Rumors of
Rick Astley's Death are false, ladies and gentlemen. In fact, supposedly today has seen massive internet rumors of the deaths of
George Clooney,
Britney Spears, and others. Apparently
Britney Spear's fake death was due to a
hacked twitter account. I wish I was cool enough to have my
twitter account hacked.
So, I know it's fun to spread rumors and all, but it isn't exactly
right speech.
A reminder to all the hackers and rumor spreaders:
Death is real.
It comes without warning.
This body will be a corpse.
Stop Rick-Rolling us! Impermanence does the job plenty.
Pina Bausch died Tuesday, five short days following her cancer diagnosis. German choreographer bad-ass, founder of the groundbreaking company Tanztheater, and one the most beloved dance innovators of my generation, Pina Bausch's death is a shock.
Last week I saw a young woman get attacked on the street, in what I always thought of as a really safe neighborhood, in broad daylight. As she walked past a supermarket, a man rushed at her and grabbed her waist and at her face. He didn't try to steal her purse or anything or even take her anywhere. It was literally like he just had some split second impulse to grab someone. It made absolutely no sense.
The woman screamed and immediately three guys from inside the supermarket came rushing out, their price guns clattering to the ground as they tore the guy off of her (the D'Agostino Heroes?) One of them screamed at the man, "You will not touch her again! You will back off from her!" The man who had grabbed her looked like he didn't even know what he had done. He looked so utterly confused, like he had no memory of what just happened. The three guys from the supermarket cornered him against the outside wall of the building while one of them called the police.
You know
Bernie Madoff, of course. The guy with the
onomatopoeia for a name? The
Madoff sentencing is now complete.
Bernard Madoff is going to jail for an 150 year sentence for his $50 billion
Ponzi Scheme. The list of
Madoff victims is as vast as the sky, and mostly Jewish (why screw others when you can screw your own people?).
Firstly, why don't they just convert it to a life sentence? Do they really think Madoff's going to make it to his early 220's?
Being that our weather has been rather wet and unpredictable as of late, I haven't been able to partake in too many outdoor activities and have become a little obsessed with taking full advantage of a nice hour or two outside when it occurs. The other day I was inside working and as soon as the sun peaked through the clouds, I felt that I was missing out on summer...and I was annoyed.
Out of all the dignities the Garuda was known as the close-talker.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,...
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As I look out my window and pray for a cessation of this rain, I am packing for a weekend of camping in upstate New York. I am eagerly awaiting the smells of the woods, the wet grass, the burning...
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The King of Pop, Michael Jackson is Dead, after going into cardiac arrest. Michael Jackson, like him or hate him, might be the biggest icon of Generation X. Ever. Everybody dies, even Michael Jackson dies. Death is real, it comes...
Last summer I sat an introductory seven day retreat at Shambhala's Karme Choling, in Vermont. After seven days of sitting and walking meditation, delicious food (much of the produce was grown in Karme Choling's garden), and some of the nicest...
Last night marked the commencement of the Interdependence Project's Hardcore Dharma summer session. We settled our balances, met our neighbor and talked about our intentions. Ethan Nichtern, founder of the ID Project and general man about town, introduced the class...
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With North Korea officially threatening to "wipe out the aggressors on the globe once and for all" (referring of course to the United States, and the potential that they will launch a nuclear missile at Hawaii or Alaska on July...
This year at the Burning Man Project, a 20 foot bunny is going to seek enlightenment. How do I know this? Well, last year I contributed a leaf to a New York based multi-media art project I thought was cool...
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Okay what do I have to do today? Make breakfast, dry hair, pick out cute but functional outfit, get to work on time, while at work remember everything I need to do for all the students, during prep time do...
I take delight in the endless multiplicity of form. I especially delight in my iPhone. And when I bought my new 3GS at 9am Friday morning, after the briefest of waits at a local store, I was delighted. I did...
Anyone interested in contemplative care should check out Tina Sussman's article in the L.A. Times last week, Zen in Their Bedside Manner, profiling the work of Zen chaplains in New York's Beth Israel Medical Center. ...
"Geez Buddha, don't get up on my account."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...
