Winter Lotus Leaf

After an early morning rain shower the sun was just coming out from behind the clouds. I went to the backyard to breath the newly cleansed fresh air. I noticed in my small pond the rain had formed beautiful beads on top of the aging lotus leaves. The morning sun was reflected and refracted from the almost perfect globes of water. The surface of the miraculous lotus leaf still is capable of repelling water even in a state of decay.

 

I took out my camera with a macro lens and photographed the following close-up scenes. Editing the photos revealed highly textured and contrasting miniature landscapes. The glistening and polished rain droplets almost seem to hover above the rough surface of the lotus leaf. The macro lens with high resolution images further reveals a magnfied scene within each tiny rain drop.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

 

Wearing the Sun Mask: Giving and Receiving Meditation

A friend recently shared with me difficulties with working in the family business. It felt futile to try to make improvements in order to achieve prosperity. The chaotic family dynamics present  a seemingly insurmountable challenge. How is it possible to attain the focus required to rise above the situation? The tendency to fall into negative patterns constantly inhibits the ability to move forward and achieve the dream of prosperity.

The quest for prosperity is fickle even under the best circumstances. Sometimes it appears very possible, other times it seems impossible. Accepting the chaos is not easy. Even after achieving acceptance, learning how to effectively live within the chaos is more difficult still.

This story reminded me of the "Theater of the Absurd", the existentialist plays and poetry. Have you read some of the plays by Eugene Ionesco, Samuel Beckett and Jean-Paul Sartre? The genre embraces tragic (but somehow comical) studies of characters stuck in chaotic life situations; stuck in samsara. The play "No Exit" epitomizes the condition of suffering. 

The satirists do not provide the instruction on how to exit chaos. It is Buddhism that teaches us that the only escape from samsara is enlightenment.

When we are stuck in chaotic circumstances we feel weighed down by the gravity of our situation. Gravity is all embracing. It is a type of nostalgia for becoming spherical; returning to the womb. But we do not see it as spherical, we perceive it as horizontal. Life is two-dimensional. We are flatlanders and cannot see beyond the horizon.

Succumbing to gravity is a condition of cycling, orbiting and localization. We can think of it as being stuck in a pattern of cyclic existence. The Buddhists call this samsara. We feel as if there is movement, and there is, but there is a lot of going around in circles. We cannot escape from the surface.

Escaping gravity is to be radiant and expand beyond the surface of our situation. It is not easy to rise above and escape the pull of flatland thinking. We must look to the heavens. Our intention must be to focus upward and outward from the surface.

Bucky Fuller said, "Horizontal is to die, vertical is to live."

Rising above the horizontal gravitation-ally challenged existence requires building up a great deal of potential energy. Like a rocket that requires a tremendous fuel supply to reach escape velocity, we must find a source of energy and fuel ourselves for this great vertical journey. 

So we meditate and gather our strength and store up the fuel in our tanks. We do nothing other than sit and breathe; watching our breath go in and out.

Meditation is a subversive method of planning our escape. I say "subversive" in a good way. We subvert our tendency to move sideways, scuttling around the surface like a nervous crab. Instead, we connect with the emptiness of our efforts to find prosperity in this flatland, within samsara. Once we realize the truth of this emptiness we can sit perfectly still and put our mind at rest, abandoning our quest for prosperity.

What, did I say? Abandon our quest for prosperity? This is indeed a subversive thought. However, there is great joy in abandoning prosperity. Through meditation we embrace the simple, profound truth of finding ultimate meaning in the simple act of sitting up straight, breathing in and out. The joy and boundless energy of the cosmos washes over us. We are free of gravity and become a source of radiant energy ourselves. Focused on the single task of breathing in and out we discover an infinite store of radiant energy.

This is the essence of the meditation practice of "Tonglen", the Tibetan Buddhist practice of "Giving and Receiving". We breath in and receive the suffering of all beings trapped in samsara. We breath out and transmit radiant joy and happiness to all beings with the intent to alleviate their suffering. 

Breath in and feel the gravity of all beings' situation. Use the gravity to pull in all the suffering of all beings into a critical mass in the center of your heart. Like our Sun pulls in all surrounding matter and fuses the very atoms together releasing profound life-giving radiant energy, we convert this mass of suffering into boundless joy and radiate positive energy throughout the surrounding universe.

