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First things first, WTF is a banana bun?
If you Google it, you're likely to be led down a rabbit warren of banana cakes and other forms of pastry, which will probably make you hungry, but won't solve your 'need-to-look-chic-in-30-seconds' conundrum.
However, if you delve a littler deeper into the internet (aka Pinterest), you will discover that the beauty world has just coined the phrase 'banana bun' as a new, must-have hairstyle, which has totally confused, well, everybody.
So, what exactly is it? The terms 'french twist' and 'loose chignon' are getting thrown around quite a bit. However, we're not one for beating around the bush: it's basically a glorified, messy low bun.
To be fair this may sound easy, but as with many other 'just woke up like this' sort of styles, they can be a lot more difficult to pull off than you might imagine.
As for it's name, no one really knows why it references a banana. Possibly because putting your hair up in such a loose and messy fashion tends to leave you with a longer or wider shaped bun?
This tutorial (in French, it's a French thing, sorry) seems to suggest that the banana refers to the fact that you twist the hair into itself like a chignon or French twist, before you secure it in a low messy bun at the nape of the neck:
It doesn't really resemble a banana though, which is disappointing as we wanted to see some definitive fruit-shaped 'dos on our Insta-perusal.
However, the good news is we've all been using this hairstyle for years. It's our go-to for days when we just don't give AF, or pressed the snooze button one too many times.
At least now we don't have to get hair guilt when we walk into the office to see co-workers with their perfectly pre-curled locks. Our lazy approach is now equally as stylish and we spent an extra half an hour snoozing, so who's the real winner here?

subset: commoncrawl


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Ward Williams have a team that specialises in the needs of charities. We have extensive knowledge of the Charities Acts and Charities SORP. This knowledge together with over 20 years combined experience in dealing with charities enables Ward Williams to offer our charity clients the following:
In addition we offer advice and guidance on non-routine issues including systems and controls together with assistance on how to become more efficient.
Please contact Colin or Frank for either a no obligation meeting at our cost or a fixed fee quotation.
"I had the real pleasure of working closely with the team at Ward Williams for over seven years. During this challenging period of change for our Charity they provided us with the usual range of auditing and related services - but were also trusted financial advisers, offering a seamless and highly professional service to myself and the Trustee Board".
Chris Hughan, former CEO of healthcare charity;
The Primary Immunodeficiency Association
Useful links*: Charity Commission • Charities Act 2011
(*We cannot be held responsible for the content of external websites)
We are always pleased to talk and discuss on a no obligation basis how we might assist.


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Isabella Valancy Crawford
His Sweetheart - Poem by Isabella Valancy Crawford
Sylvia's lattices were dark
Roses made them narrow.
In the dawn there came a Spark,
Armèd with an arrow:
Blithe he burst by dewy spray,
Winged by bud and blossom,
All undaunted urged his way
Straight to Sylvia's bosom.
'Sylvia! Sylvia! Sylvia!' he
Like a bee kept humming,
'Wake, my sweeting; waken thee,
For thy Soldier's coming!'
Sylvia sleeping in the dawn,
Dreams that Cupid's trill is
Roses singing on the lawn,
Courting crested lilies.
Sylvia smiles and Sylvia sleeps,
Sylvia weeps and slumbers;
Cupid to her pink ear creeps,
Pipes his pretty numbers.
Sylvia dreams that bugles play,
Hears a martial drumming;
Sylvia springs to meet the day
With her Soldier coming.
Happy Sylvia, on thee wait
All the gracious graces!
Venus mild her cestus plait
Round thy lawns and laces!
Flora fling a flower most fair,
Hope a rainbow lend thee!
All the nymphs to Cupid dear
On this day befriend thee!
'Sylvia! Sylvia! Sylvia!' hear
How he keeps a-humming,
Laughing in her jewelled ear,
'Sweet, thy Soldier's coming!'
Comments about His Sweetheart by Isabella Valancy Crawford
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Isabella Valancy Crawford's Other Poems
Famous Poems
Still I Rise
Maya Angelou
The Road Not Taken
Robert Frost
If You Forget Me
Pablo Neruda
Langston Hughes
Annabel Lee
Edgar Allan Poe
Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening
Robert Frost
Rudyard Kipling
Do Not Stand At My Grave And Weep
Mary Elizabeth Frye
I Do Not Love You Except Because I Love You
Pablo Neruda
Roald Dahl


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PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- Fulfilling a 36-year journey to sainthood, Pope John Paul II has set a date to canonize Mother Katharine Drexel, a Philadelphia heiress who dedicated her life to opening schools for American blacks and Indians.
"Catholics everywhere, and especially in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, will rejoice at this news," Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, the archbishop of Philadelphia, said in making the announcement recently. He said the canonization would take place Oct. 1 at St. Peter's Square in the Vatican.
Drexel, heiress to one of the country's largest banking fortunes in her day, founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Colored People in 1891, when she was 32 years old. In her lifetime, she inherited $20 million, said Sister Mary Faith Okerson, a spokeswoman for the Bensalem, Pa.-based order. Almost all of it went for schools for the country's disenfranchised blacks and Indians and for her order.


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Villa Merlot, 3 Bedrooms, 2 Shared Swimming Pools
House with 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom and shared pool in Allées Paul Riquet, the South of France
From £413 per week
House to rent in Allées Paul Riquet, the South of France
House with 3 bedrooms in a private Domaine of 5 houses with 2 large swimming pools. 3 bedrooms / 1 bathroom. Sleeps 6.
Share this holiday home
House overview - owner's description
The beaches of the Mediterranean are only a short drive away, while to the north the mountains offer a number of cooler lakes, ideal for a refreshing dip in the summer.
Cathar history is present almost everywhere and the ancient fortress of Carcassonne is only an hours drive away, and there are regular jousting displays during high season.
Enthusiastic visitors can enjoy a great variety of activities including hiking, biking, swimming, fishing, water sports, canoeing and river rafting, horse riding, tennis and golf.
Pézenas has a large open-air market every Saturday which is well worth a visit. The town boasts that it was once the home of Molière and there are many craft shops, restaurants and beautiful buildings. During July and August on a Wednesday and Friday the craft shops are open until midnight and you will often find street theatre groups to entertain you !
Sète is the Venice of France with its canals – fabulous fish restaurants abound.
Several good golf courses are within easy reach, Golf Saint Thomas at Béziers, approx 15 minutes drive – see www.golfsaintthomas.com/english/
At Vias Plage, there is a funfair open during July and August.
The beautiful tree-lined Canal du Midi which links the Atlantic with the Mediterranean has miles of flat walks along the shady tow paths.
Cap d'Agde (20 minutes) has beaches and water sports, boat trips, beautiful harbour, golf, casino, fashionable shopping, nightclubs, waterfront restaurants, several children's theme parks and a fabulous water park (Aqualand).
Monasteries and castles abound in the area and there are plenty of vineyards where you can taste some of the best wines in France.
The nearest town to the hamlet is Beziers which is only 5 minutes drive away and has a beautiful tree-lined boulevard with many restaurants, cafés, shops and markets.
Beziers is a bustling town with fascinating shops among its little back streets, its main boulevard lined with platane trees, the Theatre at one end and the Park des Poetes at the other. Make sure you visit the St Nazaire Cathedral which has panoramic views of the river Orb, vines, and mountains and also the Friday flower market in the main boulevard which is perhaps the best in the whole of the south.
On the edge of the river Orb, Beziers is well known for wine, rugby and bullfights! The arena was designed initially as an Opera house with the help of Saint Saens, but today it is renowned for bullfighting.
Throughout the year there are numerous local festivals, the most famous of which is the Feria de Beziers which takes place every year around the Feast of the Assumption on the 15th of August. This is party time in Beziers and although originally based on the Corridas (bullfights) it now has many other attractions, most of them free, which appeal to all tastes. Many different kinds of music concerts, horse shows, Sevilliana dancing in the streets, and every where huge pans of Paella on sale, washed down with sangria.
There is a very strong Spanish influence in Bezier's life and this is most apparent during the Feria. This is a unique festival time, a real taste of life in southern Europe, with a family atmosphere and amusements to suit all ages.
Budget airlines fly regularly to Beziers, Montpellier, Perpignan, Carcassonne and Nimes, all within easy reach. The TGV goes to Béziers and Eurostar operates a non-stop service from Waterloo to Avignon in high season. Spain, Andorra and the Pyrenees are within easy reach and the area is surrounded with the vineyards of the Herault.
This ancient hamlet has been turned into private property and is located on several hectares of olive grove with an unrestricted view towards the Béziers cathedral, 20 minutes from the beaches.
This house can sleep up to 6 people over 2 levels.
The accommodation and consists of:
Ground floor
A large living room.
Fully-equipped kitchen with dishwasher, washing-machine, microwave & fridge freezer.
Separate WC.
First floor
One double bedroom and two twin bedrooms.
One bathroom with bath, wash-basin, WC.
Two swimming pools.
Private terrace.
All linen and towels are provided.
Visited by one of our staff recommended.
Bedrooms - 3 bedrooms, one with double bed and two with twin beds.
Bathroom - 1 bathroom with bath, basin and WC.
Kitchen - dishwasher, washing-machine, microwave & fridge freezer.
A large living room.
Smoking is allowed as long as it's outside.
This house does not have any reviews but the agent has 3 reviews for their other properties.
This house is:
Local activities
Sights and attractions
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Outside this house in Allées Paul Riquet, the South of FranceThis house is in the countryside and in a quiet area. It has a shared pool. Car hire is recommended as the house is less than a 15 minute walk to at least a couple of shops, bars and restaurants; however parking is available if required.
Prices and availability
- Unavailable
- Your booking
- Available start/end date
Select your travel dates on the calendar
3 bedrooms, Sleeps 6:
- 1 double bed
- 2 single beds
- 2 single beds
1 bathroom, 2 Separate WC's
Swimming pool
Shared pool
Hair dryer, Iron / board, Towels / linen, Washing machine, Car hire recommended
Cooker, Crockery, Cutlery, Dishwasher, Fridge, Freezer, Glassware, Kettle, Microwave, Oven, Pots / pans, Toaster
Suitable for
Infants, Smoking
Extra information
On residence.
Agency From Aldershot, United Kingdom Member since Jan 2013
Past bookings: 6 bookings
Response rate: 82%
Response time: within 22 hours
Last logged in: 4 months ago
Number of properties: 102


text: Happy birthday to the late Stanley Kubrick — one of the greatest filmmakers in cinema. The Paths of Glory director passed away in 1999, but Kubrick's life has been an ongoing source of inspiration thanks to a sprawling exhibit at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 2012 and an ongoing fascination with Kubrick's quirky personality. …Read More


