Do you always give?

Sometimes, all I have is an apple from my lunch and I have been known to give that.

But today, I passed one man as he stood by the side of the road. Not because I did not have any thing to give, but the reason on his cardboard just left me feeling uneasy.

Do you give each and every time? Do you take food or opportunites from those you have been given to protect, like children, spouses and parents?

Where do you draw a line? Or do you?

And all I see is little dots
Some are smeared and some are spots
Feels like a murder but that's alright
Somebody said there's too much light
Pull down the shade and it's alright
It'll be over in a minute or two.

It has to be Drugs, from Fear of Music by Talking Heads. This angular, disjointed, jarring music came out in 1979; it was the perfect soundtrack to late night ravings in London squats, getting to know just how messed up you feel after a couple of days on cheap sulphate.



Buy Fear of Music here

I have been doing zen meditation for about 2-3 weeks. I get a couple pillows and sit down like the internet sites and books tell me. I can't do the lotus position because I am not flexible enough so, I do the cross-legged position, or whatever its called.

I can always count on my legs falling asleep and having really sharp back pain during meditation. I have tried being with the pain and using it in meditation by being "mindful" of what my body is feeling, but it doesn't make it hurt any less. At about 25 minutes of meditation I give up.

Am I doing something wrong that I am in this much pain? Is this pain normal and will my body get used to?

I could just sit in a chair and do my zazen, but I'm too cool for that : )

I am looking for a good translation of the Dhammapada.  I know there are hundreds of translations of the thing, but I want something I can understand and something that doesn't confuse me.

For instance. I was in a bookstore in Omaha yesterday looking for one that I could understand since I am still a newbie to Buddhism, and in one of the translations of the Dhammapada I saw the word "sin". Now, I know there is no concept of sin in Buddhism and I understood what they were talking about. But, I am still afraid of weird translations hindering or muddling my ability to really understand Buddhism.

Also, are there any beginners books that would offer me some guidance? I bought a book by the Dali Lama. I got about 3/4 through that and it was okay. I also picked up "Hardcore Zen" by Brad Warner. I liked his take on things and connected with his words, although I do disagree with him to some extent. Recently I picked up Shunryu Suzuki's "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind". I just started that a week ago and haven't made a whole lot of progress with that but, I like what I have read so far. So, as you can tell, I relate to Zen a bit more. However, I am still pretty easy going and like checking out all sorts of stuff.

I am in Omaha Nebraska and Buddhists seem to be few and far between. I know of a Zen Center in town, but I am pretty timid and I feel like I probably couldn't go waltzing in there. Also, there is a SGI center. From what I read on their site, I get an almost metaphysics vibe or something from them and feel that it wouldn't be a place to start out. I do, however, subscribe to Dharma talks (Gil Fronsdal) that I listen to on my mp3 player.

Any suggestions for me?

Maybe you can help me.
I was baptized a Catholic and confirmed a Catholic. But, I'm not a Catholic. I spent the first 14 years of life just going through the motions of what I thought was normal. I thought everyone was Catholic. No one told me there were other religions! When I first even heard of other religions it was when I moved here to KY when I was 9. By the time I was 14 I wondered, "Why the heck am I doing this? Oh, who cares! Let's go shopping!" (Hey, we were all 14 at one time...pretty immature and materialistic age.) After I was confirmed, I started to explore other religions. The only one that caught my fancy was Buddhism. It really helped me through some tough spots and it made me think a lot about life; that is, the more important aspects of life.
My husband was confirmed into the Catholic church on Sunday. Every since he started his spiritual journey towards Catholicism, he's been really judgmental towards me. I'm not sure why. I know that I was sort of taught to judge; if someone was of another religion, they were lesser ... those things. (I know better now.) It has really been bothering me. So, I told him that I don't judge him on his religious beliefs and he shouldn't judge mine. All he could say was that he hopes I come back to the "true" religion.
And my mom...should I even go there? She completely flipped out on me. I've told her a million (or possibly a billion?) times that I'm no longer interested in Catholicism and that I'm still on my path towards Buddhism.
Have any of you ever had predicaments like this with members of your family? If so, please tell me they will accept my choices soon!

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http://www.mahablog.com/2008/07/22/more-media-mayhem/

Michael Grunwald writes for Time that, by any previous predictive measure, the McCain candidacy ought to be toast. However,

It’s also unwise to underestimate the hunger of the media for an exciting race. … The media will try to preserve the illusion of a toss-up; you’ll keep seeing “Obama Leads, But Voters Have Concerns” headlines.

Mike Allen and Jim Vandehei write for the Politico that “McCain gaffes pile up; critics pile on,” but the fact is that McCain’s “gaffes” — which are about big honking geopolitical matters like where Pakistan is — aren’t drawing nearly as much attention as inconsequential stuff Al Gore didn’t even say back in 2000.

The wingnuts are still hyperventilating about John McCain’s “rejected” op ed about Iraq, in which McCain tried to get by with bashing Obama instead of explaining his own position.

Today I learned that a “humor” piece someone wrote about Netroots Nation was “spiked,” and Michelle Malkin says, “So, not only are we not allowed to make fun of Barack Obama, but it appears that liberals in the media have also made ridiculing the left-wing blogosphere off-limits.”

I didn’t go to Netroots Nation this year, I regret, but had I been there I’m sure I could have written something humorous and fun-poking about it. The problem with the “humorous” piece that was ripped down from the website of the Austin American Statesman is that it wasn’t a bit funny. It was just mean. Right-wing humor, in other words. (IMO actual, unvarnished ridicule is rarely funny.)

Malkin has a big chunk of it on her website. But if you want to get the Cliff’s Notes version, see Greg Mitchell at Daily Kos. My impression is that the “writer” of the piece built it entirely from ancient stereotypes of “leftists” without bothering to pull his head out of his ass long enough to notice if the stereotypes still apply.

