posted July 04, 2013 03:14 AM            

quote:

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Xiiro: She showed up at my house, picked me up, took me to the theater to see "Priscilla Queen Of The Desert", and gave me an ABBA's Greatest Hits CD before dropping me off... That day still confuses me.

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posted July 05, 2013 10:49 AM            

Because we reached 400 posts on the 4th of July.

*Meaningful!*

And Xiiro I hope the doctors still haven't called. If not, those fireworks are also about them not calling.

posted July 06, 2013 10:46 PM            

I dunno, I'm only going off my mother's word for a birth time of 11:50 pm. Leo rising with a strong H3 bend.
but playing around, I found two other birth times I'd accept: 6:35 pm for a Gemini rising trine Mercury and a strong H5, and 10:40 am for a Sagittarius rising and lots of H11, it even gives me Uranus in the first for my androgynous, unconventional look!

posted July 07, 2013 03:50 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by somethingexcellent:
Do either of you ever play around with your birth time? Unless you two know for certainty your times of birth, aka birth certificates...

I dunno, I'm only going off my mother's word for a birth time of 11:50 pm. Leo rising with a strong H3 bend.
but playing around, I found two other birth times I'd accept: 6:35 pm for a Gemini rising trine Mercury and a strong H5, and 10:40 am for a Sagittarius rising and lots of H11, it even gives me Uranus in the first for my androgynous, unconventional look!

~~**~random~**~~

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I'm fortunate enough to have time of birth on my birth certificate. When I originally read my birth time I remembered it incorrectly. I spent years with a chart 10 degrees off. When I discovered the error, I was surprised at how the new time didn't cause any drastic changes, but made everything seem to click into place.

posted July 09, 2013 09:37 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by somethingexcellent:
Do either of you ever play around with your birth time? Unless you two know for certainty your times of birth, aka birth certificates...

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Gemini ASC makes sense because you are talkative, but I still think you must be a Leo ASC. Especially because of your mane!

I don't have my exact birth time and feel slightly fraudulent whenever I post or discuss my chart. I don't feel like explaining just how reliable it may or may not be every time I post it. But since you asked about it, I may as well take this opportunity to set the record straight with details: I was born immediately after dinner. My mom went into labor in the late afternoon, called the babysitter (whom I was named after) and asked my father to take her out to dinner. She had fried clams. Then she seemed in great duress so my father said, "Shall we go?" And Mom said, "Not without dessert!" It wasn't the most sensible choice because by the time they arrived at the hospital my mother was more than ready to give birth. The nurse wanted to set her up in the labor room instead of the delivery room, and my hot-tempered Italian mother was livid about this but had no time to quarrel. She just got up on the nearest bed and...omitting gory details...I was present.

However, I was born almost dead. The doctors whisked me away and worked on me for a while before they got me breathing. I don't know if that affects the birth time: is it arrival in the open air or first breath that makes a full "birth"?

Anyway, a few years ago I asked my siblings when I was born, and my sister is the only one who knew. She said, "6:45 p.m. I remember." She was nine when I was born and ecstatic to have a sister finally, after living with four brothers for so long. She is also a mathematician with a yen for numbers. So it makes sense that she's right. However, my life is stupidly complicated all over the place and I can't fully trust my sister because she is bipolar. After reading up on various articles and checking out this book called The Zodiac By Degrees, I rectified my own chart with a birth time of 7 p.m. It's a good guess. I know I'm Leo rising. I believe my Mercury is in my 6H because I'm so interested in health. If I was born earlier, Uranus moves into my 3H which does make sense-- I communicate weirdly and have weird siblings. But I also have 4H Uranus tendencies; I love tiny houses, house boats, straw bale houses, and all kinds of weird living spaces.

Bottom line is I don't really know.

--------

@Xiiro

Please tell me you're still okay?

I'm enjoying some vegan soup as I type and thinking of you. What kind of soup do you eat? =)

And my fussy inner nurse wants to know if you take probiotics of some sort?

quote:

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Originally posted by Xiiro:
Trippy hu? Pomelo (ermergerd yum!) and Grapefruit have the same effect on me.

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Pomelo is a word that I have such a distant recollection of it's almost like I heard it in another life. I will have to spend more time in the "ethnic fruit" section of the grocery store so these mystical notions don't sprout in my head so big and impose themselves on my foodie conversations any more.

quote:

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Originally posted by Xiiro:
None taken. She is a very airy Libra/Stepford wife and just a little out there (I have a feeling she is also Sun conj Neptune).

