Hogmanay!

     
          Yesterday I was inveigled out to a bar by Poisonous and nearly fell into another open grave. After about five pints of Guinness I was dragged into a cocktail bar where Poisonous bought us some whiskies. I don't drink whisky. Basturns!

           I was up around eight and not feeling so good. When I could pull myself together sufficiently, I sat down in the lobby and immediately went into the most amazing bliss. After an hour and a half, just about, I got up and felt so much better. The development in the meditations seem to have completely ignored the fact that I had given my brain a kicking in the interim. And they've improved every time I've sat down today though my nerves are, of course, jangling a little still from the whiskies. Basturns!

           I took a wee walk up to the allotment around three to check out the camera.

           I'm not about to try and sum up 2013, which was very unlucky for some of us. But I don't know what kind of mess I'd have been in without my meditations.

           I think I might tell everyone I'm away to the Holy Isle and just stay here!! I could do that if I could just give up the tobacco and the drink whilst here on my ownio....

Another camera!

          Started wrestling with the Nicotine Dragon , but all resolve collapsed abput one o clock. I've been a bad boy this time for about five weeks, so it's going to be a struggle. It's just like last year, except not so tense, with me trying to clean up my act before going to the Holy Isle. If I do go.

          I went out for a walk this afternoon, as if my wont, partly to check out the new camera on the new mobile. It seems to work.

          Over the last week or so, I've begun to think that the YES vote is going to win the Independence Referendum. The coverage in the Sunday Times looked rather panicy today. The bookie's have a No vote at about 1 to 5, and the YES vote at 10 to 3, so according to the bookies the YES camp have no chance. The SNP, of course, had no chance of forming a majority in the Scottish elections they had a landslide at, so what do the bookie's know? Once UKIP trounce everyone in England in the European elections next May ...

          I should imagine after the introduction of higher taxes on the evil bourgois - hopefully, both income tax and inheritance taxes- Norman Tebbit's famous loyalty test will apply in reverse. If you are Scottish and support the English creekit team. you'll probably be asked to leave the country once we've taken most of your money back from the folk you stole it from.

          Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive,
          But to be young was very heaven!

          Well, I can't do anything about the second part, but the first part is certainly motoring along these days!

         

I knew I was a Jain!

         Anybody else a Jain?

        Anekāntavāda encourages its adherents to consider the views and beliefs of their rivals and opposing parties. Proponents of anekāntavāda apply this principle to religions and philosophies, reminding themselves that any of these—even Jainism—that clings too dogmatically to its own tenets is committing an error based on its limited point of view.^[24] The principle of anekāntavāda also influenced Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi to adopt principles of religious tolerance, ahiṃsā andsatyagraha.^[25]

Syādvāda is the theory of conditioned predication, which recommends the expression of anekānta by prefixing the epithetSyād to every phrase or expression.^[26] Syādvāda is not only an extension of anekānta into ontology, but a separate system of logic capable of standing on its own. The Sanskrit etymological root of the term syād is "perhaps" or "maybe", but in the context of syādvāda it means "in some ways" or "from some perspective". As reality is complex, no single proposition can express its nature fully. The term "syāt" should therefore be prefixed to each proposition, giving it a conditional point of view and thus removing dogmatism from the statement.^[27] Since it comprises seven different conditional and relative viewpoints or propositions, syādvāda is known as saptibhaṅgīnāya or the theory of seven conditioned predications. These seven propositions, also known as saptibhaṅgī, are:^[28]

1. syād-asti—in some ways, it is;
2. syād-nāsti—in some ways, it is not;
3. syād-asti-nāsti—in some ways, it is, and it is not;
4. syād-asti-avaktavyaḥ—in some ways, it is, and it is indescribable;
5. syād-nāsti-avaktavyaḥ—in some ways, it is not, and it is indescribable;
6. syād-asti-nāsti-avaktavyaḥ—in some ways, it is, it is not, and it is indescribable;
7. syād-avaktavyaḥ—in some ways, it is indescribable.

