Every now and again, I discover a poem that I wrote many years ago, and had since forgotten. I love these little surprises, a voice (clearly my own) both distant and intimate. Often these poems are hand-written on pieces of paper that have been folded into a book. Here's one that recently dropped out of Sri Aurobindo's Bases of Yoga—a slender little book hidden among other slender little books …
Practice Notes
Practice Notes: Tension, Entropy, Awareness
Question: If the essence of all phenomenal appearances is Awareness, then presumably the appearance of a corpse and the appearance of a living organism (human or otherwise) would be experienced within (what Mahamudra refers to as) the “one taste” of Awareness. So how, then, should we describe the distinction between an organism that is considered to be “alive” and an organism that is considered to …
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Practice Notes: “Made Of”
Taking A Bite Consider an apple. The Honeycrisp apples have been quite delicious, here in Colorado this year—so let’s consider a Honeycrisp apple. My first direct experience of the Honeycrisp apple is visual: shape and color. The apple is basically round, and mottled red-green-gold in color, with a small brown stem. The next experience is tactile. When I pick the Honeycrisp apple up, it …
Practice Notes: The S.S. Phenom
Imagine … A beautiful ship—named the S.S. Phenom—made exclusively of cedar planks. This S.S. Phenom is a medium-sized steamship used primarily to ferry tourists over the balmy waters of the Caribbean Sea, between island beaches renowned as vacation destinations. The ship’s owners are under contract with a local travel agency, and enjoy a lucrative regular schedule of trips between and around …
Practice Notes: Objectivity & Subjectivity
I recently shared a couple of love poems written by A.R. Ammons. But this poet is best known for poems which reference scientific laws and theories of various sorts. For instance: Substantial Planes It doesn't matter to me if poems mean nothing: there's no floor to the universe and yet one walks the floor. ~ A.R. Ammons Science & Poetry What I appreciate …
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A Logical Duet
Every now and again, I find it useful to review logical principles that are central to rational discourse, yet often misunderstood or just botched in the heat of the moment. Here are two all-time favorites … 1. Correlation & Causation Just because two events are correlated doesn’t mean that there is a causal relationship that exists between the two. As pictured above, a hot sunny day may …