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She sounds great, I will just think of her boobytrapped berries as an endearing quirk now.

quote:

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Originally posted by Xiiro:
She showed up at my house, picked me up, took me to the theater to see "Priscilla Queen Of The Desert", and gave me an ABBA's Greatest Hits CD before dropping me off... That day still confuses me.

---

So adorable and I'm really happy you had someone like that in your life! You mentioned this episode before...I meant to ask you what your favorite ABBA song is? I love this one called The Name of the Game. It begins very hideously but just gets more and more sonorous and heartfelt. It's like a musical makeover happens within the song, and I love makeovers. Like a concentrated, bite-sized chunk of optimism that rebirth is possible.

quote:

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Originally posted by Xiiro:
Ah the Coco-Eucharist, holy sacrament or drag name?

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!!! This is just like the Time Being, every time I think of it I start giggling out loud. "What are you laughing about, Mom?" "Nothing...trust me...it's nothing." =)

But anyway REALLY? Do they have names like that?

And I'm sorry if I've already put too many questions in here (!) but I had two more in mind...two explorations, really, that I'm hoping you'll help me with?

First, if you've gone over to DD, you'll see I'm on an Alan Watts kick right now. And he's got me thinking about Buddhism from new angles and more intently. I'm wondering, just as I did about a year ago when we were talking about this...wondering how the lack of female input has shaped Buddhism over all these centuries. Doesn't it..mustn't it...present a skewed view of things? For instance, when you talk about non-attachment, I've thought, "Those words don't make any sense to nursing mothers." No matter how much I try and cancel out or rise above the whole idea of attachment, I can't make it past that stumbling block. Attachment perpetuates life so shouldn't there be a caveat that a little attachment can work wonders?

There's more to my thinking here but I wanted to see what your thoughts are on this one issue first.

Second question- can I beg an interpretation from you? I hate asking for anything, but I thought you might be able to make swift work of this puzzle. I just realized I have a mystic rectangle: Aries Jupiter opposing Libra Pluto, with the ends sextile and trine Gemini Mars opposing Sag Neptune. Can you fathom how that manifests itself in my personality at all? The best I can come up with is, it complicates further and yet softens the oppositions. Not sure if the signs and planets even count with configurations like that...maybe the shape itself tells the whole story.

Hoping this finds you well and not nonplussed by this post's questionnaire qualities.

Wishing you all the best~

posted July 10, 2013 06:08 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Faith:
Uranus moves into my 3H which does make sense-- I communicate weirdly and have weird siblings. But I also have 4H Uranus tendencies; I love tiny houses, house boats, straw bale houses, and all kinds of weird living spaces.

Bottom line is I don't really know.

---

quote:

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Originally posted by Faith:
Please tell me you're still okay?

---

quote:

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Originally posted by Faith:
I'm enjoying some vegan soup as I type and thinking of you. What kind of soup do you eat? =)

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Tiny amount of olive oil
add 1 chopped yellow onion
chopped red bell pepper
chopped carrot,
chopped celery
cubed portobello mushroom
garlic powder
ginger powder
ground coriander seeds
salt n pepper
cook until mushrooms are tender
add lentil bean mixture
add water
simmer for an hour
Voila soop!

I had a whole bunch of produce I needed to cook, so... soop. Otherwise I ransack my garden for ingredients.

quote:

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Originally posted by Faith:
And my fussy inner nurse wants to know if you take probiotics of some sort?

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quote:

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Originally posted by Faith:
Pomelo is a word that I have such a distant recollection of it's almost like I heard it in another life.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Faith:
I meant to ask you what your favorite ABBA song is? I love this one called The Name of the Game.

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I like most of Abba's songs, so it's hard to answer that. One of the less well known songs I like is Knowing Me, Knowing You . It's very Diana Ross Disco.

quote:

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Originally posted by Faith:
But anyway REALLY? Do they have names like that?

---

List of clever drag queen names:

Hedda Lettuce
Kris del Vayze
Cookie Buffet
Peaches Christ
Mimi Imfurst
Pauline Pantsdown
Penny Tration
Robin Graves
Sharon Needles

And the list goes on

quote:

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Originally posted by Faith:
wondering how the lack of female input has shaped Buddhism over all these centuries. Doesn't it..mustn't it...present a skewed view of things? For instance, when you talk about non-attachment, I've thought, "Those words don't make any sense to nursing mothers." No matter how much I try and cancel out or rise above the whole idea of attachment, I can't make it past that stumbling block. Attachment perpetuates life so shouldn't there be a caveat that a little attachment can work wonders?

