everything was beautiful and nothing hurt

Let us toast to animal pleasures, to escapism, to rain on the roof and instant coffee, to unemployment insurance and library cards, to absinthe and good-hearted landlords, to music and warm bodies and contraceptives… and to the ‘good life’, whatever it is and wherever it happens to be.

Hunter Stockton Thompson, July 18, 1937 – February 20, 2005

The applicants have persistently attempted to elevate the present proceedings to a "constitutional motion" to protect the public right of assembly. They claim that the protest was "peaceful". This cannot mask the fact that the contents of their t-shirts and the placard are prima facie more incendiary than an ordinary affray or a localised breach of peace. Their protest amounts to a grave attack on the financial integrity of key public institutions. Not even a modicum of effort has been made in the present proceedings to justify the attacks made on these institutions. Why? One might reasonably be inclined to think that the applicants were protesting because they had unearthed some skulduggery or chicanery prevailing in these institutions which they wished to unravel by bringing to the public's attention. However, nothing has emerged. This is also not in effect a case about the freedom of speech. The applicants' unequivocal stance seems to be that they have an unfettered right to undermine the legitimacy of public institutions without being held accountable for the consequences of their conduct. The Constitution protects no such right. It cannot. The existence of such an open-ended "right" would undermine the very existence of public governance which in turn depends on public confidence in institutional integrity.

[...]

The intergrity of public institutions and more specifically of the persons entrusted with these institutions , forms an integral part of the foundation that grounds Singapore. It accounts in no small measure for the singularly stable and upright stature Singapore has managed to uphold. Undermining confidence in these institutions and/or the persons responsible for them without any justification, apparent or otherwise, can hardly be described as a "peaceful protest". Domestically as well as internationally, public governance in Singapore has been equated with integrity. To spuriously cast doubt on that would be to improperly undermine both a hard-won national dignity and a reputable international identity.

Chee Siok Chin v Minister of Home Affairs [2006] 1 SLR 582 at 630

Me: Busy?
Colleague: Not really.
Me: Hungry?
Colleague: Yes.
Me: Eat?
Colleague: 10 mins?
Me: Okay, bye.

If you have reached the age of 25, I have a bit of bad news for you, to wit: it is time, if you have not already done so, for you to emerge from your cocoon of post-adolescent dithering and self-absorption and join the rest of us in the world. Past the quarter-century mark, you see, certain actions, attitudes, and behaviors will simply no longer do, and while it might seem unpleasant to feign a maturity and solicitousness towards others that you may not genuinely feel, it is not only appreciated by others but necessary for your continued survival. Continuing to insist past that point that good manners, thoughtfulness, and grooming oppress you in some way is inappropriate and irritating.

Grow up.

And when I instruct you to grow up, I do not mean that you must read up on mortgage rates, put aside candy necklaces, or desist from substituting the word "poo" for crucial syllables of movie titles. Silliness is not only still permitted but actively encouraged. You must, however, stop viewing carelessness, tardiness, helplessness, or any other quality better suited to a child as either charming or somehow beyond your control. A certain grace period for the development of basic consideration and self-sufficiency is assumed, but once you have turned 25, the grace period is over, and starring in a film in your head in which you walk the earth alone is no longer considered a valid lifestyle choice, but rather grounds for exclusion from social occasions.

And now, for those of you who might have misplaced them, marching orders for everyone born before 1980.

1. Remember to write thank-you notes. If you do not know when a thank-you note is appropriate, consult an etiquette book — the older and more hidebound the book, the better. When in doubt, write one anyway; better to err on the side of formality. An email is not sufficient thanks for a physical gift. Purchase stationery and stamps, set aside five minutes, and express your gratitude in writing. Failure to do so implies that you don't care. This implication is a memorable one. Enough said.

2. Do not invite yourself to stay with friends when you travel anymore. Presumably you have a job, and the means to procure yourself a hotel. If so, do so. If not, stay home. Mentioning that you plan a visit to another city may lead to an invitation to stay with a friend or family member, which you may of course accept; assuming that "it's cool if you crash" is not. Wait for the invitation; if it is not forthcoming, this is what we call "a hint," and you should take it and make other arrangements.

3. Do not expect friends to help you move anymore. You may ask for help; you may not expect it, particularly if your move date is on a weekday. Your friends have jobs to go to, and you have accumulated a lot of heavy books by this point in your life. Hire a mover. If you cannot afford a mover, sell your books or put them in storage — or don't move, but one way or another, you will have to cope.

