(no subject)

[realexplodingcat]

Seems like forever since I last posted here. This class I'm taking is keeping me busy. Not so busy that I don't have time to do anything, but busy enough that when I have down time I don't really want to do activities that yield some kind of output, like writing or composing music. I've been doing more restorative activities like reading, taking walks, meditation, and exercise.

I am going less crazy over the class, but that experience is pushing me to find an inner peace to hold on to when all else is going nuts. I have always been intrigued by Buddhism and I'm considering seeking some formal experience with it. I think part of me misses a little bit of the ritual of being Catholic (which is the way I was raised) and the spiritual glue that binds one's disparate activities together. But the Catholic establishment no longer appeals to me. So, I'll check out the Buddha. Maybe I can find out why this guy who eschews materialism and lives without earthly desires is always portrayed as being fat.

Sort of related to the inner-peace thing: the other day I went to bed early, and woke up an hour earlier than usual. I usually just roll out of bed at 9am and right into the office. But I decided to try getting up early, to start the day with some personal time. It was a very nice way to set the tone for the day. I'd love to continue doing that, if I can manage to get to bed consistently earlier.

Yesterday, I thought it might be a good idea to take back the power in my relationship with my boss. I fixed a bug in our software in a way that only I could do. That's power! I control the bug fixing! So, I thought, next time my boss prompts me for a fix, I'll say, "I don't think you want it bad enough! I'm not going to check-in this bug fix unless you beg for it!"

And I blasted a squirrel off our bird feeder with the hose. Yes, indeed. I still can't bring myself to shoot them out of the trees, but I think I'm within my rights to defend my bird feeder.

Comments

[redzshadow.livejournal.com]

Buddha is portrayed as being fat because in his journey of life he once was starved and he also overindulged. That is how he found balance. ( or at least I think I read something similar to that...I could be full of BS...I don't have any proof of anything.)

[explodingcat.livejournal.com]

Do any of us really have any proof of anything? This world is an illusion!!!

[redzshadow.livejournal.com]

Speaking of illusion...have you ever looked up the meaning of me name? ;)

[krasota.livejournal.com]

I never knew whether your mother was going for the Eastern Maya or the Western Maya (Pleiades). The Western is typically spelled Maia, but it's often spelled Maya and it's a very common name in Russia that is often transliterated as Maya. I figured that either way bodes well. ;)

For boy, who probably has no clue what I'm talking about:
http://www.menlo.com/folks/davis/Maya_Web/Maya_Name.html

I reserve no comment for the pseudo-anthro subtext. Well, I have lots of comments, but none fit to print. ;)

[seeliespright.livejournal.com]

Well, the really corpulent "buddhas" you see are in fact a famous priest of buddhism. However, it is in the Indian tradition to represent sensuous (we say plump) figures in sculpture. I dunno, that's just what I vaguely remember from what my professor told me.

[seeliespright.livejournal.com]

*plump figures in religious sculpture.

I think also it was supposed to lend them some sort of higher standing (b/c they are well-fed).

Sorry, my forte is Greek Art. :o/

Heh, sorry to keep commenting...

[seeliespright.livejournal.com]

I just remembered, rereading what Maya said:

Siddhartha (sp) preached the "middle way" in that you seek a balance in all areas of your life. He originally starved himself for some time, but then realized that that wasn't leading to any higher truths. Then he came upon the "middle way" and was set because he got to eat and be religious. By having balance, he was able to ignore his body and move beyond to greater truths. That's why you should always remember that you can't think when you're hungry!

There's more about it here.

Re: Heh, sorry to keep commenting...

[explodingcat.livejournal.com]

I'm familiar with the concept of the middle way. Taoism, which I know a bit more about, is very concerned with finding balance...the middle. Although I'm not certain, I think Taoist thought grew out of Buddhism. I know there are Taoist sects of Buddhists. And I think I saw part of a movie once that depicted that very same moment in Siddhartha's life, not that you mention it. "Little Buddha." I think Keanu Reeves, of all people, portrays Siddhartha.

But that doesn't explain why he's fat. Middle way implies a state in between emaciated and fat. Of course, I am looking at these works of art through the eyes of a 21st century American. Standards of beauty and balance are quite different now, I'm sure.

Did you find out if anyone else wanted dumplings on Monday?

