Thoughts: Keepin ’em straight….
Thoughts: “transformations are impermanent….” with Thich Nhat Hanh
My friend Carmen shared this, from Thay:
This silence is called Great Joy
There are two kinds of truth,
Conventional and absolute truth,
But they are not opposites. They
Are part of a continuum:
“All transformations are impermanent…
They are subject to birth and
Death, and this silence is called
Great Joy..”
~ Thich Nhat Hanh
Thought: You are the entire ocean in a drop – Rumi
You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean in a drop.
Rumi
Thoughts: Beauty, through the eyes of some sightless folks….
Dear friends, fellow monks & sister philosophers, family & readers (sorry if I left anyone out!),
One of the cool things about getting to take care of this blog is that I have so many folks who write me & let me know they’re there & what they think, and share their experiences in light of what they see, hear, and experience here.
Three regular readers of Brother Ian are blind – two can’t see anything & one sees light & shapes, kinda, but not detail. I love it that have all dropped me notes as they go over the different postings & listen to the songs & either the computer or a friend reads them things…and they, one way or another, tell me the world is a beautiful place to them.
So, here’s a little video of some folks who can’t see beauty with their eyes, sharing what they perceive beauty to look like, to them.
This one’s for you, Roy & Dan & Elise. Crank the audio & roll.
Love you all –
Brother Ian
Thoughts: Here’s the map to the goldmine…
Why are you so enchanted by this world
when a mine of gold lies within you?
Rumi
(Art – Emine Tokmakkaya)
Projects: Look up & take to the beach!
It was cool to take a peek on Facebook & see this nice group event set by Bettie Wilde in the States, on San Juan Island. She wrote:
So in an effort for “A Put Down Your Phone” Movement, I’d like to propose an evening where we all meet up at Jackson Beach with the kids, dogs etc. build a fire roast dogs hang out. Everyone brings one thing and we enjoy our island!!
Sundays would be great! Weather is getting amazing. You can’t get cheaper than free night out with friends. Lets see if there is any interest. Like if you would join. Thanks, guys!
So, here’s the event – hope you can go!
It was cool to hear – Bettie mentioned to me she was inspired by the posting earlier today of the Look Up! video below…that’s awesome. Bettie, you rock!
Thoughts: Getting back to nature (and getting out of nature’s! way!) with tropic cascade
“When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe.” – John Muir.
I love this idea of re-wilding.
When wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park in the United States after being absent for nearly 70 years, the most remarkable “trophic cascade” occurred. What is a trophic cascade and how exactly do wolves change rivers?
Wolves were once native to the US’ Yellowstone National Park — until hunting wiped them out. But when, in 1995, the wolves began to come back (thanks to an aggressive management program), something interesting happened: the rest of the park began to find a new, more healthful balance. In a bold thought experiment, George Monbiot imagines a wilder world in which humans work to restore the complex, lost natural food chains that once surrounded us. (Here’s his TED talk; and here’s Sustainable Man’s mixdown, below.)
About Brother Ian
Over the centuries, Brother Ian has been collecting stories & information & discourses for the purpose of elevating the human condition as needed, dissecting it when necessary, and building the case for hope.
In the spirit of noting that organized crime, organized baseball, organized labour, and organized religion tend to engender controversy & occasional discord, I promise to be neither organized or critical of those who are.