4. Develop a physical awareness of your surroundings. As children, we live in our own heads, bonking into things, gnawing on twigs, emitting random squawks because we don't know how to talk yet. Then, we enter nursery school. You, having graduated college or reached a similar age to that of the college graduate, need to learn to sense others and get out of their way. Walk single file. Don't blather loudly in public spaces. Give up your seat to those with disabilities or who are struggling with small children. Take your headphones off while interacting with clerks and passersby. Do not walk along and then stop suddenly. It is not just you on the street; account for that fact.

5. Be on time. The occasional public-transit snafu is forgivable, but consistent lateness is rude, annoying, and self-centered. If we didn't care when you showed up, we'd have said "any old time"; if we said seven, get there at seven or within fifteen minutes. Do not ditz that you "lost track of time" as though time somehow slipped its leash and ran into traffic. It shows a basic lack of respect for others; flakiness is not cute anymore, primarily because it never was. Buy a watch, wind it up, and wear it everywhere you go.

6. Have enough money. I do not mean "give up your scholarly dreams and join the world of corporate finance in order to keep up with the Joneses." I mean that you should not become that girl or boy who is always a few dollars short, can only cover exactly his or her meal but no tip, or "forgot" to go to the ATM. Go to the ATM first, don't order things you can't afford, and…

7. Know how to calculate the tip. Ten percent of the total; double it; done. You did not have to major in math to know how this works. You are not dumb, but your Barbie-math-is-hard flailing is agonizing and has outstayed its welcome. Ten percent times two. Learn it.

8. Do not share the crazy dream you had last night with anyone but your mental wellness professional. Nobody cares. People who starred in the dream may care, but confine your synopsis to ten words or fewer.

9. Learn to walk in heels. Gentlemen, you are at your leisure. Ladies: If you wear heels, know how to operate them. Clomping along and placing your foot down flat with each step gives the appearance of a ten-year-old playing dress-up, but a pair of heels is like a bicycle — you need momentum to stay up. Come down on the heel and carry forward through the toe, using your regular stride. If you feel wobbly, keep practicing, or get a pair that's better suited to your style of walking. It isn't a once-a-year prom thing anymore for a lot of you, so please learn to walk in them.

10. Have at least one good dress-up outfit. A dress code, or suggested attire on an invitation, is not an instrument of The Man. Own one nice dress, or one reasonable suit, or one sharp pair of pants and chic sweater — something you can clean up nice in for a wedding or a semi-formal dinner. You don't have to like it, but if the invitation requests it, put it on. Every night can't be poker night. Which reminds me…

11. Do as invitations ask you. Don't bring a guest when no such courtesy is extended. Don't blow off an RSVP; it means "please respond," and you should. "Regrets only" means you only answer if you can't come. If the party starts at eight, show up at eight — not at seven-thirty so you can go a "better" party later, not at eleven when dinner is cold. Eight. Cocktail parties allow for leeway, of course, but pay attention and read instructions; your host furnished the details for a reason.

12. Know how. Know how to drive. Know how to read a map. Know how to get around. Know how to change a tire, or whom to call if you can't manage it, or how to get to a phone if you don't have a cell phone. We will happily bail you out, until it becomes apparent that it's what you always need. The possibility of a fingernail breaking or a hairstyle becoming compromised is not grounds for purposeful helplessness.

13. Don't use your friends. It's soulless. It's also obvious. If the only reason you continue to associate with a person is to borrow his or her car, might I remind you that you have now turned 25 and may rent your own.

14. Have something to talk about besides college or your job. College is over. The war stories have their amusements, but not over and over and not at every gathering. Get a library card, go to the movies, participate in the world. Working is not living. Be interested so that you can be interesting.

15. Give and receive favors graciously. If you have agreed to do a favor, you may not 1) remind the favoree ceaselessly about how great a pain it is for you, or 2) half-ass it because the favoree "owes you." It is a favor; it is not required, and if you cannot do it, say so. If you can do it, pretend that nobody is watching, do it as best you can, and let that be the end of it. Conversely, if you ask for a favor and the askee cannot do it, do not get snappish. You can manage.

16. Drinking until you throw up is no longer properly a point of pride. It happens to the best of us, but be properly ashamed the next day; work on your tolerance, or eat something first, but amateur hour ended several years hence.