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We started partying last week on Wednesday and we partied like it was 1999.
The partying began Wednesday with the end of Pop Life. Oh, the horror! On Thursday, Kitch, Larken and I went to the Hensley's holiday party at Oceanaire. The lump crab cakes and as usual, the oysters, were off the hook. Food writers from various publications were there, as well as former City Councilwoman Lynn Wheeler, whom I hadn't seen in forever.
After Oceanaire, we ran by Tilt for the final Creative Lounging party, and then to the Blitzen's Holiday Bash at Morehead Street Tavern. Downstairs they had a dessert spread from Costco that included sheet cake, cookies and mini chocolate bars. I wasn't really feeling that. Upstairs, they had chicken wings, potato skins and dip. I'm still not sure the hot spread was part of the party, but we ate it anyway.
We ended the night at Tempo for the holiday staff party. Oh my goodness. The owners treated everyone to cocktails. Broderick laid out the buffet with macaroni and cheese, chicken wings, green beans and more. It was like hanging out with your family.
Some people played cards, Tempo co-owner Jumaane Torrence let us play with his remote control Corvette that Santa gave him. Jumaane was going to put together the basketball goal that Santa also brought early, but he realized it was way too hard. Periodically, people bumrushed the dance floor and then they'd rush the bar for drinks.
On Friday, Kitch, Road Dawg and I went to Hom's Liv lounge. DJ Johnnie Davis got a gig there at the last minute and it was on. We took over the lounge's small dance floor, dancing and chanting. I was exhausted by the time we went home early Saturday morning. What a way to welcome Christmas.
I'm in Alabama with my friends until Sunday, but if you're looking for something to do this weekend before New Year's Eve, I've got you. Neo-soul singer Bilal performs at Tempo on Friday, and Davis spins at Hom's Play (Yep! The big room) on Friday as well.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Warming up for New Year's Eve
We started partying last week on Wednesday and we partied like it was 1999.


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Alright, George Donner and the tragic fate of his expedition to California are not actually a good thing. So what are we doing here? The story of the Donner party (you all know it, right? On their way to California in the mid 1800s, Donner and his family were delayed by a broken axle and got caught in an unexpected snowstorm in the Sierra Nevada, ran out of provisions, ate all their animals, and may or may not have resorted to cannibalism) is haunting even 164 years after their ill-fated expedition. The story has inspired many works of fiction, including this short story by one of my favourite living writers (full disclosure: I am always, always looking for an excuse to talk about Kelly Link, which is the main reason I traded subjects with Justin this morning).
Obviously, my argument is not "freezing to death! Possible cannibalization! AWESOME!" No. The Donner party was brave and did what they needed to to survive. Attempting that pioneer trail to California in the first place indicates a strength of character that I'm not sure we can relate to in our modern world of airplanes and internet. And it's stories like that which inspire great literature, isn't it?
It's one of those days where we do a Tournament trade. Alison was so excited that I got George Donner that I really didn't feel like I could do it enough justice. Plus, it's early Wednesday morning. I don't really want to talk about cannibalism. While it's true that one can marvel at the hardships that the Donner family had to endure, I'll say it's also pretty mind-blowing to know that some people can actually understand what the fuck a modular curve is. This, for instance, seems to be a detailed description of the answer to a problem involving the modular curve. Of course, I don't even understand the question. I'll admit, I'm totally lost here. But for someone to be able to decipher this stuff is pretty awesome. I just hope they use it towards good things and not evil. OK, me headache now. Go rest, eat.


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Discussion in 'Transformers News and Rumors' started by S250, Feb 17, 2009.
tf08.net brought us
Soooo....Basically the "twins" are a couple of useless idiots?
I actually kind of like this. Sadly the real toy looks nowhere near as good as the photoshop
I mean, if it looked like that, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.
I wonder if they'll change the packaging to reflect the fact that it's called the Spark instead of the Beat?
Bio isn't too bad...Mudflap worries me though.
There goes the "realism".
I believe twins are brave idiots....like JarJar....
Jar-Jar wasn't brave, he was just an idiot.
Hopefully the twins will at least be useful.
Basically correct, at least according to what I think of them.
these are concept vehicles don't forget, they are subject to change, and/or in some cases not be produced at all.
will be interesting to see who voices them.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not mad they're in the movie/toyline, I just don't feel attracted to their characters.
I'm a puttin' some Moutain Dew logos all over him and callin' him DewBot!!
Toy actually looks quite good, the character sounds annoying though
Looks like they're the comic relief then.
Unfortunately Mudflap is tf movie universe Jar Jar Binks
''Mudflap zips around like maniac'' ? And
Skids is the smart one??
Agreed. If he looked like that I'd get him.
Skids IS the concept BEAT but when they unveiled the the production model of that car at the Detroit Auto Show it was retooled a little bit and now called the Spark as a production car.
Skids the car though is the concept vehicle.
I kinda like the bio. But again, I won't let my opinions set until I've seen the film.
Please no slapstick for these two, please no slapstick.
I like the toy though, even with the mutant head. Will be getting him and his bro.
Intelligence is 6 that cant be that bad right lol
Separate names with a comma.


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It takes two to tango- and this sheer sexy tanga is basically a guarantee that your dance card will be forever full. Long coveted by lingerie insiders, the fit flatters, and the details- like the oversized sheer bow at the waist, and scalloped edges- definitely matter.
Body: 86% Nylon/ 14% Spandex; Panel Lining: 100% Cotton


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Beautifully and private, well renovated and suitable for product launches and Popup events, this 1,300 square feet shop is located in a serene location with a private front porch.
This delicate shop is located on the ground level of a residential building in Central. Though it is located in a serene location, it is just a few steps from the famous hangout spot in Hong Kong, Lan Kwai Fong, which made this place a perfect venue for any type of events!
This charming space consists of a large display window and a light kitchen. Its warm and modern theme is compatible with any kind of design and themes, allowing brands' imagination to run wild, and suiting every creative need. Moreover, it is equipped with counters, kitchen, office equipment, security system, stock room, toilets and so on. It is definitely the best opportunity for brands to raise brand awareness and build connections with their customers!


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Theseus and the Minotaur is another mythological teaching that can be interpreted in varied ways. I have to admit that I had written this piece a few weeks ago but lost my draft copy. In writing it again I seem to have posed more questions than answers.
One interpretation could be to see the Labyrinth as representing the subconscious, or unconscious, mind and the Minotaur, our Shadow or dark aspect which has to be overcome.
What is the Minotaur seeking to destroy?
One answer could be Youth.
As a result of a plague sent upon Athens, the Athenians send seven maidens and seven young men, each year, as sacrifice to Minos. This represents the killing of Youth on the orders of an older King; a situation that creates a few thoughts to contemplate.
On the third year of this tribute being paid, Theseus intervenes.
How is the Minotaur defeated?
The hero Theseus is helped by the King's daughter, Ariadne. The feminine aspect of our psyche is accessed to allow safe passage into and out from the labyrinth of our sub-conscious. The integration of the feminine into the psyche of the male hero allows him to defeat the shadow, the bestial, untamed side of himself, maintaining balance and health between opposites.
There are other interesting dynamics at play within this tale. It is Ariadne's father, Minos, who creates the Labyrinth and demands the sacrifices, yet she helps to put a stop to it. Later, Theseus' inaction leads to the death of his father. He also takes Ariadne with him but soon abandons her. She is consoled by Dionysus; another interesting layer if we consider what Dionysus represents and think about the Maenads. It is almost as if in the same way that the hero, Theseus, has had to tame his wildman nature, the quest of the heroine is to be introduced to wildness, to her inner wild, untamed aspect, to integrate that part of herself into an organised and, up to that point, controlled psyche.
Theseus eventually is killed by being thrown into the sea. The element of water is, traditionally, linked with emotion.


