Sun, 31 Jan 2010
Homeopathy Skeptics Fail
Youtube has a video up of the demonstration against homeopathy held by a skeptical organization calling itself 10:23. The video was put up by the organization itself, so it showed the demonstration in its best light. By any standards, the demonstration was a failure. Only a handful of people showed up, all obviously members of the organization itself and on a first name basis with each other. All the while the general public walked by oblivious to the demonstration. Someone should explain to these bright minds that the end of January is not a good date to hold an outdoors demonstration in England. A more rational person would have waited until Samuel Hahnemann's birthday in April. If you are trying to persuade a profit oriented company like Boots from selling a product, having only half a dozen people show up on their door is only going to cause them to ignore you as loudmouths in the future. There are better ways the leverage your numbers if you are a small, but dedicated group. But why should I be giving them tips?
There's an extra laugh in the video. Boots sells its homeopathic remedies in a tube that dispenses a single pill with a click. The video starts with the demonstrators all laboriously click click clicking into a styrofoam cup to get all the pills out of the tube. Here's a comment from Reddit: "It's too bad these people are such flaming idiots, they might have proved a point."
Fri, 29 Jan 2010
Dorje Karmapa
I was reading a book which lists the names of the Seventeen Karmapas and it stuck me that all the names since the eighth end with dorje. Dorje is usually cross-translated into the Sanskrit word vajra or translated as diamond. It liteally means noble stone (rdo = stone and rje = noble). The sense of the metaphor is that the diamond is indestructable, as it is the hardest substance. Likewis the vajrayana represents the highest teaching of the Buddha. All other views are refuted by higher views, but the vajrayana is not refuted, as it is the highest. I'm not saying this to assert the superioirty of my tradition, I'm just giving the sense of the metaphor.
Tue, 26 Jan 2010
Skeptics Folly
There's going to be a demonstration in Great Britain this Saturday protesting the sale of homeopathic medicines by the largest drug store chain in that country. I think it's odd that they are protesting the sale of homeopathic medicines and not tobacco products. Homeopathic remedies have never harmed anyone when used correctly, they've only done good. But tobacco product have harmed many people. The reason why they are protesting is that homeopathy doesn't fit in with their idea of how the world works. So not only they won't use it, they get angry if anyone else uses it as well. It's intolerance, sheer intolerance. If you think using homeopathy is stupid, then don't use it. If you think eating meat is wrong, don't eat it. If you think looking at Playboy is wrong, don't read it. But there are people who don't share your opinions, who use homeopathy, eat meat, and look at Playboy. So who are you or I to tell the stores not to sell these things? People care entirely too much about what other people are doing, while not doing the hard work it takes to change their own behavior.
Sun, 24 Jan 2010
Four New Links
I haven't been blogging lately. Here are a few links as an atonement. Luther attended Garchen Rinpoche's recent teaching, Here are his notes from Garchen's talks. A little unpolished, but worth reading. Khandro Rinpoche has some interesting things to say in her interview with Helen Berliner. Bordor Rinpoche's blog has been putting some of his teachings online for a while. Lately they've been more regular about it, so it's worth book marking the site. High Peaks Pure Earth is a blog aggragation site that translates Tibetan blogs into English. So that's tonight's post.
Sat, 23 Jan 2010
High Noon
Tibetan New Year will be on February 14th this year. The rule of thumb is that it falls on the New Year in February and this year it's smack dab in the middle. When this happens, the Chinese and two Tibetan calendars agree on New Year's day. When it falls to either end of the month, they disagree, with the Tibetan New Year often being the later new moon.
Everyone knows that the shortest day is the Winter solstice, the first day of winter. Succeeding days are longer, but there is an asymmetry. Sunset gets later faster than sunrise gets earlier. The reason is that every day is not twenty four hours long. Some days are shorter and other days are longer and twenty four hours is only the average length. The real length of a day is measured from noon to noon, where noon is the moment when the sun reaches its highest point in the sky. Most of the motion of the sun is caused by the rotation of the earth, but a little bit of it is caused by the motion of the earth around its orbit. From our vantage point, this looks like the earth has to rotate for four extra minutes each day to catch up with the motion of the sun in the sky. This motion is not perfectly uniform, it is faster during the Northern Hemisphere's winter. This makes Winter days a little longer on average and as a result sunrise and sunset are a little later each day, independent of the length of the day. During the Northern hemisphere's Summer, days are shorter and sunrise and sunset are both a little earlier each day. But the effect is not as large and noticeable as in Winter. This effect is known as the equation of time and if you want the full explanation, check out this page on the Greenwich Observatory site. Part of the effect is due to the variation in the Earth's orbit. The Earth is closer to the Sun in the Northern Hemisphere's Winter and moves faster in its orbit. The season that the Earth is closest to the Sun is not fixed. It varies through time, mostly due to the pull of the planet Jupiter. Some believe that this variation in the Earth's orbit is responsible for the ice ages.
One of my old astronomy professors that is in the news. He headed a commision reporting on NASA's asteroid tracking program. The report says the program is behind schedule because Cangress hasn't allocated the money to support it. Which is fine by me, because if I'm going to die a firery death because of an asteroid collision, I'd rather not know about it beforehand.
