Ken Wilber interviews Brother Wayne Teasdale

From IntegralNaked: If, as historian Arnold Toynbee put it, the introduction of Buddhism into the West "may well prove to be the most important event of the 20th century," we might also argue that the re-discovery of the contemplative roots of Christianity will be equally important. And as we enter the 21st century, it stands to reason that the recognition of a common mystical ground between Buddhism, Christianity, and the other World Religions will be the most important event of all.

In this clip, Brother Wayne Teasdale and Ken Wilber discuss the revelation of your Ultimate Identity as God, and the relationship of this "Supreme Identity" to your everyday life.

Friends on the Go

As I mentioned before, Tommy (from the blog Isaiah Knows Nothing) , is having major difficulties with his Google/Blogger account (much like I did). While he waits on the Service guys to work out the problems, he has moved to WordPress. Find his new blog here and give some love:

isaiahknows.wordpress.com

You suck!

How does that post title make you feel?

I spent some time reading this morning from Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth" and this snippet in particular stood out:

"The ego is always on guard against any kind of perceived diminishment. Automatic ego-repair mechanisms come into effect to restore the mental form of 'me.' When someone blames or criticizes me, that to the ego is a diminishment of self, and it will immediately attempt to repair its diminished sense of self through self-justification, defense or blaming. Whether the other person is right or not is irrelevant to the ego. It is much more interested in self-preservation than in the truth..."

He then goes on to say that a powerful exercise is to do nothing when you feel diminished, deeply feel the burn (so to speak) and then realize that nothing, in fact, has been diminished:

"When you are seemingly diminished in some way and remain in absolute nonreaction, not just externally but also internally, you realize that nothing real has been diminished, that through becoming 'less,' you become more."

This sort of practice is central to Gandhi's satyagraha (non-resistance), Jesus' "turning the other cheek," and buddha's anatta (no-self). It's certainly not the way most people usually operate (myself included), but its something to experiment with and see if, in fact, it does lead to a more peaceful and insightful life.

What American Accent Do You Have?

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
The West
Boston
North Central
The South
The Inland North
Philadelphia
The Northeast
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

T&T in GA

I had the pleasure of connecting again with blogger-turned-real-life friend Tommy (from Isaiah Knows Nothing) for an evening of enlightened conversation in Savannah, GA. Each time we visit the in-laws down here, our two families try to get together to hang out. This time sans spouses, Tommy and I went back to Anonymous Tattoo to get my tattoo touched up and then hit a downtown restaurant for some Savannah Brewing Company Ghost Ale and interesting southern food (a mussels soup, fried green tomatoes, and black-eyed pea cakes). I always enjoy our conversations, which seem to contain at least an ounce more depth than most.

On a related note, Tommy's blogger account is all messed up... so for those of you who frequent his site, please be patient while support tries to figure out what happened.

Beer Advocate (and a couple mini-reviews)

After trying a few new beers the other night (see below), I jumped online to see if I could find anyone's reviews. I found this really great site: the Beer Advocate. It's a great site for rating beers and reading up on beer styles, basics and much more. Be sure to check it.

Anyway, the other night, BIL and I (brother-in-law, that is) headed to Chumleys in downtown Lafayette. We tried...

1.) Young's Double Chocolate Stout - Wow, beer and chocolate in one creamy mouthful! Could life get any better? I really, really enjoyed this. Now if I could only find someone locally that carries it in take-home packaging (See BA's reviews by clicking here).

2.) EKU 28, which, in its brewing process, is dropped to below the freezing level of water and some of the ice is then extracted ... making it an 11% ABV beer which is a bit syrup-y and majorly intense - although quite tasty and "warming." BIL said it was like the Nyquil of beers. Definately one that you sip on over a period of time instead of glugging through. (See BA's reviews by clicking here).

I'm back... and gone!

Whew...
I'm back! Thanks to Google's support staff, I was able to regain access to trevdiesel.blogspot.com.

