"Does Real Buddhism exist in the West"

I grabbed this article from the Newspaper Tree El Paso. Does real Buddhism exist in the West? Taken from Brad Warner's latest book,"Zen Wrapped in Karma". Without mentioning any names or pointing a direct finger he cleverly suggests, certain "spiritual master(s)" who charge outrageous bucks for a taste of enlightment. If you've read his blog, Hardcore Zen you would figure it out.

To show you why, let me ask you something. What do you imagine happens to a guy who gets a wild tripped-out dissociative experience in an afternoon and has some other person who’s supposed to be a “spiritual master” interpret that experience for him as enlightenment just like Buddha’s? How does the guy feel about the master who he thinks gave him this great gift? Does he owe the master something now? And will the guy do pretty much anything the master asks him to just so the master will keep on confirming the guy’s enlightenment? What if the guy does something the master doesn’t like and the master starts telling everyone the guy isn’t enlightened anymore? Does the guy’s enlightenment even exist without the master’s confirmation? That’s a key question. And, for bonus points: Having just parted with a hundred and fifty smackers, is the guy a) more or b) less likely to admit he’s been ripped off? Answers on a postcard, please.

Read the whole article here.

Bringing back the swastika....difficult.

After viewing Flickr friend LindaW's posting of Buddha with the Swastika I thought how difficult it would be to change the worlds concept of the Swastika and it's true meaning. Full Story from the Epoch Times. The Swastika: An Ancient Symbol of Mercy.
As a side note of interest, I have a very dear friend in Houston who is a survivor of Triblenka and now elderly still suffering from her injuries both mental and physical. I wonder if she would understand.
Her story which I was privileged to hear through our years of friendship was recorded by Steven Spielberg's group, the USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education.

Cloudy days for computing are here, it's a good thing.

Individuals to mulitnational corporations can now simply tap into the "cloud" to get all the things they used to have to supply and maintain themselves. This will save some companies millions and make others billions.

I have read that in a memo that Bill Gates wrote to his engineers he warned that this form of computing could wipe out the 200 billion business empire he'd spent his life building. And some say this spooked him into early retirement. The following is the best explanation of what this is all about.
Cloud Computing

Ineresting Take on Peace by Paul Coelho

What is really the meaning of the word “peace”?
Sometimes people don’t understand why I use the term “Warrior of Light” since I’m engaged in a kind of confrontation with life. I do this because I believe that Nature is also in a state of confrontation: springtime against winter, winter against summer, lions against zebras, etc.
For me “peace” is an utopia as far as Nature is concerned.
That said we need to strive for peace among ourselves but we also need to keep in mind that absolute peace is an utopia despite the many attempts of “peace” in the world. Consequently this state of peace may lead to boredom.
In the light of this: Do you really want peace in the world? Have you ever considered that there was never peace in the world and that therefore this goal may simply be unattainable?

Paul Coehlo bio.

Although my personal thoughts and feelings about peace don't mesh with Mr. Coelho's theory, peace as he sees it is unattainable, and his question "Do you really want it?" is provacative.
The natural world/nature with its food chains, seasonal changes etc. have never entered my small mind as being "non-peaceful", but changing, relative and constantly in flux, like our daily thoughts. Peace for me has always been the human to human aspect of acceptance, respect, and non-judgmental, non violent understanding of our differences. This begins first with self understanding and finding the elusive "sweet spot" of peace within ourselves. Believe me it's there, now go find it.

Peace through Music

I recently twittered the "Stand by Me" link to the Playing For Change: Peace through Music project. I was moved by what it is trying to accomplish and I'm buying the DVD tomorrow. Check out the link above.

The act of playing music with people of different cultures, religions, economics and politics is a powerful statement. It shows that we can find ways of working together and sharing our experiences with one another in a positive way. Music has the power to break down the walls between cultures, to raise the level of human understanding.
~ Mark Johnson, founder, Playing for Change

Music Tempo = Lower Blood Pressure

What do a Zart bewegt, Indan Raga or Adagio vs. Red Hot Chili Peppers have in common. According to Heart, a British Medical Journal listening to fast music increases BP, listening to slower music has the opposite effect.