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Hot Water Heater Upkeep Tips
If you should be sure that you could get the most effective efficiency out of your hot water heater, it will need you to carry out some high-quality maintenance. The actions to keeping your hot water heater will allow you to do your best to recognize when you must replace it and exactly how you could obtain the most out of your heater. With this in mind, you must take it after on your own to follow these standards listed below and also use them to keep your warm water heating unit at its finest.
Find The Very Best Hot Water Heating Unit Service Providers in Cooksville Maryland
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[google-map location="Cooksville MD"]
[weather city="Cooksville" state=""]


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The OnePlus 5T is a 4G LTE device that comes with a 6-inch Full Optic AMOLED display with a resolution of 1080x2160 and...
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Posts tagged 'success'
Understanding our mind
I say a lot of the same things again and again because our mind is very resistant to change and has to be encouraged many times before it will let go and even consider new information, especially life changing beliefs. Our mind is like an over protective parent, trying to save us from doing something that it feels could harm us, like thinking about new experiences. Our minds are constantly encouraging caution, think it over before you make changes, do some research, find people that have had exposure to those kind of changes and see what it did for them. Give it time to see if there were really noticeable advantages that lasted. How can you know it will be good for you as well it seems to be for others. Doubts and fears are important to consider, they may keep us from making mistakes. That is a lot of resistance to over come so I keep remind you of the values that are always available for us from choosing new experiences, new ways of thinking, risking success, nothing ventured, nothing gained. We've been stuck in and a victim to a limiting belief system, it's time to expand our conscious awareness and become more of who we really are and less of what we may have accepted as our limitations. Choosing Trust and Faith over Doubt and Fear and giving ourselves encouragement to risk success is the way to go.
Here is a part of some interesting information for encouragement. from Anna Merkarba
I have received a message from Arch Angel Metatron which I was told to incorporate into this channeling. I will talk about it after the channeling from the Hathors, it's quite an important message to assist you in preparing for this portal.
Once again you can work on yourself at any given moment in time, however there are certain days where certain portals open up for us to partake of. To sum up: the coming portal is to be celebrated, and utilized to the best of your capacity allowing it to stir you in the right direction for your soul.
So having said this, here is the channeling from the Hathors, enjoy:
The avalanche portal of discoveries of the past and the discoveries of the future, shall ring true to the ears of those who are familiar with said statements. Shall ring true to the ears of those who understand innately that which we speak of.
For through the Avalanche portal of your known understanding of personified existence on human earth, you shall be granted access to the highest octaves of your higher self. Through the Avalanche portal of the Emerald frequencies and recognition purposes. For the emerald principles of your being shall propel you to the recognition that indeed such frequencies are plausible and comprehensible in your world.
For indeed the Avalanche portal is that which shall propel you to and open the door to your home planets, to the destination of that which you all hold sacred. The Avalanche portal of abundance, restoration, recalibration, balance, peace, harmony, health, love, fruitful endeavours, aligned opportunities, significant encounters… ALL this is coming your way, all this is already available, all this can and shall be found in the Avalanche portal of the coming new moon. The Avalanche portal of abundance, health and joy. The avalanche of love and affection, the avalanche of prosperity, benevolence and peace.
For through the encounters with the divinity of your being, through the strength of perseverance, through the abundance of thinking patterns, through the recalibration of your thought processes, through the allowance, and release of all that no longer shall occupy your frames of existence, through all that is all that is not, you shall find the necessary decrees, the necessary steps to take in the fruitful discovery of where you presently are and where you are yet to be.
WE the Hathors, the forefathers of your known world. The fore-mothers of your know existence. Are standing by you, ready to assist you in all that you are. Ready to guide you. Ready to be guided by you. Ready to assist all our children in reaching the highest destination of your being.
That is all that we have for you now. We love you. We are with you. Goodbye for now
As I promised here is a short message to all of you from Arch Angel Metatron.
"Dearly beloved children of GAIA, as you move through ascension corridor of your own creation, you shall assist GAIA in spreading her wings once more, you shall assist her as you are assisting your own selves, and in doing so you shall raise your vibrations ever so much. For the true essence of being lays in the understanding that you all are connected with the divine, you all are connected with your very own selves, you all are connected with GAIA and all of the universe. For all is ONE and one is ALL. And so, you are to seek out a stone of high purity and abundance, a stone that shall bring you closer to the understanding of that which you are , a stone that shall release the lay lines of your being and align you with the lay lines of GAIA.
The exquisite formation of extraordinary desires inset in the classification doctrine of GAIA's purest form of expression, can be found in the aragonite directive within the structural element grids of her being.
Through the aragonite principles it is then plausible to establish an understanding with the connectedness that many on your planet are lacking and are indeed desiring to experience. For the frequency that this particular design carries can permeate through your being at high capacities and re-establish the link long lost to the archonic influences of your known world.
Through the aragonite principles the accords can be reset, resurrected and directed to the very core of your being, to the very core of that which you are. And as such, opening the channels of communication not only with the deity of your choice, but most importantly with the one that you are longing to connect with, and that is yourself. As the principles abound on your planet, many more encounters with the divine insetting shall be acquired through the knowledge of the past , the knowledge of the future, and present moment in time."
Our inner light needs to be Positive
We are setting this world on fire, our inner light is a fire that consumes the ignorance of doubts, fears and habitual negativity. Every time we lighten up, by choosing to see the value of feeling good and choose to do it, we are throwing another log on the fire of conscious awareness, that is burning brighter and brighter as we progress slowly but certainly into a higher vibration, that is transforming this world and ourselves, out of limiting confusion, into a progressive realization of spiritual reality.
We are waking up to the realization of our essential power and opening up to receiving the increase of major changes that we are an essential ingredient of creating. We just need to keep throwing our logs of trust, faith, love and gratitude on this fire of positive transformation that we are manifesting by our efforts. It's up to us and we are doing a commendable job. Because we are increasing our identification with our inner light, we have inspired thousands of others all over the world to join in the light brigade and add their logs of light to this fire of expansion of conscious awareness as well. Keep up the good work, we are winning the war of stupidity with self awareness which produces more love and light, more logs to fuel the fire of transformation.
Here is some encouragement from The Ascended Masters.
Blessings! We are your Ascended Masters! We come with good things to report! Our various associates are continuing to move forward. We are very close to the global reset and the accompanying revaluation of the world's currencies. These events are to be tied in with the rise of a worldwide precious metal standard. The improprieties of the world's major banks, as well as a vast corruption of the world's governments, means that a grand financial revolution is now needed to purge this realm of the dark cabal. This process is ready to yield major arrests and new governance. The coming prosperity and new international banking regulations are to clean up this abhorrent mess and bless this realm with an endless prosperity. Your freedom and sovereignty are to arise from all that is presently happening. We have been blessed by Heaven to finish this sacred task and then welcome those who helped us to succeed!
What is occurring here is a great blessing! We have worked diligently to assure your success. Heaven has smiled on our efforts and permitted us to have the means to overcome the dark and its numerous minions. Every day we pray and spend hours healing this realm. Many of you are frustrated by what has seemingly taken an endless time to get done. Do not lose faith! Miracles are happening! The dark, once seemingly so omnipotent, is now quickly fading. The Light increases in strength each and every day. Be proud of what we have accomplished together. Each of your prayers and meditations has greatly aided this divine cause. Hence, together we have gathered the means to triumph. Remain positive and thoroughly focused on victory! The dark, as noted, is fading. We are on the verge of great things!
We, your Ascended Masters, are wishing you well, and working to finish off this most well-deserved victory. Be proud of what you are accomplishing. You are moving an entire realm to the very edge of its ascension. This is no small task. We all honor you for your achievements. As the coming time approaches, be happy and be most satisfied with what you are accomplishing. We simply ask you to stay focused and to know deep in your heart that you are there. This time of victory is to forever transform this beautiful orb and reunite you with your entire spiritual and galactic family. You are even to reassume your position in this most glorious family. We thank you and graciously bless you. Your grand sacred time has come! The dark has lost and now we can all come together and celebrate this grand victory! Hallelujah!
Today, we rejoice! We have given you another overview of the present circumstances. Be patient. The best is now to come. We leave you this week in joy. Soon, you are to meet your spiritual and galactic families. Be happy and remain focused on the prize! Know, dear Ones, that the countless Supply and never-ending Prosperity of Heaven are indeed Yours! So Be It! Selamat Gajun! Selamat Ja! (Sirian for Be One! and Be in Joy!)
Are you accepting or at least considering that life is a game of conscious awareness
By focusing our energy on feeling good we are raising our vibrations
The Fear of Success
It's interesting that the biggest threat to achieving our hearts desires is "The Fear of Success'. We get so many messages as a child that we are not O.K. as we are that most of us have a deep seated feeling and accepted belief that we are imperfect as we are, we need to become what it seems others want us to be. As little children we can't nationalize yet, we don't understand that our parents (the giants) are teaching us and training us we just feel that they want us to be different. To us of course this means that what we are isn't what we should be. So most of us get the message that in order to get what we want from them (acceptance of ourselves just as we are) we need to become what ever it seems we need to be to please them. So we may not understand what's going on (parental education) but we know that something in us is lacking. Therefore success is not available until we become what we need to be to deserve it. For a lot of us that fear that we don't deserve success is still a deep fear. The fact is that the minute that we survive birth we are already a success, a successful Human on our own journey of Self Awareness. How are you doing?
A channeling from the Ascended Masters that tells us about the change of our bodies and our chakras.
Things will never be the same, isn't that wonderful. A lot of us have been in a rut. We do the same things, the same way, day after day and don't grow in strength and wisdom, nothing ventured nothing gained. When we really get it that we can't do wrong and realize that the worst we can do is Silly and Stupid, then maybe we'll decide to risk success, and take a chance, let ourselves have new experiences that may improve our life. Our bodies are changing into being more receptive to this new energy so we are more available and more capable. Great so lets put our new abilities to work and find out what this new life we are becoming a part of has to offer. Here is a channeling from the Ascended Masters that tells us about the change of our bodies and our chakras.
Namaste! We are your Ascended Masters! The process to transform this blessed reality to the Light continues. Our various associates are finishing up operations that will shortly lead to the arrests of the multitude of individuals that form the upper echelons of the illuminoids. As we finish this procedure, we are preparing others to start the formal installation of a number of new banking regulations. These will create the pathway by which we can finally begin the distribution of prosperity funds. Heaven has a plan and we are dutifully manifesting it step by step. When all of this is in place, new governance becomes possible. At that point we can start the schedule for a series of vital lessons about the true spiritual nature of each of you and your true history. Your origins will lead you to wonder about the past so you correctly see all that needs to be done
The several realignments that still need to be done are currently underway. The first of these is to finish off the awakening of your new diaphragm chakra. Many of you are feeling slight to severe symptoms that appear at first glance to be some type of stomach flu. In fact, this is no more than the opening up of your diaphragm and altering its present relationship to your stomach and to your breathing process. This can cause breathing problems, general weakness and some pain in the chest area. As to the stomach, you can feel queasy and out of sorts. This is simply a temporary effect caused by the different types of energies being introduced, and the cleansing of a number of much older energies long stored in your diaphragm. This set of symptoms can come on suddenly and last from a few days to a week!
Finally, there is the matter of changes now going on in your throat and upper chest. This is caused by the bringing in of a higher set of energies for your throat chakra. This can seem like a sore throat or even a strange form of laryngitis. This is also a temporary condition. It is often coupled with the next step in bringing in the final foundations for your new thymus chakra. This set of symptoms can include severe pains in your upper chest, odd-feeling palpitations in the same region and some blurred vision and minor pulsing in your lower head and neck. Like the other symptoms, these are temporary and can last from a few days to a week. These alterations are part of a general acceleration now being blessedly completed by your body Angels and your assigned medical teams. These are harbingers of how close you are to your grand transformation!
Today, we continued on with our weekly messages. Events are afoot that will bring you great and much welcomed change. These alterations are ending the long rule of a very dark and devious cabal. These coming events are to be the harbingers for prosperity, freedom and new governance. Know, dear Ones, that the countless Supply and never-ending Prosperity of Heaven are indeed yours! So Be It! Selamat Gajun! Selamat Ja! (Sirian for Be One! and Be in Joy!)


