Over the years, I've come across versions of this story many times.

While visiting the temple one day, a young seeker approached the master of the temple.

"What are the differences between Heaven and Hell?" the young seeker asked the learned master.

"There are no material differences," replied the old monk peacefully.

"None at all?" asked the confused seeker.

"Yes. Both Heaven and Hell look the same. They all have a dining hall with a big hot pot in the center in which some delicious noodles are boiled, giving off an appetizing scent," said our old priest. "The size of the pan and the number of people sitting around the pot are the same in these two places."

The Zen master went on to explain. "Oddly, each diner is given a pair of meter-long chopsticks and must use them to eat the noodles. To eat the noodles, one must hold the chopsticks properly at their ends, no cheating is allowed,"

"In the case of Hell, people are always starved because no matter how hard they try, they fail to get the noodles into their mouths, They grow impatient and their hands and chopsticks entangle with one another's. The delicacies are scattered here and there, and everyone starves for want of those delicious foods just out of reach. The people could not eat, and they grew angry with each other, each believing the others were doing better."  

"But doesn't the same happen to the people in Heaven?'

"No. They can eat because they each feed the person sitting opposite them at the table. In heaven, People happily use the long chopsticks to pick out someone else's favorite food and feed it to that person, and in turn they are being fed by others. They all enjoy their meal in harmony. That, you see, is the difference between Heaven and Hell,"

This is a story that speaks to my own spiritual journey.

I am responsible for how I allow others to affect me. In a world of forces beyond my control, I can learn to be the keeper of my own heart and mind.

Even when things appear not to be going my way, and I am upon an emotional sea of crossing and diverging currents, I can still navigate my way to my ultimate good fortune.

I proclaim that I am not a victim of the world I see. I am a co-creator of it.
Let love and wisdom be my moral compass, and let clarity be the wind in my sails.


--Layne and Paul Cutright

Thank you to starweaver  for posting this in her journal.

Do to a number of factors, I find myself thinking some rather deep thoughts right now.. I've been listening to the "web class" that Oprah Winfrey conducted to discuss Eckhart Tolle's book, A New Earth. This is giving me some reminders on being present in the now and not giving in to the drama of the Ego.

In moments of trial, I often find myself running a mantra given to me by a spiritual teacher:

'Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya'

 or even John Lennon's "Across the Universe."

Literally, the first is a mantra of "prostration to Lord God, Vasudeva," but the interpretation, the spirit of the mantra that I learned was "I surrender/join with the Divine Will." 

Both of these help me to get in touch with that part of myself which is centered, at peace, and unperturbed by the chaos around me.

I'm starting this list late--July 25. I'll see how many of this year's books I can remember.

1. Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene: The Followers of Jesus in History and Legend (Paper) by Bart D. Ehrman. IP Page 130/285
   
2. The Lost Gospel of Judas Iscariot (Paper) by Bart D. Ehrman. IP 88/198
   
3. Lost (Paper) by Gregory Maguire. IP Page 120/339
   
4. Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchet
   
5. The Count of Monte Christo (Audio) by Alexandre Dumas (Author), Richard Matthews (Narrator).
   
6. Anansi Boys (Audio) by Neil Gaiman (Author), Lenny Henry (Narrator)
   
7. The Truth (With Jokes) (Audio) by Al Franken (Author and Narrator)
   
8. Stardust (Audio) by Neil Gaiman (Author and Narrator)
   
9. Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed (Audio) by Jared Diamond (Author), Michael J Prichard (Narrator)
   
10. Turning Point (Paper) by Lisanne Norman
    
11. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Audio) by J. K. Rowling (Author), Jim Dale (Narrator) Completed 08/03/07
    
12. The Cat Who Went Underground (Audio) by Lillian Jackson Braun (Author), George Guidall (Narrator). Completed 8/1/07
    
13. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (Audio) by Malcolm Gladwell (Author and Narrator)
    
14. It's Superman! (Audio) by Tom De Haven (Author), Scott Brick (Narrator)
    
15. CrazyBusy: Overstretched, Overbooked, and About to Snap! Strategies for Handling Your Fast-Paced Life (Audio) by Dr. Edward Hallowell (Author), Don Leslie (Narrator)
    
16. Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister: A Novel (Audio) by Gregory Maguire (Author), Jenny Sterlin (Narrator)
    
17. Guns, Germs, & Steel : The Fates of Human Societies (Audio) by Jared Diamond (Author), Grover Gardner (Narrator)
    
18. The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare (Audio) by Lillian Jackson Braun (Author), George Guidall (Narrator)
    
19. Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception (Audio) by Eoin Colfer (Author), Nathaniel Parker (Narrator)
    
20. The Cat Who Had 14 Tales (Audio) by Lillian Jackson Braun (Author), George Guidall (Narrator)
    
21. The Cat Who Knew Played Post Office (Audio) by Lillian Jackson Braun (Author), George Guidall (Narrator)
    
22. Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code (Audio) by Eoin Colfer (Author), Nathaniel Parker (Narrator)
    
23. Misquoting Jesus: the story behind who changed the Bible and why (Audio Book) Bart D. Ehrman.
    
24. The Cat Who Played Brahms (Audio) by Lillian Jackson Braun (Author), George Guidall (Narrator)
    
25. Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident (Audio CD) by Eoin Colfer (Author), Nathaniel Parker (Narrator)
    
26. The Cat Who Saw Red (Audio CD) by Lillian Jackson Braun (Author), George Guidall (Narrator)
    
27. Artemis Fowl (Audio) by Eoin Colfer (Author), Nathaniel Parker (Narrator)
    
28. The Cat Who Turned On and Off (Audio) by Lillian Jackson Braun (Author), George Guidall (Narrator)
    
29. The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern (Audio) by Lillian Jackson Braun (Author), George Guidall (Narrator)
    
30. The Tipping Point: how little things can make a big difference by Malcolm Gladwell.
    
31. The Cat Who Could Read Backwards (Audio CD) by Lillian Jackson Braun (Author), George Guidall (Narrator)
    
32. Truth and fiction in the Da Vinci code: a historian reveals what we really know about Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and Constantine (Audio) Bart D. Ehrman.
    
33. The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir (Audio) by Bill Bryson (Author and Narrator)
    
34. For One more Day by Mitch Albom
    
35. Sir Thursday (Audio) by Garth Nix
    
36. The Prestige (Paper) by Christopher Priest
    
37. Teacher Man (Audio) by Frank McCourt
    
38. The End (Audio) by Lemony Snicket (Author), Tim Curry (Narrator)
    
39. Son of a Witch (Audio) by Gregory Maguire
    
40. Science Friction: Where the Known Meets the Unknown (Paper) by Michael Shermer
    
41. Renfield: Slave of Dracula (Paper) by Barbara Hambly
    

Here at work, I installed the Google Desktop. It has weather, news items (when it works) and displays some recent messages from my lj and tribe.net contacts.

The big thing I'm enjoying is the slideshow. I've loaded a number of different images. Flowers, sunsets, artwork and the like. I'm pulling some pictures from the LJ community awesome_places. My favorite pictures are the pictures of some of my favorite friends and sweeties--people who are very special to me. It is a wonderful experience to see the image change out of the corner of my eye, and then when I look, I see the smiling face of someone special to me.

I expect it will prove a great boon on those stressful days.

A rousing happy birthday to both thelixa and charlesks! Maybe this day be all that you two may wish it to be!

Thou Art Goddess!
Thou Art God!

From greeklady
( Read more... )

From maestrodog

Interesting. Three money/money is no object questions.
( Read more... )

Leave me a comment saying anything random, like your favorite lyric to your current favorite song. Or your favorite kind of sandwich. Something random. Whatever you like. I respond by asking you five personal questions so I can get to know you better. You will update your LJ with the answers to the questions, if you like. You will include this explanation and offer to ask someone else in the post. When others comment asking to be asked, you will ask them five questions.

From mama_hogswatch:

1. What would your fantasy home look like?
   It would be very much like a Hobbit home. Partially underground for energy efficiency (built into a hill whether natural or constructed). It would have a central common room with private rooms extending radially from the central core. It would be ideal for an extended poly family with plenty of privacy along with communal space.
   
