Zen Master Blumise On A Whacking Spree
Written by Anmol Mehta

There was chaos at No Wind Monastery. The monks were running scared and the cause of their fear was none other than the head abbot, Zen Master Blumise. They all knew that the only monk who could help them in such desperate times was senior monk Tara, and the monks were running around frantically trying to find her.

Finally, a group located her sitting by the river enjoying the late afternoon sun.

"What's all this ruckus about?" she asked, rather alarmed at seeing a gang of anxious monks approaching her.

Practising the Art of Detached Involvement

To achieve authentic detachment and the practice of ‘detached involvement’ that we began to explore last week, it’s necessary to see and understand how attachment happens exactly.  One of the best metaphors for understanding the mechanism and process of ‘attachment’ is the cinema.  There we are in the auditorium aware of our self patiently waiting for the start of the movie.  When it does begin and all those coloured lights start dancing across what was a blank white screen we may notice how we ‘seem’ to leave your body in the seat and go into the story on the screen.  We get lost in the story and eventually lose our self in the characters.  What they feel we feel, what they go through we go through, as we live vicariously through them.  Some more than others of course!

From Ana Paula, Brazil

 

Happy New Year friends! I wish you a wonderful 2011 and I hope all your dreams for this new year come true.

2011 is a special year to me because it's my third and last year at university. Time past so fast, though it seems like I entered uni yesterday. I'm enjoying the course very much indeed and I really hope I can become a good teacher ( I'm doing my best to achieve this goal).

From Anita, Slovakia

 

Hello everyone,
I would like to start my first blog with a dialogue between me and a customer (C) in our office;

C: I wish you a Happy New Year, good health, good fortune and luck.

From Veronika, Belarus

 

Hi everybody!
I was absent just for couple of weeks, but already missed you all!
New Year, Christmas... then there was my birthday and an exam at last...All this drew me in...

The most pleasant in this chain was sure my birthday and the most pleasant about my birthdays is that my mom and I have it on the same day :)

 

This time I was absolutely happy, because we celebrated it together at last. We haven't done it for 5 years since I entered university and went to Minsk.

From Jan, Bulgaria

 

Hello to all of you!
Today I keep telling you about Bulgaria. This time the story will be about my New Year vacation at the ski resort, which name is Bansko. By the way, this is my sister Kate on the picture!

 

From Jan, Bulgaria

 

Hello to all of you!
Today I keep telling you about Bulgaria. This time the story will be about my New Year vacation at the ski resort, which name is Bansko. By the way, this is my sister Kate on the picture!

 

There was once a hard-working and generous farmer who had several idle and greedy sons. On his deathbed he told them that the would find his treasure if they were to dig in a certain field. As soon as the old man was dead, the sons hurried to the fields, which they dug up from one end to another, and with increasing desperation and concentration when they did not find the gold in the place indicated.

But they found no gold at all. Realizing that in his generosity their father must have given his gold away during his lifetime, they abandoned their search.

The following story is a true experience that Catherine Ingram had while in India...

Over twenty years ago, while staying in Bodh Gaya, India, my friends and I began hearing rumors about a boy who had allegedly been found among wild dogs. The rumor in town was that his seemingly canine behavior, lack of speech, inability to walk upright or to eat with his hands indicated that he had probably been raised among the dogs.

We were intrigued, so it was with enthusiasm that I accepted an invitation to see the boy at a private gathering with the Dalai Lama, who had expressed an interest in the child.