Mon, 08 Feb 2010
The Seventh Realm
Internet junkies are fond of calling the physical world "meatspace." Two way electronic media, from cellphones to Facebook, have developed into a seventh realm, along side the traditional six realms of Tibetan Buddhism. People interact, just as they do in the other six realms, and wit the same emotional baggage as in the other realms. Bill Schwartz is a long time member of the Chicago KTC (Katma Thegsum Choling). The KTCs are satellite centers of KTD (Karma Triyana Dharnmachakra). Bill has been tweeting about Buddhism, and has gotten into arguments with the Shambhala Buddhists in Boulder (Bite Me, Boulder Buddhists) and Jetsunma Akhon Lhamo and her students (Welcome to Twitter Hell). I found both the linked articles interesting in their own right and because they led me to this interview with the Karmapa from Bodhi Magazine. I'm trying to find a good reason to use Twitter. Mostly it seems useful for marketing, letting people know about a business or cause you are interested in. Right now my Internet activities are this blog, the homeopathic news summary I do, and a Buddhist forum I answer questions on as Jinzang. If I add Twitter to the mix, I'll let you know.
Sun, 07 Feb 2010
Snowpocalypse
This was the weekend of the big snowstorm of 2010. I've survived the experience and here's the story. I took off from work Friday so that I could get my usual weekend shopping done before the storm hit. This is Baltimore, so of course the grocery store was mobbed. (Does this happen in other cities?) It must have been mobbed the night before, because many things were sold out. Some I understand, such as chips. (Seems to be the snack food of choice in snow storms. That, and beer, but grocery stores aren't allowed to sell beer in Baltimore. Plus, it is Superbowl weekend.) Other foods, maybe I understand, like margarine. (Maybe everyone is making Chex party mix.) Other shortages had me scratching my head, like lentils. I was able to get most of what was on my list. (No lentils or frozen vegetables.) I had to wait in the checkout line for half an hour, though.
When I find myself waiting like this, I pull out my cellphone and start the ereader program. Right now I am reading Flaubert's book, "The Temptation of Saint Anthony." I've wanted to read this book ever since it was mentioned in an episode of Dragnet, In the episode a mopey high school kid engages in a thrill kill after reading the book. In the episode a librarian reads the page in the book that inspired him. But it's not an easy book to get, and so I haven't read it until now. The book is strange, written in a very flowery style with a heightened sense of what was grotesque and bizarre in the late Classical world Anthony lived in. One phrase the sticks in my mind is a shield Anthony is offered, whose dragon skins were "tanned in the bile of a parricide." I'm sure Flaubert had a lot of fun writing this book and I'm having fun reading it.
The snowstorm started Friday night, but really didn't get serious until after I went to bed. I woke up to a full blizzard, with thunder and lightning. The snow lasted until mid-afternoon. Then it stopped quite suddenly, the sky cleared and the late afternoon sun shone on two feet of new snow. My car was buries under it, plus had additional snow that had been blown against it or had been plowed against it. I spent five hours or more Saturday and Sunday clearing out my car. It was really hard work and left me aching. So I took a homeopathic remedy (arnica), which helped a lot. All you skeptics out there who believe homeopathy is just a placebo effect, please note. Before I took the arnica, I had bruises on the palm of my hands from shoveling. Two hours after taking the arnica the bruises were no longer there. So say what you will about homeopathy. I am still a believer, because experience has made me so.
Wed, 03 Feb 2010
Follow the Money
The critics of homeopathy have been much in the news lately. I thought I should raise my lonely voice to make simple point. And that is that no one stands outside on a cold winter's day to pull a stunt out of an abstract respect for the truth. The whole campaign against homeopathy started when the British government allowed the homeopathic pharmacies to advertise their products for the treatment of disease. This threatened the medical industry and they responded with a campaign to discredit homeopathy. Anyone who researches the issue will see that this is so. So the campaign started with a dubious review article published in Lancet, continued with press releases and interviews by several public spokesmen, continued with the attempt to defund homeopathic medical clinics, and now has descended to recruiting the skeptic organizations as foot soldiers in their marketing campaign.