   
2. You have been relieved of the necessity of earning a living on the condition that you choose a Life's Work. What is it?
   One of two things:
   
   
   
   • Working as a librarian. Some of my fondest memories of childhood have been in libraries. One of the best in high school was when I worked in the school library. Somehow, I ignored the signs for the more prestigious goal of the field of astrophysics. That didn't manifest and since then work has largely been getting by with talents I had for various work.
     
   • Making art of some sort. Over the years, from high school to adulthood, I've worked with photography, film, lost wax jewelry making, stained glass, wood carving, and bonsai. I've found that I have rarely had the discipline (or in some cases, the finances) to keep with them amidst the chaos of daily life. One day, I'd like to return to them and find which suit best.
   
   
   
3. What was the best movie ever made?
   That is a tough one. Looking at some online suggestions, I see that IMDB's readers place The Godfather at the top. AFI, Films101, and Sight and Sound declare Citizen Kane to have that honor. Mr. Showbiz, on the other hand, says Casablanca. I really don't know. There are many films that are very good at what they do, such as the above three which could be said to be the top of there genres/eras. Just having watched The Lord of the Rings (extended edition), I'd be tempted to say that it is probably the best of its genre. The original Star Wars was meaningful to me, as was Gallipoli and Schindler's List. It is also difficult to declare a best when another may be made at any time. This is not getting anywhere. I'll have to say that there are too many candidates for a poly-minded man like me to decide. Is that a cop-out?
   
   
4. Do you know how to handle firearms?
   I've had some basic experience. I'm no expert, but I probably know more than the average US citizen. More than the average Texan, probably not. ;-)
   
   
5. What skill do you hope your child grows up having?
   Most of all, I'd like them to have the skill to know their own heart, to know what they REALLY want in life and have the courage and focus to seek it. My own stumbles were probably a combination of fear/lack of courage and a lack of focus with undiagnosed ADD. I would hope that my children are not hampered by shoulds that get in the way of seeking their bliss. Do those count as "skills?" Perhaps. Perhaps not. I think that being able to identify and follow one's "Bliss" is paramount to any specific skill one might have.
   

Now I have to look back 2 weeks on my friends list to finally look at all those discussions by people who had already finished and posted. I've found two so far.

In other news, runeshower and I narrowly avoided a collision during the commute this morning. I was preparing to change lanes and in the split second I was checking behind me, the car in front hit his brakes. Runeshower saw it and alerted me in time to slow down sufficiently at a little less than one car length from said car. The car behind us was taken by surprise and slammed his brakes so hard his tires screeched.

Understandably, Runeshower was quite anxious the rest of the trip. She said I was actually accelerating before the change. I'm usually pretty good about not accelerating at such times, but she may be right. I know I still had my foot on the gas pedal.

I just wanted to say how much I appreciate Runeshower's quick response. It brought be instantly to the front with enough warning that I didn't have to slam on the brakes. Thank you my love and I'm sorry to get your heart racing that way (I usually prefer other methods).

It's not easy, but I have decided to stop listening to the Harry Potter audio book for a few days. I've recently started disk 16 (of 17). runeshower is just starting disk 14, and we would like to be able share the process again. Last week, when we were closer to each other in our progress, we were able to discuss it as equals, each one offering conjectures about what was to come. For a long time, we were playing leapfrog, first one would take the lead, then the other. Once I pulled more than two disks ahead, it became one-way.

This shouldn't take long, then we're back in sync. I expect we may actually go to listening together for these last two disks.

Explanation and other locations

What does it mean?

This script locates the user on the LJ map. The map is organized in such a way that the users from the same clique are close to each other on the map. Users are in the same clique if they are not only mutual friends but also friends of each other friends and their friends are most likely to be friends too. If the user has some non-clique (distant) friends they are shown on the map together with links connecting them. So the length of the link quantitatively represents how distant is the certain friend from user's clique.

The intensity of the color shows how many users are located on this certain spot. White means: no users here. There are two main user continents on the current map: main cluster (the larger on the right) and the Russian speaking continent on the right. Most of the users are in the red centers of these continents.

========

It is interesting to see connections to those accounts that were friended by so many people in their heyday, like iheartdarth and cassieclaire.