---

I'm not sure I have a good answer for this. I had a difficult time understanding the monastic vow of celibacy. Sex is healthy for your body, so much so that refusal will lead to the body finding ways to relieve its self while one sleeps. When I asked a monk about it his response made a lot of sense to me. He said:

"The desire for sex is driven by an anatomical need to procreate, it is in your DNA's programming to replicate. Though it comes with all sorts of convincing emotions and thoughts, that is the biological root of why we seek a partner. Practicing as a monastic is about discovering who you are in the face of those urges and learning to choose your actions instead of having your body choose them for you".

Because English is such a weird language, it is easy to form an idea of non-attachment dissimilar to the Buddhist concept. Non-attachment is not aversion (aversion is just attachment to the idea that something is bad). Non-attachment is about being aware enough to make decisions independent of our mind, body, emotions, or views.

Nursing with attachment:
While holding her child, a mother looks down and sees a separate being who she feels she can't live without. She wants this moment to last forever and feels the whole world just goes away in this perfect moment. Two beings feeding each other with love. She thinks about how her mother never nursed her and wonders why she chose to miss out on such a great experience. She never wants her baby to grow up, she fears losing this bond as he grows older.... What's for dinner?

Nursing without attachment:
While holding her child, a mother looks down and sees a continuation of herself. She gently caresses tiny fingers, forged of stardust and old as the beginning of time, with her own fingers, forged of stardust and old as the beginning of time. She breathes deeply and experiences the moment; noticing where feelings arise and dissipate in her body; observing the symbiosis; watching as thoughts rise and fall like her chest as she breathes; remaining aware and choosing not to follow thoughts into the past or the future. She just breathes to stay present, not worrying about what happens next. She just breathes and receives the moment; positive and the negative, without judgment, elaboration, or action. She just breathes for herself and her baby, completely present, experiencing, and nursing.

The Buddhist way to nurse is not, "put the baby across the room and try to squirt milk into his mouth, to avoid any contact and enjoyable experiences". It is, "experience this moment as deeply as possible, because it is the only "now" of its kind. When it is gone don't seek to go back and experience it or worry about never having it again. Because while you remain attached to that feeling, you miss the possibilities available in the present. Who knows, you could be missing an even better experience while rummaging around in the past".

So

To finally answer your question. The Buddhist concept of attachment doesn't perpetuate life, it avoids life by locking one's focus away from the present. Buddhism is about cultivating joy, by learning to be present enough to find it. Different branches of Buddhism teach their own versions and to me, religion is just an obstacle course on one's way to heaven. Some traditions teach that women can't reach the height of enlightenment, because it entails assuming the role of the godhead (which they believe is male). Some traditions teach that you have to do a crap-ton of push ups in order to gain enlightenment. Some traditions teach that you will never reach enlightenment until you give up all your stuff and just go starve under a tree. Some traditions teach that you focus on becoming enlightened and then you completely leave the world behind. Some traditions vow to postpone their own enlightenment and continue coming back as monastics each lifetime, until every being has achieved enlightenment. I enjoy reading between all those lines and just focusing on the text.

Additionally

The Buddha was married before he sought awakening and his wife, step-mother, and some other female relatives, were the first nuns ordained. The Buddha not only discusses overcoming attachment to gender, but even one's species and kingdom (in the sense of animal, plant, or mineral). It is clear to me that Buddhist wisdom is not gender exclusive (as that in its self is an attachment to gender). In some traditions, the Buddha is depicted as female or both gender. Avalokiteshvara (one of my favorite depictions of the Buddha) represents a similar force as Quan Yin or Mary. This Buddha is depicted with countless arms, all displayed with palms opened, and an eye within the palm. This is also a Buddha who's earlobes are stretched. The earlobes represent a force which hears every cry and the arms represent reaching out with understanding.

This does a good job at explaining the controversial Buddhist stance on gender and its origins. http://buddhism.about.com/od/buddhisthistory/a/buddhistwomen.htm

quote:

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Originally posted by Faith:
Second question- can I beg an interpretation from you? I hate asking for anything, but I thought you might be able to make swift work of this puzzle. I just realized I have a mystic rectangle: Aries Jupiter opposing Libra Pluto, with the ends sextile and trine Gemini Mars opposing Sag Neptune. Can you fathom how that manifests itself in my personality at all? The best I can come up with is, it complicates further and yet softens the oppositions. Not sure if the signs and planets even count with configurations like that...maybe the shape itself tells the whole story.