Sun, 17 Jan 2010
Link Time
The disk drive I was using to back up my computer failed, so I bought a new one. Going without backups is like walking a high wire without a net, especially with an older computer like mine. Tonight I am doing the first backup, and since that always takes extra time I am up later than usual. To pass the time I was web surfing and here are a few links. Some notes from Tai Situ Rinpoche's teaching on the Rinchen Terdzod are on the web. The first talk is an appreciation of the greatness of Lodro Thaye. You can find the rest of his teaching through the links.
Lama Phurbu Tashi has finished up his teaching in Jakarta, While he was there, some photos were taken and yoi may enjoy looking at them. While I was waiting, I took some notes from his teaching on mind training on his site. These notes are on the five forces.
Sat, 16 Jan 2010
Charles Luk
I went looking for information on Charles Luk on the Internet and there was surprisingly little to find. This page with a one paragraph biography and a bibliography is the best information available. Charles Luk was a student of the great Chinese Zen master Hsu Yun and translated Chinese Buddhist texts into English, as well as a book on Taoist meditation. He's a perfect example of a self-effacing Buddhist scholar. His works are known, but he is not. His first teacher was a "Hutuktu (Tulku) of Sikang," who I'm guessing was Bo Gangkar Rinpoche, who was teaching in China during that period.
Tue, 12 Jan 2010
Glossary
Lama Purbu Tashi has written a short book on the virtues of vegetarianism. He's thinking of republishing it with some additions. Here is my attempt at providing a glossary of terms for the book. Some of the definitions are Karen's.
Arhat- An arhat is someone who has eliminated the afflictive emotions, but who has not achieved the omniscience of a buddha.
Bodhicitta- is both the mind that aspires to attain buddhaood so that all beings can be freed from their ignorance and suffering (relative bodhicitta) and the mind that sees the emptiness of all things. (absolute bodhicitta.)
Emptiness - The absence of all conceivable characteristics in phenomena.
Bodhisattva- is someone who either aspires to attain buddahood or is someone who through their practice is close to doing so.
Brahmins- The caste in Hinduism that performs ritual religious observances.
Chenrezig - (Avalokiteshvara in Sanskrit.) The embodiment of the compassion of all the buddhas. Meditation on Chenrezig and recitation of his mantra, "om mani padme hum," is the most widely practiced religious observance in Tibet.
Ten non-virtuous acts- Three physical acts (killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct) four speech acts (lying, abusive talk, slander, and idle chatter) and three mental acts (malice, envy, and disbelief in morality). Binding for all persons, not just Buddhists.
Four root infractions of monastic vows- that require expulsion: killing, stealing, sexual intercourse, or lying about one's spiritual attainments.
Thirteen branch infractions- Monastic vows whose violation require confession and expiation, but not expulsion.
Seven types of vows- Lay, novice, or fully ordained vows for men or women, plus a second novitiate for women. (I think, Lama has my copy of JOL)
Liberation- the elimination of suffering and its cause by seeing the true mode of abiding of mind and phenomena.
Dharma- The Buddha's teachings for liberation from suffering.
Lama- Any person qualified to be a spiritual teacher in Tibetan Buddhism. Most usually an ordained man or woman who has completed the traditional spiritual retreat.
Mahayana- The school of Buddhism that aspires to achieve the full enlightenment of a buddha through the cultivation of love and compassion and meditation on emptiness.
Mantra- A short prayer in Sanskrit recited for its blessing rather than its meaning. "Om mani padme hum" is an example of a mantra.
Meat of three-fold purity- Under the rules of the monastic code, meat may be eaten if the animal was not seen, heard, or suspected to be killed for the sake of the meal.
Nagas- Elemental spirits associated with bodies of water, pictured as serpents or dragons. The most fortunate rebirth in the animal realm.
Pratekyabuddha- A person who attains enlightenment during a time when the Buddha's teaching has been lost, but who lacks the wisdom to teach it to others.
Pretas- Beings who through their selfishness and desire are born as spirits who suffer the pain of desire but lack the means to satisfy it.
Primordial wisdom- The fundamental wisdom that all beings possess but are unable to see because of their confusion.
Refuge in the three jewels- Taking refuge is making the commitment to seek liberation by following the guidance of the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. (q.v.)
Sadhana- A tantric practice where one generates a visualization of oneself as a buddha, and then dissolves the visualization and rests in emptiness.
Samsara- The existence of ordinary beings, characterized by constant rebirth in one or another of the six planes of rebirth (gods, demigods, human beings, animals, hungry ghosts, hellbeings).
Sangha- The community of Buddhists. In the context of the refuge vow it refers to the noble sangha, those who have achieved enlightenment.
Sentient beings- Any being that is conscious, that is, has a mind and can experience phenomena.
Shakyamuni- "Sage of the Shakyas" (also known by his personal name Gautama or his family name Siddhartha). The historical Buddha, who lived in the 6th century BCE in North India.