Sun mask sculpture, "Tamanuitera" by James Webster,
a Maori multimedia artist working with wood sculpture,
stone, bone, painting and mural creations.
He comments that his work is
"Art as a passion in life and a journey of discovery."
Pasted from <http://www.carving.co.nz/webster.php> 

We become a living-breathing Sun God. We put on the Sun Mask and shine our light throughout the world. The Sun is the ultimate victor over gravity, using gravity to fuse cold, dark, life-less matter into radiant life-giving energy, the source of fuel for all life in the cosmos. 

Would you like to know how the Sun performs this miracle of giving and receiving? Breath in and breath out, give and receive.

Spheriphor = Tetrahelix + Triskele + Trimurti + Jewel in the Lotus

I created the geometry for the Spheriphor digital art work as an investigation into spherical spirals, but this figure has also led me down deep into multiple levels of insight meditation. If you have been following my blog, you may know that I believe that the root essence of existence is the spiral. I talked about this with my Maori artist collaborator Kura Puke (for I. She also believes spirals to be at the heart of all things.
 

Just recently, during a Vipassana meditation session, I had an insight that emerged from contemplation of the tetrahelix (spiral based on the tetrahedron). I visualized the tetrahelix emerging from a set of 3 vectors that propagate through space. These 3 vectors are the primary (active) system of all phenomena. There is a set of 3 complementary vectors that are secondary (reactive), and together with the primary set of 3 vectors, the tetrahedron (minimum system of Universe) is formed (as per Bucky's Synergetics).
 

Then, I arrived at an internal visualization of the relationships between the 3 primary vectors. This visualization involved a spiraling propagation through space based on 3 parameters: length, angle and twist. I could see that these 3 parameters were the true 3 dimensions of Universe (as opposed to width, height and depth). I made a mental note to create an mathematical computer generated visualization based on this concept.
 

Then all of a sudden the visualization shifted to the Hindu Trimurti. My mental energy shifted from left hemisphere to right hemisphere; the wonders of the corpus callosum.
 

From Wikipedia:

The Trimurti (English: 'three forms') is a concept in Hinduism in which the cosmic functions of  creation  ,  maintenance  , and  transformation  are personified by the forms of Brahmāthe maintainer or preserver Vishnu the creator and Śhiva the destroyer or transformer. These three deities have been called "the Hindu triad" or the "Great Trinity", often addressed as "Brahma-Vishnu-Maheshwara."

Next came the realization of the equivalence of Hindu and Tibetan Buddhist trinities:

1. Vishnu = Sunyata
2. Brahma = Amitabha
3. Shiva = Chenrezig

 

The visualization then shifted again. This time the triad transformed into the Mani; the most beneficial mantra, "Om Mani Padme Hum". I saw the following: 

1. the clear light of creation (Om) radiating from within 
2. the jewel maintaining (Mani) all phenomena
3. sitting on a lotus transforming (Padme) all dualistic views
4. within my human heart (Hum) the most fortunate of all incarnations

In this meditation I attained the most in-depth understanding of the Mani that I have ever realized.

The visualization which emerged from my contemplation of the tetrahelix now circled back to my 4 colored, Triskele version of the Spheriphor. The Spheriphor contains both the 3-way symmetry of the Trimurti and the 4-colored aspects of the Mani. The Spheriphor is truly an all-encompassing spherical-metaphor that represents the complete Hindu-Buddhist psycho-cosmology. 

 
Spheriphor by Tom Greenbaum

 

You can view my Spheriphor study at http://karmatetra.com/ISDE5/spheriphor_study03.htm

Also on the Spheriphor Study 03 page are alternative views of the figure based on a spherical octahedron. The 3 views are based on vertex, face-centered and edge centered perspectives:

• http://karmatetra.com/ISDE5/Images/Spheri-Spiral_50.jpg  My 4 colored Triskele (Celtic triple spiral) version. Do you think that the Celtic mystics were actually peering into the vertex of a spherical octahedron wrapped in spirals like I was?  Also, Hans-Peter Welke fell in love with this image and asked me for permission to use it for the cover of his brochure on the "Corporate Identity Development Process"  See the attachment for the brochure. Hans-Peter credits me for the image on the last page.
• http://karmatetra.com/ISDE5/Images/Spheri-Spiral_52.jpg
• http://karmatetra.com/ISDE5/Images/Spheri-Spiral_49.jpg

 

I would love to make this figure out of glass. I have thought of possible ways to make it out of glass, but it would be a major challenge.

Kumba Kimba the Conga Playing Spirit Guides from Puerto Rico

This story starts off weird and then gets more and more strange. I think you will find it an example of how all things are inter-connected.