This week on the ID Project podcast is Part 2 Father Thomas Ryan's Guest Lecture at the ID Project. Part 1 contrained an outline and history of a form of Christian Contemplative Meditation known as Lectio Divina ("Active Listening"). ...
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True/False/Cannot Say Folks really love Obama: True Folks really love PETA: False Obama kills fly: True PETA complains: True ...
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Today at the gym, riding an indoor bike in a glass enclosed room inside the place. Since this weekend's retreat, been trying to maintain the gap between habitual conditioned response and actual reality. Not easy. This lady comes in to clean...
I'm on vacation this week - here is one of my favorites previously published on our old blog site: "I'm breaking my attachment to physical power and possessions because only through destroying myself can I discover the greater power of...
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So the confirmation hearings for Sonia Sotomayor are set for July 13. Let the projections begin!There are lots of projections out there, but the most mystifying yet illuminating may well be this one, sent to me for this week's Buddha...
The word "miracle" is maybe too strong. Maybe. But I'm going to use it anyway. It was a freaking miracle. I could not believe what was on the piece of paper. There it was. Clear as day. The most beautiful...
So last month The New York Times published a controversial article on Zen by Chip Brown about a long-time practitioner of Zen meditation who came to the conclusion that his meditation practice was insufficient for working with his depression, and...
This past week I had the unfortunate experience of having my wallet stolen. All I know is that I had it and two blocks and one stop at a shoe store later, it was gone. As soon as I realized...
"Excuse me, would any of you fine ladies care to dance?"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...
If you haven't read Stephen Dunn, and you like your poetry, pick up his Pulitzer Prize-winning book Different Hours and enjoy. I find myself returning to this slim volume time and again. While the entire book is enchanting in its...
Inspired by our Hardcore Dharma discussion from week 10 on the 3 Marks of Existence, Michelle Provenzano, a New York-based artist and meditator, created this drawing called "Brain Friend."....
Darren Littlejohn recently published a book titled, The 12 Step Buddhist: Enhance Recovery from any Addiction, a Buddhist take on the Twelve Step addiction recovery method. As Darren's article on Beliefnet iterates, "from a Buddhist perspective of attachment, we're all...
This week on the ID Project podcast is Part 1 of an inspiring Guest Lecture by Father Thomas Ryan. In it, he leads our community through a form of Christian Contemplative Meditation known as Lectio Divina ("Active Listening"). He...
It's the end of an era. After ten weeks of sweet multi-platform hardcore Buddhism learning action, the spring beginner Hardcore Dharma class has come to an end. Last week I wrote about the first meditator and this week I'm going...
Today I got news that one of the documentary projects I've been trying to get financing for will likely get both financing and distribution, and collaboration from the perfect partner. Great news, and my initial reaction was energetic excitement. Within...
Following up on last week's post, here is a wonderful reading I ran across while looking for something that reflected our values to be read during the ceremony. It reminded me of some of the previous discussions we have had...
According to an article yesterday in USA Today, meditation, "once thought of as an esoteric, mystical pursuit . . . is going mainstream." One might argue that if it's in USA Today, it already is mainstream, but in any case. ....
For many theatre devotees, this past Sunday was the dramatic equivalent of the Superbowl - the Tony Awards. When I was younger I got so excited for the evening and watched it on TV with my family, but in past...
As has been noted, actor David Carradine died recently, in Thailand, under circumstances suggesting an autoerotic asphyxiation accident. There. That's about it. (photo by Jano Rohleder)Lead singer of INXS, Michael Hutchence, died similarly 12 years ago, in Sydney, Australia. Yet...
So this is my last day at work before I go on a 13-day meditation retreat at one of my favorite meditation centers in the universe, The Karme Choling Shambhala retreat center in Vermont, which this time of year should...
The world continues to mourn one of the pseudo-masters of eastern spirituality, David Carradine, in our culture's peculiar way: we are dying to see the Carradine hanging photo. Thai Rath, a local paper, has supposedly published a Carradine death photo,...
Very interesting article today in the New York TImes about what will happen after His Holiness, the current Dalai Lama dies. One of his possible successors, The Karmapa, the young head of the Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, is...