Each of these seven propositions examines the complex and multifaceted nature of reality from a relative point of view of time, space, substance and mode.^[28] To ignore the complexity of reality is to commit the fallacy of dogmatism.^[21]

Boxing Day

          I got a mobile phone for Christmas, so soon I'll be able to see what I'm taking a photie of. I'm not at all sure if this will improve matters. I was a lovely afternoon for a walk round the Botties then over to the allotment.

          Despite all the Christmas shenanigans, the force in the meditations continues to increase. Something is certainly happening, but whether it turns out good in the end or not is still an open question. Ringu Tulku said it was easy to open the channels, but you must do things in the right order. Well, I don't know if I have or not, probably not. But I feel as if I've got a ringside seat to witness something develop, which is something kind of weird and wonderful. There is some stuff being unleashed, that's for sure.

         I'm going to start trying to clean up my act as of tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow .... yes, I'm going to have to wrestle with the Nicotine Dragon. The Beer Monster is easily controllable when I'm smoking.

         I'm really looking forward to clicking on these photies and seeing them in the bigger version. You won't get such anticipation if you can see what you're photographing.

A piece of cheese for a Christian man!

          I bought a piece of cheese today from Stockbridge Market. That's the first cheese I've bought for years since I don't normally eat dairy. I'm going to Auntie Anla's for my Christmas dinner and have requested dead animals. Last year I had a handful of turkey once I'd had a few drinks, but this year I hope to gross out on the dead animals and all that jazz.

          The title of this post is a quote from someone. Anybody know?

           I read through the draft of Samsara the other day. The radio folk have never gotten back to me, but I'll finish it before the 9th of January when I'm supposed to be going to the Holy Isle.

           The photies are of where I sit in the lobby. That's where most of the meditations happen. A couple of days ago I found two shopping bags full of candles and bits of candles and candle holders. So I've decided to meditate by candlelight till I've no candles left. That might take some time. The bigger card in the photies is of the deity, Dorje Semper,  I am supposed to be visualising

The telly juju

         
          I feel as if I've turned a bit of a corner this week. I had a cold in my lungs for two weeks, but it's gone now. Much more energy. Also, I feel more used to my new life and far more comfortable in it. Some nice sense of settling.

           I tend to walk for about half an hour or so every afternoon when it's not raining, and go to the Botties when the light is good, like today. Since I'm not running at the moment, I don the Beer Monster Reduction Vehicle several times a week. These sessions tend to last about half an hour and I make them as aerobic as I can manage. My feet are very slowly recovering from the puffiness on the front of the footpads, so I hope I can start running again next year.

          I had the telly on BBC4 from seven. By nine I was sitting there watching a show about Constantinople and I could feel a lot of the sensations in my body I get when I'm meditating. I was doing the mantras and vase breathing and watching the telly at the same time. I've been able to feel stuff while watching the telly for a long while, but it was far more pronounced tonight. This has to be a good sign.

           So about five weeks since I was last at the Samye, I now feel quite at home. If everything keeps going like this and my life continues to improve over the holiday period, it will be difficult to bugger off the Holy Isle on the 9th of January.

Karma

           Someone on the telly reminded me of Glenn Hoddle getting the sack from the England manager's job because he said (allegedly) that disabled people were disabled because of stuff they'd done in previous lives. I knew this was horseshit, but I couldn't remember much about karma. Only buddhas are supposed to really understand the workings of karma.

          So I re-read Good, Evil and Beyond: Kamma in the Buddha's Teaching by P.A. Payutto.

          There are three philosophies on karma that Buddha refuted. The first one is: The belief that all happiness and suffering arise from previous karma. (Past-action determinism).

          "Bhikkus, adhering to previously done karma as the essence, there is neither motivation or effort with what should be done and what should not be done. Not upholding ardently what should be done, nor abandoning what should be abandoned, those ascetics and Brahmins are as if deluded, lacking a control, incapable of having any true teaching. This is our legitimate refutation of the first group of ascetics and Brahmins holding these views."

          Well, there it is.

Photies on the constitutional.