If the public realized how well homeopathy works our modern medical institutions would be greatly changed. The ten minute doctor's appointment would be gone, it is incompatible with homeopathy. The overpriced prescription medicines wouldn't be sold, homeopathic medicines are unpatentable and thus won't generate monopoly. Hospitals would be smaller, homeopathy generates less revenue per patient and couldn't support their current opulent scale. So is it any wonder why this campaign is underway? Follow the money.
Tue, 02 Feb 2010
Enlightenment and Delusion
I've had my new smartphone, a Nokia E63, for several months and generally I'm quite pleased with it. I bought it mostly as a replacement for my dead Palm organizer and it does everything the Palm did, plus works as a cell phone, plus does a few extra things. I use it to listen to podcasts when I exercise and I've started listening to the Buddhist Geeks podcast. Today I was listening to Kenneth Folk describe his meditative experiences. (You can read a transcript of the podcast at the link.) Kenneth is convinced that he's reached the third path through his practice. I'm sure he's achieved some definite result from his practice , but I think he's mistaken about what level he's achieved.
A little explanation: Theravada Buddhism, and the shravaka tradition generally, recognizes four levels of enlightenment: stream enterer, once returner, non-returner, and arhat. These are called the four paths (marga) and fruits (phalla). The path represents the first moment of the experience of that level and the fruit represents all subsequent moments. The four paths represent stages of overcoming the ten fetters, which I won't explain further here. But there is a very simple test to see if you are enlightened. If you haven't eliminated greed and anger, you are not enlightened. I have not, as anyone who knows me can tell you, and neither, by his own admission, has Kenneth Folk. What Kenneth has experience is some degree of development of samadhi. It's not often understood that there are mundane levels of wisdom described in abhidharma as well as supramundane wisdoms and the experiences that Kenneth describes correlate pretty well with what I've been taught about these mundane wisdoms.
I've noticed a lot of this status claiming in Thervada Buddhism recently. People are claiming either that they are enlightened or have achieved jhana states and are offering to teach others how to do the same. I think that these people are sincere and well intentioned for the most part, but ignorant of what these states actually are. I can only say that through what I have been taught and what I have learned through my own study that they are mistaken and spreading mistaken ideas about what these states actually are.
Sun, 31 Jan 2010
Homeopathy Skeptics Fail
Youtube has a video up of the demonstration against homeopathy held by a skeptical organization calling itself 10:23. The video was put up by the organization itself, so it showed the demonstration in its best light. By any standards, the demonstration was a failure. Only a handful of people showed up, all obviously members of the organization itself and on a first name basis with each other. All the while the general public walked by oblivious to the demonstration. Someone should explain to these bright minds that the end of January is not a good date to hold an outdoors demonstration in England. A more rational person would have waited until Samuel Hahnemann's birthday in April. If you are trying to persuade a profit oriented company like Boots from selling a product, having only half a dozen people show up on their door is only going to cause them to ignore you as loudmouths in the future. There are better ways the leverage your numbers if you are a small, but dedicated group. But why should I be giving them tips?
There's an extra laugh in the video. Boots sells its homeopathic remedies in a tube that dispenses a single pill with a click. The video starts with the demonstrators all laboriously click click clicking into a styrofoam cup to get all the pills out of the tube. Here's a comment from Reddit: "It's too bad these people are such flaming idiots, they might have proved a point."
Fri, 29 Jan 2010
Dorje Karmapa
I was reading a book which lists the names of the Seventeen Karmapas and it stuck me that all the names since the eighth end with dorje. Dorje is usually cross-translated into the Sanskrit word vajra or translated as diamond. It liteally means noble stone (rdo = stone and rje = noble). The sense of the metaphor is that the diamond is indestructable, as it is the hardest substance. Likewis the vajrayana represents the highest teaching of the Buddha. All other views are refuted by higher views, but the vajrayana is not refuted, as it is the highest. I'm not saying this to assert the superioirty of my tradition, I'm just giving the sense of the metaphor.
