An Island Hidden In The Sound

"There's an island hidden in the sound...
come and see."
- The Decemberists

This Is It

"The most essential principle I wish to drive home is that THIS IS IT, meaning that this moment contains the truth. Any model [of Enlightenment] that tries to drive a wedge between the specifics of what is happening in your world right now and what awakening entails needs to be considered with great skepticism. With the simple exception of the fact of poorly perceiving the sensations occurring now and habitually coming up with the illusion of a separate, continuous individual, nearly all of the rest of the dreams are problematic to some degree. This basic principle is essential to practice, as it focuses things on the here and now, and also happens to be true."
- Daniel Ingram

Feeling the Groove, Taking a Break

So, I feel like I'm finally finding my groove here in Felton. I've got my new car. I've seen a lot of old friends. And, the Farmer's Markets are in full summer swing.

To really make best use of my time here in Felton, I think I'm going to take a break from my blog for a couple weeks. I've had a lot of fun writing about a bunch of things which have been on my mind over the last year or so. I'm going to consider it like another little "retreat" for August - a blogging retreat. I hope to report back again in the future with some more highlights from this wild ride of life. (And hopefully some good photos from the Farmer's Markets!)

Be well,

Daniel

Reader's Write: Does Meditation Help?

Here's part of an email I got from a close friend recently which definitely touched my heart. It seemed important to me, so I wanted to share this snippet here:

Hey Daniel,

Good to hear from you and it's even better to know your happy...

... Why am I so unhappy with my current life? Does meditation really help? check my astrology sign and let me know when it's gonna get better please!

When I read this, I thought to myself that this is really a wonderful question. I'm not sure exactly why I thought that, and I don't think I have any good answers, but there was something very human about it, and so I thought it was worthy of attention.

Why am "I" so unhappy with my current life? Or you, or me, or us, or whomever... Why are we unhappy with our lives? What's up with this? Why do we do this?

And we don't just get unhappy with our life, we then project it out onto others through blame, leading to hatred, resentment, and ill-will, and then further into rage, violence, war, etc. Or, we may do the opposite and project it inward into self-blame, self-hatred, and even further into depression and suicide.

Why do we do this? Doesn't it seem a little silly?

Here we are, human beings, finding ourselves on this, the Planet Earth. We eat, sleep, breathe, and generally take on the functions and processes of being human. And, there we are... we find ourselves in this curious situation called "my current life." Whoa! There it is - smack! It's our life, and it's all around us, and for the most part, it's pretty much inescapable. Well, whadya know!

So what are we to do? We didn't really ask for it. We didn't get a guidebook on it. We're just here, and our life is happening.

And then there's this thing called unhappiness. hmmm... an interesting quirk that one. It's not a pleasant experience - to be unhappy. And yet, there it is. Why do we become unhappy with our life? Well, now...

Does meditation help?

I don't really know the answer to that one either, but here's the easy answer: "try it and find out." It's not such a huge investment of time and resources, and when we think of what's at stake (unhappiness, misery, violence and the vast suffering of the human condition)... then at least it's worth giving it a shot, I think.

And, of course, if you try it, you can report back your findings for the rest of us to learn from.

While I can't say definitively "yes, meditation helps," I can say for sure that meditation does something. That much is very clear. The effect is not insignificant. And, whatever it is that meditation does, I like it. And, so far at least, I think it does lead me to be more happy and harmless in the world. We'll see how it proceeds from here.

So, what do you find? Does it help?

Bye Bye, Big Bankers

I'm happy today because I did something I've been wanting to do for a while. I found this website a while back: MoveYourMoney.info and have ever since been wanting to get my money out of Bank of America and into a local bank.

First of all, Bank of America was charging me $5 for every international ATM use while I was in India. Santa Cruz County Bank has no charge for international ATM usage! Yeah!

But, of course, it's not just the ATM charges, it's that I really believe capitalism is a totally failed system if we don't take the responsibility to be conscientious consumers. Whenever possible, I like to buy local. I feel more now than ever that I am out of the corporate mess that is responsible for things like the BP oil spill, the current recession in America, and much much more. I'm working for a small local business. I'm eating almost entirely food from the Farmer's Markets which is either produced or grown locally. I don't watch TV, so I'm not exposed to commercials. When I do buy stuff outside the farmer's market, I try to avoid the big corporate brands. And, now my money is in a local bank too. If only I could run my car on local petroleum products (or better yet, no petrol.)

Go Local!