Yesterday, while heading into work, I was listening to our local classical station, KDFC. They played the Thunder and Lightening Polka by Johann Stauss Jr. It got me to thinking....

Why did the expression "Thunder and lightning" get remembered in that order? After all, we all experience lightning before the thunder.

That is all.

Today is the birthday of the Love of My Life, runeshower. Unfortunately, she has to work today, but I'm hoping that she's feeling quite loved and will have a wonderful time tonight. I'm hoping that she'll choose a place she really likes and we can take her there for a wonderful dinner with family and maybe even some friends.

Audio books are definitely a goodness for me. True, now that I'm taking bus and light rail to and from work most of the time, I could read a paper book (and I have from time to time). The added advantage of an audio book is that I don't have to put it away for the one mile walk from the train station to work and visa versa.

Last night I spent much of the time syncing my LG Chocolate with the next audiobook I was going to listen to. I'd just finished Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maquire (author of Wicked: The life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West) and was in the midst of the interview with the author. It was quite interesting for him to talk about his background, how he develops his characters, and how he's sometimes surprised at how the characters end up by the end of the book. This was of course, his interpretation of the Cinderella myth set in 17th Century Holland (The town of Haarlem). I did learn something from his research. I had no knowledge of a famous Dutch woman painter, Judith Leyster (also known as Judith Molenaer), 1609 - 1660


I'm looking forward to taking on Mirror, Mirror (Snow White) and continuing with Lost ("a ghost story for adults"). Unfortunately, I've only been able to find Lost in hardback, so I'm not getting to it as often. One thing I've found with audio books is that I am more easily moved by the spoken word. The death or tragedy of a character you've come to know is so much more poignant when told to you by a human voice. Conversely, I tied listening to one of Anne Coulter's books and couldn't get past the introduction. Such hatefulness comes across even stronger when expressed by the human voice.

Not much of a stretch after Confessions..., I've just started It's Superman! A Novel by Tom De Haven. It seems to be going back to the original sources, opening with a mysterious death in 1935. The victim appears to be a criminal whose gun appears to have fired backwards and a confused youth named Clark Kent seems to be involved in some way. They haven't revealed it, but I suspect the bad guy shot Clark and was hit by the ricochet.

Last week, runeshower, wallballgirl, and I attended a Meet and Greet event for our local geocaching community. Someone had a video camera:

Perhaps it is a good thing I'm straight!

Link: The are you a feminist? Test written by Lusti-c on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

It's been a quiet day at the office today. A lot of people seem to be out sick today, but otherwise nothing untoward has happened. I've read about the problems experienced by others, but it doesn't seem to have had much effect on us. Perhaps the fact that the building blocks cell-phone signals has something to do with it.

In about fifteen minutes, that will all change. I will have to leave the safety of the building and walk the mile to the light rail station. I hope it is still running. I usually take the light rail to Ironsides and Tasman and meet up with runeshower. I haven't heard from her since around 10:00 am. I hope things are ok at her work.

I am certain this explains the lack of RSVPs for the dinner I'm hosting tonight. I've only got one response so far. I expect we'll have a few attendees shambling in without notice. I'm not sure if anything on Holder's menu will satisfy them.

Jerry Falwell, dead at 73

The more I learn of the origins of Christianity, the more I am struck by the hypocrisy. Those of Falwell's ilk looked to the Apocalyptic side of Jesus, the side probably most accurate to Jesus the man. I'm pretty much a non-apocalypticist myself.

He was clear in his declarations that the apocalypse would result in a reversal of fortunes, those who were most powerful in this world, would be the most encumbered in the next. Why any devout Apocalyptic Christian would seek power, wealth, comfort and prestige is beyond me.

Unfortunately, he helped to put this country on a course that IMHO, has been very bad for us. He helped to provide a spark to ignite another polarization of this country, one that continues to this day. He helped to blame those of us on the fringe for all of this country's ills. He helped to set create an environment where hatemongers like Reverent Fred Phelps and his family could grow and thrive. I'm convinced that the ripples he set in motion will continue long after today's death.

That said, condolences to his family and other loved ones. Despite his hypocrisy, despite the damage done in his name (while claiming it was in His Name), many will grieve.

mama_hogswatch provided the link:

From cat_macros" I has a Bard!