OK. A couple of friends had this in their journals, so I guess it's my turn. Here goes ...

1. Post 3 things you've done in your lifetime that you don't think anybody else on your friends list has done.
2. See if anybody else responds with "I've done that."
3. See if your friends cut & paste this into their journal to see what unique things they've done in their life.

Hopefully, these will be sufficiently unusual:

[1] Visited the burial site of every American president who was assassinated.
[2] Intentionally dangled by my ankles out an 8th story window.
[3] Have broken boards with my forehead. (That explains a lot, huh?)

I really do love the shiny black color of our newest companions. However, it does make them a lot easier to step on in the dark.

Oops! Sorry!

Several Christians and a Buddhist explore some ways to 'keep the peace'.

( images behind the cut )

Building a strong and aesthetically pleasing physique is not exactly a Buddhist ideal, regardless of what one might see on television and in the cinema. Neither, for that matter, is the practice of martial arts. Both tend to involve a sense of ego that is counter-productive to personal enlightenment. And yet, both have had an indirect benefit to Buddhist practice over the ages, particularly in the Ch’an/Zen/Seon Buddhism of the Far East. In any event, I choose to maintain a regular program of strength training and dietary management for the purpose of maintaining a stronger and better-looking body. Such is my karma.

Despite the inherent tensions between Buddhist practice and strength training, I do find it helpful to apply certain Buddhist principles to my exercise and nutritional program. ( remainder behind the cut )

'Not knowing' is an essential element of Zen practice. Knowledge is illusory. As soon as you know something, you immediately foreclose all other possibilities within a reality that, by its very nature, is ever-changing. Dogen-zenji counseled that we should reclaim our unlimited 'original mind,' or what is often called the 'beginner's mind.'

'In the beginner's mind, there are many possibilities; in the expert's mind, there are few.'
--Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

It is from that beginner's mind that prajna (wisdom) and karuna (compassion) may be realized. And yet, while true wisdom may be realized from the 'not knowing' of the beginner's mind, in our everyday lives, as illusory as those lives may be, we must operate with some degree of certainty in nearly everything we do. I may say, 'I know this,' or 'I believe that,' but if I am true to my Zen practice, I am merely operating on a series of 'best guesses,' with my mind open to all possibilities. And thus, every day, a person with an open and perceptive mind proceeds through life upon a series of best guesses.

This is not a particularly difficult concept. Any field involving critical analysis counsels that one should maintain an open mind, working from best guesses based on past experience, while recognizing the limitations of those experiences and considering all possibilities. Anyone attempting to gain wisdom from the experience of others should be mindful of these ideals.

The Internet is a wonderful source of information if we are mindful that information is merely the collected experience and perceptions of others. Many of us have sought wisdom through the more personal exchanges of Internet forums: old-style bulletin board services, Usenet newsgroups, and World Wide Web forums. Some ask questions; some offer answers. And through this process, what passes for 'wisdom' is acquired.

It has been my sad experience that the ever-expanding databases of the World Wide Web have led to the propagation of much ignorant and dogmatic crap in those forums over the past few years, and much of that same crap is regularly accepted as The Truth®. In the Internet's days of yore, those who offered answers usually had some significant understanding of the subject matter being discussed, and if they did not, their lack of understanding was quickly exposed. However, today's contributors will often enter forums as rank newbies, and in hopes of gaining immediate recognition, they will snatch up the current Wikipedia entry, the most popular hit in a Google search, the marketing hype of an Internet merchant, or the musings from a favorite guru's web site, and then parrot those writings as though they were the immutable Word of God®. Can we really rely on these forums to inform our own 'best guesses' when any attention-seeker in the world can assume the guise of a seasoned expert with a few mouse clicks?

After more than a decade on Usenet, as well as several years' participation in numerous Web forums, I still have faith that useful information can be found therein. But one must maintain a beginner's mind. Question everything. Internet databases contain many views, so review as many as you can. Become familiar with the writings of those who would advise you, and determine from their history whether they provide reliable information. Consider that those who are the most adamant may not be the most right, and that those who are polite and ingratiating do not necessarily have a working understanding of the subject matter. Even within the moderated forums, some confrontation is healthy; your 'best guesses' are best informed when the flaws of well-accepted dogma can be exposed to the light. And do not judge too harshly those who engage in such confrontation, even if their style is impolite and less than kind. The Zen writings contain more stories of pupils who were awakened by a smack to the head than those who were enlightened by gentle hand-holding.

Namaste.