Tue, 26 Jan 2010
Skeptics Folly
There's going to be a demonstration in Great Britain this Saturday protesting the sale of homeopathic medicines by the largest drug store chain in that country. I think it's odd that they are protesting the sale of homeopathic medicines and not tobacco products. Homeopathic remedies have never harmed anyone when used correctly, they've only done good. But tobacco product have harmed many people. The reason why they are protesting is that homeopathy doesn't fit in with their idea of how the world works. So not only they won't use it, they get angry if anyone else uses it as well. It's intolerance, sheer intolerance. If you think using homeopathy is stupid, then don't use it. If you think eating meat is wrong, don't eat it. If you think looking at Playboy is wrong, don't read it. But there are people who don't share your opinions, who use homeopathy, eat meat, and look at Playboy. So who are you or I to tell the stores not to sell these things? People care entirely too much about what other people are doing, while not doing the hard work it takes to change their own behavior.
Sun, 24 Jan 2010
Four New Links
I haven't been blogging lately. Here are a few links as an atonement. Luther attended Garchen Rinpoche's recent teaching, Here are his notes from Garchen's talks. A little unpolished, but worth reading. Khandro Rinpoche has some interesting things to say in her interview with Helen Berliner. Bordor Rinpoche's blog has been putting some of his teachings online for a while. Lately they've been more regular about it, so it's worth book marking the site. High Peaks Pure Earth is a blog aggragation site that translates Tibetan blogs into English. So that's tonight's post.
Sat, 23 Jan 2010
High Noon
Tibetan New Year will be on February 14th this year. The rule of thumb is that it falls on the New Year in February and this year it's smack dab in the middle. When this happens, the Chinese and two Tibetan calendars agree on New Year's day. When it falls to either end of the month, they disagree, with the Tibetan New Year often being the later new moon.
Everyone knows that the shortest day is the Winter solstice, the first day of winter. Succeeding days are longer, but there is an asymmetry. Sunset gets later faster than sunrise gets earlier. The reason is that every day is not twenty four hours long. Some days are shorter and other days are longer and twenty four hours is only the average length. The real length of a day is measured from noon to noon, where noon is the moment when the sun reaches its highest point in the sky. Most of the motion of the sun is caused by the rotation of the earth, but a little bit of it is caused by the motion of the earth around its orbit. From our vantage point, this looks like the earth has to rotate for four extra minutes each day to catch up with the motion of the sun in the sky. This motion is not perfectly uniform, it is faster during the Northern Hemisphere's winter. This makes Winter days a little longer on average and as a result sunrise and sunset are a little later each day, independent of the length of the day. During the Northern hemisphere's Summer, days are shorter and sunrise and sunset are both a little earlier each day. But the effect is not as large and noticeable as in Winter. This effect is known as the equation of time and if you want the full explanation, check out this page on the Greenwich Observatory site. Part of the effect is due to the variation in the Earth's orbit. The Earth is closer to the Sun in the Northern Hemisphere's Winter and moves faster in its orbit. The season that the Earth is closest to the Sun is not fixed. It varies through time, mostly due to the pull of the planet Jupiter. Some believe that this variation in the Earth's orbit is responsible for the ice ages.
One of my old astronomy professors that is in the news. He headed a commision reporting on NASA's asteroid tracking program. The report says the program is behind schedule because Cangress hasn't allocated the money to support it. Which is fine by me, because if I'm going to die a firery death because of an asteroid collision, I'd rather not know about it beforehand.
