Thursday, August 31, 2006

anyone at all


Funny how I feel more myself with you
Than anybody else that I ever knew
I hear it in your voice, see it in your face
You've become the memory I can't erase

You could have been anyone at all
A stranger falling out of blue
I'm so glad it was you

Wasn't in the plan not that I could see
Suddenly a miracle came to me
Safe within your arms I can say what's true
Nothing in the world I would keep from you

You could have been anyone at all
An old friend calling out of blue
I'm so glad it was you

Words can hurt you if you let them
People say them and forget them
Words can promise words can lie
But your words make me feel like I can fly

You could have been anyone at allAnd let that catches me when I fall
I'm so glad it was you


Carole King


Music Tracks section below, rhs.

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Restorative Justice



Restorative justice is a theory of justice that emphasizes repairing the harm caused or revealed by criminal behaviour. It is best accomplished through cooperative processes that include all stakeholders.

Restorative programmes are characterized by four key values:
1. Encounter: Create opportunities for victims, offenders and community members who want to do so to meet to discuss the crime and its aftermath
2. Amends: Expect offenders to take steps to repair the harm they have caused
3. Reintegration: Seek to restore victims and offenders to whole, contributing members of society
4. Inclusion: Provide opportunities for parties with a stake in a specific crime to participate in its resolution


More info@:
Guidelines - Restorative Justice Through Dialogue

Guidelines - Restorative Justice Site

Law, Buddhism & Social Change


International Conference

Law, Buddhism, and Social Change: A Conversation with the 14th Dalai Lama

Wednesday, September 20
Thursday, September 21
O'Brian Hall, North Campus
University at Buffalo, State of New York

A two-day academic conference "Law, Buddhism, and Social Change" at the University at Buffalo will open with a conversation with His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama on the morning of Wednesday, September 20, in the Law Library in O'Brian Hall on the North Campus. This important conference represents the path-breaking efforts of the Law and Buddhism project at UB, the only such academic endeavor in the world. Although Law and Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism are established and well-endowed areas of study, the study of Law and Buddhism is new.

To read more, click:
Official Website

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Mitsuko Uchida



"You can practise as much as you like. You can study as much as you like, work as much as you like, think as much as you like at home. But exposure is dangerous. There are plenty of examples of people who have become addicted to exposure, musicians and otherwise. Exposure, power and money go hand in hand and are peculiarly dangerous and addictive.

I understood completely one day I was not going to be the most highly paid musician. I was not going to be the most famous. I was not going to cash in or play as much as possible. I wanted to keep my life my own and not be a great unhappy pianist. I need time to myself to relax. If you keep the balance right, nothing is better than a musician's life. Sometimes I'm asked if I would pay to give concerts, and I would - but instead they pay me. Aren't I lucky!"

Mitsuko Uchida

Click:
Official Site - Mitsuko Uchida
Borletti Buitoni Trust for young musicians

Monday, August 28, 2006

many n few



In the beginner's mind, there are many possibilities.
In the expert's, there are few.

Suzuki Roshi

deep within



"Centeredness is the cure for impulsiveness.
Serenity is the master of restlessness.
Knowing this, one of universal nature is placid
and never departs from the center of his own being.
Though he may move about all day, he never loses his poise.
Though he may be surrounded by splendor and comfort,
he is always dispassionate and undistracted."

Truly, he cherishes what is deep within.

Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu
道德经, 老子

To read Lao Tzu's works in English & Chinese, go to:
'Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu'

Sunday, August 27, 2006

Friday, August 25, 2006

interval between notes



"The notes, I handle no better than many pianists.
But the pauses between the notes -- ah, that is
where the art resides."

Artur Schnabel

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

is love enough?

John Welwood, PhD in Clinical Psychology, addresses a human peculiarity; why do relationships that begin in mutual tenderness sometimes end in mutual terrorism?

