doc benway

All Bread by Margaret Atwood All bread is made of wood, cow dung, packed brown moss, the bodies of dead animals, the teeth and backbones, what is left after the ravens. This dirt flows through the stems into the grain, into the arm, nine strokes of the axe, skin from a tree, good water which is the first gift, four hours. Live burial under a moist cloth, a silver dish, a row of white famine bellies swollen and taut in the oven, lungfuls of warm breath stopped in the heat from an old sun. Good bread has the salt taste of your hands after nine strokes of the axe, the salt taste of your mouth, it smells of its own small death, of the deaths before and after. Lift these ashes into your mouth, your blood; to know what you devour is to consecrate it, almost. All bread must be broken so it can be shared. Together we eat this earth.

Yes, raw cacao is grown best in volcanic soil and can have high concentrations of cadmium and other heavy metals. The processing of chocolate reduces those concentrations considerably but you need to be mindful if you consume large quantities of raw cacao.

Perhaps stirling will have some other comments but I’d like to offer mine. I would say your practice is developing nicely. The mind is like a river, thoughts and feelings come and go, constantly changing. In a similar way, we come and go, as does everything around us, even the planets and stars, just on a larger, slower scale. With respect to “there was still this point of view. Of a person watching, here I am." This is an important part of practice. Once the flow of the moving river of thoughts and feelings is less distracting and no longer carries the attention away, it is then valuable to turn your attention back to the “person watching, here I am.” This is the difference between mindfulness and dzogchen. In mindfulness, we remain identified with the watcher and perfect the art of staying present and attentive. In dzogchen, we turn the attention directly on the watcher and see what exactly that is. I don’t mean it should be an analytical process, per se, but that is what is called “turning the light around." When the looker looks back at itself directly, without thinking about it or analyzing it intellectually, both the looker and what is being looked at dissolve, if only for an instant. In that dissolution, there is the meaning of emptiness of self. It is not intellectual or conceptual, it is open and empty and that’s where we abide. Looking back at the observer is just one way to connect to the spaciousness and clarity of the present moment. There are others. I suspect this is why Buddha may have refused to answer the question about self, his non-verbal instruction being that it is more important to do the work than be given an answer.

No, my IT skills suck I can see why I haven’t read much lately Agreed Unfortunate, …it’s a sensitive subject for sure, for so many on both sides now (one of my favorite songs btw) I enjoyed those, pass the pepitas Cheers

My brother used to dance professionally and travelled constantly. We would stay in touch largely through hand written letters. I really miss that and have several of his old letters. I read them once in a while and they were so funny and creative. I’m inspired to send him a letter!

@Nungali As a partial answer to your question, when I was moderating I found it was not always easy, or even possible, to be certain that someone suspected of being previously banned was, in fact, that person. While it’s easy to be sure as a participating member, it feels different when you are the one issuing a permanent ban. There are tools that can help but without sophisticated IT knowledge and skills, the tools are limited. These uncertain cases were monitored closely and when there was enough certainty they were once again banned. The other factor of importance is the severity of offenses leading to the initial ban. If it was very serious (racism, misogyny, homophobia, threats of violence, etc…) there was no second chance given. If it was milder (posting too many GIFs, relatively harmless misinformation, getting caught up in the moment with an otherwise benign history,… ) then we sometimes gave people a second chance. The rules are useful but not definitive as there are many variables and shades of gray, and the mods do the best they can. I think some have erred on the side of permitting more wide ranging discussion, these are criticized for permitting racism, conspiracy theories, and the like. Others erred on the side of shutting down borderline discussion and these were criticized for censorship. Sometimes it feels like you just can’t win. Moderating is not as black and white as some assume, it requires quite a bit of nuance, and it’s mostly thankless. I think the current team is doing a great job and appreciate them very much! PS - I think this very thread is problematic in the context of racism. What is extolling the virtues of one “race,” to the exclusion of others, if not racism?

Yes, walking and running outside are wonderfully supportive, as is standing meditation and practicing taiji and qigong. I find great refuge in connecting to the natural world and elements, and in family, friends, and our warm little community here. Curiously, after about two decades of reading and listening to Dharma and other spiritual teachings nearly exclusively, I find they are not very interesting or supportive for me lately. My practice is far more beneficial these days and I am more drawn to literature - fiction and poetry mostly, than sutras and tantras. There is wisdom everywhere when I look in the right way and open my heart to it. And there is also pain. It puts me in mind of a quote from Nisargadatta Maharaj that goes something like, ‘When I look outside, I see I am everything; when I look inside, I see I am nothing. Between these two my life turns.’ He remarked just before the Cybertruck ran over his toes…. Yes, thank you. I find myself doing just that in the context of standing meditation frequently. And as you’ve pointed out so often, it’s so easy to bypass. And so important to be aware and unflinchingly honest with ourselves about what we are thinking and feeling. Even when the ultimate game is recognized, there is still plenty of shittola happening. This is the Two Truths, the Yin and the Yang. And when the shit is threatening to drown loved ones, or strangers, it is not enough to simply Rest. I really do appreciate every one of you and the fact that we are able to communicate once again.

I appreciate that. I’m OK. Things are pretty shitty on my side of the pond right now. Lots of negative emotion and reactivity coming up for me on a daily basis. Writing it out helps a little, sometimes.

Slowly working my way through a marvelous, mostly contemporary, poetry anthology, Poetry Unbound: 50 Poems to Open Your World. Padraig O Tuama, an Irish poet, curated the selections and wrote a brief essay on each. For anyone who is intimidated or bored by poetry, this collection could change your mind (or not.. ). There is a second collection I haven’t read yet as well as a wonderful podcast that gave birth to the collections, Poetry Unbound - a part of the On Being project of Krista Tippett. One of my favorites so far from the book is Wishing Well by Gregory Pardlo - https://onbeing.org/poetry/wishing-well/ Another poem worth checking out from the podcast (not in the book) is Gimaazinibii’amoon (A Message to You), written and sung by the author Margaret Noodin in Anishinaabemowin and recited in English - https://onbeing.org/programs/margaret-noodin-gimaazinibiiamoon-a-message-to-you/. There is also an interview with the author here - https://onbeing.org/programs/bonus-a-conversation-with-margaret-noodin/

On a related note, religion can never be separated from bullshit and opportunism. Ethics do not need religion, nor does morality. It’s quite the other way around, religion needs the ethics and morality that arise from community and empathy. Religion does not give us morality, it appropriates morality from the human heart/mind and claims authorship. We can readily see what happens with religion when empathy is absent. Btw #2, I feel the mods are doing a wonderful job trying to maintain the health and focus of this little, shrinking community. They have my trust and appreciation.

of the species. Meow. there are none so whimsical as Jellicle cats

Because they’re cozy and interesting, perhaps?

the life on the line is no less sacred than mine I don't fish for fun

It’s nice to have the site working. Thanks @sean, wherever you are!

You say it better!