The Path to Awakening

"When beings and the world are filled with evil, convert adversities into the path of awakening."

Due to their self-clinging and negative actions, living beings (and therefore the world) are filled with evil.

You should call to mind that suffering is the maturing and passing of bad karma. Like everything else, negative karma is also impermanent--it will eventually run itself out. Since the results of your own actions always ripen on you, it is better to deal with them now as best you can and be done with them.

The reason why the lojong methods are so special is that they show you how to take advantage of your negative karma. You can deploy the methods to actually transform every undesirable circumstance into an opportunity to practice the dharma.

How does this work? Your suffering connects you to the suffering of sentient beings by making you understand that suffering is universal. As you suffer, you can resolve to absorb all suffering. Your motivation, however, must be genuine. When it is, adverse conditions essentially become a means for you to accumulate good karma, or positive merit. Think: 'I am suffering. Through my suffering, may I absorb all the suffering of others and relieve them.' This wish, grounded in relative bodhicitta, purifies your karma and, in effect, reduces your resistance to your own suffering.

Shamar Rinpoche, The Path to Awakening, pg 101-102.

The Equalizer (2014, Movie)

Extremely everything you think it will be; extremely violent, extremely clique, extremely predictable. Kind of like a real life Batman, to help those who needed it. 

Boundless Awakening: The Heart of Buddhist Meditation Paperback – May 31, 2013

Boundless Awakening is a pocket-sized book on meditation. The book is excellent for people interested in meditation, both beginners and advanced. A primary benefit experienced by the practitioner of meditation is the immediate improvement in the conditions of daily life. The practice of meditation leads to a mind that is more peaceful, more tranquil and more at ease. Because the mind is more relaxed, events that usually disturb us seem to take on less importance, and we stop taking them in such a serious way. Likewise, through meditation the mind gradually learns to be independent of external conditions and circumstances. This mind that is unaffected by outer conditions is then able to discover its own stability and tranquility. A stable mind, one that is not disturbed, leads to the experience of less suffering in our lives.

St. Patrick's Day Luncheon at City of Arcadia

Everyone is Irish today when join the festivities for a St. Patty's Day special event. The themed lunch was corn beef and cabbage sandwich, and I requested to take out the meat. One thing surprised me most is the talented vocalist Bonnie Bowden sang Irish tunes for us to enjoy, including:

• My Heart Will Go On
• Too Ra Loo Ra Loo Rah
• When Irish Eyes Are Smiling
• Danny Boy
• Nessun Dorma from Turandot
• Indian Summer
• Phantom Of The Opera: "The Music Of The Night"
• Romeo And Juliet: "Je Veux Vivre/Juliet's Waltz"

I even bought her CD "Classical Meets Broadway". Elegant, sexy, and engaging,  jazz songstress Bonnie Bowden dished up a clinic on how to present a musically delicious show. In addition, she invited her frined Don Digirolamo who is an American sound engineer and won an Academy Award in the category Best Sound for E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Both of them put out an excellent show together.

The Train

At birth we boarded the train and met our parents, and we believe they will always travel on our side. However, at some station our parents will step down from the train, leaving us on this journey alone. As time goes by, other people will board the train; and they will be significant i.e. our siblings, friends, children, and even the love of your life. Many will step down and leave a permanent vacuum. Others will go so unnoticed that we don't realize they vacated their seats. This train ride will be full of joy, sorrow, fantasy, expectations, hellos, goodbyes, and farewells. Success consists of having a good relationship with all passengers requiring that we give the best of ourselves.

The mystery to everyone is: We do not know at which station we ourselves will step down. So, we must live in the best way, love, forgive, and offer the best of who we are. It is important to do this because when the time comes for us to step down and leave our seat empty we should leave behind beautiful memories for those who will continue to travel on the train of life.I wish you a joyful journey on the train of life. Reap success and give lots of love. More importantly, thank God for the journey.

Unknown 

Spartacus (Ballet) (1979, Movie)

This is a fantastic filmed version of the classic ballet. The closeups and cuts in my opinion enhance the experience. Aram Khachaturian wrote the melodious score to the Spartacus ballet between 1950 and '54. It wasn't till April 9, 1968 did Spartacus achieve its definitive form in a performance given at the Bolshoi, this time, with choreography by Yuri Grigorovich. His version is a three-act ballet divided into two main categories. There are the major soldier/crowd scenes and also the monologues in which one of the four principal dancers is the only one onstage, and he or she dances against a dark background. At the premiere, the four principals were: Vladimir Vasiliev as Spartacus, Ekaterina Maximova as Phrygia, Maris Liepa as Crassus, and Nina Timofeyeva as Aegina. So, with the exception of Maximova, who was replaced by Bessmertnova as Phrygia, these were the dancers in this famous 1977 film.

But that's where the good news ends and the problems begin. First, they used some dated cinematic techniques that are downright irritating. For example, they superimposed images (double exposure) to make a battle scene look bigger than it is. Elsewhere, they slowed down the motion of one of Spartacus' leap sequences; I'm sorry, that format just doesn't suit ballet--dance movements should correspond with the music. Furthermore, the picture itself is sometimes very dark, which makes it hard to see the corps de ballet. And the sound quality is only passable.

The producer decides to cut forty-odd minutes of dance and music out of the film, which makes the work much less coherent. Because of the overall (poor) quality of the '79 Vasiliev, I will recommend it to true aficionados ONLY for its completeness. Alas, if only it were better shot...

衰老是一個被灌输的概念

我們不知道自己能做什麼，或者能變成什麼，一切皆有可能。而核心概念則是“專注力”。這裡所指的專注力，是說我們需要時不時地停下腳步思考一下我們在做什麼，在某個情境下是怎樣反應的，還有沒有別的選擇？換句話說，專注力就是一種簡單的實踐，要時常去留意新的事物、積極尋找差異。讓自己對人和環境重新敏感起來，向新的可能性敞開，形成新的視角。

 “衰老是一個被灌輸的概念，老年人的虛弱、無助、多病，常常是一種習得性無助，而不是必然的生理過程。”

 年齡只是一個數字而已。如今，媽媽已經87歲，她的思維敏捷、動作靈便、開朗樂觀的言行，令周圍人很難相信她的實際年齡，都以為她是六七十歲的人。媽媽也為此受到很大鼓舞，我相信這樣的“以為”也會導致她身體給予很好的配合。

 當我們相信年邁的父母可以掌控他們自己的生活，當我們能夠把他們當作朋友，給他們更多尊重與信任，為他們創造一些便利的條件，讓他們過得舒適、開心的時候，他們才可以專注於“當下”，過上健康、幸福的生活。這不也正是我們每一個人所期待的嗎？人生中我們可以控制的部分，包括健康和快樂，可以遠遠超出我們的想像。

祝愿天下年邁的父母忘掉真實年齡，啟動專注力，開心於“當下”，永遠健康、快樂、長壽！