A new study reported in Heart, a British Medical Journal publication, has shown that listening to fast music increases blood pressure, whereas listening to slower music has the opposite effect.[22] Randomly introducing a pause into the music lowers blood pressure even further. These effects are particularly marked in people who have had musical training.
Researchers from Italy and the United Kingdom studied cardiovascular and respiratory responses in 12 classically trained musicians and 12 people with no musical training (medical students or colleagues) while they were listening to music in a university research laboratory. Study participants listened to recordings of 6 different types of music:
* Indian raga (Introduction from Debabrata Chaudhuri's "Raga Maru Behag")

* Slow classical (Adagio from Beethoven's "9th Symphony")

* Fast classical (Presto from Vivaldi's "L'estate")

* Dodecaphonic ("Zart bewegt" from Webern's "6 Pieces for Orchestra")]

* Rap (Red Hot Chili Peppers: "The Power of Equality")

* Techno (Gigi D'Agostino: "You Spin Me Round")

The 6 recordings were played, in random order, for 2 min each, with no intervening pauses, followed by a second playing of the 6 pieces, in different random order, for 4 min each with 2-min periods of silence randomly inserted into the sequences.

Music with faster tempi and simpler rhythmic structures significantly increased ventilation, breathing rate, SBP and DBP, mid-cerebral artery blood flow velocity (measured by trans-cranial Doppler), and heart rate. Slower music had less effect and raga induced a significantly large drop in heart rate. When the music was paused, heart rate, blood pressure, and ventilation decreased, sometimes even below the starting rate. The effects appeared to be dependent on the tempo of the music rather than on the style. The 2-min pauses were associated with the lowest SBP and DBP, heart rate, and minute ventilation. None of the effects differed between the musician and nonmusician groups, except the respiratory rate, which was significantly lower at baseline and increased more in response to faster music in the musicians.

Lead researchers Luciano Bernardi, MD (University of Pavia, Italy) and Peter Sleight, MD (John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK), noted that their findings appear to contradict those of previous studies, which reported that "meditative" music can decrease heart rate, blood pressure, and plasma catecholamines. They hypothesized that all music, even fast music, includes pauses, and it is the pauses that releasethe subject from the arousal, and possibly from the attention created by concentrating on the music. This mimics a typical relaxation technique in which a person focuses on a physical or mental object (ie, music) and then releases the attention, achieving a relaxed state. This is the first study to show this relaxing effect with music, the researchers believe.

Profs. Bernardi and Sleight suggested that appropriate modulation of breathing can improve or restore autonomic control of cardiovascular and respiratory systems in relevant diseases such as hypertension and heart failure, and might therefore help to improve exercise tolerance, quality of life, and, ultimately, survival. They had previously studied the effects of rosary prayers and yoga mantras, which, when recited at 6 times per minute, caused an increase in existing cardiovascular rhythms and baroreflex sensitivity.[23]

Sorry this is so long, but could not link to it without reader subscribing to MedCME publication.
Just another good reason to put my ipod on shuffle and listen to Ottmar Liebert while on my walks and gardening.

New Mexico Magazine photo contest

Nice video slide show of 8th annual New Mexico Magazine photo contest.
Nice music by Sol y Luna, perhaps next year Santa Fe's own platinum recording artist Ottmar Liebert could provide the background music.

Tiny House in my future?

Found this website via this Tibetan Buddhist site, that asks the 3 year retreat participants to build their own bungalows. I am not going on retreat I was just looking to see what type of Buddhist presence was in the Tucson area. Lots of information on Tiny Houses including a blog. Tumbleweed Tiny House Company. My favorite would be in style of the Z-glass house. Which by the way looks similar to the one from this post back in 2007.

Toward a greener Europe

This week, European regulators will start setting new efficiency standards for fridges, TVs, and other products. Strong rules could massively cut Europe's climate pollution -- affecting climate change worldwide -- but industrial lobbyists are pushing to weaken the proposals.
Green technology already exists that would dramatically improve the fridges, TVs, washing machines, and other products that each of us use. Strong green standards, according to expert studies, could have a huge climate impact--greater than taking two thirds of Europe's cars off the road. And these standards would reduce our energy bills by tens of billions of Euros per year.

But the most-polluting companies want to sell dirty products cheaply, and avoid green investment. It's up to us to make sure EU negotiators hear the clear voice of citizens from around the world -- and not just the voices of industry lobbyists. Click below to watch the video and sign the petition -- it will be delivered to negotiators this Thursday:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/refrigerator_revolution_video