text: Hi, I am new here and I have a little problem with my Linksys WRT54G router. I can connect to internet but I can't connect to the File server my ISP is offering to me, at least not at the speed I should get. I should be able to connect to their server with 54 Mbps (as this is 54Mbps router not 100 Mbps) but I can only connect with the same speed as my internet is going. I had the wired Linksys befsr41 and since I had trouble with it I changed it with the wireless one. In the meantime I had been connected to internet directly to my lan card on the PC and I had the full 100 Mbps speed. Now My ISP is telling me that this router of mine (wrt54g) can't be set to work with the range of IP addresses they have on their server and that's why I can't connect to full speed. Is it true? Thay said that with another brand, like ASUS (wired router not a wireless one) I won't have that problem. Is there another solution to make my router work? Thay told me to try putting a switch before the router and connect it to second lan adapter but I couldn't make it work. Can anyone help me? Thanks.


text:
A Little Football ~ A Lot of God
I'm a Seahawk fan! Many, many of us in the Pacific Northwest are Seahawk fans! My favorite shirt says "Jesus had 12 Men also." Oh, to be on God's team!Read More
What I Know for Sure (after filming 8 of 21 videos)
After filming eight videos, here's what I know for sure. It's not just about the editing, the blush, and the length!Read More
Remembering High School (and the weight of it all!)
This is Part 2 of a Motivational Minute in which I remember high school. I talked about wanting to be taller, smarter, and more engaging. What I didn't say? I really just wanted to be skinnier. At a formative time I used a number on the scale to measure my self worth, a struggle to this very day.Read More
Remembering High School (a few years later!)
I just wanted to be taller, smarter, more engaging, more accomplished, not realizing my missteps would make me stronger, my challenges would make me wiser, and my faith would get me through it all.Read More
Morning Walks with God
I need to walk every day. It's a time to disconnect. It's a time to walk and talk with God.Read More


text:
At Planet Ice, we are always looking for feedback from our customers to make sure everyone has the best possible experience when visiting us. We would ask that you please complete this short questionnaire. Your thoughts would be much appreciated. As a thank you we will enter you into a draw to win a free, three month skating pass.
This feedback is being administered by MDSC on our behalf. MDSC will therefore share your information with us so that we can provide access to the incentives offered as a thank you for taking the time to provide your feedback. If you do not wish your personal information to be shared with Planet Ice please do not complete the sections requesting personal information that could identify you such as your name and email address however you will not be able to access the incentives offered. We will not be sharing your information with any organisation that is not related to Planet Ice.


text:
Lets revise. A long sliding tenon is the simplest and easiest to make. Glued only at the middle it allows the table to expand and contract laterally without issue.
The problem is if the tenon is short then the joint is weak if pressure is exerted downwards and you have little space to insert dowels. If you make the tenon longer then you make the mortise side weak and it can bow in the middle. I encountered all of these problems, though minor, with the blackbutt shaker table.
The way this is overcome is to have a series of longer tenons (which provide strength to the joint, and allow room for the dowel) and a long shorter tenon (such that the entire length is supported.)


text: Cloudbreak Digital is an agile creative agency with a global reach. We're fluent in branding languages from startups to corporate. Because your clients aren't always constrained to a single region, we believe your digital footprint should be nomadic in presence and fluid in communication, constantly evolving and always refining to yield the highest results possible.


text:
Bruce Willis signs up for Vice role
Bruce Willis is set to star in upcoming sci-fi film Vice.
The Red actor has signed up for Emmett/Furla Films' futuristic action thriller, according to The Hollywood Reporter's Heat Vision blog.
He will co-star with 2 Guns actress Ambyr Childers, the wife of producer Randall Emmett.
The movie is set in the future on a resort "where the staff are lifelike synthetic beings and the rich can live out their darkest fantasies".
Bruce, 58, will play the owner of the resort and Ambyr will star as a female employee who becomes self-aware and sets out for revenge.
So far no director is attached.
News of Bruce's casting comes days after it was reported that he is in negotiations to star in indie thriller Captive. The movie tells the story of an American real estate magnate, living in Brazil, who is kidnapped and held for ransom at a prison cell hidden in a landfill site.


text:
Be prepared, and be careful not to do your good deeds when there's no one watching you. (Quote by - Tom Lehrer)
Conquering kings their titles take / From the foes they captive make: / Jesus, by a nobler deed,/ From the thousands He hath freed. (Quote by - John Chandler)
Whatever you do in life, echoes thru eternity. (Quote by - Contributed by: Anna Williams)
Whatever our creed, we feel that no good deed can by any possibility go unrewarded, no evil deed unpunished. (Quote by - Orison Swett Marden)
Whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well. (Quote by - Philip Dormer Stanhope, fourth Earl of Chesterfield)
At the time for the Asian people to commemorate such a victory, the words and deeds of some leading Japanese politicians have gravely saddened their hearts. (Quote by - Zhuo Nansheng)
Keeping away from all evil deeds, cultivation of life by doing good deeds and purification of mind from mental impurities. (Quote by - Buddha)
I worked for men, my Lord will say, When we meet at the end of the King's highway; "I walked with the beggar along the road, I kissed the bondsman stung by the goad, I bore my half of the porter's load. And what did you do," my Lord will say, "As you traveled along the King's highway?" (Quote by - Robert Davies)
If I preach against the modern artificial life of sensual enjoyment, and ask men and women to go back to the simple life epitomized in the charkha, I do so because I know that without an intelligent return to simplicity, there is no escape from our d. (Quote by - Mahatma Gandhi)
Every man is guilty of all the good he didn't do. (Quote by - Voltaire)
For in very deed, as the LORD God of Israel liveth, which hath kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall. (Quote by - Bible)
Go put your creed into your deed, Not speak with double tongue. (Quote by - Ralph Waldo Emerson)
Every noble deed dieth, if suppressed in silence. (Quote by - Pindar)
Times have changed, and when the deed was written, it was a very different time. We think they wanted to limit people coming from out of town, and for instance, in the early 1900s soccer was considered a hooligan sport. Troublemakers played soccer. (Quote by - John Feudo)
I believe that we are solely responsible for our choices, and we have to accept the consequences of every deed, word, and thought throughout our lifetime. (Quote by - Elisabeth Kubler-Ross)
Man has three friends on whose company he relies. First, wealth - which goes with him only while good fortune lasts. Second, his relatives - they go only as far as the grave and leave him there. The third friend, his good deeds, go with him beyond th. (Quote by - The Talmud)
Cry 'Havoc', and let slip the dogs of war, that this foul deed shall smell above the earth with carrion men, groaning for burial. (Quote by - William Shakespeare)
Since the things we do determine the character of life, no blessed person can become unhappy. For he will never do those things which are hateful and petty. (Quote by - Aristotle)
So our lives In acts exemplarie, not only winne Ourselves good Names, but doth to others give Matter for virtuous Deedes, by which wee live. (Quote by - George Chapman)
To be nameless in worthy deeds, exceeds an infamous history. (Quote by - Sir Thomas Browne)
Deeds, not words shall speak to me. (Quote by - Contributed by: Dan Hansen)
He has half the deed done who has made a beginning. (Quote by - Horace)
The biggest reward for a thing well done is to have done it. (Quote by - Voltaire)
Humility, modesty, nonviolence, forbearance, honesty, service to guru, purity (of thought, word, and deed), steadfastness, self-control; and / Aversion towards sense objects, absence of ego, constant reflection on the agony and suffering inherent in birth, old age, disease, and death. (Quote by - Bhagavad Gita)
Decay is inherent in all compounded things. Strive on with diligence. (Quote by - Buddha)


text:
The time has come for you to claim your right to rule the seven kingdoms. Play Bingo Battles against Kings and Queens of faraway lands. Defeat them at this game of chance and mark your conquests by collecting relics. This classic game of luck gets a twist with four magical spells that you need to strategically use to win. Jackpot patterns and spin the wheel tokens are there to give you the extra boost. With two different game types and numerous levels, get set for a fun filled Bingo blast! - Bingo Battle: Conquest of Seven Kingdoms
Win bingo battles to be the ruler of the seven kingdoms and collect relics to mark your conquests!
Win bingo battles to be the ruler of the seven kingdoms and collect relics to mark your conquests!
- Bingo with two types of game play
- As many as three opponents at a time
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System Requirements:
- OS: Windows XP/Windows Vista/Windows - CPU: 2.0 GHz - RAM: 512 MB
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text: Riley Blake Surprise Balloons Riley blake "suprise"3951 red Fat Quarter Surprise by Riley Blake Designs Balloons Price as fat quarter £2.25 £1.58 Quantity: at £1.58 each Add To Basket Surprise, by Bo Bunny for Riley Blake Balloons. 100% Cotton All You, me and Mabel fabrics are shown as 1 fat quarter. A fat quarter is usually 50cm x 55cm (fabric width) unless stated ie Gutermann However if you would like two or more of the same fabric then this will be sent as one continuous piece Example if you would like 1 metre please order 4 fat quarters of the same fabric Please note that whilst we have done our best to show the true colours of our fabrics on our website there may be some variation as viewed on your screen.


