FM3 in today's NY Times

Shout out to FM3 who made today's NY Times article on the avant-garde music scene in China.

I'm a big fan of their Buddha Machine and was glad to see a sample on the site.

[note: the management is not responsible for any correlations between the Times coverage of the Buddha Machine and recent events in Bloomington IN.]

Pilgrimage to India(na)

This is my third time hearing His Holiness the Dalai Lama speak (Vancouver & San Francisco, now Bloomington) and the second teaching. This one is on The Lamp For the Path to Enlightenment. First time I'm seeing him w/o Lisa.

I quickly realized that the two previous trips were easy. This one has been a true pilgrimage, not a vacation. How so?

For starters I had a list of work and domestic things I really wanted to get done before I left. Oh I got the list done and then some. Missed my flight thanks to a security checker who thought she was a docent. Chatty don't cut it when you're trying to make a plane. The happy ending was an American Airlines staff member who got me on a redeye without a change fee (as in one hundred dollars plus the difference in airfare). She'd read about the Dalai Lama's visit and cut me major slack.

I'm changing planes in Dallas-Fort Worth, snag chai at Starbucks, and what's my barista's name? Om. Yep, I asked just to make sure. Land at DFW and the brother at Thrifty and I strike up a conversation and before I know it I have a free upgrade.

Bloomington is in Indiana. And Indiana appears to be white. Quite white. Beautiful campus though. I missed the morning session the first day and found the afternoon session lacking in focus. Or perhaps it was me, having not slept much en route. Then again I heard others mumbling about "not getting it" too. All was saved when Robert Thurmon spoke in the evening. a.) he's Uma's dad b.) he's a reknown Buddhist scholar c.) he's been haning with HHDL for years and d.) he was a wicked sense of humor.

Today's sessions were great. In many ways they picked up where the San Francisco teachings left off (In Praise of Dependent Origination). Did I mention I'm in love with Thupten Jinpa, the Dalai Lama's translator? For many of us he's the voice of His Holiness.

Sidenote: I met the development person from the Tibetan Nun Project here. The funny thing is that I had to come to IN to meet someone who lives and works in Seattle.

One more day and then back to Skeedattle for this one. The good news is that I feel more focused about resuming an active practice than I have in months.

Om mani padme hum.

It's all about MySpace backgrounds

I noticed that an awful lot of people were visiting my wallpaper images page. Not to break my arm patting myself on the back but they are nice pictures. But I began to follow the links in my site's log file and found an awful lot of links to MySpace.

Following these links proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that a buncha folks are using my photos as the background for the MySpace site. The Om image and the Chicago skull seem to be popular ones.

Since there's no way to beat 'em (not that I'd want to), I quickly decided to join 'em. So I did. I put up a page of custom MySpace background images. If you want a photo for MySpace page, here they are.

Thoughts on Burma

Two things I saw that provide insight on events in Burma: one written by U Thant's son and another written by Yale's Buddhist chaplain.

Let's not forget the monks in Burma

This story about how the Burmese military mistreated protesting monks doesn't surprise me. It saddens me deeply but what do you expect from tyrants?

The jailers are more the victim than the monks. They too suffer from fear and ignorance. The absurdity of them insisting that the monks are no longer sangha rivals the Chinese trying to dictate how and when Tibetans reincarnate. Don't these people understand and appreciate the power of the Three Jewels?

Knaves...

Fortune cookies

I read an article in the NY Times about fortune cookies. Seems some folks are uncomfortable when they don't get a cliched, pseudo-Confucian qwip.

I guess the new ones don't lend themselves to putting "...in bed" or "...dot com" at the end to elicit a half-hearted laugh from one's co-diners.

That's why I wrote my own fortune cookie widget. With it, you're guaranteed to get something atypical. OK, weird.

"This government does not torture people."

Oh we don't torture P.O.W.'s ehhh? Let's ask those held against their will in Guantanamo Bay that question. On live TV. In prime time.

I dare ya Dubya.

HHDL in Bloomington

I've never been to Bloomington IN but I have a reason to go now. In fact, I'm excited to go to Bloomington!