Best Of
Re: Perfect things and what is real
@Shoshin1 said:
Master the art of perfect imperfection
I gave up goals, and ended up being just as I am.
Jeroen
Re: The sudden death of a pigeon
@Jeroen
The polar bears, the pumas, the wolves, all are "Flying into the glass window".
I am pained by their demise as much as a sparrow, a pigeon, a deer or a monkey.
They do not see the "Glass Windows/Walls". Wolves inside Yellowstone are lured outside the park boundaries and murdered by "Hunters" for "Sport" or for their state bounty.
Pumas in Florida are losing their habitat to land thieves (developers), Mountain lions in California are precious and as are the condors and Pelicans.
Mourn no less for the polar bear than the sparrow or pigeon. The are all our cousins.
Peace to all
Lionduck
Re: Just for fun: the random, useless announcements thread!
Nothing special here.
Just completed an episode of "Do we have AC or not" - Now we do.
Our warped car gate is now repaired.
Battling with the squirrels over the coming persimmon harvest.
Slept through the lunar eclipse.
Dtr and Stepson now on speaking terms
Everyone is reasonably healthy here
The sun is shining and we can, for now, walk outside without melting.
Peace to all
Lionduck
Re: Perfect things and what is real
Someone once said, "If you want perfection, become an engineer."
In life, we do not seek perfection, an impossible goal to achieve.
We may seek what we perceive to be more perfect, closer to perfection.
Yet what we are almost always seeking is balance.
A Buddha is an awakened (enlightened) one, not a perfect being.
After all, Buddha arises from within an ordinary person, never the other way around.
It can be said that when a person steps or emerges from the fog of fundamental darkness and into the bright day of full awakening, that is enlightenment or Buddha, if he or she turns around and reenters that fog, that Buddha does not leave the light, but carries it to lead others and show them, enable them to also walk the path that leads to their own emergence from the fog.
What them is a Bodhisattva? It has been said that one who displays all the actions characteristic of a Buddha. Such a person perhaps caught glimpses of the " Bright Daylight" but has not yet fully emerged and is still seeking.
Of course, that is merely my understanding. You may agree, disagree, have a completely different understanding. That is all right. I am not her to convince you one way or another. This is as I see it, no more - no less.
Peace to you
Lionduck
Re: Just for fun: the random, useless announcements thread!
Good companies deserve good word-of-mouth recommendations. But really I was reminded by @person’s positive experience with Apple TV when this deal came along, and the last time I had an Apple TV subscription was a couple of years ago and I enjoyed a few things, and I was wondering about the new seasons.
Jeroen
Re: Just for fun: the random, useless announcements thread!
@Jeroen Apple should be paying you for all of the positive sentiments towards it that you have been sharing with us. I have a similar affinity with the public-bycicle system and company that was introduced in my city a year ago. 
We should be their sales reps!
marcitko
Re: Just for fun: the random, useless announcements thread!
Good morning, everyone.
On buying a new iPad I decided to take Apple up on their offer of 40% off a years subscription to the Apple TV streaming service. I’ve been enjoying Pluribus, and will probably catch up on Foundation next…
Jeroen
Re: Just for fun: the random, useless announcements thread!
@Jeroen said:
Yes, I’ve seen them now. That was quite a trip! And not many western tourists…
I may have seen a couple of Western-looking people in Tiananmen Square and maybe four at the Great Wall.
It's interesting, during my 12-hour stopover in Beijing on my way to Europe, I traveled to the hotel with a young Russian Kiwi woman who was on the same plane. She had attended school and college in Aotearoa and now lives there. She spoke English fluently and was heading to visit her grandmother in Siberia.
At the end of the Great Wall walk, as I was making my way down to the train station, a Russian woman and her son approached me and started a conversation. They were from Moscow, her son had won a scholarship to one of Moscow’s top universities. The woman was quite fluent in English, though with a Russian accent, and her son spoke English too.
We walked together for a while towards the station, and she shared some insights about life in Russia.
The only ‘Westerners’ I really interacted with in Beijing were Russians. I had much more interaction with the local Chinese population, despite the language barrier. Most of our communication was through a translation app on my or their phone.
I had to get a reconditioned iPhone for the trip because I needed a phone that could support an eSIM so I could use it in China.
Shoshin1
Re: The Knowledge That Matters
@person said:
The ability to not get attached to our thoughts is an important part of the practice though. >I hear lots of people talk about how understanding that this was even possible was a major >turning point in their lives.
This was the case for me a few months ago while sitting in the waiting room at my neurologist's office. My outcome (which I will find out in a week), will quite literally change my life. I realised in the moments of waiting, that I will not possibly know what to expect or how to feel with the outcome. Why not start letting go now?