text:
|Jay Belanger
|Re: Key-binding clash between gnus and calc
|Tue, 15 Nov 2005 11:16:54 -0600
|Gnus/5.11 (Gnus v5.11) Emacs/22.0.50 (gnu/linux)
Sascha Wilde <address@hidden> writes: > `M-#' is normally bound to `calc-dispatch', but in gnus it's bound to > `gnus-topic-unmark-topic' in groups buffer, to > `gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable' in summary and article buffer. > > I don't know which of them has the "older rights" to use this binding, > but anyway, to a regular user of both, gnus and calc (as me for > instance) the current state is quite inconvenient. As me for another example. Gnus has been part of Emacs longer, so if either one has rights, it would be gnus. However, gnus uses it only in gnus buffers, while Calc tries to use it globally. I don't know if there are any conventions for global keybindings like there are for major and minor mode keybindings, or where M-# would fit. Rebinding it in your init file may be convenient, (global-set-key "\C-cm" 'calc-dispatch) or somesuch. Jay
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|Current Thread
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text: Good chai is transcendent. Strong black tea is sweetened by rich boiled milk and given a pleasant bite from a handful of spices. In South Asia it's a way of life. Every person has their method of preparation -- a ritual after years of boiling and reboiling the ingredients until they coalesce into the drink.


text:
Zambia, the lesser travelled Southern Africa
Tanzania has its mountains, Kenya its game parks, Malawi its lake, South Africa its beaches and Zambia? It has its people. Okay, so it has Victoria Falls, which is rather impressive, but if I had to say my favourite thing about Zambia, it would be its people.
Vic Falls in low water
Accommodation: see individual project page for local accommodation or go to the accommodation section of the site
Kariba South
Quick Facts:
Capital: Lusaka
Getting there: Interntaional flights into Lusaka, Livingstone and Lilongwe (actually in Malawi but closer to projects in the east of Zambia than Lusaka)
Airline: KLM, Ethiopian Airlines
Currency: Kwacha. Roughly 5 ZMK = 1usd
Budget: Cost of living is relatively high, especially in comparison to Malawi next door. Budget 15 - 20 usd per night for accommodation, 30 usd per week for food if self-catering and 25 usd for any long distance bus rides.
Languages: There are roughly 73 local languages, so email in advance to find out the main language in your placement area! However, you will get by with English pretty well.
Visas: Techinically a work permit is required, but it seems to be quite a bit of hassle. Speak to your volunteer co-ordinator, most will say that a tourist visa is enough at first, though some will begin the process of applying for one on our behalf before arriving.
Economics: Though many are struggling with poverty, Zambia was declared a middle income country in 2013. Much of the money in Zambia comes from the copper mines in the west, though NGO's seems to be the life blood of the capital. Urban Zambia certainly feels more developed than its neighbours to the east, north and west, and virtually anything you need is available in the cities and towns. However, as Zambia is landlocked and does not have a well developed manufacturing industry, almost everythng is imported, which drives up the prices of everything from food to car parts.
Tourism: Victoria Falls is hugely impressive. It is the largest (though neither highest nor widest....) waterfall in the world and definately worth a visit, especially during rafting season! You should also not miss a chance to check out Zambias wildlife in one of it's many game parks and if you like crocs, get yourself to Kariba lake!!
Volunteer Opportunities
Assisted Learning
Dance/Art/Spoken Word/Performance/Design
Computer Training
Vocational Training
Social Work:
Kids Club


text:
Life Is Beautiful First Look Released
Sekhar Kammula, whose last two films Leader and Happy Days were hits. has taken a pretty long time to make his third film titled Life Is Beautiful. This film is again made with newcomers Abhijeet, Sudhakar, Kaushik, Shagun, Zara, Rashmi, Kavya, Naveen, Vijay, Sanjeev and Sriram playing the lead roles.
The director says that this film is also a Happy Days style of film, but the action takes place in a colony instead of on a campus. The film is about the relationships among the residents of a colony in a big city.
Thota Tarani had erected a complete colony set where most of the film was shot. Music for the film has been composed by Mickey J Meyer while Vanamali and Anantha Sriram penned the lyrics.
Life Is Beautiful is being scheduled to be released on August 15.
Click Here to More Information for Life Is Beautiful Movie


text:
An interesting look at a life style that is so different from my own. As a teenager, Valerie Danby-Smith gets a job working for Ernest Hemingway during his years in Spain and Cuba (about 1959-1961). Her relationship with the Hemingways is what this book is all about. She does have a lot of insight and revelations about the years spent with them and tells her story in a interesting way. I didn't care for all the name dropping but it was probably necessary to tell the story of their lives. After Ernest death, Valerie marries Gregory, his son. This was one roller-coaster of a marriage and a tragic story itself. It was brave of her to tell it.
Margaret, Reference