---

quote:

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Originally posted by Faith:
And my first name translates to "Grand Entry", so you know what? I probably am a Leo Rising.

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posted July 10, 2013 09:12 PM            

quote:

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Xiiro: Your first name means "TaDaa!"? Fitting. =)

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Yes! My first name means Grand Entry...
My middle name means Peacekeeper (it's also a really spiritual name in my culture and is supposed to be used sparingly)
And my last name is really just a deviation of DeBeau, so basically "of beauty"

posted July 11, 2013 03:53 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Faith:
I just realized I have a mystic rectangle: Aries Jupiter opposing Libra Pluto, with the ends sextile and trine Gemini Mars opposing Sag Neptune. Can you fathom how that manifests itself in my personality at all? The best I can come up with is, it complicates further and yet softens the oppositions. Not sure if the signs and planets even count with configurations like that...maybe the shape itself tells the whole story.

---

A Mystic rectangle combines two oppositions, two trines, and two sextiles. It is said there is great potential for elevated learning experiences. This is because both oppositions can rely on their easy aspects to help each other flow together.

In your case the opposing lessons are:
GEM MAR 11H/SAG NEP 5H - Being driven to participate/communicate as an every day person, while simultaneously dreaming of being an unimpeded/undefined spiritual force.

and

ARI JUP 9H/LIB PLU 3H - Respecting your personal/spiritual evolution while attempting to respect your close relationships.

Oppositions -

When these energies are at odds, you can feel torn between being ordinary and extraordinary. You see value and sentimentality in humanity, but struggle with religion's vilification of our nature. You can see the good and evil in both humanity and spirituality, but instead of pursuing both circumstantially, you experience conflict and guilt for pursuing either. You may find yourself seeking answers from regimented/structured sources, because when left alone to decipher the finer points, it all just seems to unravel into hypocrisy or corruption. Too much emphasis on someone else's spiritual philosophy can draw you away from discovering your own. No one can tell you how to be a "Faith", that is ultimately up to you to quilt together from your own experiences.

You can also find great opposition between your spiritual evolutionary needs and the needs/judgments of those who are close to you. You experience a great balancing act after great spiritual/personal discovery. This is because you are on the fast track to spiritual/personal discovery, while those you surround your self with require you to remain unchanged. Being shut up, especially spiritually, is a great injustice to you, but so is forcing others to accept/respect drastic transformation. So slowly but surely, like a caterpillar meticulously constructing a cocoon, you must edge your relationships into accepting your eventual butterfly-hood.

Trines -

"Being driven to participate as an every day person (aka celebrating your humanity)" and "respecting your close relationships in a way which is fair for all involved (aka respecting the humanity of others)", are aspects of your personality which work easily together. You are driven to comprehend and associate with the humanity in people/situations. Because of this you are well equipped to tailor your own transformation with respect to the needs of those you keep close.

also

"Evolving your self spiritually" and "aspiring to unleash your spiritual creativity", are aspects of your personality which also support each other. You feel creatively stifled if you are not free to pursue spirituality and as a result, you seek the unconditional meaning of life, eventually growing into a more spiritually unique being.

Sextiles -

If you apply your comprehension of humanity toward spiritual growth (Mars -> Jupiter) and conversely apply your spiritual experiences toward deepening your understanding humanity (Mars <- Jupiter); use your sensitivity to those who you care for as a gauge for keeping yourself spiritually grounded (Pluto -> Neptune) and conversely use the desire for spiritual freedom to deepen your respect for the desires of others (Pluto <- Neptune); you will automatically solve the question between your oppositions:

How to discover and celebrate your spiritual nature while remaining grounded, responsible, and useful to the world?

posted July 11, 2013 08:24 AM            

I started responding to you yesterday and in the draft I am mentioning some things that you touched on here. I'll show you soon.

Please take probiotics, it's important.

ttyl =)

posted July 11, 2013 08:35 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by somethingexcellent:
What do they call little things that line up nicely? Synchronicities? Leo Rising, name means Grand Entry, last name means Day/Sun.

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That's so neat. The meanings of my birth name strung together would mean something like, "Honorable, dark stranger from the sea."

Irish people come up with that stuff =)

posted July 11, 2013 08:57 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Faith:
That's so neat. The meanings of my birth name strung together would mean something like, "Honorable, dark stranger from the sea."

