@bodhidave@mstdn.social
@bodhidave@mstdn.social avatar

bodhidave

@bodhidave@mstdn.social

humanistic psychodynamic #Buddhist deconstructionist ... and all-round sweet guy

interested in cross-cultural parallels in #meditation traditions and #contemplative practice

particular interest in #Dōgen #Zen, #Vipassana, the practice of #jhāna, the West's #ViaNegativa and The Cloud of #Unknowing
.

(also https://mstdn.social/@bodhidave on BlueSky)
.

[header is the Zen rock garden of Ryōan-ji; avatar is an enso]

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DrJackBrown, to random
@DrJackBrown@mstdn.social avatar

"You don't give me side eye or roll your eyes. Clear the courtroom!"

Judge Merchan
to Trump witness, Robert Costello, J.D.

bodhidave,
@bodhidave@mstdn.social avatar

@DrJackBrown

“I’m putting you on notice that your conduct is contemptuous,” Merchan said.

bodhidave, to Meditation
@bodhidave@mstdn.social avatar

The "han," sounding board for marking the beginning of #meditation periods, at Tassajara #Zen Monastery.

bryankam, to philosophy
@bryankam@writing.exchange avatar

"Conceit is epilepsy and eyesight is a lying sense."
— #Heraclitus (dubious) fragment 46

"All humans by nature desire to know. An indication of this is our liking for the perceptual capacities. For even apart from their utility, these are liked because of themselves — and most of all the one because of the eyes."
— #Aristotle, (dubious) #Metaphysics, 980a21

@philosophy #philosophy #vision

A tiktok video in which I talk about a quote from Heraclitus, "Eyesight is a lying sense"

bodhidave,
@bodhidave@mstdn.social avatar

@bryankam @philosophy

Lots of examples in sensory psych about ways our visual system exaggerates and distorts what the eyes register.

But I am especially fond of the implications of reflections on cross-species differences in sensoria...

bodhidave,
@bodhidave@mstdn.social avatar

@bryankam @philosophy

I'm also reminded of a favorite, um, spelling:

In Middle English, as often as not, "conceit" was how you spelled the word "concept." :)

pinskal, to random
@pinskal@sfba.social avatar

Photographer jon bilous

bodhidave,
@bodhidave@mstdn.social avatar

@pinskal

I used to live within walking distance of Magnolia Cafe ... decades ago :)

Nice to see it's still up and running.

bodhidave,
@bodhidave@mstdn.social avatar

@mcmullin @pinskal

another angle (and I'm guessing this picture was taken early in the morning, since the restaurant is open 7am-10pm, seven days a week, and is popular)

EDIT: I got curious, because I remember it being open 24 hours, and seeing the sign in this picture saying "Open for Take-Out," I'm now thinking it likely this photo was taken during a Covid slow-down.

jkirkendall, to knitting
@jkirkendall@wandering.shop avatar

The new yarn store in my neighborhood has this on their wall.

I am amused.


@knitting

bodhidave,
@bodhidave@mstdn.social avatar

@jkirkendall @knitting

I understand there are others so-named in the country, but I was fond of the sign on a local beauty salon in San Antonio, which read:

"Curl Up and Dye"

bodhidave, to zen
@bodhidave@mstdn.social avatar

1/2

I've long admired #Zen teacher Hakuin's painting of blind persons crossing a bridge. Apparently he painted it, with variations (like, how many figures are on the bridge), at least 8 times.

And I learned tonight that the image is based on an actual bridge which was located near where he lived, "the log bridge of Mamano." And at least one poet who had lived before him, taking a lead from the phrase "ari no mama," which can mean "things as they are," referred to it as the "Just-So Bridge."

bodhidave, to random
@bodhidave@mstdn.social avatar

this, um, pretty cool pattern is on my kitchen window at the moment ... and the ice is on the inside ⛄

image/png

bodhidave,
@bodhidave@mstdn.social avatar

@Fudoshin @DessertStorms

And I'm reminded, as a psychologist and a Buddhist,* that being kind and humane to others benefits us, too. It really does.

(*In my over-educated view, being a psychologist and a Buddhist are the same thing in the end.)

notes, to buddhism
@notes@social.coop avatar

"Numberless beings, I vow to serve them.
Inexhaustible delusions, I vow to end them.
Boundless dharmas, I vow to practice them.
Unsurpassable Buddha Way, I vow to embody it."

Four Bodhisattva Vows
https://zcla.org/the-four-bodhisattva-vows/
#Dharma #Buddhism #Zen #Bodhisattva #BodhisattvaVows ​ ​ ​
@dharma
@bodhisattva

bodhidave,
@bodhidave@mstdn.social avatar

@notes @dharma @bodhisattva

two other translations:

All beings, without number,
I vow to liberate.
Endless blind passions
I vow to uproot.
Dharma gates, beyond measure,
I vow to penetrate.
The Great Way of Buddha
I vow to attain.

(Rochester Zen Center)
.

Beings are numberless,
I vow to save them.
Delusions are inexhaustible,
I vow to end them.
Dharma-gates are boundless,
I vow to enter them.
Buddha's Way is unsurpassable,
I vow to become it.