          There was a very beautiful receptionist at the dentist's this afternoon. I wanted to take her photie, but was too shy to ask. She was the most attractive person I've seen since the receptionist at my last dentist's. I didn't take her photie either. I almost never take photies of people. But I've never had to talk to policemen either.
           Was the Buddha a commie? Judge for yourself.
          In this way, bhikkhus, when the ruler of a country fails to apportion wealth to those in need, poverty becomes prevalent. Poverty being prevalent, theft becomes prevalent.Theft being prevalent, weapons become prevalent. When weapons become prevalent, killing and maiming become prevalent, lying becomes prevalent.. slander ... sexual infidelity ...abuse and frivolity ... covetousness and jealousy .. wrong view becomes prevalent.
           Zombies becoming prevalent seems to have been lost in translation!

Advice for prospective zombies!

          There isn't a wee man or woman in your brain somewhere who is hearing and seeing and touching and all that. Hearing's hearing. Seeing's seeing. These things just go on. It's what being conscious is all about. But there is nobody in there. You are a conglomeration of stuff, changing stuff.

           If you are worried about turning into a zombie, it just shows how far up your backside your head is.

           It's alright to understand something like this - this non-self and emptiness stuff -but that really isn't much use. After a while you'll forget about it and the same stupid thoughts and neurotic anxieties will emerge.

            The only cure for the worry about turning into a zombie is to meditate on non-self and emptiness. If you regularly do analytical meditations especially, these stupid thoughts will eventually be replace by more sensible ones, and the worry will dissipate.

             Of course, nobody wants to meditate. They'd rather watch the telly. Oh, what shall we do, Great Lord, when old age and death come rolling in? Well, monk, just watch the telly and take the chemical cosh.

              As all else fails apart, the meditations continue to improve in a most wonderful manner. It ebbs and flows, but sometimes it does seem to jump a station. Today there was some kind of overall bliss pervading - there is still something going on with something opening - and I could hardly hold a vase breath for more than twenty or thirty seconds. The channel must be quite a bit open. The winds must be entering. I never do know quite what's going to happen next. But whatever it is, I promise not to turn into a zombie!!

Another Saturday night!

          I'm on my own this Saturday night. Hurrah! There are difficulties with solitude, but there are also difficulties with companions. The balance between solitude and company has been a bit tricky in the month or so since I was last at the Samye Ling. I'm supposed to be doing a bit better with the smoking and drinking, but extended periods of solitude is what I should be aiming for. So I'm on my own on this Saturday night, but that's exactly how it should be.Hurrah again!

         The Old, Toothless One asked me to go to a movie. I don't like going to movies. I'm already been to a movie the previous Sunday.I had to drink five pints of Guinness afterwards because you just can't get away. But its not all about me, so I went to the movie. It was about folk turning into zombies. I think the Old, Toothless One is worried about turning into a zombie himself since I can think of no other reason why he should want to go to such a movie. The zombie in the movie looked a bit like the Old Toothless One. You couldn't help but notice the similarity. In the bar afterwards, I was going to engage him in a conversation about the similarities between folk turning into zombies and folk turning into rhinoceroses, as in Ionescu's Rhinocerus, but after two sips of the Wifebeater, it was undeniable. The zombies are among us! By the way, it was another six pints of Guinness before I could shake him off. Maybe it's not the company you keep, but the kind of company you keep, in my case, depraved zombie binge drinkers.

          So it's better just to stay in and do the bliss every now and again.

        

More than one photie.

          I fixed the camera. Well, it still hasn't got a viewfinder, but it takes photies again.I meditate all morming usually, so I try to get out in the afternoon. I bought a bejewelled cashmere cardigan for my Auntie Kathy's Christmas, but couldn't stay in after all that excitement, it was so good looking outside. This is the beautiful, wonderful city in the wintertime. The wintertime is great as long as you don't have to work, but then again so is ever other time. I just love not having a job.

One Photie!

I took some photies today after staring up the at the clouds for a bit, but these photies have all disappeared, except this one.

And this word processing has gone to hell.

Bottie Walkies!

          Another nice walk this afternoon!