Sun, 17 Jan 2010
Link Time
The disk drive I was using to back up my computer failed, so I bought a new one. Going without backups is like walking a high wire without a net, especially with an older computer like mine. Tonight I am doing the first backup, and since that always takes extra time I am up later than usual. To pass the time I was web surfing and here are a few links. Some notes from Tai Situ Rinpoche's teaching on the Rinchen Terdzod are on the web. The first talk is an appreciation of the greatness of Lodro Thaye. You can find the rest of his teaching through the links.
Lama Phurbu Tashi has finished up his teaching in Jakarta, While he was there, some photos were taken and yoi may enjoy looking at them. While I was waiting, I took some notes from his teaching on mind training on his site. These notes are on the five forces.
Sat, 16 Jan 2010
Charles Luk
I went looking for information on Charles Luk on the Internet and there was surprisingly little to find. This page with a one paragraph biography and a bibliography is the best information available. Charles Luk was a student of the great Chinese Zen master Hsu Yun and translated Chinese Buddhist texts into English, as well as a book on Taoist meditation. He's a perfect example of a self-effacing Buddhist scholar. His works are known, but he is not. His first teacher was a "Hutuktu (Tulku) of Sikang," who I'm guessing was Bo Gangkar Rinpoche, who was teaching in China during that period.
Tue, 12 Jan 2010
Glossary
Lama Purbu Tashi has written a short book on the virtues of vegetarianism. He's thinking of republishing it with some additions. Here is my attempt at providing a glossary of terms for the book. Some of the definitions are Karen's.
Arhat- An arhat is someone who has eliminated the afflictive emotions, but who has not achieved the omniscience of a buddha.
Bodhicitta- is both the mind that aspires to attain buddhaood so that all beings can be freed from their ignorance and suffering (relative bodhicitta) and the mind that sees the emptiness of all things. (absolute bodhicitta.)
Emptiness - The absence of all conceivable characteristics in phenomena.
Bodhisattva- is someone who either aspires to attain buddahood or is someone who through their practice is close to doing so.
Brahmins- The caste in Hinduism that performs ritual religious observances.
Chenrezig - (Avalokiteshvara in Sanskrit.) The embodiment of the compassion of all the buddhas. Meditation on Chenrezig and recitation of his mantra, "om mani padme hum," is the most widely practiced religious observance in Tibet.
Ten non-virtuous acts- Three physical acts (killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct) four speech acts (lying, abusive talk, slander, and idle chatter) and three mental acts (malice, envy, and disbelief in morality). Binding for all persons, not just Buddhists.
Four root infractions of monastic vows- that require expulsion: killing, stealing, sexual intercourse, or lying about one's spiritual attainments.
Thirteen branch infractions- Monastic vows whose violation require confession and expiation, but not expulsion.
Seven types of vows- Lay, novice, or fully ordained vows for men or women, plus a second novitiate for women. (I think, Lama has my copy of JOL)
Liberation- the elimination of suffering and its cause by seeing the true mode of abiding of mind and phenomena.
Dharma- The Buddha's teachings for liberation from suffering.
Lama- Any person qualified to be a spiritual teacher in Tibetan Buddhism. Most usually an ordained man or woman who has completed the traditional spiritual retreat.
Mahayana- The school of Buddhism that aspires to achieve the full enlightenment of a buddha through the cultivation of love and compassion and meditation on emptiness.
Mantra- A short prayer in Sanskrit recited for its blessing rather than its meaning. "Om mani padme hum" is an example of a mantra.
Meat of three-fold purity- Under the rules of the monastic code, meat may be eaten if the animal was not seen, heard, or suspected to be killed for the sake of the meal.
Nagas- Elemental spirits associated with bodies of water, pictured as serpents or dragons. The most fortunate rebirth in the animal realm.
Pratekyabuddha- A person who attains enlightenment during a time when the Buddha's teaching has been lost, but who lacks the wisdom to teach it to others.
Pretas- Beings who through their selfishness and desire are born as spirits who suffer the pain of desire but lack the means to satisfy it.