Irish people come up with that stuff =)

---

posted July 12, 2013 11:53 AM            

How's life for you? It's raining and lightning as I type, as it has been more often than any time I can remember in my life. Rain every day or every three days at most. Wonderful for the plants, soggy for the people.

quote:

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Originally posted by Xiiro:
I guess the question is, was your home changeable/chaotic when you were born, or did it progressively become changeable/chaotic? If it was relatively stable the first year or so of your life, your Uranus 4H tendencies could be due to progression. Also, have you drawn up a chart for Uranus exactly on your IC cusp?

---

Thanks for these hints, my early family life was in some ways idyllic and in other ways crazy. But definitely there was a total upheaval after my mom died, so that could be around the time when Uranus hit the IC, if it's in the 3H.

I've read up about Uranus on the IC (which would happen with a 7:15 birth time) and the descriptions fit me perfectly: breaking with the traditions of the family (I was raised a strict Catholic but adamantly refused to get confirmed) and losing contact. With that birth time, my sun is in the 5H. I can't tell if that seems to fit because I'm Leo rising or not. But Venus is too far from the 5H at 7:15. I really think it belongs in the 5H because my kids are more attractive than my houses. =)

Anyway, it's somewhere around 7 pm. I don't mind having wiggle room around it, the challenge of trying to rectify it keeps my Mercury happy.

quote:

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Originally posted by Xiiro:
It was interesting eating vegan gut bacteria and I was excited to discover it was possible to cultivate them that way.

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Ahh, I used to make my own soy milk from soybeans and then turn it into soy yogurt, before I realized I don't handle soy too well. Have you ever had almond milk yogurt or coconut milk yogurt? Or kombucha, kvass, or vegan kefir?

My favorite probiotic drink lately is Rejuvelac. Easy to make, costs almost nothing, pretty tasty especially once you get used to it, and very good for the gut. I drink this just about every day, I'm drinking it now in a smoothie with mango, banana, grapefruit, parsley, stevia, vanilla.

I follow a recipe like this one: http://www.rawmazing.com/rejuvelac/

And I do re-use the wheat berries, as the drink gets stronger and better through the next few batches; I stop at four.

quote:

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Originally posted by Xiiro:
I even use a special tool to free up big chunks for nomming. I can spend a good hour eating one.

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sloooooooow foooooooood

You know I like sloths, and it's good to hear people are out there imitating them. =)

quote:

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Originally posted by Xiiro:
List of clever drag queen names:

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How did I get to be this old and yet I never knew drag queens followed this naming tradition? I've lived a sheltered life. OMG my life is sheltered!

quote:

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Originally posted by Xiiro:
Coincidentally I spent my time watching this video, trying to figure out the name of the game they are playing.... It's Fiaspel!

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LOL! Leave it to you to actually know the name of the game.

We have "Knowing me, Knowing you" on the iPod in the car. I know most of the words. I also like When All Is Said and Done. Despite ABBA's messy undoing through cheating and betrayals, they sure wrote graceful break-up songs and performed them with dignity.

When I'm in a very Leo rising mood, I listen to Super Trouper and imagine the lights finding me "shining like the sun" with the millions of fans screaming out their love for me. It's a nice complement to this slight feeling of megalomania that comes over me once in a while...I assume it's my ASC...and yes, I do realize I might want to reconsider admitting this kind of thing in public.

quote:

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Originally posted by Xiiro:
Because English is such a weird language, it is easy to form an idea of non-attachment dissimilar to the Buddhist concept.

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I figured that must be the case so I wanted to explore the linguistics a bit and get a better feel for the Buddhist concept. Thanks for taking your Virgo moon scalpel to my problem, it sure helps me along.

quote:

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Originally posted by Xiiro:
Non-attachment is about being aware enough to make decisions independent of our mind, body, emotions, or views....
The Buddhist concept of attachment doesn't perpetuate life, it avoids life by locking one's focus away from the present.

---

On one level that all makes sense to me. It's when I start dissecting the quality of what goes on in the mind in any present moment where I get lost. In a Buddhist ideal, if there is such a thing, should the moments of non-attached awareness and moments of thinking (ie long-term planning, attachment to goals, dogma, people) switch back and forth?

quote:

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Originally posted by Xiiro:
"The desire for sex is driven by an anatomical need to procreate, it is in your DNA's programming to replicate. Though it comes with all sorts of convincing emotions and thoughts, that is the biological root of why we seek a partner. Practicing as a monastic is about discovering who you are in the face of those urges and learning to choose your actions instead of having your body choose them for you".

