Category Archives: General

Mar 27

The Body and Sickness

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The body is quite a wonder. Observing it from perfect health to sickness and then beginnings of health again has been a deep practice in mindfulness.

Hello body, I know you are there and I smile in amazement.

I first felt the emergence of sickness over two weeks ago. Some grumpiness in my emotions and a little tickle in my throat. It didn’t seem like much the first couple days but I knew something was happening in my body. It’s good to be attuned to my body.

The sickness came slowly and then in the second week it got worse and I spent three days in bed. What can you do aside from observe the body and take care of it wholeheartedly. When in that state of sickness, it definitely dominates everything. Thinking. Feeling. Touch.

Yesterday I managed to stay up all day and putter about the house. Feeling the body get better and also sensing its weakness. Its limits. Today is much the same in that I am up and about but feel the shortness of breath and the limits of the body as it continues to heal.

I miss my routine and my normal energy level (my coffee!!) but can’t push to fast or hard to get there. Soon I will be able to return to my daily run and my daily sitting meditation. For now, I honor my body and its need to rest.

My meditation on sickness of the body is best observed within the sickness. All we encounter is an opportunity for practice.

Finally, I am very grateful to Leslie who has cared for me these past days. Thank you.

Feb 27

Today’s Happiness

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The day is coming to a close and I feel happy. What brought me happiness today?

  • the beautiful sunshine
  • arriving at work super early
  • dinner organized by Leslie (yummy food from Farmer & the Cook)
  • completing two OCLC WMS tasks that have been waiting for weeks
  • completing a sangha directory request from the UK that’s been waiting for months (and it wasn’t even that difficult)
  • new David Sylvian bootlegs (2003 & 2007)
  • shipment of Tonx coffee arrived - they are Sandia de Puno from Peru
  • making new connections on LinkedIn

I’m just going to stop there so I can also be happy for my bed in a few minutes.

Peace.

Jan 04

What I Read in 2012

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This is a reasonably accurate list of the books I read in the last year: nine eleven non-fiction and six fiction titles. That said, since I didn’t keep track as the year went by there may be a couple missing titles.

Non-Fiction

  1. What the Plus! Google+ for the Rest of Us Guy Kawasaki (ebook)
  2. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness Michelle Alexander
  3. Bite-Sized Marketing: Realistic Solutions for the Over Worked Librarian Nancy Dowd
  4. The Self Illusion: How the Social Brain Creates Identity Bruce Hood 368 pages
  5. Awakening of the Heart: Essential Buddhist Sutras and Commentaries Thich Nhat Hanh 544 pages
  6. Your True Home: The Everyday Wisdom of Thich Nhat Hanh Thich Nhat Hanh, Melvin McLeod 384 pages
  7. Making Space: Creating a Home Meditation Practice Thich Nhat Hanh 92 pages
  8. Healing: A Woman’s Journey from Doctor to Nun Sister Dang Nghiem 146 pages
  9. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking Susan Cain 368 pages (didn’t finish)
  10. A Handful of Quiet: Happiness in Four Pebbles by Thich Nhat Hanh 62 pages
  11. Conscious Loving: The Journey to Co-Committment by Kathlyn and Gay Hendricks (my wife just reminded me that I read this book too)

Fiction

  1. Time Travelers Never Die Jack McDevitt 385 pages
  2. The Facility: A Novel Simon Lelic 352 pages
  3. Cloud Atlas David Mitchell, 509 pages
  4. Amped Daniel H. Wilson 352 pages
  5. Among Others Jo Walton 304 pages (ebook)
  6. Those Across the River Christopher Buehlman 352 pages

See my online bookshelf with details and reviews.

Mar 11

Lamp Transmission for Kenley

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With deep joy and gratitude, I am happy to share with you the good news that I have been invited to receive the Lamp of Wisdom, encouragement to teach, by Thich Nhat Hanh and the Plum Village community. Lamp Transmission Ceremonies for monastic and lay practitioners will be held at Deer Park Monastery, near San Diego on Saturday, March 17-18, 2012. My friends Karen Hilsberg, John Salerno-White, Joann Rosen, and Jim Scott-Behrends will all receive the Lamp at Deer Park next weekend. In total, there will be 8-lay practitioners and 6-monastics receiving over the course of two days. Though the transmission is coming from Thich Nhat Hanh, he will not be physically present for the ceremony.

For those of you unfamiliar with this tradition, lamp transmission refers to "the manner in which the teaching, or Dharma, is passed from a Zen master to their disciple. The procedure establishes the disciple as a transmitting teacher in their own right and successor in an unbroken lineage of teachers and disciples, a spiritual 'bloodline' theoretically traced back to the Buddha himself." According to Zen schools, the first instance of Dharma transmission occurred as transcribed in the Flower Sermon, when the Buddha held up a golden lotus flower given to him by Brahma before an assembly of "gods and men."

This is a deep honor along with a long term commitment. I am very grateful for my sangha, my family, and my friends who have supported me on this path. My hope is to include some pictures and words about my experience after next weekend.

#miscjoy #buddhism #dharma

In album 2012-03-11 (1 photo)

Self-Portrait in the Garden

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Mar 01

Frog Warriors

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I'm stepping out of my comfort zone by choosing to join a small group of men for eight gatherings over the next four months. I've done a great deal of group work over the last twenty years, but this one already feels different. It's not a Buddhist group. It's not a 12-step group. Most importantly, I'm not the leader. We will gather to look into our manhood, to learn from each other, and to build community.

Even though I've lived in Ojai for seven years, I've not taken the opportunity to create a community of my own. It's a small town and I know many people, but I tend to honor my introvert self and stay home with my family or do things on my own. I met the eight men last night for the first time. I knew only one person, and even him I only know on a very casual level. What I discovered in two hours was a group of very kind men who want to explore something different and build community.

Let the adventure begin. Open heart. Open mind.

#miscjoy #ojai #family

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Feb 13

WordPress Strips Basic Code

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Recently a staff member was updating a WordPress post by editing the post code. As soon as any edit was made and saved, the post lost all the <select> and <option> tags associated with a form (see before and after screen shots). The staff member had Editor level status.

During the troubleshooting, we have attempted to (1) modify the Editor capabilities, (2) change Editor to Administrator, and (3) create a new Administrator account. Further, we are editing in HTML rather than Visual. In all three cases we continue to have the same problem with code being stripped out. What will work is using the original site Administrator account, and creator of the post, to edit the post. It will then save correctly. This is the puzzle: why does it work correctly for one administrator but not the other?

We are currently have three sites on WordPress 3.1.2 with three sites operating. This particular site has the following plugins: All in One SEO Pack; Disqus Comment System; fbLikeButton; Google Analyticator; Jetpack by WordPress; Peter's Post Notes; Sociable; Wapple Architect; WordPress Breadcrumbs; WordPress Post Tabs; WP-DBManager; WP-reCAPTCHA; and Yoast Breadcrumbs.

UPDATED: Found another active plugin at the network level (so didn't appear in the site level plugin list): User Role Editor. Could have a role (no pun intended) in the problem.

I am stuck and hope for insight from the collective wisdom.

#miscjoy #wordpress #plugins #technology
Pre

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