Primordial wisdom- The fundamental wisdom that all beings possess but are unable to see because of their confusion.
Refuge in the three jewels- Taking refuge is making the commitment to seek liberation by following the guidance of the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. (q.v.)
Sadhana- A tantric practice where one generates a visualization of oneself as a buddha, and then dissolves the visualization and rests in emptiness.
Samsara- The existence of ordinary beings, characterized by constant rebirth in one or another of the six planes of rebirth (gods, demigods, human beings, animals, hungry ghosts, hellbeings).
Sangha- The community of Buddhists. In the context of the refuge vow it refers to the noble sangha, those who have achieved enlightenment.
Sentient beings- Any being that is conscious, that is, has a mind and can experience phenomena.
Shakyamuni- "Sage of the Shakyas" (also known by his personal name Gautama or his family name Siddhartha). The historical Buddha, who lived in the 6th century BCE in North India.
Shravakas- The disciples of Shakyamuni, who seek their own enlightenment by relying on his teaching.
Siddha- A practitioner of tantra who has achieved definite results from practice (siddhis) and whose behavior is often unconventional.
Sutra- Buddhist scripture containing a teaching by the Buddha
Sutrayana- The school of Buddhism that seeks enlightenment by cultivating its causes, the practices of virtue and meditation.
Tantra- The school of Buddhism that seeks enlightenment relying on the result, that is, that the body, speech and mind of the buddha are present as potential in all sentient beings.
Theravada tradition- The school of Buddhism, found mainly in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, based on the scriptures in the Pali language.
Vajrayana- another name for tantra, literally the indestructible (diamond) vehicle.
The Vinaya- the section of Buddhist scripture describing the monastic code.
Wish fulfilling jewel- A mythical gem used as a metaphor in Buddhism.
Yidam- The principal buddha that a practitioner visualizes in meditation.
Yogi- A person who practices and keeps the vows of the highest class on tantra.
Sun, 10 Jan 2010
Faces at the Retreat
Lance has put his photos from the Mani Srupchen retreat online, and they give another perspective of what the retreat was like. (A picture is woth a thousand wors, eh?) First, here is a photo of Lance and here is a photo of myself. These two photos show how tired we were after chanting all day.
Michael is in India, attending the Dalai Lama's teaching in Bodhgaya, along with Richard Gere and the Karmapa. Mark, who blogged the Kagyu Monlam, has also been bogging the Dalai Lama's teachings.
Fri, 08 Jan 2010
Educated Stupidity
There's a campaign to discredit homeopathy underway in Great Britain. Like all public relations campaigns it follows a pattern: repetition of a few talking points by authority figures and attempts to cast your opponents as bad people acting in bad faith. Anyone who follows American politics should be very familiar with it. I've mostly ignored it, except when reporting on it in my homeopathic news summary, but the sheer stupidity of the attacks bothers me. So I've decided to start commenting on them. The post that bothered me tonight is Professor David Colquhoun's comment on part of the curriculum at a homeopathic college. Much of the post is given over to the supposed "contradiction" between the Society of Homeopaths' code of ethics and the curriculum of the college. The supposed contradiction is that it is considered unethical to advertise that you cure disease and yet the curriculum teaches how to cure disease. This is just so stupid that it has me shaking my head in disbelief. Surely the professor understands the difference between doing something and advertising that you do something? And that while curing cancer and teaching people how to cure cancer are praiseworthy things, advertising that you cure cancer is not? And surely the professor understands the reason for praising the first and condemning the second? This has nothing to do with homeopathy, this a simple exercise in logic. Simple, but too complex for our professor.
Yes, homeopaths treat chronic disease, including serious chronic disease. Part of this treatment is coordinating care with other forms of medical treatment, including allopathy. The details of this process are too complex to discuss here, but it's done all the time, properly and ethically. Though I doubt that any homeopathic treatment would please Professor Colquhoun.
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