text:
Roko Shinge Sherry Chayat (born 1943) is a Rinzai Zen teacher in the lineage of the late Soen Nakagawa and the newly installed Abbot of Dai Bosatsu Zendo, located in the Catskills of New York. After receiving a degree in Creative Writing from Vassar College in 1965 and studying painting at the New York Studio School, Roko Sherry Chayat began practice at the Zen Studies Society's West Side apartment. She also runs the Zen Center of Syracuse.
In 1991, Roko was ordained by Eido Tai Shimano at Dai Bosatsu Zendo. He installed her as abbot of Hoen-ji in 1996, after the zendo moved from her attic to its current home on six acres along Onondaga Creek in Syracuse's historic Valley district. In 1998, she received inka shomei, Dharma Transmission, from Eido Roshi. In 2008 he performed the shitsugo or "room naming" ceremony at Hoen-ji, recognizing her as a roshi and giving her the name Shinge, meaning "heart-mind flowering."
Interview notes: Zen Studies Society has been through a lot in the past few years when it became known that their now former Abbot, Eido Tai Shimano, had been having inappropriate relationships with female sangha members. Shinge Roko Sherry Chayat took over as Abbess of the ZSS as a result and, to my knowledge, this is the first interview she has given since that time. We discussed that period leading up to when Chayat took over as Abbess and what she hopes to see in the future for Zen Studies Society.
SZ: So how did you get involved with Zen practice? What was going on at that time in your life?
SRSC: I had a very difficult childhood. My father was killed in World War II in the Battle of the Bulge (I was about a year and a half old). My mother and I moved to my grandmother's place, in Brooklyn. The first four years were kind of wonderful. Everybody in the family was taking good care of me – all of the aunts and uncles saw my father in me. You know, it was kind of a blessed time, in a way, for a child who had just lost a parent.
Then my mother remarried someone who was quite a bit older and, she didn't realize it, but he was suffering from a fairly strong degree of bipolar disorder (which went untreated in those days). What she thought would be something that would help her and her daughter to move along in life turned out to be disruptive and violent. We moved away from what my stepfather called the Jewish ghetto of Brooklyn to New Jersey, after a year in New Mexico. He was an artist. I have great admiration for his integrity and creativity and real genius. At the same time, it was really hard to suffer the periods of depression and violence.
Looking back, I feel that he was like the head monk par excellence of the most brutal monastery in Japan. He certainly taught me a lot, not all of which I felt was helpful. I started finding that the only way I could deal with my suffering and sense of total injustice was to sit very still. I had a particular place – one was a window seat and the other was sitting at the base of a big walnut tree. What I would do, not knowing anything about Zen, was just allow myself to meld into the vastness and feel, as I sat completely still, that everything was perfect.
Those experiences saved my life, starting from about age 7 on. When I was in eighth grade we read a book assigned to us, a textbook on world cultures. I can still remember sitting in that dark room and feeling as if suddenly everything turned bright as I read for the first time about Zen Buddhism. I realized there was a name for what I was doing and that I could follow this path. From then on, in high school, I tried to find what I could that was available to read in English. There weren't so many books around on Zen, as this was the 1950s. But I managed to go to New York City when we moved closer to New York. I became a denizen of the Village and discovered Eighth Street Bookshop, where I found Alan Watts, Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and people like that. All of those early writers.
Suddenly I felt as though I had a family. I decided that I would apply to Radcliffe for their program in Sanskrit studies, since nobody else seemed to be teaching anything on Buddhism. I was told that I would have to wait and reapply, so I visited Vassar College and fell in love with the campus. It turned out to be a perfect place for me – just a beautiful place with a great deal of harmony among the faculty and students. They had no courses in Asian culture or philosophy, but I was able to do something in my freshman year, anyway. There was a course called Economics, Sociology and Anthropology (ESA), and for the class I wrote a paper that was about 20 pages long, which was quite a bit more than we had been asked to do. I traced the history of Buddhism from India to China, to Korea and Japan.
My teacher gave it back to me with a B+ saying, on the paper, "This was a great paper but it had nothing to do with economics, sociology or anthropology.". That was my beginning of Buddhist studies. Some alumna had left a wonderful collection to the library, which included D.T. Suzuki's essays. So, that was kind of my in-depth introduction, on my own.
When I got out of college, I went to New York City and was in art school. I met Lou Nordstrom and we talked about getting married. For various reasons (we had family problems on both sides), we decided to just have a small group of friends attend and to have a Buddhist wedding. At that time, Lou was working on a book on Plato and had absolutely no interest in Eastern religions. But, he was in love with me enough to say, "Okay. We'll have a Buddhist wedding."
We walked up to the Buddhist temple on Riverside Drive but what was going on there that day was judo. Judo was not what we're looking for! When we went home, I looked under Z in the phone book and sure enough, Zen Studies Society was just a few blocks from where we were living. We walked over and rang the bell and the person who came to the door was this young Japanese monk named Tai-san, Eido Shimano . He invited us in and we spoke about our wish to get married and, in broken English, he tried to sort of probe our sincerity. He decided over tea that he would do it and it turned out that the day we were married was also a time when Haku'un Yasutani roshi was visiting. He actually performed our wedding, which was just a few friends in a beautiful circle of love.
That was when my formal practice began. I went back and, after a year abroad in France, I continued (and Lou too). He went on to become a monk. So, that's kind of the early days, in the 1960s.
SZ: When did Dai Bosatsu come about? That came later, right?
SRSC: It did, yes. While Lou and I were in France the Zen Studies Society moved. When we came back, we read on the front page of the architecture section in the New York Times about this carriage house renovation for the Zen Studies Society over on New York's East Side. I was so excited.
"We have to go! We have to go!"
So we got very active there at 223 67th St. and, one evening, Eido roshi invited a few of us who were officers (I think I was the librarian at the time) to meet with him in the meeting room; he told us about this beautiful property that had been found. I believe this must've been in 1970. It was comprised of 1400 acres in pristine forest, with the highest lake the Catskills, Beecher Lake. It had been the property of Harriet Beecher Stowe's brother and it was thought that the original lodge house was a place where she perhaps had written part of Uncle Tom's Cabin.
So, we were all excited about that. For the first couple of years, it was just a Zen community. Lou and I ended up being the co-directors, moving up there in 1974 as construction of the monastery building was beginning. It opened on July 4, 1976.
SZ: That date was symbolic, right?
SRSC: It was Eido roshi's dream that he would give this place to the United States on Independence Day, noting how important it is to realize one's true independence, which is of course interconnectedness. He chose that date very intentionally, even though we had actually been living there before the opening date.
SZ: Now, in 1985 you were at the Cambridge Buddhist Association, is that right?
SRSC: Lou and I left Dai Bosatsu in 1976 feeling that we needed to support our Dharma sisters, who suddenly had realized that there were many difficult relationships that had been going on simultaneously and feeling great concern about the problems those relationships were making for everyone. It was a very dark and difficult time for the sangha and a particularly dark and difficult time for me.
We moved to Syracuse, where Lou had taken a position offered to him while Houston Smith was on sabbatical from Syracuse University. It was a one-year appointment. I was very leery about moving to Syracuse because it seemed to me to be kind of Midwest (or whatever). However, my brother was there, and, because of our family situation, we'd not really had any communication to speak of since he had become a young man. I thought it would be a wonderful opportunity to get to know him.
Just a month before we were due to move he was killed.
He had been on his bicycle, and was hit by a car. This was the same July that Dai Bosatsu opened, and we didn't go to the opening. There was this feeling of just being derailed and trying to find our way. So, that first year in Syracuse was really what you might call an intense practice time for me, trying to know how to continue. In spite of my great respect and admiration for everything Eido roshi had taught us, I was aware that there were people who had been hurt and I remember not knowing really what to do.
So that 1976 period was extended – we ended up staying, and Lou and I eventually divorced. I met my second husband, and we had a child. Maurine Stuart and I had stayed in touch, as she and I had both practiced at New York Zendo and Dai Bosatsu together. This was during the early 1980s. Maurine moved to Cambridge and took over the Cambridge Buddhist Association. It was really around Soen Nakagawa roshi's passing, in 1984, when I called her and we commiserated with each other, that our relationship developed into her coming as teacher to the Zen Center here in Syracuse and my going there for sesshin. In 1985, she did lay ordination for me.
She passed away in 1990 and the then-Vice abbot at Dai Bosatsu, Jun Po Denis Kelly, wrote me a very beautiful letter of commiseration (condolence) and also invited me back to Dai Bosatsu. I had gone back once for sesshin in 1978 and I still felt the strongest bond with Eido roshi, in spite of human flaws. I found myself wishing for his teaching and his really strong way of presenting koan work. So I thought I'd give it a shot; I'd go back and we would meet. I went to sesshin that August and it went well. I just decided to see how it goes. As far as I could tell, there were no more incidents of concern.
I later found out that there was a new situation that was very upsetting to people who knew more than I did. I was away more often than I was there, but Jun Po left around that time. I had gathered that there was something having to do with both of them that caused more sangha uproar. I kept going back for sesshin. I remember saying at one point, "Look, this is really important. One cannot have relationships with one's students." I think we had a good understanding; Eido Roshi agreed. This was around 1993.
There was a period of clarity regarding such relationships, and an understanding that they were really a negative thing for students and, from everything I could tell and in talking to other people, there were no more improper relationships until the very disturbing revelation in 2010. Now, I don't know that for sure. But, I know that every time I was there it seemed as though everything was well in order, and I was sending my students there to practice and to train, and no one experienced anything untoward. We had my abbot installation and Dharma transmission in Syracuse (and earlier, my Dharma Teacher authorization at Dai Bosatsu).
So we became closer in terms of our Dharma relationship; I really feel just so grateful to him for his brilliant teaching and so sad about human flaws that cannot be discounted.
SZ: No. No they can't. I'm curious, were you or the sangha aware of some of the things that had happened in Hawaii at Aitken roshi's zendo before he came to New York?
SRSC: No. We didn't know any of that. I mean really there was no – you know, people would come for sesshin and there would be nothing to talk about in that environment. Then all of these things were made public on the internet in 2008 or 2009 by Kobutsu Malone, which happened after a very upsetting incident between Kobutsu and Eido roshi. He let us know that some wide distribution of damning documents would be appearing on the web. And, so they did. He made everything public that had been at the University of Hawaii, and I think we were all absolutely shocked.
SZ: Yeah…
SRSC: To see the the breadth of these allegations. I know that one cannot believe everything one reads on the Internet (there were so many postings and so many blogs), and that some were perhaps exaggerated. But, still and all, what Aitken's letters showed, and the depth of sadness that came across, it was just devastating.
SZ: Describe that time period, when you had to assume the role of abbot there following Eido's resignation.
SRSC: It was horrendous. I can't tell you…
I guess, looking back at 1976 and going through 2010, I would say it was a very similar period, trying my best to keep my head above water and rely on the practice; be, as much as possible, of benefit to people, and try not to get caught up in the cycle of aggression that seemed to be escalating with every new post.