Genuine wit reveals something real. As Mark Twain said, “Humor is the good natured side of a truth.”

The part of the spiked piece that most offended me is “Pelosi is so far left her title should include (D-Beijing).” Pelosi has shown more cojones, as it were, in speaking out against Beijing and its Tibet policies than any Republican I can think of.

That’s why it wasn’t funny.

Man, when I'm not sitting in the zendo, I fidget so much. I try not to but sometimes I do it before I even realize it and then I'm scratching my butt or looking at the clock or whatever.

After all of this,
Are we still alive?
Does it mean the same
As how we wish it came?
We're breathing and we're hoping
And we're seeing and we're going
The moment strikes a beat
Then we open up to speak

We have so many thoughts that we are suffering, But this suffering is just like a dream! And if you can recognize these thoughts' true nature Suffering will be self-liberated as soon as it appears! The ice so easily melting into water Transformation explained like that—what a wonderful miracle!

This past week I had to go to a work conference (2,700 people, 5 days).
In some ways it was pretty awful, but I decided to spend some time each day in walking meditation throughout the busy crowds. I found myself taking note of the people passing by, and noticed that the other attendees often noticed me, made eye contact, and smiled. I was smiling myself, and in that moment of friendly, non-judgmental eye contact, we would create a moment that was truly beautiful. I began to recognize the reflexive nature of this exercise, that I could see a part of myself in each of the faces that passed, a diverse and beautiful array of humanity! And then, it hit me that in these fleeting moments, I saw the bubbling up of thousands of Buddha natures amidst workshops and last-minute coffees.
The truth of the moment shown through, again and again, and I could actually feel a swelling of compassion. Even in the rush and painfully artificial construct of the convention center, we were still, after all, human, and I can't begin to explain the beauty of it all.
Namaste!

While we're on the topic (sorta) of odd Buddhist groups we've had some contact with...
has anyone in the community had any experiences with Soka Gakkai International?
I found a group of them that meet in New Orleans, and was super-excited. I went to one of their meetings, and upon entering was relieved to see a pretty wide diversity of ethnicities, age, and (seeming) class status. Everyone was very friendly, and the group seemed pretty non-hierarchical.
Then, I noticed that the entire meeting was focused on the mantra "Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo."
The Dharma Talk and following testimonies focused only on the power of "Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo."
One practitioner tried to describe how their approach is more clear and focused than Tibetan Buddhism (which it seemed he didn't understand very well).
I thought, "maybe they devote each service to one mantra or practice in order to fully delve into its complexities."
After, we had a pot luck (woo hoo!) and some of the youth began talking to me about my experience with buddhism. I explained that I had generally done concentration and insight meditation with my group back home, and really liked doing mantras...then, they asked me what i was talking about - they'd never heard the term "mantra" and had never heard "Aum mane padme hum"...
"Ok, we come from different traditions, and I can learn from them," I thought...but when I tried asking them about their practice, it seemed to me that "Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo" of the Lotus Sutra was their beginning and end - that it embodied the entirity of Buddhism (the 8fold path, 4 noble truths??) and that all else was a distraction...
They then began calling me constantly, doing good outreach, I suppose, but I wasn't very interested.
I asked a friend of mine if he'd had any experiences with them, and after hearing my story, he said that he also had had negative experiences with them.
So, my question, as SGI claims 12 million members...
Are there any SGI folk in the community, or others who have experienced this group? If so, did my experience reflect or not reflect your personal experience with the organization? Did I simply not understand the philosophy?
Discuss!

Rockville, US: A woman's toes are nibbled by a type of carp called garra rufa, or doctor fish, during a fish pedicure treatment
Photograph: Jacquelyn Martin/AP

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http://www.mahablog.com/2008/07/21/fairness-and-flatulence/

The McCain campaign claims that the New York Times rejected an op ed McCain wrote about Iraq. McCain’s campaign fed this to Drudge, who reprinted the op ed. I don’t link to Drudge, but you can find it if you really want it. The Times asked the McCain campaign to write a piece that “mirrored” the one they published by Obama a few days ago.

Remarkably, Daniel Finkelstein of the Times Online (UK) agrees with the New York Times’s decision.

It wasn’t about Iraq. It was about Obama. If I received it I would have done exactly what the NYT did - send it back and ask them to redraft it so that it was about Iraq and was more, well, interesting.

Why was I only able to say I “think” they “may” be right? Because I don’t know exactly what they asked the Senator’s staff to do to the piece. But if they simply asked for a piece that matched Obama’s because, like Obama’s it was actually about his views on Iraq, well then I am right behind them.

Finkelstein is right that McCain’s op ed is just a big whine about Obama. I think he’s right about what the NY Times meant by “mirror,” also. That makes sense. The wingnuts, of course, think it means they want McCain to write a piece that agrees with Obama’s which does not make sense.

Rasmussen reports that there’s a growing belief reporters are trying to help Obama win. This is an opinion poll, mind you, not a report on the actual activity of journalism. 78 percent of Republicans think the press is trying to help Obama win.

What do you think? I don’t watch the entire media that closely any more. I check in with MSNBC in the evenings, scan through newspapers during the day, and that’s about it. I would say from what I’ve seen on MSNBC that their coverage is kinder to Obama than it was to Al Gore in 2000 or to John Kerry in 2004. Olbermann is unabashedly pro-Obama, of course.

At the same time, I haven’t seen MSNBC (except for Olbermann) be as harsh to McCain as it was to Gore in 2000 or Kerry in 2004.

Does this mean MSNBC on the whole is stumbling around somewhere in the general territory of “unbiased”?