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Halloween

October 29th, 2000 (Day 89 of Foghamhar, Year 38)

The only major holiday in America that doesn't get a day off from school. Halloween is still a day when kids explore new identities and character roles with rewards from adults for good performances. ideas of the afterworld are exchanged and traditions of magical practices are taught.

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The Taverna

October 29th, 2000 (Day 89 of Foghamhar, Year 38) C.A. Doxiadis

I received my greatest lesson in aesthetics from an old man in an Athenian taverna. Night after night he sat alone at the same table, drinking his wine with precisely the same odd movements. I finally asked him why he did this, and he said, "Young man, I first look at my glass to please my eyes, then I take it in my hand to please my hand, then I bring it to my nose to please my nostrils, and I am just about to bring it to my lips when I hear a small voice in my ears, "How about me?" So I tap my glass on the table before I drink from it. I thus please all five senses.

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Pearly Gates

October 29th, 2000 (Day 89 of Foghamhar, Year 38)Zusya

In the coming world they will not ask me, "Why were you not Moses?" They will ask me, "Why were you not Zusya?"

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Death

October 29th, 2000 (Day 89 of Foghamhar, Year 38)J. Krishnamurti

Why is it we are frightened of death? as most people are. Frightened of what? Do please observe you own fears of what we call death- being frightened of coming to the end of the battle we call living. We are frightened of the unknown, what might happen, what might not happen; we are frightened of leaving the known things, the family, the books, the attachment to our house and furniture, to the people near us. We are firghtened to let go of the things known; and the known is this living in sorrow, pain, and despiar, with occasional flashes of joy; there is no end to this constant struggle; that is what we call living- of that we are frightened to let go... Can one die to everything that is "known," psychologically, from day to day? Can one die, psychologically, to all one's past, to all the attachments, fears, to the anxiety, vanity, and pride, so completely that tomorrow you wake up a fresh human being?

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silence

October 26th, 2000 (Day 86 of Foghamhar, Year 38) A monk asked the desert father St. Anthony, what he was going to tell the important visiting Bishop from Alexandria, who was angry that Anthony didn't reply to his letters. He replied, "If he is not educated by my silence, then my words would be useless."

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45 Life Rules

October 22th, 2000 (Day 83 of Foghamhar, Year 38) by Pat Darling, Akita Grove.
I put this together, from stuff going around the internet, take a look and see what you thing

1.Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
2. Memorize your favorite poem.
3. Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.
4. When you say, "I love you", mean it.
5. When you say, "I'm sorry", look the person in the eye.

6. Be engaged at least six months before you get married.
7. Believe in love at first sight.
8. Never laugh at anyone's dreams. People who don't have dreams don't have much.
9. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely.
10. In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.

11. Don't judge people by their relatives.
12. Talk slowly but think quickly.
13. When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, "Why do you want to know?"
14. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
15. Call your Mom.

16. Say "bless you" when you hear someone sneeze.
17. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
18. Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others; Responsibility for all your actions.
19. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
20. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

21. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.
22. Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.
23. Spend some time alone.
24. Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.
25. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

26. Read more books and watch less TV.
27. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back you'll get to enjoy it a second time.
28. Trust in God but lock your car.
29. A loving atmosphere in your home is so important. Do all you can to create a tranquil harmonious home.
30. In disagreements with loved ones, deal with the current situation. Don't bring up the past.

31. Read between the lines.
32. Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality.
33. Be gentle with the earth.
34. Pray. There's immeasurable power in it.
35. Never interrupt when you are being flattered.

36. Mind your own business.
37. Don't trust a man/woman who doesn't close his/her eyes when you kiss.
38. Once a year, go someplace you've never been before.
39. If you make a lot of money, put it to use helping others while you are living. That is wealth's greatest satisfaction.
40. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a stroke of luck.

41. Learn the rules then break some.
42. Remember that the best relationship is one where your love for each
other is greater than your need for each other.
43. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
44. Remember that your character is your destiny.
45. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.