The story starts out when I was a little boy and I had two imaginary friends. I used to play with them a lot and I had names for them. I called them Kumba and Kimba. Ask my Mom she will tell you all about it.

Jump forward to the present day. I just got back from Sedona, AZ. I had a great time there. It is a very beautiful town nestled in the middle of an incredible array of natural red sandstone formations. Sedona is also famous for being at the center of spiritual energy vortexes. There are many New Age spiritual centers, with psychics, healers, aura readers and spiritualists on almost every corner. Of course, while in Sedona, I had to have a Kirlian photo taken of my aura. 

The psychic, Jamie Jones-Hoaglund, who took the aura photo is well known. She has appeared on the TV shows, the Bachelorette and Good Morning America. The aura photo and Jamie's reading was amazing. Jamie totally blew my mind with what she said about me. I won't go into all of the details, but one thing in particular she said has stuck with me. There are two bright orbs just above and on either side of my head. Jamie said these are spirit guides or angels. It is very special to have one, but to have two is exceptional.

I had not thought about my imaginary friends Kumba and Kimba in a long time, but it suddenly occurred to me that they might be my two spirit guides! Then I wondered if any one else has a connection to Kumba and Kimba. They might be historical names, or place names, etc.

I just did a Google search for "Kumba Kimba". The search turned up a singular item in which Kumba Kimba is mentioned; it is a song called Kumba Kimba by Sergio "Chino" Ramos, from the Album Kumba Kimba. (Original release date, July 4, 2011 just about one year ago). No where else in all of the internet is Kumba Kimba mentioned together as a phrase.

Some interesting facts about Chino Ramos:

• Chino Ramos was born in New York City, his parents are from Puerto Rico. I too was born in New York City, my parents live in Puerto Rico for 5 months of the year.
• Chino is a percussionist who fell in love with the conga drums at a very young age. I too love the conga drums and have a pair of LP Aspire Sunburst drums (see photo below).
• Chino took percussion lessons in New York City. I never have taken lessons, but I would love to one day.
• The song "Kumba Kimba" is about a drummer without fame or fortune. I need to find out more about the exact meaning and how Chino uses the phrase in context.
• The song is quite successful in Puerto Rico and is a favorite for dancers competing in salsa. I have taken a couple of salsa dance lessons just for fun, I am not any good, but I love to dance.
• Chino loves to "talk with his hands, ringing his drums." When I play the drums, it is an emotional release, I try to be in the moment and allow the spirit talk through my hands.

Some links:

• Buy the song from Amazon at: http://amzn.com/B005A66FNA 
• Listen to a high quality upload of the entire song at SoundCloud: http://soundcloud.com/dj-walter-b-nice/chino-ramos-y-su-orquesta 
• Check out Chino Ramos and orchestra perform Kumba Kimba in the music video on YouTube: http://youtu.be/G8pePVgJaDM 
• A bio for Chino Ramos in Spanish (Google will translate to English for you) is available at: http://www.guay-ciba.com/rincon/kumba/kumba.htm

Picture of the Kumba Kimba album cover. You can see his influences on the cover (the New York City skyline and the flag of Puerto Rico)

Photo of my LP Aspire Sunburst conga drums

A Flake Of Mica and the Golden Rhombus

When we open ourselves to the ways of Nature and meditate on the structure of natural systems, we are sometimes surprised with gifts of beauty and tokens of our mental journey. Here is a photo of un-cut mica crystal I found on the ground during a recent hike in northern New Mexico.

Natural, un-cut mica in the perfect proportions of a golden rhombus.

Notice in this photo how lines of symmetry within the mica align perfectly with the major and minor axis of the golden rhombus. Readers of this blog may appreciate that my meditations on the proportions of the golden rhombus are extensive. In particular, I have expressed my admiration for this geometric jewel through several kilnformed glass art pieces. You may witness the golden rhombus arrayed in spherical formation as the thirty faces of the rhombic triacontahedron in the photo of my glass art below.

Thirty golden rhombus form the faces of the rhombic triacontahedron.

In northern New Mexico there are many wonderful natural places to explore. Ancient volcanic activity is evident in soothing, mineral rich hot springs. Whenever, I get a chance I love to take advantage of the healing waters, soak away my stress and dissolve my toxic attachments. During a recent trip to the Ojo Caliente hot springs, before immersing myself in the baths, I took a hike in the surrounding hills and was rewarded with the discovery of a perfect golden rhombus mica crystal. How lucky is that?