[twilight-spirit.livejournal.com]

Do yourself a favor and read Siddharta by Herman Hesse if you haven't already. It's the story of Buddha's journey to find enlightenment, and I would venture to say is required reading. (Not that I'm an expert or anything.) It's a good story, and as I recall there are some truths in there to be found.

One weakness of Buddhism I've heard is though it's an interesting philosophy, its attitude towards actually living is too passive. If I remember correctly, that same criticism pointed to Sufism as a religion that shares a lot in common with Buddhism, but is a bit more practical for living the beliefs. Need to do more research on this one myself.

You also should really read The Celestine Prophecy. Bit of an interesting success story for the author, actually. TCP was actually a vanity press book that became popular solely by word of mouth. I think it even hit the NYT bestseller list before one of the major publishers woke up and asked “Why don't we have this?” It was a pretty big thing about eight or nine years ago ... you may recall having heard about the whole Celestine Prophecy phenomenon back then. Anyway, it's a really good story, and the nine insights do seem to get at the core of what spirituality is. In fact, I wrote quite a bit about it about three years ago here in my LJ when I first read it.

It's funny this should all come up now. After all my problems sleeping this summer, my mom got me a book for my birthday having to do with the Zen of Sleeping. I started reading it and began to remember the things I really like about Eastern philosophy and how I seem to keep losing sight of that in the hustle and bustle of day to day living. It just seems to have such a refreshing perspective that eludes our Western minds, and yet the ideas are so simple it always comes as a surprise. It's like lateral thinking for living.

Also, the poetry of Rumi is extremely good reading for the spiritual-minded.

[explodingcat.livejournal.com]

I may need to add "Siddhartha" to my long list of stuff to read. I've never read anything by Hesse.

I don't know that Buddhism is too passive. To the unenlightened aggressive folks that comprise much of the world, I bet they are mistaking "subtle" for passive. And any religion taken to its extreme leaves you unable to participate in normal life, hence the reason we have monasteries. But not all of us are expected to follow the path in that way.

I remember all the excitement over The Celestine Prophecy, but I never really found out what it was about. Given all the passion over it, I suspected it was some crazy fundamentalist christian book. I suspected wrong. I just looked it up on Amazon. That does look rather interesting.

Of what you said, this is important: "I started reading it and began to remember the things I really like about Eastern philosophy and how I seem to keep losing sight of that in the hustle and bustle of day to day living." That is exactly why I'm seriously thinking about spending some time formally studying Buddhism. I find that I can collect bits of knowledge here and there all I want, but it rarely seems to change my life unless I leave my house and formally spend some time learning the subject with a teacher. And something that I think will be very important is making sure I have some time each day (hopefully the morning) to meditate, worship, whatever... I'm realizing now that having something like that built into my daily schedule will serve to remind me of all those great eastern ideas. If I do a little thinking, a little ritual, a little something each morning with mindful intent, then I will have started off the day on the right foot and I can carry that with me through the hustle and bustle of the day.

[javafiend.livejournal.com]

Buddhism is neat. Don't be overly disappointed when you notice the same kind of hypocritical crap within the Buddhist community that you find in Western religious groups. It's not an easy fit to Western culture/ structures; a lot of people end up picking and choosing things from different sects. I personally think that most people should wait until they have progressed to a deeper level of understanding before they start deciding which teachings/beliefs are more or less relevent (not an accusation, just addressing a pet peeve I acquired in the Eastern religion department.)

Ritual is altogether too much neglected (or at least unacknowledged) in our society. I blame the Puritans, and the penchent in the modern age for being overly reductionistic (the whole black box "it's all in your head" business).

As for the squirrels, if you set up a sheet of glass/ plexiglass between the feeder and the tree, you can watch them jump right into it.

[explodingcat.livejournal.com]

Yes, I suspect all communities have some measure of hypocritical crap. It wouldn't be a community of human beings without that :)

I like what I know about Buddhism, but it's only a hodge-podge of ideas gathered throughout my life. I think I want to take some focused time to learn about it. I don't know that I'm necessarily wanting to join a community, but what I do want is to learn about a long-standing tradition (because I like old traditions) and take that home with me to give some structure to a personal ritual.

I think my ritual should include tormenting squirrels.

I see you are back online more regularly? You are settled again in NoVa? Sorry we missed each other during the move. Moving is never easy. And I was just starting to go crazy with this class I'm taking at UVA. I'm slightly less crazy now. I'm actually keeping up with LJ and other internet things, which I wasn't doing too well with for awhile.