SOPA Resistance Day!

Wednesday, January 18th, 2012

Today is SOPA Resistance Day!

SOPA Resistance Day begins at Ars

(image via Ars Technica)

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Open Practice: Focus on Flow in Waking and Lucid Dreaming

Wednesday, November 30th, 2011
swimming: like being back in the womb

swimming: like being back in the womb

In the spirit of #OpenPractice, below is my latest conversation with Shinzen Young regarding my chosen form of practice. I hope this will be of some use for others out there who have a similar form of practice.

Date: Thu, 17 Nov 2011 11:54:24 -0800
Subject: Re: The Dark Night
From: "~C4Chaos"
To: Shinzen Young

Dear Shinzen,

I just read your latest blog post on The Dark Night. As usual, I find your articulation very concise, crisp, and clear. So thanks for that.

That said, I want to ask you some specific questions about my own experience with my practice which may or may not be related to the Dark Night phenomena as you define it.

First of, let me describe to you my practice in detail...

My favorite of the Five Ways is "Focus on Flow" or "The Way of Flow." It's my favorite because I've discovered that I have a "knack" for detecting the expansive, contractive, and flow aspects of "reality." In short, I can easily perceive "flow" as compared to say visualizing stuff, or coming up with positive feelings, etc.

Also, I'm an experienced lucid dream practitioner, meaning I can induce a lucid dream state if I put my mind to it. But what I discovered was that I could fairly easily induce a lucid dream state if I use Focus on Flow in conjunction with my lucid dream practice! Your description of "vibratory flow," "scintillating myst," and "champagne bubbles" in your Science of Enlightenment audio series are just what I needed to connect Focus on Flow with my lucid dream practice! So thanks for that articulation. I find them very useful.
Continue reading >

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Occupy Wall Street as Political and Social Dharma

Friday, November 18th, 2011
Day 31 Occupy Wall Street October 16 2011

via david_shankbone @ flickr

Twenty-five hundred years ago the Buddha occupied the Bodhi tree. He sat there in deep meditation until he awakened and saw reality as it is. Then he got up, moved about, and delivered his monumental four-point message that changed—and continues to shape—history and every Buddhist practitioner’s perception of “reality.”

Two months ago the Occupy Wall Street protesters camped out at Zuccotti Park. They had a rude awakening courtesy of Mayor Bloomberg, the police, and the New York County Supreme Court: It’s okay to protest but you just can’t stay here forever. Occupy Wall Street just had its Bodhi tree moment. The time is ripe to get up, move about, and deliver a laser-like message to the public, the people in office, and the powers that be.

This Economist blog, Democracy In America, put it very succinctly.

“Banding together with a bunch of like-minded citizens to make a big noise is a great way to get noticed, to rally similarly-outraged others to a cause, and to shift the terms of the public debate. OWS has done all that. Now they’ve got to get some sympathetic folks elected to public office, because that’s how this democracy thing works, when it does.”

I believe that the OWS protesters should stand proud, raise their heads, and pat their selves on the back for a job well-done. Then channel the sympathetic public attention and its collective passionate energy to disrupt the political process via the State legislatures, all the while continuing to make their voices heard in a rolling non-violent peaceful protests. It’s high time to Occupy the Courts, the Ballot Box, Washington, Congress and participate in a democratic process which is the very soul of this nation, without being co-opted by any political party or any partisan organization.  Continue reading >

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