The Hundred-Character Tablet

I ran across this beautiful Taoist work from the Tang Dynasty and thought of posting it. It is amazing to see the parallels between Taoist and Buddhist philosophies. Would you like to become a Taoist immortal? Or perhaps you would like to take the Bodhisattva Vow and reincarnate in a Buddhist Pure Realm? Choices, choices.

To nourish the vital energy, keep watch in silence;

In order to subdue the mind, act with non-action.

Of movement and stillness, be aware of their origin;

There is no work to do, much less someone to seek.

The true and constant must respond to phenomena;

Responding to phenomena, you must be unconfused.

When unconfused, the nature will stabilize by itself;

When the nature stabilizes, energy returns by itself.

When energy returns, the elixir crystallizes by itself;

Within the pot, the trigrams of kǎn and lí are joined.

Yīn and yáng arise, alternating over and over again;

Every transformation comes like a clap of thunder.

White clouds form and come to assemble at the peak;

The sweet nectar sprinkles down Mount Sumeru.

Swallow for yourself this wine of immortality;

You wander so freely—who is able to know you?

Sit and listen to the tune played without strings;

Clearly understand the mechanism of creation.

It comes entirely from these twenty lines;

A true ladder going straight to Heaven.

You may find other beautiful translated texts of ancient China from both Taoist and Buddhist masters at: http://www.lapislazulitexts.com/translations.html 

Got Milk

As you may know from my previous blog entries I have the autoimmune disease celiac which is an intolerance to gluten, a protein found in wheat. I am very sensitive to ingesting gluten in any of its myriad forms so I am very careful of what I eat. You know the saying, "You are what you eat."

You can imagine that with this sensitivity to gluten and the fact that gluten is found in a wide variety of food stuffs, I do a lot of research into the chemical make-up of food. Wikipedia is a great resource for all sorts of information including the chemical make-up of food. Recently I discovered a correlation between gluten and casein. This could explain my problems with dairy foods that I figured out recently.

Check out this very interesting information that I compiled about a major component of milk, the protein casein:

Casein (from Latin caseus, "cheese") is the name for a family of related phosphoproteins. These proteins are commonly found in mammalian milk, making up 80% of the proteins in cow milk and between 60% and 65% of the proteins in human milk. Casein has a wide variety of uses, from being a major component of cheese, to use as a food additive, to a binder for safety matches. As a food source, casein supplies amino acids; carbohydrates; and two inorganic elements, calcium and phosphorus.

Casein Protein
http://chemistryismyworld.blogspot.com/2011/07/casein.html

 Casein is relatively hydrophobic, making it poorly soluble in water. Special proteases are protein-breaking enzymes needed to break down the milk protein casein.

Uses of Casein

·         Casein paint is a fast-drying, water-soluble medium used by artists. Casein paint has been used since ancient Egyptian times as a form of tempera paint.
·         Casein-based glues were popular for woodworking, including for aircraft, as late as the de Havilland Mosquito.
·         Cheese is typically made when milk is acidified and then coagulated by the addition of rennet, a proteolytic enzyme typically obtained from the stomachs of calves. The solids are separated and pressed into final form.
·         Some of the earliest plastics were based on casein. In particular, galalith was well-known for use in buttons. Fiber can be made from extruded casein. Lanital, a fabric made from casein fiber products, was particularly popular in Italy during the 1930s.

Potential Negative Impacts of Casein on Health

Gluten-free, casein-free (GFCF) diet  - Casein has a molecular structure quite similar to that of gluten. Thus, some gluten-free diets are combined with casein-free diets and referred to as a gluten-free, casein-free diet. Casein is often listed as sodium caseinate, calcium caseinate or milk protein. These are often found in energy bars, drinks, and packaged goods.  NOTE: Since 1999, the website, www.GFCFDiet.com has been assisting parents & individuals with information about The "GFCF Diet".

A person may have a true allergy to dairy due to any of the numerous proteins or other substances in dairy. Lactose comes from the gut lining. Anything that disrupts the gut lining (inflammation, yeast, leaky gut, etc) may disrupt the production and release of lactase into the intestines. Then there is no enzyme to break down the lactose sugar properly...and you get an adverse reaction. NOTE: leaky gut results from celiac disease, so this may be another reason to avoid dairy if you have celiac.

Cancer - Colin Campbell's The China Study (2005), a book about one of the largest nutritional studies ever conducted, describes a direct correlation between casein administered to rats and the promotion of cancer cell growth when exposed to carcinogens.