17. Have a real trash receptacle, real Kleenex, and, if you smoke, a real ashtray. No loose bags on the floor; no using a roll of toilet paper; no plates or empty soda cans. You are not a fierce warrior nomad of the Fratty Bubelatty tribe. Buy a wastebasket and grown-up paper products.

18. Universal quiet hours do in fact apply to you. They are, generally, as follows — midnight to six AM on weekdays, 2 AM to 8 AM on weekends. Mine is a fairly generous interpretation, by the by, so bass practice should conclude, not start, at ten PM. Understand also that just because nobody has complained directly to you does not mean that a complaint is not justified, or pending. Further, get your speakers off the floor. Yes, "now." Yes, a rug is still "the floor."

19. Take care of yourself. If you are sick, visit a doctor. If you are sad, visit a shrink or talk to a friend. If you are unhappy in love, break up. If you are fed up with how you look, buy a new shirt or stop eating cheese. If you have a problem, try to fix it. Many problems are knotty and need a lot of talking through, or time to resolve, but after a few months of all complaining and no fixing, those around you will begin to wonder if you don't enjoy the problems for the attention they bring you. Venting is fine; inertia coupled with pouting is not. Bored? Read a magazine. Mad at someone? Say so — to them. Change is hard; that's too bad. Effort counts. Make one. Your mommy's shift is over.

20. Rudeness is not a signifier of your importance. Rudeness is a signifier of itself, nothing more. We all have bad days; yours is not weightier than anyone else's, comparatively, and does not excuse displays of poor breeding. Be civil or be elsewhere.

[Source

Glorious weather and I can't think of any better way to spend this morning than watching Zombieland. Which, 18 minutes into it, is awesome.

Gautama felt as though a prison which had confined him for thousands of lifetimes had broken open. Ignorance had been the jailkeeper. Because of ignorance, his mind had been obscured, just like the moon and stars hidden by the storm clouds. Clouded by endless waves of deluded thoughts, the mind had falsely divided reality into subject and object, self and others, existence and non-existence, birth and death, and from those discriminations arose wrong views - the prisons of feeling, craving, grasping and becoming. The suffering of birth, old age, sickness and death only made the prison walls thicker. The only thing to do was to seize the jailkeeper and see his true face. The jailkeeper was ignorance... Once the jailkeeper was gone, the jail would disappear and never be rebuilt again.

Thich Nhat Hanh, Old Path, White Clouds

Many Americans perceive Buddhism as a philosophy that regards this world as transitory and unimportant; in this country, the most widely disseminated kind of Buddhism is a stripped-down version of Theravada practice with a strong emphasis on ritual supplemented by meditations on meta, or loving-kindness. Said Nhat Hanh: "Meditation is to get insight, to get understanding and compassion, and when you have them, you are compelled to act. The Buddha, after enlightenment, went out to help people. Meditation is not to avoid society; it is to look deep to have the kind of insight you need to take action. To think that it is just to sit down and enjoy the calm and peace, is wrong."

Burma's Monks: 'Already a Success'

1. When a part of a Sangha is overwhelmed by a wrong desire, it stops the rest of the Sangha from being able to approach that person.

2. The bhikkhu who praises himself and despises others is difficult to approach.

3. A bhikkhu who is angry and who is mastered by his anger is difficult to approach.

4. The bhikkhu who is angry and because of his anger bears a grudge is difficult to approach.

5. A bhikkhu who, when corrected, corrects in turn the one who has corrected him, is difficult to approach.

6. A bhikkhu who, when corrected, retorts, is difficult to approach.

7. A bhikkhu who, when corrected, evades the question by asking another or changes the subject, is difficult to approach.

Sutra on Measuring and Reflecting.

I think it's time I plucked up the courage to travel solo. June 2010.

[EDIT at 4.40pm: Going alone to Jakarta for X'mas!]

9 March, 2009
International Campaign for Tibet
A Great Mountain Burned by Fire: China’s Crackdown in Tibet

New ICT report publishes banned writings from Tibet and reveals intensified repression on eve of anniversary

March 10, 2009, marks the 50th anniversary of the Tibetan Uprising in Lhasa that led to the Dalai Lama’s escape from Tibet, and the first anniversary of an unprecedented wave of overwhelmingly peaceful protests that swept across the Tibetan plateau, to be met by a violent crackdown.