SZ: There was a lot of press. It really gained steam or momentum as a story after that New York Times piece, from what I observed. That story really put it in the public sphere.
SRSC: Well, that's true. The writer couldn't interview Eido roshi, who was out of the country. He couldn't interview anyone who was there. I know that he did his best to put across what had happened in objective terms.
Then Eido roshi wrote something that never got published saying he had not been consulted, which in itself raised even more of an uproar because it made it seem that he was backtracking from his apology. So, there was a lot for the board to deal with during 2010.
We were working with the Faith Trust Institute; I thought it was very important for us to open everything to the sangha and to allow people to speak and voice their disillusionment – their frustrations. So that, I think, was the beginning of a new era for the sangha; instead of having everything secret, people were encouraged to come forth and speak and share their feelings. We went on from there to ask An Olive Branch, which is an organization you may be familiar with, to come help us.
SZ: Yes. That's run by Kyoki Roberts, right?
SRSC: Yes. They came and guided us through another sangha weekend this past September. It was, again, a very important time for a lot to be raised, for people to look at the timeline, to acknowledge things that had happened and the pain that they felt. It was also a time for us to get together and talk about what our vision of the future was – how we could make a real change, a real difference. How people could feel safe and begin the healing process (which, of course, I know takes time).
SZ: What might you say to critics who feel that the Zen Studies Society did not do enough over this 40 year span of time? I've heard some argue that the board may have enabled some of the alleged abuse.
SRSC: I don't think the board was ever able to act definitively because of the imbalance in the powerbase; those people who wanted to make changes basically were voted down. This is what I understand from reading over some of the documents that were on the internet; so, I don't blame them – I think people tried to make some changes but, again, there was so much that was secretive. I don't think that there was any enabling going on, because people didn't know.
It's very difficult for us to look back at people who were doing their best at that time, who also believed sincerely in Eido roshi as a great teacher.
I think what is ignored among the strong critics is the context; we can look back 2600 years ago and say, "Well, how could Buddha Shakyamuni keep women from being ordained?" It took Ananda's great efforts to allow that to happen. Look at the cultural context for that. The same thing needs to be looked at in terms of what American life was like when Eido roshi and so many other Asian teachers first came to the United States.
I remember very well what it was like; I was involved in the women's movement of that era. One of the key issues for women at that time was taking ownership of their own sexuality. For many people, that meant choosing who we wanted to have sex with and kind of subverting the paradigm, just as the word queer became something positive in the gay liberation movement. The choice that women felt they had, to take lovers and even to take on teachers as lovers, was something that was a part of the cultural context of the era, during the 1960s and the early 1970s. So, we need to know that and we need to realize that when Eido roshi and other teachers came from Japan, the correcting institutional guidelines weren't there anymore. Not for him and not for the people he was involved with.
SZ: Of course some of the allegations (we'll call them allegations) leveled against him went beyond consensual relationships. At least not in some of the advances that were made.
SRSC: If anything happened that was nonconsensual, all we can say is how much we deplore it and how much it pains us. We feel such distress that anything like that could have happened.
SZ: And I do think you make a fair point that it is important to understand some of these cultural contexts. Absolutely.
SRSC: In fact there are a lot of students these days who are angry at the board for keeping Eido roshi from any contact with the Zen Studies Society sangha. Many are European or Japanese, and they think Americans are ridiculously puritanical. They never understood the hounding of Bill Clinton, and they can't imagine what would have happened if JFK's and Martin Luther King's sexual exploits had occurred in the current era. So, that's another example of cultural context.
SZ: Sure. Of course, even within culture we find dissension among the ranks.
I want to ask you a more poignant question. There have been some who've expressed a concern that there are those working to get Eido Shimano back in good standing at Zen Studies Society. They are worried that he may return to teaching at Zen Studies Society at some point…
SRSC: It won't happen.
Our board is very united in our concerns and we have agreed, together with Eido roshi, that he has retired from teaching and that he will not be doing any teaching under the auspices of the Zen Studies Society.
SZ: Okay. That will be very reassuring to many people, I think.
SRSC: Again, I understand how upsetting it is to many people who feel very loyal to him and feel that he is a grand master and should be allowed to teach, and are angry at the board for keeping him from continuing to do so. But we have to look at the whole spectrum, and we must protect people who are vulnerable, whether it's psychological vulnerability or things in their own past that have brought them to this vulnerability; people need to feel that it is a safe place to practice, and that is what we have to ensure.
SZ: In an intimate environment, sometimes things can get a little bit fuzzy. I think everyone understands that up to a point. But, when there is such a long track record and pattern present, I think that that is when it raises red flags and people get really concerned. So I guess the question, for me anyway, is whether or not it is ever appropriate for a teacher to enter into a sexual relationship (or a romantic one) with his or her student?
SRSC: No. I think there is too much at risk there. It becomes too complex, psychologically and emotionally, for the student.We all know of Zen teachers who have fallen in love with their students and have either divorced or decided to marry the student or whatever, and seem to be getting along okay. But I think it is something that we teachers really have to be discerning about and guard against. I think that the same thing is true in cases where psychotherapists have been in teaching roles. It can be a very messy, difficult thing for the person in therapy to also have the same person as a Zen teacher.
SZ: I guess I never thought of that but you're right. There are instances of that happening?
SRSC: People do it all the time. My feeling is that we need strong boundaries. Even though, from a fundamental perspective, everything is practice and everything is permissible, from a relative point of view we have to be careful (extremely careful) with students, who are also often people who have such deep wounds. They come to Zen practice with these wounds and we have to really be careful not to make it even worse for them by throwing them into a complicated relationship.
SZ: Because you never really know the mindset of a student presenting themselves to you.
SRSC: No you don't, and people can come with severe psychological problems, including people with borderline personality disorder, where you think you are being perfectly clear and, before you know it, they've taken it somewhere else and it has become something very different. It takes real discernment on the part of a teacher to keep everything clear and safe for the student. I do think that one of the good aspects of having more women in teaching roles is that we aren't as given to mixing up sex and power as men have been historically. The bigger the guy, the more sexual conquests seem to be involved. It cuts across all kinds of disciplines and certainly is not limited to Zen teachers.
SZ: Oh no, it's in all of the spiritual traditions, at least.
SRSC: And of course in Tibetan Buddhism there is the Tantric tradition in which the teacher may involve the student as his consort. Certainly someone like Trungpa Rinpoche was very open about his relationships. I can understand where it may have been seen in that tradition as being okay, but I think for many of the people involved there were issues…
SZ: Even when one is open about their relationships problems can (and probably will) arise.
SRSC: Yeah.
SZ: And of course there are examples of teachers who didn't go down the road of sexual relationships with students, people who were some of the early pioneers. Shunryu Suzuki roshi comes to mind, for me. So, there were also people who were coming from that culture who didn't seem to feel a need to go down that path, as well.
SRSC: Right. They all had problems though, you know (laughs). Everybody has problems. We have to be cognizant that we are human and that we have flaws. They may not be power/sex flaws, they may be different flaws – financial flaws or brutality toward one's family flaws. There are so many areas, and part of our practice has to be this really deep introspection into our own faults, and looking at each day, as my hero, Nyogen Senzaki, did; following Benjamin Franklin, making a little black mark next to the negative things that he saw in himself, and how he was much more compassionate and understanding, as a result.
SZ: I think we have covered some really good, valuable ground here. Thank you for your candor. Going back to earlier, we talked a little bit about your studies with Maurine Stuart roshi, someone who's memorial anniversary passed recently. You wrote her biography, so I wanted to see if maybe you could tell us a bit about her.
SRSC: Maurine was an amazing woman of such love (and such feminine power) who was really helpful for me at that point in my life. She could be nurturing, but she could also be very demanding. She was challenging and she was kind. She became a very dear friend of my son's when he was a four- or five-year-old. After sesshin she would sit with him (doing dokusan, in a way), with the most loving attention to whatever he had on his mind.
She taught piano and was a great pianist. She had a breadth of understanding that brought whatever her students' issues were right to the work that they were doing, in their koan study and their lives–the totality of their Zen practice. She was really inspiring.
SZ: I remember reading somewhere, it may have been in your book, that her "transmission" ceremony was very unofficial with Soen roshi. Is that accurate?
SRSC: She didn't have a transmission ceremony. What happened was that on Soen roshi's last trip to the United States, he got together with some of the few students he was closest to, including my first husband and Maurine, and I gathered that he was feeling quite upset with what had been going on at that point.
He said to her, "You know, you are the real thing. You are a real Zen master. You are roshi! Tell your students that."
But there was no ceremony. There was no official acknowledgment so, whether or not that happened officially, we all felt that yes, she was a Zen master. She may not have had the title in the formal sense, and it may not be recorded anywhere in Japan, but she was the real thing.
SZ: That was just Soen roshi's way of saying, "Hey, I see you as a teacher."
SRSC: Exactly. There were people who wanted to make more of it. There were people who were angry that people were calling her roshi. But that's the way people are.
SZ: You said Soen roshi was a bit upset at that time…
SRSC: Well, yeah. I think he had been told by a number of the people who had left why it was they were leaving. I know he was concerned about that.
SZ: It must have caused a schism between him and Eido Shimano, I would assume.
Now, you were also involved in writing Soen's biography, as well. You've certainly been involved in writing books about many of our early pioneers. It would be such a missed opportunity were I not to ask you about him, also. Tell us a bit about Soen roshi.
SRSC: Soen roshi was one of the most profound human beings I have ever met. I can say that he was the most profound human being. He was more than a human being. He just had the universe coursing through him and was an incredibly open channel. The way he spoke, his natural sense of spontaneity with the Dharma coming straight through him–y.ou never knew what he would do or say. He was totally unconventional! I remember one time he was talking about how important it was to love yourself. He loved to play with language, so Love and Rub – love yourself. He would be taking off his robe and showing us, standing on the table rubbing his belly and saying, "Very important! Love, rub. Rub, love. Love and rub."
He was an extremely deep interpreter of koans, especially the teachings of Rinzai. He was so intimate with Rinzai. He really gave us so much encouragement. He encouraged Eido roshi tremendously. He was so proud of him for the work that he did in America to bring the Dharma to the West, opening the temple in New York City and then the monastery. No matter what, I think there was that very strong positive encouragement that he gave to him and to us in all of our training.
SZ: He was certainly a very interesting character, by all accounts.
SRSC: Yeah. Yeah, he was totally unconventional. It didn't always go over so well in Japan but it was very much appreciated here in the U.S.
SZ: I remember reading that he once held the Japanese tea ceremony using Coca-Cola cans?
