Before
Siddhartha Gautama attained enlightenment at age 35 he was a confused
twenty and thirty-something looking to learn how to live a spiritual
life. He had an overbearing dad, expectations for what he was supposed
to do with
his life, drinks were flowing, lutes were playing, and the women were
all about him. Some called him L.L. Cool S. I imagine close friends
just referred to him as Sid.
Many people look to Siddhartha as an example of someone who attained nirvana, a buddha. But here we look at a younger Sid as
a confused guy struggling with his daily life. What would he do as a
young person trying to find love, cheap drinks, and fun in a city like New York? How would he combine Buddhism and dating? We all make mistakes on our spiritual journey; here is where they're discussed.
Each
week I'll take on a new question and give some advice based on what I
think Sid, a confused guy working on his spiritual life in a world of
major distraction, would do. Because let's face it, you and I are Sid.
Have a question for this weekly column? E-mail it here and Lodro will probably get to it!
My 17 year old son has been homeschooled all his life and just went into public school this year. He was at a party on an empty stomach and drank straight vodka from a flask. He apparently left the party, tried to walk home (about 4 miles) and passed out. I got a call from the ER 5 hours after. He came out with flying colors, no injuries, no hangover, no headache!!!! I've talked with him about not drinking, but he chose to do it anyway. So what else to do? Should I hold onto this fear I have for him or be grateful nothing happened? - Arleen
I had a fight with a close friend last week, one of those wrenching, existential blowouts where you argue each other in to a kind of hysteria of extreme positions and begin asking yourself, "who is this person? When did they get so mean?" It was hurtful and left me feeling drained. Worse, however, was that after I'd had a chance to check in with my body, do some sitting meditation and calm down, I realized: it was utterly unproductive. It was based on mutual projections, misunderstanding, and misdirected energy, and it need never have happened. What mattered most in the relationship was still there: mutual respect, affection, and sharing. Everything else was just noise.
When I saw this clock created by artist Bertrand Planes, I thought every Buddhist household needs one. I'd put mine right by the door, so I couldn't miss it as I left for work each morning. It's so easy to forget that our time is limited. Each day blends into the next, and in spite of milestones passing I for one live a life where it feels like this will go on forever. And yet my clock would already be disturbingly near the 6 o'clock position.
Mssr. Planes took a regular clock and changed the gearing to slow it down 61,320 fold – so one full rotation of the clock would approximate our expected lifespan, and he then changed the numbers on the clock to be years. I'd like to mass produce these. Too much of a downer to sell? Perhaps they would need to be DIY, because your livelihood really would impact how many years to put on the clock. Do you have risky hobbies? If you're one of the many people today trying to quit smoking, as part of the Great American Smokeout, you could highlight the final years gained from quitting.
Cudos for any clever way to remember that time is short. Do you have any things around the house that remind you of this painful reality?
How amazing is Stevie Wonder? Check out this performance from 1973. I like to imagine myself watching this at age 3, but chances are I was watching Sesame Street.
So what in the heck does this have to do with the Buddha at Work? Here's what I said last month:
Sarah Palin's book Going Rogue has just come out and she's using the release as another opportunity to prove why she is just anther in a long line of folks who have squandered the power of having national attention. Rather than looking deep into the unifying ideas of her own Christian tradition, and transforming her own fear, selfishness, and separateness into a positive force in national politics, she continues to peddle and parade and commodify her insecurities in the guise of false morality, all while watching over her shoulder for the scantily clad shadow figure of baby daddy Levi Johnston. This is a great thing for Buddhists.
by Paul GriffinThe tantric teachings on the subtle or energetic body were an aspect of the dharma to which I responded very strongly when I first discovered Buddhism. Why? Two reasons. First, I found that I basically lived my entire...
by Jon RubinsteinI've been writing elsewhere about the Charter for Compassion which launched on November 12. The Charter is the fulfillment of Karen Armstrong's 2008 Ted prize and comes from Armstrong's observation that every religion, without exception, shares a central...
by Rafi Santo, Director of the Interdependence Project's Integral Activism ProgramIn an unprecedented historical act, Ajahn Brahm (full name: Ajahn Brahmavamso), a senior monk in the Thai Forest Tradition of Theravadin Buddhism, conducted a full ordination at his Australian monastery...