Sorry to have you all update your links again, but it really saves me from having to repost 400 old posts at the new location. So, yes, I'm returning to this site... for good (no more trev-diesel.blogspot.com).

Vaca
I'm also leaving on Sunday the 19th for vacation in South Carolina and will be gone until the 27th. I may blog while there, but am not sure. I may just kick back and relax... what a concept!

Dialogue from "I (Heart) Huckabees"

Did you get it?

Yeah, you stop thinking

Yes. It's fantastic.

It's like I'm here, but I'm not...

So, I'm not here. It-It's just...

I... I... I don't know. Do it one more time.

It's like I'm a rock or a dish of mold.

I'm whatever else is around. So I'm free to just exist.

This is the answer. We just have to be this all day, every day.

That's the answer.

Yes.

Do it again. Do it again.

Now.

Careful, my young students... you cannot stay in this state all day.

Why not?
- Yeah, why not?

It is inevitable that you are drawn back into human drama.

Desire, suffering... everything that exists in this imperfect world.

- Shit.
- So we get drawn back into human drama...

and how important we think that is.

Then we do crazy stuff. We have to go back to the ball...

so we can get the freedom of being like a... like a dish of mold.

Yes. And then back to the drama, the suffering.

- It's kind of a crappy deal.
- C'est exactement Ca.

An absurd theatrical we must play out, back and forth... from pure being to human suffering.

But isn't the drama and suffering less if we do the ball thing every day?

Don't call it "the ball thing." Call it "pure being."

Doesn't the pure being, ball thing make the day-to-day suffering easier?

- Yeah.
- Or, it doesn't.

You're wrong. We're gonna do this every day.

-We'll show you. It'll make it easier.
- I'll prove it to you

Human drama is inevitable. Suffering cannot be diminished. You cannot escape, Tommy.

You'll see. Existence is a cruel joke.. that entices in a form of desire.

- Absurd theater of desire.
- I know, buddy, it hurts. It's painful.

- Wait here.
- Where you goin'

To meditate on desire and suffering.

Can I come?

Okay.

Interdependence

I'm typing on a keyboard which was inspected by a woman at the Dell factory, who gave birth to three children, one of which is currently taking a shower with water that has been obtained from the soil that plays home to millions of earthworms, one of which makes its way to the surface, is snacked on by a bird on a dewy morning, who, stuffed to the gills (so to speak), will fly home to rest in a tree, only to migrate north next summer to Lafayette, Indiana, and, while eating more worms on the road one day, is smacked by a 1987 Buick, thereby ending its life and decomposing into the soil, feeding the tree that, upon it being winter again, will let loose its brown leaves, slowly drifting to the ground, encouraging a little girl named Kalliopi to ask her dad to rake the leaves into a pile for her to play in, which he does, right after sending an email by typing on a keyboard which was inspected...

I'm a gadget freak!

In order to get organized and to combine a phone and PDA into one unit, I've been considering a Smartphone. And after EXTENSIVE (I mean LOTS of time) researching which one would be right for ME (yes, everyone has their own opinions and insights), I believe I've decided on...

Sprint's PPC-6700 features "a spacious QWERTY keyboard, three forms of wireless (EV-DO, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth), and Windows Mobile 5." It's a little "blocky," but its many features outweigh it's shape limitations (besides, I never carry my phone in my pocket anyway). And all of this is with a data plan that's only $15 a month added onto my voice plan ... compare that to Verizon/Cingular's $40 a month!

Ya, that's right... email and web on the go... and even when I can't get a signal, I can tap into a WiFi for highspeed access. Rock!

Attention Writers

This came across my email yesterday and I thought I'd pass it along to all of you. It's from Integral Institute - which is based around Ken Wilber's work. I challenge you guys to submit something - whether that be an article or even an old blog post that you rework into a short piece. Think about it!