(San Francisco Zen Center)

❤️ 🙏

bodhidave, to trans
@bodhidave@mstdn.social avatar

1|2

I ended up enjoying a #sci-fi book I read yesterday, Light from Uncommon Stars, by Ryka Aoki.

It's a bit like a fairy tale ... the lead character is an abused young #trans #queer woman, who's something of a prodigy on the violin ... and is taken under the wing of a famous music teacher ... who works for the devil, Faustian-bargain-like and gets a crush on a woman who runs a donut shop and comes from another planet. :)

bodhidave, to random
@bodhidave@mstdn.social avatar

1/7

Happy Winter's #Solstice.

I recently collected a few pictures of Neolithic structures aligned for the solstice, for an art group discussion. The most famous now is #Stonehenge.

As the sun sets on the Winter solstice:

bodhidave, to random
@bodhidave@mstdn.social avatar

there appears to be a live cam for the current volcanic eruption in Iceland here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1e_MWJ1nQc

bodhidave, to random
@bodhidave@mstdn.social avatar

[reply to a post:]

Longtime contemplative (meditator) and student of religion and psych, several things come to mind:

  • "religion" is a Western word, meaning "re-connection" but originally often used to mean "superstition."

  • much of the healthy heart of spirituality and early Western philosophy is questioning things.

  • "believe" is cognate with "belove"; tho I prefer "faith," with a connotation of "openness."

  • healthy experience giving rise to religious expression is often before words.

bodhidave, to random
@bodhidave@mstdn.social avatar

1/2

On a retreat some years ago in Colorado, we did an opening night ceremony of circumambulating this stupa, then individually touching our foreheads to it.

The next morning this little guy was doing the same. 🙂 🙏

bodhidave, to Meditation
@bodhidave@mstdn.social avatar

I've been meditating for decades, have undergone several dozen intensive #meditation retreats, and did a couple grad degrees studying it. And I'm still learning.

And as I continue to learn it seems increasingly simple, if not in fact increasingly elemental.

In tonight's sitting, as an illustration (and "elementally" hard to put into simple words), the sense was less that I was having an experience of the present moment, and more like the present moment was "having" an experience.

bodhidave, to random
@bodhidave@mstdn.social avatar

a sunny, slightly frosty morning here in #Appalachia

(1) my next door neighbor's house

(2) my next door neighbor

#Asstodon

my neighbor is a white-grey donkey standing on the grassy hillside looking toward the camera

danwentzel, to random
@danwentzel@urbanists.social avatar

Since we are “vermin” according to Trump, does that mean he plans on exterminating us if he gets back into the White House? Just as Hitler did to his political opponents and everyone he found undesirable?

No, this is not a hyperbolic question.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/11/12/trump-rally-vermin-political-opponents/

bodhidave,
@bodhidave@mstdn.social avatar

@xs4me2 @soc_i_ety @danwentzel

A psychologist, and while I don't pretend to fully understand Trump, it strikes me that for him questions of right and wrong simply don't come into the picture — as previous comments suggest, it's only a matter of what he instinctively feels benefits him in a given moment.

ElleGray, (edited ) to random
@ElleGray@mstdn.social avatar

deleted_by_author

    •
    bodhidave,
    @bodhidave@mstdn.social avatar

    @ElleGray

    I half see what you did there.

    paezha, to Haiku
    @paezha@mastodon.online avatar

    Blossoms scent the air
    a carefree birdsong
    echoes truth.

    Gozan (d. 1733)

    bodhidave,
    @bodhidave@mstdn.social avatar

    @paezha

    ... and ligers* even bigger.

    • (tigers cross-bred with lions)
    donni, to random
    @donni@mastodon.social avatar

    We live in a weird time and it’s only right to get weirder yourself

    bodhidave,
    @bodhidave@mstdn.social avatar

    @donni

    I lived in Austin, Texas, for many years — this was our slogan 👍

    Rasp, to random
    @Rasp@raru.re avatar
    bodhidave,
    @bodhidave@mstdn.social avatar

    @accretionist @Rasp

    almost relevant...

    jstatepost, to Cat
    @jstatepost@mstdn.social avatar

    🥥 #Caturday news: #Cat expressions scrutinized by #AI.
    Researchers turn #MachineLearning on animals to decode their vocalizations, movements, and facial expressions.
    "#Cats produce a variety of facial expressions when interacting with humans, and this week researchers revealed felines have a range of 276 facial expressions when interacting with other cats.
    However, the facial expressions they produce towards humans look different from those produced towards cats." 🥥
    https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/nov/04/scientists-turn-to-ai-for-help-translate-animal-vocal-physical-cues

    bodhidave,
    @bodhidave@mstdn.social avatar

    @hugh @jstatepost

    Meanwhile, it appears cats know their names, but often don't respond when its called ... because they don't care. :)

    https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/yes-cats-probably-know-their-names

    donni, to random
    @donni@mastodon.social avatar

    I’m just trying to relax, know less, think minimally, become rock

    bodhidave,
    @bodhidave@mstdn.social avatar

    @donni

    I would not feel so all alone—
    Everybody must become stone

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