---

This is just how my mind works.

quote:

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Originally posted by Xiiro:
She gently caresses tiny fingers, forged of stardust and old as the beginning of time, with her own fingers, forged of stardust and old as the beginning of time.

---

You would have made a great mother.

quote:

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Originally posted by Xiiro:
The Buddhist way to nurse is not, "put the baby across the room and try to squirt milk into his mouth, to avoid any contact and enjoyable experiences".

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...or comedian. =)

quote:

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Originally posted by Xiiro:
This does a good job at explaining the controversial Buddhist stance on gender and its origins...

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Thank you, I read that and then found another article on Buddhism and misogyny that defended Buddhism but still left me unsure. I have to say, I was shocked that the Buddha had those initial reservations about letting women come along for the spiritual ride. I guess I had the Buddha on a pedestal or something and was disillusioned to learn that.

To summarize: I think I get being present (kind of) and I also get some Buddhist teachings, but I don't see how they go together: Buddhism is so word-heavy and old, the present is word-free and new. Buddhism is like a permanent fixture (and now I know the Buddha wanted it that way) but life is in flux. So I get bungled up in the paradox. I agree with you when you say, "Different branches of Buddhism teach their own versions and to me, religion is just an obstacle course on one's way to heaven. "

I wonder if we need to run that obstacle course? While I earnestly, strongly admire you for enjoying "reading between all those lines and just focusing on the text," for being theologically sensible and grounded, I feel like there is barbed wire around the same topics for me. It could be my 9H Jupiter-Chiron loose conjunction in Aries. The duo really wants simplification or a very self-generated philosophy and is both endlessly frustrated at being in a religious no-man's land, and endlessly compassionate towards others with similar predicament.

----

^ I wrote that before reading your thoughts on my Mystic Rectangle. It's similar to what you said, that I "use [my] desire for spiritual freedom to deepen [my] respect for the desires of others." Yes, definitely.

And just a little more feedback about your insights~

quote:

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Originally posted by Xiiro:
GEM MAR 11H/SAG NEP 5H - Being driven to participate/communicate as an every day person, while simultaneously dreaming of being an unimpeded/undefined spiritual force.

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I have never given much thought to my 5H Neptune but how true that sounds. How much "baggage" I carry from the strains of that opposition.

quote:

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Originally posted by Xiiro:
Being shut up, especially spiritually, is a great injustice to you, but so is forcing others to accept/respect drastic transformation. So slowly but surely, like a caterpillar meticulously constructing a cocoon, you must edge your relationships into accepting your eventual butterfly-hood.

---

This has been my sustaining hope but I couldn't articulate it. Thank you.

quote:

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Originally posted by Xiiro:
Because of this you are well equipped to tailor your own transformation with respect to the needs of those you keep close.

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And I'm so grateful to you for these words of encouragement. I have been stuck looking at everything with guilt-colored glasses and have needed some respite from that but didn't even realize it. If I lived closer I would deliver Rejuvelac and pomelos to your doorstep every day to try and show my thanks. =)

posted July 14, 2013 02:16 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Faith:
Aloha!
How's life for you? It's raining and lightning as I type, as it has been more often than any time I can remember in my life. Rain every day or every three days at most. Wonderful for the plants, soggy for the people.

---

quote:

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Originally posted by Faith:
Have you ever had almond milk yogurt or coconut milk yogurt? Or kombucha, kvass, or vegan kefir?

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I like your smoothie idea too. I have been growing stevia in my garden and trying to think of a use for it =)

quote:

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Originally posted by Faith:
You know I like sloths, and it's good to hear people are out there imitating them. =)

---

quote:

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Originally posted by Faith:
OMG my life is sheltered!

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quote:

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Originally posted by Faith:
Despite ABBA's messy undoing through cheating and betrayals, they sure wrote graceful break-up songs and performed them with dignity.

---

quote:

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Originally posted by Faith:
I assume it's my ASC...and yes, I do realize I might want to reconsider admitting this kind of thing in public.

---

quote:

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Originally posted by Faith:
On one level that all makes sense to me. It's when I start dissecting the quality of what goes on in the mind in any present moment where I get lost. In a Buddhist ideal, if there is such a thing, should the moments of non-attached awareness and moments of thinking (ie long-term planning, attachment to goals, dogma, people) switch back and forth?