For the pdf article, click

'Is love enough? by John Welwood'

Tycoon backs multi-faith centre

To read article at BBC, click:

'Tycoon backs multi-faith centre'

Monday, August 21, 2006

ignorance


Ignorance is not an absence of knowledge,
nor a state of non-knowing.
It is an active misapprehension of reality.

Sunday, August 20, 2006

not lost




All that is gold does not glitter:
not all those that wander are lost.


J R R Tolkien

Friday, August 18, 2006

do not stand at my grave and weep



Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glint on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you wake in the morning hush,
I am the swift, uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft starlight at night.

Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there, I do not sleep.
Do not stand at my grave and cry.
I am not there, I did not die!



Mary Frye (1932)

hardwired spirituality

"Therefore, spirituality may be hard-wired," said Hughes, quoting Dr. Herbert Benson, founding president of the Mind/Body Medical Institute in Chestnut Hill, Mass. “Spirituality is seen as an innate human trait that is very much like a drive. It’s a longing, a hunger for a connection with the transcendent and the divine,”

To read article,
'Sacred Minds' from Science & Theology News

Thursday, August 17, 2006

present moment



The present moment
contains past and future.
The secret of transformation
is in the way we handle
this very moment.

Vasubandhu

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Grown-Up Christmas List



www.yalibnan.com


GROWN-UP CHRISTMAS LIST
(D.Foster-L.Thompson Jennings)


Do you remember me?
I sat upon your knee
I wrote to you
with childhood fantasies

Well,I'm all grown-up now;
can you still help somehow?
I'm not a child,
but my heart still can dream...

So here's my lifelong wish
my grown-up Christmas list...
not for myself,
but for a world in need...

No more lives torn apart
that wars would never start,
and time would heal all hearts.
Every man would have a friend,
that right would always win,
and love would never end...
this is my grown-up Christmas list.

What is this illusion called
the innocence of youth?
maybe only in our blind belief
can we ever find the truth.



David Foster

David Foster Site

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

not two, not one




we are two, yet one.

aml.2006

Toward the First Revolution in the Mind Sciences

Dr. Alan Wallace recently gave a lecture at Google headquarters in Mountainview California.

Alan Wallace, the Santa Barbara Institute’s founder and president, combines an extensive background in contemplative practice with equally rigorous academic and scientific training. From 1971 to 1984, he immersed himself in Tibetan Buddhist studies, first in Dharamsala, India, and then in Switzerland under the tutelage of the eminent scholar Geshe Rabten. He then received a B.A. in physics and the philosophy of science at Amherst College, followed by a Ph.D. in religious studies at Stanford University.

From 1997 to 2001, Dr. Wallace taught in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where his classes focused on Tibetan Buddhist studies and the interface between science and religion. He is the author of many books, including The Taboo of Subjectivity: Toward a New Science of Conscousness, Buddhism and Science: Breaking New Ground, and Buddhism with an Attitude: The Tibetan Seven-Point Mind-Training, as well as numerous scholarly articles.


The lecture can be viewed by clicking here or visiting:

Google Video Online Lecture: Toward the First Revolution in the Mind Sciences



For more info on Alan Wallace and Santa Barbara Institute of Consciousness Studies, see

Alan Wallace Online

Santa Barbara Institute of Consciousness Studies

Saturday, August 12, 2006

Please Call Me By My True Names

I am the mayfly metamorphosing on the surface of the river,
and I am the bird which, when spring comes, arrives in time to eat the mayfly.

I am the frog swimming happily in the clear water of a pond,
and I am also the grass-snake who approaching in silence, feeds itself on the frog.

I am the child in Uganda, all skin and bones, my legs as thin as bamboo sticks,
and I am the arms merchant, selling deadly weapons to Uganda.

I am the 12 year old girl, refugee on a small boat, who throws herself into the ocean after being raped by a sea pirate,
and I am the pirate, my heart not yet capable of seeing and loving.


Thich Nhat Hanh

Friday, August 04, 2006

cross the abyss

"What can we gain by sailing to the moon
if we are not able to cross the abyss
that separates us from ourselves?"



Thomas Merton