Amy Winehouse is one of many celebs who has put down the pipe and picked up a mala. photo courtesy of topnews.in Before Siddhartha Gautama attained enlightenment at age 35 he was a confused twenty and thirty-something looking to learn...
The superhero lives! Maybe even down your block.The costumed superhero is a peculiarly American fantasy. But it's not a fantasy anymore. As CNN reports, everyday citizens who want to help their communities are putting on tights and masks to do...
Rilke, like Rumi or Gibran, wrote almost exclusively about the spirit. Or course I feel in over my head trying to say something new and insightful about Rilke's works--"A god can do it. But tell me how a man /...
The typical conception of a spiritual person's home is a minimalist abode painted with soft, calming colors. The tipple of a small fountain, the shadow of a bonsai tree, hemp fabrics, lightly sounding gongs, African throat singing music, ethnic cushions,...
If you want a good link to Obama's Cairo Speech, NPR has one. President Obama's Middle East Speech should, at the very least, demonstrate again that our 44th President is nothing like any U.S. President we've ever had. I mean...
Chinese police have Tiananmen Square on virtual lockdown to prevent protests commemorating the 20th Anniversary of the student massacre there today. Meanwhile, the Dalai Lama also paid his respects to victims.(photo by Stuart Franklin Magnum, life.com)...
"Impermanence is the Nike swoosh of reality ... omnipresent, ubiquitous, glaring at us all the time" -EthanIn the last regular class of this thrilling beginner Hardcore Dharma series (introductory info about Hardcore Dharma here), we talked about the Three...
Listen ya'll, you've got to give something up to get the teachings! David Nichtern, who wrote "Midnight at the Oasis", and who is also is a former student of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, stopped by the ID Project a couple of...
I've been a runner on and off for the last fifteen years. Last year I (slowly) ran the New York City Marathon. Today is national running day, and as a Buddhist Meditator I thought it would be appropriate to tackle...
Despite Christie Brinkley's recent pessimistic advice where she stated, "Right at the beginning of a relationship, I would formalize an exit strategy," I am going to get married in 10 days on June 13, 2009. I am in the midst...
Nancy Reagan got shown some love today from President Obama after a perceived diss regarding the former first lady and a strange attempted joke about her affinity for séance.I love sweet old ladies as much as the next polite late-generation-x...
Buddhist academic and translator Jose Cabezon has a great article in the latest issue of Buddhadharma about some of the peculiar ideas many Buddhist traditions have about sex (about which most Western practioners are unaware), and how he reconciles...
This week we have a special guest post from Gaylon Ferguson, PhD, a senior teacher (acharya) in the Shambhala Buddhist tradition. He has led meditation retreats for thirty-three years. As core faculty at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, he teaches Religious and...
JD Salinger is suing pseudonymous John David California for penning an unauthorized sequel to Catcher in the Rye. The 90-year-old reclusive author, currently living in New Hampshire, objects to California's projection in which Holden Caulfield, at 76 years...
On Monday June 1st, Nebraska banned smoking in most public indoor places, and Japan also banned smoking on limited and express trains on Japan Railway Group.In May, North Carolina and Michigan banned smoking in public places.LA County plans to ban...
This is interesting. The Dalai Lama empowered a young Spanish boy as an incarnate Lama. Now 24, the young man, Osel Hita Torres,is moving in another direction with his life (update on the Shambhala Sun blog). Lots of good questions...
So the abortion doctor from Wichita, Kansas, George Tiller was killed in church yesterday, by a pro-life radical (irony of ironies). Amazingly, this was not the first time Dr. Tiller was shot. So clearly Dr. Tiller believed in what he...
The woman screamed and immediately three guys from inside the supermarket came rushing out, their price guns clattering to the ground as they tore the guy off of her (the D'Agostino Heroes?) One of them screamed at the man, "You will not touch her again! You will back off from her!" The man who had grabbed her looked like he didn't even know what he had done. He looked so utterly confused, like he had no memory of what just happened. The three guys from the supermarket cornered him against the outside wall of the building while one of them called the police. 
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Evelyn Cash
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Jon Rubinstein
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