Shravakas- The disciples of Shakyamuni, who seek their own enlightenment by relying on his teaching.
Siddha- A practitioner of tantra who has achieved definite results from practice (siddhis) and whose behavior is often unconventional.
Sutra- Buddhist scripture containing a teaching by the Buddha
Sutrayana- The school of Buddhism that seeks enlightenment by cultivating its causes, the practices of virtue and meditation.
Tantra- The school of Buddhism that seeks enlightenment relying on the result, that is, that the body, speech and mind of the buddha are present as potential in all sentient beings.
Theravada tradition- The school of Buddhism, found mainly in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, based on the scriptures in the Pali language.
Vajrayana- another name for tantra, literally the indestructible (diamond) vehicle.
The Vinaya- the section of Buddhist scripture describing the monastic code.
Wish fulfilling jewel- A mythical gem used as a metaphor in Buddhism.
Yidam- The principal buddha that a practitioner visualizes in meditation.
Yogi- A person who practices and keeps the vows of the highest class on tantra.
Sun, 10 Jan 2010
Faces at the Retreat
Lance has put his photos from the Mani Srupchen retreat online, and they give another perspective of what the retreat was like. (A picture is woth a thousand wors, eh?) First, here is a photo of Lance and here is a photo of myself. These two photos show how tired we were after chanting all day.
Michael is in India, attending the Dalai Lama's teaching in Bodhgaya, along with Richard Gere and the Karmapa. Mark, who blogged the Kagyu Monlam, has also been bogging the Dalai Lama's teachings.
Fri, 08 Jan 2010
Educated Stupidity
There's a campaign to discredit homeopathy underway in Great Britain. Like all public relations campaigns it follows a pattern: repetition of a few talking points by authority figures and attempts to cast your opponents as bad people acting in bad faith. Anyone who follows American politics should be very familiar with it. I've mostly ignored it, except when reporting on it in my homeopathic news summary, but the sheer stupidity of the attacks bothers me. So I've decided to start commenting on them. The post that bothered me tonight is Professor David Colquhoun's comment on part of the curriculum at a homeopathic college. Much of the post is given over to the supposed "contradiction" between the Society of Homeopaths' code of ethics and the curriculum of the college. The supposed contradiction is that it is considered unethical to advertise that you cure disease and yet the curriculum teaches how to cure disease. This is just so stupid that it has me shaking my head in disbelief. Surely the professor understands the difference between doing something and advertising that you do something? And that while curing cancer and teaching people how to cure cancer are praiseworthy things, advertising that you cure cancer is not? And surely the professor understands the reason for praising the first and condemning the second? This has nothing to do with homeopathy, this a simple exercise in logic. Simple, but too complex for our professor.
Yes, homeopaths treat chronic disease, including serious chronic disease. Part of this treatment is coordinating care with other forms of medical treatment, including allopathy. The details of this process are too complex to discuss here, but it's done all the time, properly and ethically. Though I doubt that any homeopathic treatment would please Professor Colquhoun.
Thu, 07 Jan 2010
Slightly Interrupted
I've been having some problems with my computer hardware, bluetooth problems. If you don't know what bluetooth is, it's a wireless technology meant to make our lives easier, but occasionally making it harder. In my case, it zapped my mouse and keyboard. I've been having a few problems since coming back from retreat. On Sunday and Monday I lost heat and hot water in my apartment. A pipe broke in the boiler room. It's been cold here, like most of the USA, and the temperature dropped to 55 before it was fixed. Tonight it's supposed to snow, but not much.
Last week I was away at the mani drubchen. "Mani drupchen" is Tibetan for "recite the mani mantra 24 hours a day for a week." Which is what we did, apart from sleeping and eating. The center doesn't have the facilities to handle the number of people at the retreat, but meditators are a calm and placid lot, so we all got along fine in spite of the difficulties. I didn't shower for a week, there were only two bathrooms and one shower. So the first thing I did when I got home was shower. Fortunately, this was before the hot water went off. Each person at the retreat was assigned a job on the rota. I was the last person to get passed the rota, so I wound up with the job least wanted, which was cooking lunch and dinner. Why least wanted? Because cooking takes a good chunk of time (2 to 3 hours) and your failures are obvious. Unlike vacuuming, where no one notices the spot you miss, everyone notices if the vegetables are undercooked. I got through the week, despite my lack of cooking skills, and despite all the diffiulties. You'll probably think I'm mad, but I enjoyed the week and wish it went on for two. One week is not long enough. Your mind wanders and not much time is spent actually meditating, so a lot of time is needed. My biggest grief was when newcomers came for the second weeekend, they changed the whole energy of the retreat.
Kirby has also been blogging the retreat. Read his blog if you want a more detailed look at what went on. He wonders what karma got his clothes covered with backed up sewage. (This was the grand finale of the retreat. I was trying to nap in the basement when the lights went on and serious people started talking in concerned tones.) Dude, you parked your bags next to the sewer pipe! That was gravity, not karma! If you had left your bags in the bookstore, the shit wouldn't have put on sandals and walked across the basement! Well, I have to get up early tomorrow to shovel out my car, so good night.