Since March 10, 2008, the Chinese government has engaged in a comprehensive cover-up of the torture, disappearances and killings that have taken place across Tibet combined with a propaganda offensive against the exiled Tibetan leader, Nobel Peace Laureate the Dalai Lama.

In February and early March, the Chinese government stepped up levels of intimidation and adopted an increasingly harsh and systematic approach to silencing Tibetans and suppressing dissent, with the authorities calling upon officials, security forces and the general public to "crush" any signs of support for the Dalai Lama. State repression and the hardening of the Chinese government’s position on the Dalai Lama have created deepening tension in Tibet, the opposite of the ‘genuine stability’ that President Hu Jintao states is the leadership’s priority.

This is the only known period in Tibet when protests have continued despite the severity of Beijing’s response and its attempts to impose a news blackout. In response to an official ban on an important prayer ceremony in the Tibetan area of Sichuan province, a monk set himself on fire and was shot last week (February 27). On Sunday (March 1), more than 100 monks protested in defiance of a ban on praying at their monastery, calling for religious freedom and for Tibetans in their area to be released from prison. In a rare and specific denial, the Chinese state media said that the monks had been engaged in “normal religious activity” and were not protesting (Xinhua, March 3).

During the 50th anniversary period, Tibetans continue to ‘disappear,’ often being taken from their homes in the middle of the night to face extreme brutality in ‘black jails.’ According to figures given in official statistics, 1200 Tibetans remain unaccounted for since the protests began. The increase in numbers of political prisoners since March 10, 2008, is likely to be the largest increase that has ever occurred in Tibetan areas of the PRC under China’s current Constitution and Criminal Law. A list of more than 600 names and details of prisoners who have been detained since March 2008 is provided with ICT’s report.

'A Great Mountain Burned by Fire: China's Crackdown in Tibet' details new campaigns directed against Tibetan culture and religion in the last few months. Almost any expression of Tibetan identity not directly sanctioned by the state can be branded as ‘reactionary’ or ‘splittist’ and penalized with a long prison sentence, or worse. Pop stars, artists and writers have been detained under a new drive against “cultural products” with suspect ideological content such as songs referring to the Dalai Lama, and in music bars Tibetan performers are no longer allowed to address the audience as “Tibetan brothers and sisters” because it is considered “subversive” to the “unity of the nationalities”.

Despite the severe risks, Tibetans continue to express their views and pass on information. Blog posts, emails and articles revealing experiences of imprisonment, interrogation and loss, as well as perspectives on a way forward translated in this report, indicate an unquenchable spirit and expression of a deeply-felt Tibetan identity. ‘A Great Mountain Burned by Fire’ includes the first translations into English from the only known book to be published in the PRC about the uprising over the past year. This collection of writing, ‘The Eastern Snow Mountain’, by Tibetans still in Tibet was banned almost as soon as it appeared. One of the authors writes: “In a year that turned out to be like a raging storm… how could we remain… in fear. [This work is] a sketch of history written in the blood of a generation.”

ICT’s report, ‘A Great Mountain Burned by Fire: China’s Crackdown in Tibet’, is available at http://www.savetibet.org/files/documents/ICT_A_Great_Mountain_Burned_by_Fire.pdf.

A list and details of more than 600 Tibetan political prisoners are available at http://www.savetibet.org/action-center/current-ict-campaigns/political-prisoners. This list will be updated regularly according to information received from Tibet.

A press briefing on the report with Tibetan sources present will be held on Monday, March 9, at the Lhakpa Tsering Memorial Hall, the Department of Information and International Relations, the Tibetan government in exile, Gangchen Kyishong, Dharamsala, India, at 11.30 am.

A press briefing on the report will additionally be held on Monday, March 9 in Brussels, Belgium at the Residence Palace, Schumann at 1.00 pm. Contact: Vincent Metten, tel: + 32 2 609 4410.

Press contacts:

Kate Saunders
Communications Director, ICT
India Tel: +91 97 1768 7756
UK Tel: +44 7947 138612
Email: press@savetibet.org

Ben Carrdus
Senior Researcher
Washington, D.C.
US Tel: +1 202 580 6760
Email: benc@ictibet.org

Kai Mueller, Executive Director, ICT Germany
Tel.: +49 1622087358
Email: presse@savetibet.de

