Artryst.com: Design by Gregory Tarnoff

Quote: Live from His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama

Speaking on happiness at Colgate University this afternoon, His Holiness the Dalai Lama ended his speech with the following quote which points to the underlying root of what will bring peace to this world.

All religious traditions have the same potential, therefore we must respect all tradition. -Dalai Lama

Take respect in each other and each person’s traditions. If you don’t understand them, ask for explanations. Do not argue, but with permission you can discuss the differences between your traditions and theirs. If we work on this as a planet, we can achieve greater things than we already have.

Update

During his Q&A section the Dalai Lama was asked what can be done from the spiritual person to help those without spirituality. He made a very poingant case for leading by example, but most of:

Unless the non-spiritual person asks to be taught about Buddhadharma, do not teach Buddhadharma.

He further explained, that while this is the Buddhist way, it is a truth that all people regardless of religion should follow. This received a very loud round of applause from the audience at Colgate University. For more information and hopefully a link to access the recorded webcast, check out Colgate’s website.

Green Website for a Day, Green for Life

Happy Earth Day! I thought I would take a few moments to detail those things that I have been working hard on this year to do in order to contribute to a greener world. I am not going to preach on global warming as I think we are only beginning to understand what is happening.

This past year I have been conscious of everything that I do and its effect on my surroundings. As such I have take the following actions and I encourage you to take similar ones for yourself.
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New Look, Cleaner Lines

So I finally got around to updating the theme I wanted. I still have the same feature set I did before, but this time I kept it simple and reflective of my new minimalist perspective on things.

In case you are wondering the image of the Buddha in the corner does have a significance. I have officially declared myself Buddhist this month after spending some time studying, meditating and getting to know some of the great people up at the Milwaukee Shambala Center. They teach and practice a traditional Tibetan Buddhism up there that really appeals to me. Anyone that knows me, knows that this isn’t a real surprise as I have been leaning this way for years. I want to thank Hakill over at stock.xchng for the image of the Buddha.

What is art? Who decides?

I have always been one to question “what is art?” and wondered who really gets to decide.

Famous Flickrite Thomas Hawk posed that question on his blog today. He has posted two images, one is a painting in a well known art museum, the other was found on a building in the street. He is taking votes and will reveal the answer tomorrow, but I encourage everyone to examine their position on the topic and chime in.
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Quotes and the Four Noble Truths (well at least three anyways)

The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish, and when the fish are caught, the trap is forgotten. The purpose of a rabbit snare is to catch rabbits. When the rabbits are caught, the snare is forgotten. The purpose of words is to convey ideas. When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten. Where can I find a man who has forgotten words? He is the one I would like to talk to. -Chuang Tzu

Last night I spent nearly an hour meditating with the group up at the Milwaukee Shambala Center. Every Tuesday they offer meditation lessons or a group sit followed by tea and a lesson and discussion on Buddhism. This week they covered the third of the Four Noble Truths: Cessation of Suffering. The key to focus on as presented last night is the suffering we generate within ourselves once our basic needs are met.

The first truth is the recognition that suffering exist or the nature of suffering. Like all problems you can not solve them without acknowledging it. The second is the origin of suffering. Our desire to be right or to crave things leads to suffering. Cessation of suffering comes when we begin to let go of the desire to be right or crave. By releasing the thought, we can prevent the speech. Preventing the speech can prevent the action. Without the action there will be no suffering. In many cases there are more than one way to accomplish a task or goal. Instead of sticking to your guns and ideas on how it should be done, be open to all possibilities. You will feel less frustrated reducing your internal suffering. By being open and accepting of others ideas you will also cause less suffering for them.