SRSC: Oh, sometimes he would make tea ceremony with a Styrofoam cup and some instant coffee…
SZ: (laughs)
SRSC: "Chanoyu right here!" (laughs) Um, he would also be like this bagman – he would be carrying these paper bags everywhere he went in New York City and everything would go into them. I remember at one point he and I and Lou and some other sangha friends were having dinner and we needed to open some nuts, some walnuts. So I asked if our hosts had a nutcracker.
"I have," Soen Roshi said. "Here, I have."
You know, it was right there, in one of his bags (laughs)! He was great. As you probably read in Endless Vow, in Eido roshi's Introduction, he did have that terrible accident…
SZ: A brain injury…
SRSC: And he was plagued by terrible headaches and, toward the end of his life, I think he dealt with the pain by drinking a lot.
SZ: Yeah, the book you wrote described him as a bit of a hermit toward the end of his life, seldom leaving his little room on the monastery grounds, with classical music being heard at all hours of the day and night.
SRSC: He was in seclusion most of the later years of his life.
SZ: Part of that may have been prompted by the death of his mother, too?
SRSC: He loved her so much. She was right there at her little house on the property of Ryutakuji. I think that the difficulty toward the end of his life was the increasing level of pain he was experiencing; they were never really able to take out the shard of bamboo that had been lodged in his brain. I imagine it just kept getting worse and worse.
SZ: It seems to be a part of our lives, that getting old part. I have seen pictures of Aitken roshi days before he passed away and it was really startling. We're all getting older, man!
SRSC: Yeah, well I'm getting there!
SZ: Hopefully you won't be going too soon!
SRSC: I feel really so grateful and so blessed to have had these amazing teachers. The difficult aspects of their lives were teachings for me, as well. Maurine had her own problems with her husband and her children and their incomprehension at the amount of time she was giving to her Zen students; they felt neglected. Soen roshi's own difficulties and Eido roshi's, as well. To look at our teachers as whole, complex beings, and to learn from all of their struggles, is so important.
I don't understand how Zen students can excoriate Eido roshi and ignore what they have been given by him; not only the good stuff but the bad stuff, too. That's how we learn. That's how we grow.
SZ: There's certainly an argument to be made for it. We can learn just as much from someone's missteps as we can from anything else they do.
SRSC: I think I've learned more, in terms of being a teacher. I know that there are areas where my antennae go right up. Something that may be a misunderstanding with a student, or some kind of boundary that's being crossed without even realizing it. I feel grateful to have all of those missteps in my background, because I am going to try my best to reach out to the student in a way that can work with the difficulties, the misunderstandings.
SZ: What you were saying before about Maurine Stuart and her children reminded me of something Hoitsu Suzuki said about his father, that he was a great teacher but not a very good father.
SRSC: Right. We see it all of the time, not only of course in spiritual teachers but in great artists (that's my other training). Would you rather have Picasso or someone who paints inside the lines? I think the best Zen masters are indeed bigger than life and don't know how, necessarily, to fit themselves into the molds and conventions and social mores we demand. I'm not saying that in any way to excuse anyone's faults, I'm just saying that we should also be aware of that.
SZ: I've always tried to boil things down to one thing, though it might be different for a quote "Zen master." But, I've always boiled it down to, "Is this going to hurt someone?"
SRSC: It's a question we always have to ask. The Hippocratic oath is something that all Zen teachers should keep in mind: how can we be helpful? How can we avoid harm? We have to ask that, in every encounter.
SZ: This has been a good interview. I feel you have been very open and forthcoming. Thank you for that.
SRSC: Well my own sense of the future of the Zen Studies Society is that it has to be grounded on openness, grounded in compassion, grounded in understanding the difficulties of our past and how we can go forward, bringing an atmosphere of respect and good health for all, to really comprehend that Rinzai Zen training should not be something that ignores the need for care and concern, and ultimately, love.
SZ: It has that stereotype of being the warrior's Zen. Very macho!
SRSC: That's one of the problems. When you elevate the bushido ethic above and beyond what the Buddha taught – what are you doing? You know, is it Zen without Buddhism? For me, as a teacher, it must be Zen Buddhism. I subscribe completely to the Buddha's teachings on lovingkindness.
SZ: What do you think of people from other religions practicing Zen? There are plenty of people with dual affiliations, many who were ordained within the Harada-Yasutani lineage. Do you see that as a conflict?
SRSC: You mean like Father Kennedy?
SZ: Him. Also, Father Thomas Hand. He wasn't ordained as a teacher but he was someone very taken by the practice of meditation. Of course, there are many others.
SRSC: I don't know. I really can't comment. I think the proof is in the pudding, you know; the proof is in the teachings. What comes across? Are they abandoning the tenets of Zen authenticity? I don't know. Can you speak in terms of Jesus as a Zen teacher? Possibly. Why not? But I don't know these people, so I don't want to say too much. Ruben Habito is a dear friend and he certainly combines Christianity in his approach to teaching Zen, traditional Zen. I respect him highly. Elaine MacInnes in Canada also, whom I have met a few times–I think highly of her, as well.
I think that we are in a new era, 2012 and beyond. We are fortunate there are so many paths coming together on one continent. This is the first time in the history of Buddhism that we have all the Buddhist schools on one continent.
SZ: I never really thought of it like that. You're right. That's a pretty big deal.
SRSC: Isn't it amazing? Not to dilute anything but to be able to respect and incorporate paths that may work very well for some people – I think we can only say, "Let's see how it goes."
SZ: Totally. I don't know if you've heard of the website Do No Harm, but I think that they are doing some really awesome work. One of the founders, Clyde Grossman, is certainly informed by his Zen practice, but that doesn't show its face in their message, a message that is simply to "do no harm." I also think of Jon Kabat-Zinn, who is also offering what might be termed Buddhist wisdom in a fairly secular way.
SRSC: Mmmhmm. I think Jon's work is very useful. There are so many people who are struggling, needing some guidance, something substantive for their lives. For some of them, Rinzai Zen won't be it. For some of them, Jon Kabat-Zinn or Toni Packer is just exactly what they need.
SZ: Yeah. I think in some ways that Buddhism can be presented, and one has to be skillful in how they do it of course, but I think that it can be presented in a semi-secular fashion. There probably are of course some elements which you just cannot replicate, as far as ritual and that sort of thing…
SRSC: No, I think you have to be clear about that right up front. I think it's important to say,"This is the way I teach. Do you want it? Fine. Do you want something else? Fine. Go somewhere else." And that's all right. We're certainly not going to water down Rinzai Zen because some people do not like ritual. One doesn't have to practice at Dai Bosatsu. That's okay. They can go somewhere else.
SZ: Yeah, I hope that the melting pot effect does not happen. I just like seeing all of these different options out there. I like seeing people having many options.
SRSC: That's exactly it. We have a wide open field right now. There's a great hunger for spiritual traditions that are perhaps different from what people have been brought up in, and the Eastern way of thought is really being given a lot of attention. So, again, different people need different approaches. The Buddha himself says that. When you are with a mother, speak with her in terms of her children. When you are with a poet, speak in poetry.
SZ: I just have a couple of more questions. You must be really busy these days. You're also still the teacher at the Zen Center of Syracuse, right?
SRSC: Very busy. Correct. And I just came back from leading an all-day sitting at New York Zendo Shobo-ji.
SZ: I was just reading that tomorrow you'll have some sort of event involving statues.
SRSC: Oh yes, with Tom Matsuda, who carves beautiful Buddhas and Bodhisattvas (we have many at our center). He's doing a workshop carving Jizo Bodhisattvas.
Because of my interest in art, I have brought in quite a few visiting artists to do workshops, both at the Zen Center of Syracuse and also at Dai Bosatsu. We had Kaz Tanahashi do a calligraphy workshop at DBZ last summer. He's wonderful. He was my co-author and co-editor of Endless Vow.
SZ: Someone else was associated with that project, as well. Right?
SRSC: Eido roshi wrote the introduction and made available to us a lot of Soen roshi's haiku; so he was certainly a co-author.
SZ: What's currently happening with Zen Studies Society, both today and going forward?
SRSC: The practice is clear and strong. Former Sangha members are returning; they, current Sangha members, and wonderful new people are coming to sesshins, events, and kessei (training periods). All come for authentic Rinzai Zen training. All are enthusiastic about the ways in which Rinzai Zen practice can, as Rinzai himself put it, cut through bonds (including clinging to idealized notions and conventional mind) and cure illnesses (the many varieties of greed, anger, and ignorance).
I am committed to providing a healthy, openhearted, non-secretive, flexible atmosphere for this rigorous training. The Zen Studies Society is fortunate to have a rich Dharma legacy and two beautiful practice centers founded by Eido Roshi. I want to honor and uphold the best of that legacy while supporting the tenets of democratic process and living by the Buddhist precepts, which is the most challenging koan work we can engage in.
New programs are being offered at NY Zendo, including tea ceremonies, Buddhist film nights, and a study series on the contributions of D.T. Suzuki and other pioneers of Zen in America. At Dai Bosatsu Zendo, in addition to an on-going series of Open Space programs (including calligraphy, Buddhist sculpture, yoga, 12-step, corporate retreats, Ohashiatsu, shakuhachi, martial arts, and others), we will hold our first family weekend July 14-15.
We're planning a professional workshop in best practices for our newly expanded board of directors, and further Sangha-wide envisioning retreats, so that we can continue to develop deep listening, not bound by agendas and personal views; so that we can re-form our organization to support our vow to live with integrity, insight, and compassion for all beings.
SZ: I just have two final questions for you, and they're both relatively easy. Do you have any book recommendations for our readers, stuff that you found useful over the years.
SRSC: Shodo Harada's new book Moon By the Window, with his calligraphy and Zen insights. It was just published and is marvelous. It was published by Wisdom Publications. I love his other book, Path to Bodhidharma. Other books that I always use and recommend are by Pema Chodron. I think she is a phenomenal teacher. Her book, The Places That Scare You, I recommend to many people who are dealing with difficult issues and need to know that it's truly okay. Just face it. Go straight forward and realize your practice is right in the midst of it. I think she's excellent.
I find Eido roshi's Points of Departure to be a terrific book. Many, many people have been inspired by that. It was compiled from talks that he gave, and is well edited. Shundo Aoyama's book Zen Seeds. She is the head of the Soto Zen training place in Japan for women. I like the book that Daido Loori put out toward the end of his life, Sitting with Koans. Also all of the books on and by Hakuin I use all of the time. Precious Mirror Cave is wonderful; I really like Waddell's translations.
SZ: He has a new one coming out about Hakuin called Beating the Cloth Drum.
SRSC: Oh really? Good, I'll look for it.
The last person I wanted to say that I often recommend to people to read is Red Pine (all of his work). The Platform Sutra and all of his translations and commentaries are just so fine. His book Zen Baggage is an enjoyable read, as well. It's kind of a travelogue
SZ: Yeah. He just published the Lankavatara Sutra, which took a good 30 years to translate.
SRSC: That just came out, right? I've not had a chance to read it yet. I respect him a lot. We are bringing him out to Syracuse in 2013.
SZ: I'd love to interview him sometime, though he seems to keep a very low profile.
SRSC: He does. He does keep a very low profile and I'm not sure he would go for that. I can e-mail him and ask him if he would be willing to speak to you and give him your address, however.
SZ: That would be perfect. I'd really appreciate that. Okay, again, I think this interview went well. Thank you.Do you have any closing words for our readers?
SRSC: I feel very grateful to my karma. I am so blessed to be able to sit with really remarkable Zen students, here in Syracuse and at the monastery and New York Zendo. I'm doing what I love. My life has allowed me to be of some use to people, and that's really the most wonderful thing.