Nuestra vida terrenal es frágil y corta ante El Creador eterno, que no padece cambios.
Antes que nacieran las montañas
y apareciera la tierra y el mundo,
tú ya eras Dios y lo eres para siempre,
tú que devuelves al polvo a los mortales,
y les dices, "¡Váyanse hijos de Adán!"
Mil años para ti son como un día,
un ayer, un momento de la noche.
Tú los siembras, cada cual a su turno,
y al amanecer despunta la hierba;
en la mañana viene la flor y se abre
y en la tarde se marchita y se seca.
El tiempo de nuestros años es de setenta,
y de ochenta si somos robustos
La mayoría son de pena y decepción,
transcurren muy pronto y nos llevan volando.
¿Quién conoce tú fuerza
y quién ha sondeado el fondo de tu furor?
Enséñanos lo que valen nuestros días,
para que adquiramos un corazón sensato*.
....
Que la dulzura de Yahvéh nos cubra
y que él confirme la obra de nuestras manos.
Salmo 90
*(Sensatez) Buen juicio, cordura , prudencia o capacidad de sopesar las consecuencias antes de actuar.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Monday, September 26, 2011
Friday, September 9, 2011
Of course the Dalai Lama's a Marxist
The Dalai Lama has a refreshing tendency to confound western caricatures. As a cuddly old monk, he could comfort fans by fuzzily connecting us to an imagined Shangri-La that contrasts favourably with our own material world. Only he won't play the game, regularly making ethical, political, scientific and (ir)religious statements that rudely pop the projections laid on to him.
He was at it again the other day, telling Chinese students that he considers himself a Marxist. This wasn't just playing to the crowd – although it was reported with surprise (at least in the US), the ideological alignment is longstanding. In 1993, he said: "The economic system of Marxism is founded on moral principles, while capitalism is concerned only with gain and profitability. Marxism is concerned with the distribution of wealth on an equal basis ... as well as the fate of those who are underprivileged and in need, and [it] cares about the victims of minority-imposed exploitation. For those reasons, the system appeals to me, and it seems fair."
There are a number of caveats (he's not a Leninist, believes compassion rather than class struggle is key, and doesn't consider communist regimes such as the USSR, China or Vietnam to have been true exponents), but the dissonance between image and reality remains – the Dalai Lama is not the comforting Oriental pet that consumer society might like.
Neither does his tradition match the capitalist fantasies attached to it. Perhaps because Buddhism came to the west on a wave of post-war hippy soul-searching, and was then co-opted as friendly religion of choice by new ageism and the self-help movement, its radical economic and social messages have been lost under an avalanche of laughing fat-man statues, healing crystals and copies of The Secret.
The very idea of self-help in Buddhism is an oxymoron – relief of suffering can only come from the realisation that pleasing ourselves doesn't bring happiness – instead we must try to work skilfully and compassionately with others, as part of interwoven systems of connectivity that bind us together. A "western Buddhism" that prioritises solipsistic focus on the individual is so great a misconception as to be unworthy of the name – or at the least the Buddhism part – as anyone who pays it more than passing attention knows. It's also largely a media invention – many western Buddhists are serious, deeply committed practitioners. That commitment means choosing to follow a path that leads against the stream of materialism and selfishness. Of course, we don't always manage it, but that's why it's called a path of practice.
Buddhism goes way beyond the confines of the personal – realising the truth of interdependence implies taking up the challenge of engaging with others in the wider world. This isn't missionary zeal – proselytising is hardly the Buddhist way – but it does mean social action that embodies dharmic principles, and western sanghas are increasingly prioritising community involvement. As they do so, Buddhism may start to look less like some nice bit of calm and relaxation and more like a radical, uncompromising critique of the status quo.
This critique has already begun to influence the UK mainstream. It's 45 years since EF Schumacher published his Buddhist Economics essay in Small is Beautiful, which the Times Literary Supplement listed as one of the 100 most influential books since the second world war. Though the male-centric, mechanistic world it describes now seems dated, Schumacher's outline of a world driven mad by consumption (and his Buddhist-inspired remedy of sufficiency and sustainability) has informed everything from the climate change debate to the happiness agenda – particularly through the influential New Economics Foundation (NEF) thinktank, which grew out of Schumacher's vision.