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Mark Twain's Quips

October 19th, 2000 (Day 80 of Foghamhar, Year 38)

Everything humorous is pathetic. The secret source of humor is not joy but sorrow. There is no humor in heaven.

Faith is believing what you know ain't so.

Be careless in your dress if you need be, but keep a tidy soul.

Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of joy you must have somebody to share it with

True irreverence is disrespect for another man's god.

In statemanship get the formalities right, never mind about the moralities.

We should be careful to get out of an experience only the wisdom that is in it and stop there; lest we be litke the cat that sat down on a hot stovelid. She will never sit down again on a hot lid again, and that is well; but also she wil never sit down on a cold one anymore.

Easier to stay out than to get out.

Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been.

By trying, we can easily learn to endure adversity. Another man's I mean.

Few of us can stand prosperity. Another man's I mean.

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Death and Initiation: Perspectives

October 16th, 2000 (Day 77 of Foghamhar, Year 38) by Karl Lembke, submitted by Stacey

Death is a common theme in initiatory rites.

In the usual initiation rite, there is a ritual death and rebirth. The initiate dies to his old life and is reborn to a new life as an initiate. With this ritual death and rebirth comes, if the initiate has been properly prepared, a significant change in consciousness and awareness. The initiate emerges transformed -- transfigured. This is not unique to Wicca, many mystery religions use the death and rebirth motif in their initiation rites. There is even speculation that the three days Lazarus spent in the tomb was a rite of initiation.

As the wheel of the year turns toward the dark time, it is natural to turn one's mind to the realms of shadow and darkness. The God has been sacrificed for the good of the world, and now dwells in the underworld as the Lord of Death and Resurrection. The life force is visibly ebbing in the world as nature shuts down for the winter.

I've been thinking lately of the relation between death and initiation.

In the movie "What About Bob", Bob, the overly dependent patient of a psychologist drives his poor therapist well over the edge. His therapist eventually ties him to a chair under which he's placed enough explosive to blow him to bits. Somehow, he escapes, but the experience of staring death in the face changes him. As a result of this change, he becomes much more self-reliant and is healed of his psychological problems. He also writes a book called "Death Therapy" and becomes quite famous on the talk show circuit.

In another book, "A Rage for Revenge", the main character undergoes what is called "mode training". In this training, he is forcibly introduced to the certainty of his own death. We follow him through the five stages of death, as defined by Elizabeth Kuebler-Ross: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. In the course of this training, he learns to choose which mental state he will operate in, and to function independently of pre-programmed mental states.

Recently, a friend of mine was forced to move out of a house he had owned for some years, abandoning most of his possessions. He reflected on the change in perspective that resulted from shedding his possessions, and commented that death, the shedding of the physical body, would be a more extreme form of this.

Death is a powerful force in our lives. It drives us to do something with the amount of time we have -- to do something that will make a difference after we're gone. It reminds us that there is a time limit on what we can achieve. It also spurs our quest for something more, for something that exists beyond that final deadline. Often this quest leads us into spiritual explorations, and it is in the course of this quest that we encounter the concept of initiation.

Given the parallels between initiation and death, it's worth reflecting on one more parallel. The five stages of death apply to initiation as well.

In the first stage, we have denial. There is no deep Mystery, nothing to be initiated into. What we see on the surface is all there is, and anyone who thinks there's anything deeper is a superstitious fool. The secularist -- the philosophical materialist -- denies the existence of any force or presence beneath the surface of nature. Rites of initiation are childish games at best, and dangerous hazing at worst. The religiously or spiritually inclined acknowledges this presence, but can't or won't believe that anything more lies on the other side of the initiation experience. There are no Mysteries. In either case, initiation is a childish game at best, and dangerous hazing at worst.

