Hmm

Blargh. It's been a long time since I blogged. Life has presented me with great challenges lately. An ailing parent. At least one child that may be heading for an Asperger's diagnosis. The failing "secondary" economy in the area (we live in an area that caters to vacationers) has made things...interesting, as well. That's definitely the word - interesting.

Anyway - a couple of recent discoveries: I loved James Ure's post on Kafka, not so long ago. I always liked Kafka, but I don't remember reading that first poem James includes. In any case, I found the post refreshing. ^_^ Also - I'm currently reading Light Comes Through by Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche. This is a highly readable, slim little volume. I'll have a review soon.

One More Thing....

While looking for information about Ayya Khema, I ran across a wonderful documentary photo collection on Flickr: Sangha: Munks [sic] and Nuns in the Buddhist Community by Friedrich Reg. There are several of Ven. Khema, but there are also many others including both the thought-provoking and lovely. Here's one:

Ayya Khema

Via both The Buddhist Blog and lotusinthemud I found a really interesting quote from Venerable Khema. (Check out the links for the quote - figured repeating it a third time was a bit redundant. 0.O) I wasn't familiar with the Venerable so I did a little research. Resources I found:

• Gathered resources here.
• A Wikipedia article here.
• To Be Seen Here and Now: Ten Dhamma Talks from a meditation retreat at Pelmadulla Bhikkhu Training Centre, Sri Lanka, by Sister Ayya Khema - I've yet to read these, but I look forward to it.
• Path and Fruit, a Dhamma Talk by Sister Ayya Khema - Another one I look forward to reading.
• Here's my search on Google video. A few are in English, most are in German.
• Ayya Khema: A Personal Tribute by Urgyen Sangharakshita.
• A collection of three of her writings, which includes a copy of To Be Seen Here and Now.

A brief summary of her life, quoted directly from Wikipedia:

Ayya Khema (August 25, 1923 - November 2, 1997), a Buddhist teacher, was born as Ilse Ledermann in Berlin, Germany, to Jewish parents.

Khema dodged the Nazis during World War II, but was interned by the Japanese. She eventually moved to the United States. After travelling in Asia she decided to become a Buddhist nun in Sri Lanka in 1979. She was very active in providing opportunities for women to practice Buddhism, founding several centers around the world. In 1987 she co-ordinated the first ever International Conference of Buddhist Nuns.

Khema wrote over two dozen books in English and German. Her autobiography, I Give You My Life, is an adventure story sprinkled with nuggets of spiritual wisdom.

Among her many other accomplishments, Ayya Khema was the spiritual director of Buddha-Haus in Germany, founded with her guidance. (An English language version of their website can be found here.) Her ashes rest in a beautiful stupa there:

As you can tell (^_^), I've gathered a lot of online resources to read and listen to. So far I'd say her speaking and writing style are very accessible and interesting to lay-person-me. I'd be very interested to know if any of y'all have read her books, and what your opinion is, or perhaps even which one is your favorite, if you've read much by her.
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Image sources - Sangha: Munks [sic] and Nuns in the Buddhist Community by Friedrich Reg and the Buddha-Haus.

Starting Off Lightly

Thought I'd begin a real return to blogging with some interesting tidbits.

First off, did you know that k.d. lang is Buddhist? I've known for quite a while, but it's only recently that I've seen a lot of press on the matter. As a matter of fact, Shambala Sun has a recent (03/08) interview with her:

Melvin McLeod: What type of Buddhism do you practice?

k.d.lang: About eight years ago I met a teacher here in Los Angeles from the Nyingma lineage of Tibet, Lama Chödak Gyatso Nubpa. The great teacher Chagdud Tulku asked him to come here and work on stabilizing dharma in the West. Lama Gyatso quickly became my teacher. I have been practicing and studying with him since.

She and her partner (Jamie Price) are on the board of directors of Ari Bödh, the American Foundation for Tibetan Cultural Preservation. Also amongst their small sangha's current projects is "a children’s camp called Tools for Peace."

(Please note - image is from her website - no infringement is intended, but it seemed highly appropriate for the entry.)

Also, I was reading in last month's Shambala Sun that the 17th Karmapa* has a love of comic books, especially the X-men:

In your talk earlier today, you mentioned that you used to read X-Men and other comics. Is that something you still do?

I would continue reading comic books, but not many people give them to me anymore! When I was young, all kinds of people would give me comic books, but now they don't. As you know, they made a movie of the X-Men, and I enjoyed that very much. When I went to Universal Studios, I thought about buying some X-Men comics while I was there. But it was very crowded and I thought, "Well, maybe it wouldn't be so appropriate for an adult to purchase such things."

I am totally thinking about putting back a stash of comic books to send to him, when I can. ^_^

* I am not going to weigh in on this, but there is some controversy as to who the 17th Karmapa is - see this article for more. I see no reason, regardless of one's position on this controversy, to not refer to him by his appropriate title.

And last, but not least, via Venerable Konchog of Dreaming of Danzan Ravjaa, comes a fun invitation to provide a caption to this fab image:


You know you wanna. Rev. Danny Fisher has weighed in already. ^_- Drop by and weigh in!

Whew

I'm back. Well, sort of. At least I'm trying to be. Lots to do, between work, home and little people. Anyway - I'm out here. Listening. ^_- Hopefully soon to be posting more.

Blunt honesty time: It can be intimidating for me, sometimes, trying to decide if what I have to say is interesting in the slightest, ya know? Sometimes I get hung up in a lack of self confidence. Lots of Buddhist thinking, musings, and questions cross my mind, but there's this crabby, cowed-acting corner of my mind that tells me that it's egotistical to think that anyone would be interested in my blogged contemplations. This has been a huge block to me lately, when it comes to writing.

Freeing Tibet

I'm a bit slow in mentioning this, but the issue doesn't end when March 10th ends:

Loyalty?

Just a quick post - have a lot of thoughts bumping around in my head right now, but no cohesive order to them yet. However, I found an interesting link on lotusinthemud I thought was worth pointing out. Apparently, a Quaker teacher was fired for changing her loyalty oath to reflect her nonviolent spiritual views.