The well-being indices enthusiastically taken up by David Cameron have grown in part from NEF's links with the kingdom of Bhutan and its policy of favouring gross national happiness above gross domestic product. Is the prime minister aware of the Buddhist foundation to his plans for the nation's mood?
Of course, we're a long way from a government that looks even remotely dharmic. From a Buddhist perspective, only a revolution in our collective mind can counter the momentum that keeps us grasping for happiness in all the wrong places. And that would involve more than measuring whether someone with a job and a family in sunny Cornwall feels more upbeat than a lonely, unemployed Londoner on a rainy day. It would require systemic transformation on both an intimate and a huge scale, bringing the path of personal practice together with much broader societal shifts. Could this be what the Dalai Lama is thinking of when he describes himself as "half-Marxist, half-Buddhist"?
Article Via The Guardian By Ed Halliwell
Hoy el Dalai Lama en México
He was at it again the other day, telling Chinese students that he considers himself a Marxist. This wasn't just playing to the crowd – although it was reported with surprise (at least in the US), the ideological alignment is longstanding. In 1993, he said: "The economic system of Marxism is founded on moral principles, while capitalism is concerned only with gain and profitability. Marxism is concerned with the distribution of wealth on an equal basis ... as well as the fate of those who are underprivileged and in need, and [it] cares about the victims of minority-imposed exploitation. For those reasons, the system appeals to me, and it seems fair."
There are a number of caveats (he's not a Leninist, believes compassion rather than class struggle is key, and doesn't consider communist regimes such as the USSR, China or Vietnam to have been true exponents), but the dissonance between image and reality remains – the Dalai Lama is not the comforting Oriental pet that consumer society might like.
Neither does his tradition match the capitalist fantasies attached to it. Perhaps because Buddhism came to the west on a wave of post-war hippy soul-searching, and was then co-opted as friendly religion of choice by new ageism and the self-help movement, its radical economic and social messages have been lost under an avalanche of laughing fat-man statues, healing crystals and copies of The Secret.
The very idea of self-help in Buddhism is an oxymoron – relief of suffering can only come from the realisation that pleasing ourselves doesn't bring happiness – instead we must try to work skilfully and compassionately with others, as part of interwoven systems of connectivity that bind us together. A "western Buddhism" that prioritises solipsistic focus on the individual is so great a misconception as to be unworthy of the name – or at the least the Buddhism part – as anyone who pays it more than passing attention knows. It's also largely a media invention – many western Buddhists are serious, deeply committed practitioners. That commitment means choosing to follow a path that leads against the stream of materialism and selfishness. Of course, we don't always manage it, but that's why it's called a path of practice.
Buddhism goes way beyond the confines of the personal – realising the truth of interdependence implies taking up the challenge of engaging with others in the wider world. This isn't missionary zeal – proselytising is hardly the Buddhist way – but it does mean social action that embodies dharmic principles, and western sanghas are increasingly prioritising community involvement. As they do so, Buddhism may start to look less like some nice bit of calm and relaxation and more like a radical, uncompromising critique of the status quo.
This critique has already begun to influence the UK mainstream. It's 45 years since EF Schumacher published his Buddhist Economics essay in Small is Beautiful, which the Times Literary Supplement listed as one of the 100 most influential books since the second world war. Though the male-centric, mechanistic world it describes now seems dated, Schumacher's outline of a world driven mad by consumption (and his Buddhist-inspired remedy of sufficiency and sustainability) has informed everything from the climate change debate to the happiness agenda – particularly through the influential New Economics Foundation (NEF) thinktank, which grew out of Schumacher's vision.
The well-being indices enthusiastically taken up by David Cameron have grown in part from NEF's links with the kingdom of Bhutan and its policy of favouring gross national happiness above gross domestic product. Is the prime minister aware of the Buddhist foundation to his plans for the nation's mood?
Of course, we're a long way from a government that looks even remotely dharmic. From a Buddhist perspective, only a revolution in our collective mind can counter the momentum that keeps us grasping for happiness in all the wrong places. And that would involve more than measuring whether someone with a job and a family in sunny Cornwall feels more upbeat than a lonely, unemployed Londoner on a rainy day. It would require systemic transformation on both an intimate and a huge scale, bringing the path of personal practice together with much broader societal shifts. Could this be what the Dalai Lama is thinking of when he describes himself as "half-Marxist, half-Buddhist"?