---

The answer to your question is simple. There is a time for everything. When it is time for drinking tea, drink tea. When it is time for eating, eat. When it is time to plan, plan. The entire philosophy is based on the idea that everything changes, nothing is permanent. Part of why we pursue attachment is because we long for objects/experiences to not go away. Being present entails respecting the task at hand, so when it's time to play with our child or listen to a friend, we don't simultaneously plan our shopping list. When the time arises to plan our shopping list, we devote our self to the task and don't simultaneously wander off into distraction. If an emergency arises in the middle of our task, we shift awareness, observing and responding with devoted care to our new present conditions. Without awareness we are sometimes too preoccupied to address emergencies and neglect leads to lots of suffering.

The practice of meditation in Buddhism hones our capacity for observation (awareness). We meditate to make observation habitual. Before we know how to do this we float between the past and the future. When we attempt to be present, we are usually off in our mind commenting on our experience or drowning in the rapids of our emotions. When we start practicing meditation, we experience moments of just sitting and paying attention. These moments are like waking up from a past/future occupied, dialogue infested, drunk with feeling, dream. In the beginning we are so addicted to the dream we often fall right back asleep. Practicing makes those moments of awareness longer and more frequent.

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Originally posted by Faith:
The reason I think of nursing differently than sex or other instincts is because nursing involves considering another person's needs. And it's the only human situation of its kind, that I can think of. With nursing, there's an insistent quality to the moment, maybe a kind of magnetism that naturally binds the present moment with others to form a string, a habit, and one on which life depends. The mother often wonders, "How much milk is the baby having, how much should I eat after this to have enough milk for next feeding?" So I just wonder, could those nagging little reminders about future plans be part of presence in the Buddhist sense? And does all that care for someone constitute an attachment or a kind of survival instinct for the species...an instinct that has no male counterpart?
This is just how my mind works.

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Do I believe the religion of Buddhism would have benefited from integrating and respecting women more than it has? Definitely, because woman often have more access to experiencing compassion and suffering; two major themes in Buddhism. Do I think having experienced the act of nursing a child would have changed the Buddha's core message? No, because it focuses on how to observe the mind while we are performing actions, not how to act while we are thinking. Compassion is compassion, no matter how it is experienced, no matter what our gender, race, class, or actions are. Men have just as many instincts which have no female counterpart, neither instincts have any bearing on the core message of Buddhism honestly.

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Originally posted by Faith:
You would have made a great mother....or comedian. =)

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Originally posted by Faith:
I have to say, I was shocked that the Buddha had those initial reservations about letting women come along for the spiritual ride. I guess I had the Buddha on a pedestal or something and was disillusioned to learn that.

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Originally posted by Faith:
Buddhism is like a permanent fixture (and now I know the Buddha wanted it that way) but life is in flux.

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Who we know these people to be now days are just empty mythological action figures, symbols stamped on a sign above a tithing bowl. I think you will do a great disservice to your self if you let stories about those images stand in the way of their message. Similar to your thread about Alan Watts... who cares if he drank and had lots of sex? What does any of that have to do with his wealth of information, insight, and capacity for explanation? I'm all for Delphic Oracles, I believe in weird people, sucking on fumes and telling people about the pretty patterns they see. Because it's not the person or the fumes which really matter, but the fact that they can see the patterns and we can't.

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Originally posted by Faith:
I wonder if we need to run that obstacle course?

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Originally posted by Faith:
I feel like there is barbed wire around the same topics for me. It could be my 9H Jupiter-Chiron loose conjunction in Aries.

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Originally posted by Faith:
And I'm so grateful to you for these words of encouragement. I have been stuck looking at everything with guilt-colored glasses and have needed some respite from that but didn't even realize it. If I lived closer I would deliver Rejuvelac and pomelos to your doorstep every day to try and show my thanks. =)

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posted July 14, 2013 03:51 AM            

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Faith: When I'm in a very Leo rising mood, I listen to Super Trouper and imagine the lights finding me "shining like the sun" with the millions of fans screaming out their love for me. It's a nice complement to this slight feeling of megalomania that comes over me once in a while...I assume it's my ASC...and yes, I do realize I might want to reconsider admitting this kind of thing in public.

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LMAO I! Actually have a story involving that song (LOVE ABBA BTW whenever my friends and I go driving, we listen to ABBA at least twice).

In year 10 in high school, a bunch of friends and I took drama and like, we had to reenact bits of plays or movies and my group did Mamma Mia! The finale was my friend singing Super Trouper with me and another friend as back up dancers. I WAS CROSS DRESSED! See here:

posted July 16, 2013 08:58 AM            

Now, did nobody notice this thread just had its solar return?

