July 2010
3 posts
“Instead of criticizing, find out how to help.”
– Shunryu Suzuki Roshi
June 2010
1 post
currentwork →
A few of my street photos were published in a new magazine of contemporary artwork and photography called currentwork.
April 2010
1 post
March 2010
1 post
Discovered Work of Vivian Maier
John Maloof purchased roughly 30-40,000 negatives by a French nanny named Vivian Maier of street photography she shot in Chicago from the 1950s to the 1970s and set up a blog to share these photos. An incredibly stunning collection, well worth checking out.
February 2010
1 post
6 Changes update
Just passed the halfway point on the first of my six changes for 2010, and so far I’ve been taking a camera with me every time I leave the house, although I have not yet taken photos every day. Will be working on shooting more often over the next four weeks.
January 2010
7 posts
“The vanquished know the essence of war—death. They grasp that war is...”
– Chris Hedges
“People crave the most lavish food and alcohol, and kill their fellow sentient...”
– Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
“In a real sense nonviolence seeks to redeem the spiritual and moral lag that I...”
– Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Nobel Lecture, December 11, 1964
Google Stands Up for Human Rights in China →
We have decided we are no longer willing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn, and so over the next few weeks we will be discussing with the Chinese government the basis on which we could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at all. We recognize that this may well mean having to shut down Google.cn, and potentially our offices in China.
The One Week Digital Cleanse →
Decided to turn this idea into a four week digital cleanse, which started on Monday.
6 Changes for 2010
Being a fan of Leo Babauta’s Zenhabits and ‘The Power of Less’ I’m intrigued by his latest project, 6 changes. In a nutshell, the idea is to cultivate 6 new habits over the course of a year working on each habit for two months. Having successfully utilized Leo’s suggestions to establish habits in the past, I’ve decided to give the 6 changes method a shot in...
Happy New Year!
Wishing you a wonderful 2010.
December 2009
11 posts
Reflections on a Decade in Canada
At the end of August 1999 I moved from Brooklyn to Toronto to get married and start a new life. Change, that one constant in life, conspired to keep things fresh and interesting over the past decade. Here are a few choices which have improved life in both obvious and unexpected ways:
Because we reside downtown, my wife doesn’t drive, I work from home and my experiences dealing with...
“There are different species of laziness: Eastern and Western. The Eastern style...”
– Sogyal Rinpoche
“Manifest plainness,
Embrace simplicity,
Reduce selfishness,
Have few desires.”
– Lao Tzu
“If you’re the kind of person who prefers freedom to security, who feels more...”
– The Joy of Less by Pico Iyer
An E-Book Buyer's Guide to Privacy →
Happy Holidays
Wishing everyone a very merry holiday season.
End of the Year, End of the Decade
2009 was a good year in this small corner of the universe. A few highlights:
My wife being healthy
An opportunity to visit my Mom
Taking my wife to the new Yankee Stadium as a birthday present
Two retreats at Sky Lake Lodge in the Catskills
My Dad’s visit to Toronto
Spending Labour Day weekend at a friend’s cottage
Celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary in Montreal
...
November 2009
5 posts
“Yet there is no Absolute Time outside changing phenomena. There is nothing...”
– Dr. Jeremy Hayward
“Now it is raining, but we don’t know what will happen in the next moment. By the...”
– Shunryu Suzuki Roshi
As far as making life simpler–I think cell phones... →
“Cell phones feel like an intrusion more than anything else. I don’t want to share friends and family with an electronic device during social events. We all know those people–the ones who text and take phone calls in every situation. I also know a fair amount of people who don’t seem to understand if I turn off my cell phone or don’t bring it with me all the time. To them, it’s...
“Once you overcome the hatred within your own mind, you will discover that in the...”
– Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the...”
– Margaret Mead
October 2009
7 posts
“I have just three things to teach;
simplicity, patience, compassion.
These...”
– Lao Tzu
“The most important thing is to confront yourself and to be yourself. Then...”
– Shunryu Suzuki Roshi
“Zen practice is to get to our True Mind, the mind not accessible to thinking. ...”
– Shunryu Suzuki Roshi
Curiosity trumps certainty.
End Poverty 2015 Millennium Campaign →
“The purpose of studying Buddhism is not to study Buddhism but to study...”
– Shunryu Suzuki Roshi
September 2009
3 posts
“So remember that whether you have a good reputation or a bad one, it has no...”
– Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
“All phenomena of samsara and nirvana arise like a rainbow, and like a rainbow...”
– Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Indefinite Detention Sacrifices Human Dignity →
Lt. Col. Couch refused to prosecute the case because Slahi was tortured at Gitmo.
In the NOW interview, Lt. Col. Couch explains why resigned:
We cannot compromise our respect for the dignity of every human being. And that goes to somebody that is alleged to have committed heinous crimes against citizens of this country. That doesn’t change the immutable characteristic that they’re still a human...
August 2009
9 posts
“Wisdom, capability, loving-kindness, and compassion are what we’re born...”
– Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
Promoting a Department of Peace →
“In his 2005 book, “The Utility of Modern Warfare,” Rupert Smith, once the deputy supreme commander of NATO, stated that since 1946, every time Western nations have become involved in a foreign war, they’ve become completely bogged down. Instead of achieving a swift, decisive victory, they’ve spent from 15 to 20 years struggling to bring the conflict to an end. This was true in the Balkans,...
“Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, was, first and foremost, an empiricist, a...”
– Pico Iyer
“It is not power that corrupts but fear.”
– Aung San Suu Kyi
The Three Fierce Mantras
1. Whatever has to happen, let it happen.
2. Whatever the situation is, it’s fine.
3. I really don’t need anything.
- Tsangpa Gyare
Google’s Search Inside Yourself →
“For the benefits of meditation to become widely accessible, ” says Chade-Meng Tang, founder of Google’s Search Inside Yourself program, “it needs to become ‘real.’ It needs to align with the lives and interests of real people.” If we can accept exercise and its benefits as parts of our everyday experience, why can’t we do the same with meditation? That’s part of Meng’s mission, or, as he calls...
“Blame ties us to the past and makes our minds smaller. It dampens our delight...”
– Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche
Can Do →
shawnyeager:
A wonderfully illustrated chronicle of the genius of Ben Franklin by Maira Kalman, from her New York Times blog And the Pursuit of Happiness
“All the joy the world contains has come through wishing happiness for others....”
– Shantideva
July 2009
6 posts
My Life Offline →
“I don’t know how I’m going to carve a life away from the world’s constant demands and distractions. I don’t know how I’m going to balance all the things I want to do with the pressures and responsibilities they bring. But after my month off, I do know one thing: I can’t go on like this. So I’m damn well going to try.”
-Aaron Swartz