Source

Tags: politics, society

I would like to tell you a story that will help you to understand better the practice of taking refuge in the island of self.  About 30 years ago, I was practising and living in the northern part of France and there was a hermitage called “Les Patates Douces” and I went to a solo retreat in that hermitage, and that morning, it was beautiful, and I decided to spend the whole day in the wood.  The hermitage was situated in a kind of forest called “La foret d’Othe” and I like to do walking meditation and sitting meditation in a wood, so that morning, I decided to spend the whole day in the wood.  I brought with me a bowl of rice, some sesame seeds, a bottle of water, and off I went to the forest and wanted to stay the whole day there.  I enjoyed it very much, but at about 3 o’clock in the afternoon black clouds began to gather and I knew that I could not stay longer in the wood, that I had to go home to the hermitage.  Before I left the hermitage I had opened the door and all the windows so that the sunshine could come in, and now the wind had begun to blow and I knew that I have to stop my stay in the wood and go home to the hermitage to take care of it.  When I arrived at the hermitage, I found the situation not pleasant at all.  The wind had blown very hard, and all the papers I put on my table were blown a little bit everywhere, and then it’s cold, it’s miserable in the hermitage, cold and dark and disorder, it’s a mess!  The first thing I did was to go and close all the windows because I didn’t want the wind to continue its work of destruction, so I closed the windows and I also closed the door.  And then I made a fire in the chimney and when the fire began to come alive, I began to collect all the sheets of paper on the ground and put them on the table and then took the little brick I had to put on it, and tried to make the hermitage tidy, in order.  By that time, the chimney was very pleasant already.  By that time it was warm, it was pleasant, it was cosy in the hermitage and I sat by the fire, I toasted my fingers, and I listened and enjoyed the wind and the rain outside.  And that is my practice.

There are days when you feel that it’s not your day, everything goes wrong.  And the more effort you make, the situation becomes worse.  Of course you have gone through days like that in your life.  You fail in everything, you suffer, you get angry, people blame you, you are not happy, you are frustrated.  And you tell yourself that you have to make more effort, but the more effort you make, the worse the situation becomes, and then you know that it’s time to stop, it’s time to stop everything, it’s time to go home to yourself and take refuge in yourself.  You have to close your windows, the eyes, the ears; you have to close the five windows.  You should not be in touch with the outside any more; you have to close the windows of your hermitage.  Because there is a hermitage within yourself – that is the island of self that I want you to discover.  If you continue to be on the outside, then you continue to suffer, you know.  That is why in moments like that, you have to go home to the island of self, and the first thing you do is exactly what I did with my hermitage, to close the five windows.  And you know that eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind, are the six windows you close.  Don’t look, don’t listen, don’t touch, and don’t think.  Stop everything in order to prevent the strong wind from the outside to continue to blow in and to make you miserable, because the eye is a window, the ear is a window, the mind is a window, and if you keep them open, the wind of suffering, the wind of disturbance will continue to come and make the situation worse and worse.  Don’t try any more.  Stop trying and shut the windows.  You shut also the door, and you have to go to the chimney and make a fire.  You want to get a feeling of warmth, cosiness, and comfort by practising mindful breathing, going home to yourself.   And rearrange everything, your feelings, your perceptions, your emotions, they are all scattered all over, it’s a mess.  You have to recognise each feeling, each emotion, and you have to collect them like I collected all the sheets of paper that were scattered a little bit all over.  Practise mindfulness and concentration, and tidy up everything within yourself.  You are going home, you have gone home to your island of self, and you are transformed into a place that is cosy and pleasant for you to take refuge in.  Everyone has a hermitage within, very safe, very cosy, very comfortable, very calm, and they have to go home to that hermitage.  The expression that the Buddha used is “dípá atta dípá saraná.”  “Atta” means self, “dípá” means island, and “saraná” means refuge.  “Taking refuge in the island of self.”  This is the dharma talk that the Buddha gave when he was 80 to many groups of friends and disciples.  If you rely on the outside, you get lost.  That is why you have to go home and rely on something that is reliable, that is the island of self.

How To Discover Our Own Refuge, Thich Nhat Hanh, Plum Village, 2005

"You have been here, you don't know since when. You have never been born and you are not going to die, because to die means from someone you suddenly become no one. From something, you suddenly become nothing. Nothing is like that. Even when you burn a piece of cloth, it will not become nothing. It will become the heat that penetrates into the cosmos. It will become smoke that rises into the sky to become part of a cloud. It will become some ash that falls to the ground that may manifest itself tomorrow as a leaf, a blade of grass, or a flower. So there is only continuation."

Going Home, Thich Nhat Hanh