In the next stage, it has become apparent that initiation does lead to something not readily available elsewhere. Often the response is one of anger. The initiate, bound by oaths of secrecy, "thinks he's better than everyone else", or is "holding out" or just "teasing us with his so-called secrets". The very idea of initiation is "elitist". The notion that some people might not be "proper persons, properly prepared" is "judgmental". In a way, this represents progress. The non-initiate recognizes the existence of the Mysteries, and that their attainment is something to be desired. He has become a seeker. The anger he feels is over being told there may be some question as to whether he is a "proper person" or is "properly prepared".

Anger having failed to shake loose the secrets and Mysteries, the seeker turns to bargaining. Surely the secrets can be found in a book somewhere. Or maybe some other path has something equivalent to the Mysteries, without requiring the tests leading up to and including initiation. Or maybe someone will be persuaded to leak the secrets. Bargaining fails because of the underlying truth behind the Mysteries -- they can never be told in words. "The Tao which can be named is not the Eternal Tao", and the Mysteries which can be explained are not the Mysteries. Bargaining, even when the seeker finds everything he seeks, in books or from informants, fails for this reason.

Anger burns itself out eventually. Without the energizing nature of this emotion, the seeker moves into depression. The training period is long, and the process of finding a teacher was equally long. Or maybe the teacher continues to elude the seeker. How can the Mysteries ever be attained if they can't be explained? If the seeker were a "proper person", wouldn't there be some progress by now? Is it worth continuing? Here we have the Samhain of the seeker's quest, the time when the light is fading and all hope is dying. The seeker has entered the dark night of the soul.

The seeker who perseveres emerges from the darkness into light. The time for Initiation comes, and the seeker is reborn into a new life. Propriety of person and long training come together to ignite the spark in the heart of the seeker. He opens up to the divine flame and accepts the Mysteries as They accept him. The family of the hidden children of the Goddess welcomes a newly born member.

This is not the end of the story because the story has no end. The wheel turns, and each part of the cycle comes round again and again. Every seeker will visit these stages of denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance time and time again. But with each visit, experience adds to experience and wisdom deepens. The wheel turns, but it turns because we're moving. The wheel rolls forward.

I am it.

I am part of the sun as my eye is part of me. That I am part of the earth my feet know perfectly, and my blood is part of the sea. There is not any of me that is alone and absolute except my mind, and we shall find that the mind has no existence by itself, it is only the glitter of the sun on the surfaces of the water.

Buddha Thought

As far as the Buddha nature is concerned, there is no difference between sinner and sage... One enlightened thought and one is a Buddha, one foolish thought and one is an ordianary man.

Boy and the Axe

Once upon a time a man whose ax was missing suspected his neighbor's son. The boy walked like a thief, looked like a thief, and spoke like a thief.

But the man found his ax while digging in the valley, and the next time he saw his neighbor's son, the boy walked, looked, and spoke like any child.

Kierkegaard's Perspective

Live must be lived forwards, but it can only be understood backwards.

Complexity

Quotes on Life

Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal. -Camus

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College Top 10 Biblical Reinterpretations

October 2nd ,2000 (Day 63 of Foghamhar, Year 38 of the Reform)
Submitted by Nozomi Kiboo of Akita Grove,
10). Loaves and Fishes replaced by Pizza and Chips
9). Ten Commandments are actually only five, but because they are double-spaced and written in a large font, they look like ten.
8). Forbidden fruit would have been eaten because it wasn't dorm food.
7). Paul's Letters to the Romans become Paul's E-Mail to the Romans.
6). Reason Cain killed Abel: They were roommates.
5). The place where the end of the world occurs, not the Plains of Armageddon, rather Finals.
4). Book of Armaments would be in there somewhere.
3). Reason why Moses and followers walked in desert for 40 years: They didn't want to ask directions and look like a Freshman.
2). Tower of Babel blamed for Foreign Language requirement.
1). Instead of God creating the world in six days and resting on the seventh, He would have put it off until the night before it was due and then pulled an all-nighter and hoped no one noticed.

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