Thoughts from a Buddhist in retreat

Not sure how to link to it any other way, but please check out Phil Battos' blog at http://philbattos.blogspot.com/ - good food for thought and meditation!

More changes

My father-in-law is in hospice, and will not live much longer. It seems death has dogged me and my family in the last decade. My wife moved him here from Boston recently after he took a fall there, and his health declined rapidly over the holidays. It is tough practice, but one that Buddhist practice looks upon as a tremendous opportunity. In the death-denying Western society, it's tough however. It's very tough not to avoid and fear, and I've had many weak moments. Yet even during the experience, I can feel a richness and closeness to others, not normally experienced in day-to-day life. It induces compassion in me for others, like nothing else.

Merry Kwanzaa etc.!

Angry comedy

Maybe because I'm pissed off and in a dark mood, but I've recently discovered an artist who speaks to my soul - the late Bill Hicks. Never before had I heard of him...not surprisingly, 'cause the guy rants against the man. See http://www.billhicks.com/index.html for more info.

Just a teaser here:

"Hey buddy, my daddy died for that flag."

"Really? I bought mine. Yeah, they sell them at K-Mart and shit."

"He died in the Korean War."

"Wow, what a coincidence. Mine was made in Korea."

No one – and I repeat, no one – has ever died for a flag. See, a flag … is just a piece of cloth. They may have died for freedom, which is also the freedom to burn the fucking flag, see. That's freedom.

OK, one more:

"Wouldn't you like to see a positive LSD story on the news? To hear what it's all about, perhaps? Wouldn't that be interesting? Just for once? Today a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed through a slow vibration, we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, life is only a dream and we are the imaginations of ourselves. Here's Tom with the weather."

Thanks Bill, whereever you are!