Anyway, I'm not sharing because I want to brag or anything, but because I think this is really our responsibility as consumers in this modern capitalist society, and perhaps my sharing this with you might give others some inspiration to be more aware of where their money goes.

So, enough preaching. Santa Cruz County Bank is really fun. I was surprised when I walked in that there was no huge banners and branding all over the place. In fact, I didn't even know if it was the right building, as it just looked like such a small bank like in some old movie or something. The people were super nice, and it was just a fun experience. They have a better rating than BofA on Bauer Financial, and all the perks that I had with my old account. So, things look good so far.

I was excited so I wanted to share. The Buddha mentioned that one step on his Noble Eightfold Path was "Right Livelihood." Perhaps we could also include in that category "Right Consumerism."

If you want to watch some fun propaganda about local banking, I'm including this video here from the people at Move Your Money...

Reader's Write: Choosing Your Religion

I got a comment from one of my friends a while back, in January when I had just started this blog and was just leaving for India. For some reason, I really liked the comment and wanted to share it here. I'm not sure that I have much of a response, but here it is anyway.

Darnell Writes: I'm glad you've decided to embrace a foreign culture and religion. It seems like most americans have a dismissive attitude about such things as personal enlightment through non christian means. Though I'm not religous myself, meditation has been proven by conventional medical standards to be very healthy and I've done it from time to time. Sinn said he spent one year at a tibetan monastery and he thought for sure that's where he wanted to spend the rest of his life. Is that how you feel about this?

Thanks Darnell. I was never really raised Christian, and never had much interest for it. Once I got older, though, I came to enjoy some of the stories of Jesus. One of my favorite episodes from the Bible is this one:

Jesus went to the mount of Olives: And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came to him; and he sat down and taught them. And the scribes and Pharisees brought to him a woman taken in adultery: and when they had set her in the midst, They say to him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned; but what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he raised himself, and said to them, "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they who heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even to the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

John 8:1-9

Wow! That's one of my all time favorites - a powerful image and sound advice. I'm not sure if I'm really very religious, but I hear a story like that and I feel moved and inspired. In fact, it doesn't even seem like anything religious, just good sense.

Funny though, that some who claim to be Christian might "cast stones" at foreign cultures and religions. Hmmm.... go figure.

I didn't know that Sinn spent time at a monastery, that's pretty cool. I must admit that I did visit a Zen temple in Korea and I remember watching the bamboo blow in the wind, and hearing the giant gong being struck at 5:00 in the morning, and I think I could've stayed there the rest of my life. There is something quite attractive about that kind of simplicity peace and beauty.

I definitely feel fortunate to live in a country (and much of the world) where I'm free to sit around enjoying inner silence in my own way without being persecuted for being a witch or a heretic. It's funny because even Jesus didn't have that, and his "embrace of a foreign religion" didn't seem to go over too well in his day. Let's just say, life is more enjoyable when not nailed to a cross.

Be well, and good luck with your meditation practice.

Daniel

Home

I just watched this movie, Home. It's a series of breathtaking aerial images of different landscapes across the planet Earth. A narrator describes "our home" as we move through time from the beginnings of life to the age of petroleum.

It's more of an eco-movie than a meditation movie, but I'm not sure if there's much difference for me. I really like the maxim: Think Globally, Act Locally. And, really that's what my blog is about too: Travel Globally, Meditate Locally. (Maybe that will be my new tag line.)

The imagery in the movie takes us on travels around the globe to see stunning sights from every continent. The story takes us implicitly into the psychology of being an Earthling, although there's no explicit mention of psychology or greed or the primal drives which move us as humans.

What becomes clear is that with the beginnings of life comes the hunger for energy. To be an Earthling, and to be alive, is to be an energy hungering, sucking, slurping carbon-based form. To be an Earthling is to be composed of energy stored in organic matter and to feed off the energy of the Earth, the Sun, or the stored energy of other organic beings. Organic life. Hungry. Licking it's lips. Carbon! Light! Yum!

In fact, it even appeared (to me) as though humanity has just been a pawn in the wide sweeping movement of life to be born of energy and light - a process which has been going on for billions of years and is likely to continue long after the carbon-based human has mutated once again into greatly more complex organic life.

I like the idea of titling the movie "Home," though I was expecting it to be a bit more like a tour through my home to see what we find. I think they had a different agenda. I'll suggest the next movie be called "Earthling."

Anyway, I'm hungry now for some more light-energy stored conveniently in plant forms for my consumption. Time to eat. Slurrp!