Article Via The Guardian By Ed Halliwell
Hoy el Dalai Lama en México
Monday, September 5, 2011
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Thursday, September 1, 2011
moments of always within a never
"She wasn’t doing a thing that I could see, except standing there, leaning on the balcony railing, holding the universe together."
_______________
Thus, Speak the Chromograph by Eleni Sikélianòs
Saying: One night in a cloud chamber
I discovered a thing: that a thing (I used to have a crown
of light) a thing could be more
than True, and more again
than False, a thing
could carry its name
with a ticket of lights
called Possible: In a cloud chamber, particles are betrayed
by movement and water vapors
leave trails. Discovered: when matter and its antithesis come
together, a disappearing
flash of light: (our share of night to
ear) (I mean what I say): In contempt
of the Law of All
Excluded Thirds: laws are not
symmetrical in the forward and the back
(of time). On which side
are they stacked? and the sky also
(is what made Hart Crane
so crazy in the heart) continued to pile up
clouds without account, a mass of gasses with nothing
scribbled under them; a song in the middle
of the crystal
cavatina. We hardly had any bones then. Did
Hart Crane have bones? If so, which kind? AndD
run toward the sea)
_____
___________________________________
"Don’t worry, Renée, I won’t commit suicide and I won’t burn a thing. Because from now on, for you, I’ll be searching for those moments of always within a never. Beauty, in this world."
___________________
Where You Are by Mark Doty
2. Everywhere
I thought I’d lost you. But you said I’m imbued
in the fabric of things, the way
that wax lost from batik shapes
the pattern where the dye won’t take.
I make the space around you,
and so allow you shape. And always
you’ll feel the traces of that wax
soaked far into the weave: the air around your gestures,
the silence after you speak.
That’s me, the slight wind between
your hand and what you’re reaching for;
chair and paper, book or cup:
that close, where I am: between
where breath ends, air starts.
________
thanks andy for this.
poetrys´ been floating heavily lately, landmarking september.
_______________
Thus, Speak the Chromograph by Eleni Sikélianòs
Saying: One night in a cloud chamber
I discovered a thing: that a thing (I used to have a crown
of light) a thing could be more
than True, and more again
than False, a thing
could carry its name
with a ticket of lights
called Possible: In a cloud chamber, particles are betrayed
by movement and water vapors
leave trails. Discovered: when matter and its antithesis come
together, a disappearing
flash of light: (our share of night to
ear) (I mean what I say): In contempt
of the Law of All
Excluded Thirds: laws are not
symmetrical in the forward and the back
(of time). On which side
are they stacked? and the sky also
(is what made Hart Crane
so crazy in the heart) continued to pile up
clouds without account, a mass of gasses with nothing
scribbled under them; a song in the middle
of the crystal
cavatina. We hardly had any bones then. Did
Hart Crane have bones? If so, which kind? AndD
run toward the sea)
_____
___________________________________
"Don’t worry, Renée, I won’t commit suicide and I won’t burn a thing. Because from now on, for you, I’ll be searching for those moments of always within a never. Beauty, in this world."
___________________
Where You Are by Mark Doty
2. Everywhere
I thought I’d lost you. But you said I’m imbued
in the fabric of things, the way
that wax lost from batik shapes
the pattern where the dye won’t take.
I make the space around you,
and so allow you shape. And always
you’ll feel the traces of that wax
soaked far into the weave: the air around your gestures,
the silence after you speak.
That’s me, the slight wind between
your hand and what you’re reaching for;
chair and paper, book or cup:
that close, where I am: between
where breath ends, air starts.
________
thanks andy for this.
poetrys´ been floating heavily lately, landmarking september.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
sad songs for dirty lovers
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
I´m so glad you´re my boy
+
Down along the cove
I spied my true love comin' my way
Down along the cove
I spied my true love comin' my way
I say, "Lord, have mercy, mama
It sure is good to see you comin' today".
Down along the cove
I spied my little bundle of joy
Down along the cove
I spied my little bundle of joy
She said, "Lord, have mercy, honey
I'm so glad you're my boy".
Down along the cove
We walked together hand in hand
Down along the cove
We walked together hand in hand
Ev'rybody watchin' us go by
Knows we're in love, yes, and they understand.
luck.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)