Autism - Casein has been documented to break down to produce the peptide casomorphin, an opioid that appears to act primarily as a histamine releaser.[15] Some research indicates that this casomorphine aggravates the symptoms of autism.[16] A 2006 review of seven studies indicated that, although benefits were seen in all studies from the introduction of elimination diets (e.g., casein-free or gluten-free) in the treatment of autism spectrum disorders

Got Milk?

Mother Gaia's Gift

By SoLeiNah

An Oasis of Satisfaction

Has appeared unexpectedly

Over the Crest of 

What I thought was just another dune.

I feel bathed in Completion

Washed heart and soul

Isn't that funny

How such significance can

Sneak up on you?

From something that just seemed

And Adventure

A fun Exploration 

Discovery and Delight

Turned  (with no warning)

into something

Much Deeper

And I sink into

A Meditation of 

Awe and Wonder

At the  

Abundance and 

Generosity of

Mother Gaia

I asked for my small cup to be filled

And an Ocean 

Overflowed my cup

And rearranged

My shoreline

My world is somehow different now

There is not enough room in my mind for this

Only the Heart can hold such Mystery.

Lake Heron, Chama, New Mexico
By Thomas J. Greenbaum

Tenderly Mindful

By SoLeiNah

M i  N d  F   u  l   n  E          s

                                          s

Oh, Anticipation!

My twittering friend

Flitting in and out of 

This time zone

Scattering twigs 

Dragging feathers

And leaving trails

Through the butter.

Come perch a while

And have a cup of tea with me.

And let us hold this moment

Tenderly.

Store Consciousness, Thirty Verses of Vasubandhu and Triacon

This is a brief talk about Store Consciousness. 

Vasubandhu was the founder of the Yogacara (Mind Only) school of Buddhism.  It is Vasubandhu that introduced the concept of Store Consciousness. He was a brilliant logician and philosopher. He was the author of many profound teachings. 

Vasubandhu (image from Wikipedia)

Vasubandhu was the author of a wonderful, short document which we refer to as The Thirty Verses of Vasubandhu (Tri sikavijñaptikarika ). A version of this document which is translated by the famous modern-day Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh can be found at: http://pvom.org/  This is the Plum Village Online Monastery website, which is founded by Thich Nhat Hanh. 

I am quite thrilled about finding The Thirty Verses of Vasubandhu translated by Thich Nhat Hanh online. Turns out that there are very few Buddhist teachings that include the number thirty (30).  I know this because I have searched extensively.  I performed this search because of my fascination with the Triacon which has thirty (30) faces!  Now I can make a Triacon that has each individual verse of the The Thirty Verses of Vasubandhu inscribed on each face of the Triacon.

Thirty Transcendent Virtues
by Thomas J. Greenbaum
Fused glass Triacontahedron

Also, check out the video: http://vimeo.com/29003349 This is the third Dharma talk offered by Thich Nhat Hanh in the Together We Are One Retreat at Deer Park Monastery on the North American Tour, given on Friday, September 9th, 2011. Thich Nhat Hanh talks about store consciousness and mind consciousness, and specifically how they relate to the Four Noble Truths: 1) suffering, 2) the making of suffering, 3) it is possible to transform suffering into happiness, 4) the path to happiness. It is a long video, but at about 33 minutes Thich Nhat Hanh talks specifically about Store Consciousness.

Here is additional information on Store Consciousness (from Wikipedia):

Eighth consciousness : "store consciousness" (Tibetan: kun-gzhi rnam-shes; Sanskrit: ālāyavijñāna); " The seed consciousness (bi^ja-vijn~a^na); "the consciousness which is the basis of the other seven. The seven prior consciousnesses are based and founded upon the eighth. It is the aggregate which administers and yields rebirth; this idea may in some respects be compared to the usage of the word "citta" in the agamas; see below. In the early texts the sankhara-khandha plays some of the roles ascribed to the store-house consciousness by later Yogacara thinkers.

Store-house consciousness accumulates all potential energy for the aggregate of the 'bodymind' (Sanskrit: namarupa), the mental (nama) and physical (rupa) manifestation of one's existence, and supplies the substance to all existences. It also receives impressions from all functions of the other consciousnesses and retains them as potential energy for their further manifestations and activities. Since it serves as the basis for the production of the other seven consciousnesses (called the "evolving" or "transforming" consciousnesses), it is also known as the base consciousness (mūla-vijñāna) or causal consciousness. Since it serves as

the container for all experiential impressions (termed metaphorically as bija or "seeds"), it is also called the seed consciousness or container consciousness.

It is my wish that the reader research this topic thoroughly and contemplate these philosophical concepts during meditation. My experience is that great benefits will result.