Humans speak, chickens cluck .

                                                           I must reserve comment on the purport of "Right Speech" for a future date .   I am reluctant to speak about ANYTHING "in Public' because when I get excited I st-st-st-stutter .   In fact, when I was a kid I ENRAGED my Mother because I talked so fast .  She would scold ; 

                                     "Speak  s---l---o---w---l---y and e--n--u--n--c--i--a--t--e your words !!"   

                        My Mom had barely a sixth grade education, her use of >enunciate< was a mind-fuck .

                             I will use Confucius for a kwik summation of the First Three of the 8-Fold Nobel Path .

        "There are three things a gentleman, in following The Way, places above all the rest :   from every attitude, every gesture that he employs he must remove all trace of violence or arrogance ;   every look that he composes in his face must betoken good faith ;  from every word that he utters, from every intonation he must remove all trace of coarseness and impropriety..."  [ 8:4   The Analects] .  

                                         This is me .   I am this .

                                                      Tare Forward and Keep the Faith

Sky-Mind

                                                           "Right Thoughts" can also be "Right Thinking" .   The late Zen Master Seung Sahn Taught ;  "Thoughts are like clouds, they appear and disappear ."   'Right Thinking' is something different .   I am "of the Mind" to consider that >Thinking< should be regarded as "Questioning" as in, "Right Questioning" ---but be aware that this 'Notion' is specific to MY "Perceptual Reality" .   I have been harangued for Thinking as opposed to being praised for "NOT" Thinking .  Indeed the GOAL of Sword Training is to literally "CUT" Thinking by disabling the so-called {by me} Thought Mechanism, THAT  which is responsible for Thought production .   Elsewhere I have likened Thinking to BREATHING, just as it is completely normal not to think about Breathing, I suggest it is completely normal to think without thinking of thinking .   One of my AA buddies, stymied this :  "I stay awake thinking about  NOT thinking ."   I LOVE THAT  .  TOOO funny .

                           Zen Master Seung Sahn Taught "Don't Know Mind" as >an< Essence of Zen .   Enlightenment, He Taught, could be expressed by manifesting this "Don't Know Mind" .  We ask a Question because we "Don't Know" and as a result we find an answer that results in >DO< >Know< .   The SPACE between the Question and Answer is "Don't Know" ----> SPACE .   This SPACE MUST-BE Considered EQUAL to "Emptiness" which is the Goal for the Adept that seeks Enlightenment .  

                          Right THINKING means to Think without ATTACHMENT to Thinking, as clouds come and go so it must be with the Thoughts produced by Thinking .   Simply let them arise and dissipate without clinging to them .  We must TRY and keep our Sky (Mind) Clear .   

Miss Interpret

                                                           Know this about >Right View< :  "We ACT according to the WAY we SEE  things" and "We create our own Perceptual Reality" .    Some of us want to believe that it is external conditions that are responsible for our Mood and Temperament :  Right View somewhat attenuates that 'perspective' .    External Conditions are >>>Interpreted<<<  all of us do NOT "SEE" the same things despite even the OBVIOUS or what should be obvious .    We say that we want to "Be on the same page" but even the OBVIOUS meaning of a sentence can be >>>mis Interpreted<<< by those that have a different "Perceptual Reality" .    Right View acknowledges the different Perceptual Realities of Others and their Interpretations .   Buddhists hold to TRUTH, the Truth that SCIENCE can either verify or corroborate .   In this Sense, Buddhism {{{As far as "I" go}}} is a SCIENCE OF MIND but is specific to Mind as It relates to Suffering .  

                       Check this out :   Conscience    Con = With  Science = Science   WITH SCIENCE .

Vibes

                                                           Elsewhere I have argued that it is Feelings, specifically NEGATIVE >Feelings< that cause us Internal Unrest {Suffering} and External 'countenance' what we 'show' to others in our manner and demeanor .    It is to our distinct Advantage to >Neutralize< Negative Feelings since it is they that generate both our Mood and Temperament .    "IT" 's  in our BEST 'Interest' to "Look" as though we have "our shit together", to exude  >Confidence<  and Wellness, [so] that Others can (get this) FEEL our Good Energies---> what the American "Beach Boys" recorded as "Good VIBRATIONS" .   Modern times acknowledges the expression "Good VIBES" .  "IT" is said that a person can have "Good Vibes" and that we actually FEEL those Vibes as a something completely POSITIVE .   Here it is where >Goodness< is generated .   

                             We were at some sort of village Festival in Putnam, and two of my very young but extremely 'credible' students were walking around as if they had ants in their pants .   I didn't expect THAT and called them on it .  I almost scolded, "for crissakes ACT like you know what your doing---you've done these forms HUNDREDS OF TIMES doing the before an audience is really "No BIG Deal" because even IF you make a mistake NO ONE KNOWS IT --- how can they ?

                            2 words, "Fake it 'til you make it" .  

Miss Truth

                                                            Summer is drawing to a close, and with it the Vacation Season .   Teachers and students are returning to the Realm of Academia, like it or not, ready or not, and so it is that We, as Planetarians and Global Citizens, must also find our way to a Better INTERIOR World that is in Harmony with the Exterior World of every-day and commonplace Activity .   

                             I have touted the so-called "Clear Mind" as not only 'preferred' but Essential, if We are to navigate the Ocean of Suffering that IS 'every-day Life'  and COSMIC Existence, I insist, "You can't have one without the other", as the Ancient Melody chides .   To this End [the Attainment of Clear Mind] We will begin with the first three of Buddha's "8-Fold Nobel Path" :  Right View ;   Right Thought ;   Right Speech .   

                            Straight away we can see that these three are part of the Inner Workings of Mind, specifically, what we See, what we Think and what we Say but they manifest as What we see in our surroundings, what we THINK "about" those surroundings and what we Say to Others "regarding" those surroundings .    These initial Three are DIRECTLY CONNECTED to the 7th of the 8-Fold Nobel Path > "Right Mindfulness" .   There is in Buddhism the so-called "Mutual Interpenetration of all Phenomena" and here "IT" is, in "plain Sight" .

Gagme Withaspoon

                                                           I am not gonna write anything serious today, I need a brief respite .

                              I wrote this gag a few years ago, why it surfaced this morning is beyond my grasp .

                   Q.   Do you sometimes laugh and fall down during a human stampede ?

                    A.   Only when someone yells out, "Are we going in the right direction" ?

                                                           Tare Forward and Keep the Faith

                                               

Junk-ture*

                                                           Yesterday afternoon I charged myself with delivering the most rudimentary explanation of the "Middle Way" and its "Nobel 8 Fold Path" .   I wanted to juxtapose IT with the 10 Commandments to focus on the "DO NOT" of those Commandments with the "DO" of the 8 Fold Path .   One is Negative and Life NEGATING while the Other is Positive and Life AFFIRMING .   Obviously I never got to 'There' .   

                           Rite now I'm famished (I've been up since 2:30 or so a.m.) and my ribs hurt as they normally do after a few hours seated before this screen ~~~  I don't FEEL as if I can be effective, so I'm-gonna "cave" into that FEELING and suspend my activity at this unfinished Junk-ture* .

                           I will leave you in the Land of Bizarre .    I'm-gonna argue that "Money Is The Root of All Evil" can and SHOULD be supplanted by ;   "FEELINGS are the Root of ALL Evil" . 

                            2 words :  Consider .

                                                            Tare Forward and Keep the Faith