I was too shy to talk to Xiiro a year ago, that's a bit funny to me now.

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Originally posted by Xiiro:
Damn you San Diego and your predictably impeccable weather!

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I wish I had that. For the most part, I hate winter, and sometimes I think staying in the NE feels like masochism. I want to move to Ecuador. They say the weather there is drama-free and monotonous, for one thing. I wonder how it would shape my personality if I had to just accept the gift of sunshine day after day. =) When I worked as a (pathetically ineffective) telemarketer in college, it amazed me and my co-workers how much more laid back the people were out West, especially in Hawaii. Well no wonder, the weather is nicer there.

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Originally posted by Xiiro:
The stuff my friend made was vegan kefir

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I've had some of that before, they carry it at whole foods (Kevita is the brand.) I have a recipe for it, but I think you have to buy kefir grains though mail order, and I'm just not motivated enough to "hunt and gather" that way.

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You know...I will be smiling at the thought of that gif for the rest of my life, probably. Thanks!

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Originally posted by Xiiro:
When we start practicing meditation, we experience moments of just sitting and paying attention. These moments are like waking up from a past/future occupied, dialogue infested, drunk with feeling, dream. In the beginning we are so addicted to the dream we often fall right back asleep. Practicing makes those moments of awareness longer and more frequent.

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I feel bad asking about the quality of awareness when I ought to have known by now that it's something that needs to be figured out just through experience. Still...thanks for the description, sounds like where I want to go.

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Originally posted by Xiiro:
We are kind of splitting hairs at this point, because getting caught up in one's mind is not usually remaining present, but occasionally the moment calls for us to plan and that entails using one's mind (which can be accomplished without getting caught up).

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But thank you for answering my question, that planning can be presence.

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Originally posted by Xiiro:
All I know is that his teachings were applicable and available to everyone.

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I see that, I see the timelessness and value in the teachings I've come across.

I think I'm definitely holding myself back by looking for a spiritual discipline that arrives "perfect" and free of blemishes. In this case, for me to think of the Buddha attaining enlightenment without seeing immediately that women shouldn't be put in an inferior position, that just confuses me because I would have thought these things would become crystal clear, in my perhaps too idealistic notions of what enlightenment entails. But I can let it go.

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Originally posted by Xiiro:
I hope you will look deeper at views like this. I say that because this sentence is almost completely contrary to how the Buddha lived and taught. If you are getting this impression then either I am explaining things poorly or you are receiving information from bad sources. Instead of seeking out all the flaws, what about looking for the benefit?

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I didn't mean to "seek out all the flaws" and apologize if I gave that impression, because I think that would be disrespectful to you, to take that approach. You're not explaining poorly and I don't think I'm receiving information from bad sources, I just worded the question wrong. I only meant, with respect to the "bells and whistles" of Buddhism...such as the material accompaniments like Buddha statues and orange robes, and also the spiritual training through rigid, set procedures... I have a hard time reconciling all these more permanent fixtures with Buddhism's simpler teaching of being present.

For what it's worth, if you're interested, deep down I think I am bitter against Catholicism and don't like when any institution reminds me of it. I feel like I was abused by that religion. And I don't want to get "pushed back" to rituals that remind me of my youth (sitting in front of statues, staring at men in robes, repeating prayers by rote.) You see this is very personal and somewhat irrational, and not meant as criticism. When I was temporarily a Calvinist, one thing that appealed to me was the lack of similarity to Catholicism: no statues, no rote prayers...it felt like a new territory altogether.

Maybe in a past life I belonged to that Native American tribe..which one was it?...that always burned its sacred art. Or maybe I was an Israelite, making NO graven images whatsoever. I don't really know.

As we were saying many moons ago, I feel the lack of ritual in my life as a poverty, but am hesitant about committing to a new one...I guess the same way a beaten lover is timid about finding new love.

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Originally posted by Xiiro:
Some kids just learn best with the prescribed curriculum and some kids just can't learn that way to save their lives.

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Originally posted by Xiiro:
Then the surest way to harm yourself is to only read about and not practice any of them.

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Point taken.

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Originally posted by Xiiro:
Aww thanks. My ruling planet is in Cancer

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Speaking of that, Jupiter is transiting conjunct your natal Jupiter now, right? Have you had any windfalls of fortune? =)

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Originally posted by Xiiro:
I would probably hang out at your house everyday lol.

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Céad míle fáilte, Xiiro, a hundred thousand welcomes. <3