---

The Integralist is the first-ever print magazine from Integral Institute scheduled to launch in early 2007. It is dedicated to exploring the leading edge of thought, analysis, spirituality, and more. The magazine will feature detailed articles and reviews covering a wide variety of topics, such as the following:

• Politics
• Religion
• Current Events
• Psychology
• Medicine
• Spirituality
• Literature
• Art
• Sustainability
• Business
• Leadership
• Book and Music Reviews

We are currently seeking integrally-informed writers and artists to submit their work, in articles as long as 1,500 words, for consideration by December 8, 2006. The Integralist is a professional magazine and will pay contributors between $250 and $500 a submission on average.

The Integralist will only consider the most well-written ideas and analyses. The challenge is to bring the insights of Integral theory to bear on the living world around us, helping us to better recognize, analyze, and ultimately solve many of the conflicts and miscommunications in the world today.

If you would like to learn more about what we are looking for, and how to submit your own work, please go to www.theintegralist.org/submissions.

Sincerely,

Keith Martin-Smith
Editor
The Integralist

"I'll be there."

I have never actually watched the classic movie "Grapes of Wrath," but our Pastor showed this clip at church on Sunday morning and the mystical dialog is just amazing.

---

Ma: How am I gonna know about ya, Tommy? They could kill ya and I'd never know. They could hurt ya. How am I gonna know?

Tom: Maybe it's like Casey says: A fellow ain't got a soul of his own, just little piece of a big soul, the one big soul that belongs to everybody, then -

Ma: Then what, Tom?

Tom: Then it don't matter. I'll be all around in the dark. I'll be everywhere, wherever you can look. Wherever there's a fight so hungry people can eat, I'll be there. Wherever there's a cop beatin' up a guy, I'll be there. I'll be in the way guys yell when they're mad. I'll be in the way kids laugh when they're hungry and they know supper's ready and where people are eatin' the stuff they raise and livin' in the houses they build. I'll be there, too.

Jumbled Etceteras from the Life of a Diesel

1.) Check out this post on my wife's blog. Sweet!

2.) I saw-a the Borat movie on Mondays. Is varry nice! High fiive!

3.) I'm halfway through Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth.

4.) The Indianapolis Colts are kicking ass this year.

5.) My meditation practice has bit the dust for the time being. I'm staying up too late and enjoying sleeping in.

6.) (In slightly older news) The city that I live in put out a local artists Sampler CD and featured one of my tracks.

7.) My kid is way cute.

Props!

Props to my good friend (and fellow blogger) Kevin for his first major article in the Carroll County Comet. He was recently hired as a staff writer and is off to a great start. See the article here.

You da man! Great work!

Resist Not Thy Pissiness

Yesterday I was grumpy. There was no reason for my mood - well, no reason that I could name. Maybe it was a Male PMS, I don't know. I was short, things were annoying me, I was (in Amy's words) a "grump ass."

Most of the time, we resist our moods and make them worse. If we're mad, we feel bad about being mad and it makes us more mad. If we're sad, we don't feel like we should be sad, so it makes us more unhappy.

But yesterday I just rode the wave. I was pissy and I knew it (clap your hands). After an aggressive 30-minute run and a night's sleep, I feel much better - actually quite well, thank you.

It is resistance to the present moment that creates most of the difficulties in your life. However, acceptance does not mean that you cannot take action to rectify the situation you are in. What is important is to drop resistance so that you let the moment be, and that any action arises from deeper awareness rather than from resistance. The vast majority of pain in a person's life comes from resistance to what is. (E. Tolle)

Now, granted - if my pissiness had extended over time or was the underlying emotion beneath some negativity - I should probably have "rectified the situation" (and not be a crappy person to be around). But for the short spell, it was here, accepted, and now - gone!

November Shuffle

Beethoven said, "Music is the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life."

Here are the first 10 random songs to come up on my iPod this morning:

1. "Lace Up Your Shoes," Trevor Hall
2. "Little Wing," Sting
3. "Character Zero," Phish
4. "The Longest Time," Billy Joel
5. "A Saucerful of Secrets," Pink Floyd
6. "The Beauty of Gray," Live
7. "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover," Paul Simon
8. "New Slang," The Shins
9. "The Warmth," Incubus
10. "Changes," David Bowie