By Evelyn Cash Over the past few weeks I've been taking a step back and revisiting some of the very basic teachings of the Buddha. I think it can be helpful from time to time to go back and...
by Lodro RinzlerBefore Siddhartha Gautama attained enlightenment at age 35 he was a confused twenty and thirty-something looking to learn how to live a spiritual life. He had an overbearing dad, expectations for what he was supposed to do with his life, drinks...
Volunteer (and One City blogger) Paul Griffin with the streets to himself at dawnBy Stillman BrownFor 24 hours last Friday and Saturday volunteers from the ID Project sat in the large display windows at ABC Carpet & Home at the...
by Patrick GronemanLast weekend I continued my search for a spiritual practice by taking part in the Zen Mountain Monastery's "Intro to Zen Training" Retreat, a weekend toe dipping into the Mountain and Rivers Order manifestation of Soto and Rinzai...
In a shocking twist, I'm not going to post the Guns 'n Roses video here. The lyrics just don't have that much to do with what we're talking about. We've been discussing the Six Paramitas, as they're called in the...
Handmade crafts marketplace Etsy's blog The Storque highlights one of their vendors, Zeke, who recycles glass bottles and makes them into glasses, carafes, and planters. Zeke seems like a great example of living Right Livelihood. To Zeke, Right Livelihood is...
by Jerry Kolber, special to the Herald, author: Three Dollar DinnerOver the past few weeks I have been incredibly aware of co-incidents. The power of coincidence seems to be playing a large role in my life and I am wondering...
by Ethan NichternI thought this was a good patriotic quote for Veterans Day:For hatred does not cease by hatred at any time: Hatred ceases by love alone, this is an eternal law.-The DhammapadaSayings of the BuddhaMy Thought of the Day:...
by Greg ZwahlenI don't mean to take anything away from U.S. war veterans, but I think this quote from Kurt Vonnegut (in Breakfast of Champions) is apt this morning:When I was a boy, all the people of all the nations...
by Greg Zwahlen People study meditation and Buddhism for all sorts of reasons, with varying levels of interest. That said, it seems safe to say that the vast majority have modest aspirations for it, modest levels of interest in it, and...
I sat the graveyard shift at the meditation marathon. The 3 am drunkards definitely served as mara-demon quality distractions. Reminded me of Milarepa meditating in his cave:...
by Ellen ScordatoSO much to say about the Interdependence Project 24-hour meditation marathon in the windows of ABC Carpet & Home, a high-end home furnishings store in Manhattan, this weekend.My angle here: Was this anything more than a stunt, from...
By Stillman BrownIf you live in New York, take a stroll by ABC Home and Carpet at Broadway and 19th St. before tomorrow at 7PM to lend your support (or just say hi) to the ID Project's Sit Down Rise...
by Lodro RinzlerBefore Siddhartha Gautama attained enlightenment at age 35 he was a confused twenty and thirty-something looking to learn how to live a spiritual life. He had an overbearing dad, expectations for what he was supposed to do with...
Robert Chender has been a practitioner and teacher in the Shambhala tradition for many years, and is also a student and practitioner of certain shamanic traditions, including the Munay-ki initiations of the Inca shamanic tradition. In this talk he explores...
from Davee Evans The recent shift in medical marijuana policy reminded me of the infrequent and yet ongoing conversation about Buddhism and drugs. I recently read a paper published at Erowid, titled Psychoactive Plants in Tantric Buddhism, specifically discussing...
Often in business, we are confronted with shortcuts, with opportunities to bend our integrity just a little bit, in order to enrich ourselves. This might mean financially, or taking credit where it isn't due, or avoiding a difficult situation we...
Welcome to One City. You've lived here your whole life, whether you know it or not. One City blog is an outgrowth of The Interdependence Project, a Buddhist-inspired nonprofit organization led by Ethan Nichtern, dedicated to teaching the insights of Buddhism, meditation, mindfulness, and interconnectedness in the 21st century world.
If you're interested in how your mind works, are interested in meditation (but don't want to pretend you live in ancient Asia), care about the world, are into media, love contemporary culture, and above all, really dig the truth of interdependence-that nothing happens in a vacuum--then this blog is for you.
Ethan Nichtern
Author, founding director of the Interdependence Project, and the host of the I.D. Project’s popular weekly podcast » Posts by Ethan Nichtern
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