Via Tynan:
As long as I’ve remembered, I’ve wanted to buy a private island. Having a random patch of land somewhere holds almost no appeal, but an island is totally different. An island is like your own little country, with complete control of everything within its borders.
Check out his new island and story — here.
Via Michael Mandel:
The Internet of Everything is about building up a new infrastructure that combines ubiquitous sensors and wireless connectivity in order to greatly expand the data collected about physical and economic activities; expanding ‘big data’ processing capabilities to make sense of all that new data; providing better ways for people to access that data in real-time; and creating new frameworks for real-time collaboration both within and across organizations.
Is the internet of everything bringing back growth around the world?
A reader asked us an important question recently about the Buddhist term, “Sangha.” “Sangha is a Sanskrit word meaning community. But what are the origins of sangha and why is it important in terms of spiritual development?
Britannica points to the origins of sangha:
The sangha originated in the group of disciples who renounced the worldly life to wander with the Buddha and listen to his teachings. After the Buddha’s death his disciples continued to live together as a community, wandering from place to place, living off the receipt of alms. Fortnightly, at the time of the full and new moon (the uposatha days), followers of the Buddha would gather to reaffirm their sense of community and purpose by reciting their basic beliefs, such as the Threefold Refuge and the codes of conduct. The custom of spending the rainy season in one place in a study retreat (see vassa) led gradually to the settling of the community.
The importance of sangha cannot be overestimated. Trying to achieve enlightenment and/ or presence by yourself and only for yourself is like trying to walk uphill during a mudslide. Opening yourself to others, supporting and being supported, is critical to loosening the fetters of ego and selfishness.
The late Chogyam Trungpa said of taking refuge in the Sangha,
“The sangha is the community of people who have the perfect right to cut through your trips and feed you with their wisdom, as well as the perfect right to demonstrate their own neurosis and be seen through by you. The companionship within the sangha is a kind of clean friendship-—without expectation, without demand, but at the same time, fulfilling.”
We feel that the term Sangha transcends Buddhism and can be seen in other aspects of life in religious and nonreligious settings. For example, in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus said, “Where ever two or three gather in my name, I am there.”
Similarly, in yoga, we gather together and practice. When we practice as a group, we can feed off of each other’s energy. Some yoga communities or sanghas take their practice “off the mat” and engage in projects to improve the world and help people.
What is Sangha to you??
image credit: Sage Rountree Yoga
Translated by Ibrahim Gamard
1. Listen to the reed (flute), how it is complaining!
It is telling about separations,
2. (Saying), “Ever since I was severed from the reed field,
men and women have lamented in (the presence of) my shrill cries.
3. “(But) I want a heart (which is) torn, torn from separation,
so that I may explain the pain of yearning.”
4. “Anyone one who has remained far from his roots,
seeks a return (to the) time of his union.
5. “I lamented in every gathering;
I associated with those in bad or happy circumstances.
6. “(But) everyone became my friend from his (own) opinion;
he did not seek my secrets from within me.
7. “My secret is not far from my lament,
but eyes and ears do not have the light (to sense it).
8. “The body is not hidden from the soul, nor the soul from the
body; but seeing the soul is not permitted.”
9. The reed’s cry is fire — it’s not wind!
Whoever doesn’t have this fire, may he be nothing!
10. It is the fire of Love that fell into the reed.
(And) it is the ferment of Love that fell into the wine.
11. The reed (is) the companion of anyone who was severed from a
friend; its melodies tore our veils.
12. Who has seen a poison and a remedy like the reed?
Who has seen a harmonious companion and a yearning friend like
the reed?
13. The reed is telling the story of the path full of blood;
it is telling stories of Majnoon’s (crazed) love.
14. There is no confidant (of) this understanding except the
senseless! There is no purchaser of that tongue except the ear
[of the mystic.]
15. In our longing, the days became (like) evenings;
the days became fellow-travellers with burning fevers.
16. If the days have passed, tell (them to) go, (and) don’t worry.
(But) You remain! — O You, whom no one resembles in
Purity!
17. Everyone becomes satiated by water, except the fish.
(And) everyone who is without daily food [finds that] his days
become long.
18. None (who is) “raw” can understand the state of the “ripe.”
Therefore, (this) speech must be shortened. So farewell!
19. O son, break the chains (and) be free!
How long will you be shackled to silver and gold?
20. If you pour the sea into a jug,
how much will it contain? (Just) one day’s portion.
21. The jug of the eye of the greedy will never be filled.
(And) as long as the oyster is not content, it will never be filled by
a pearl.
22. Anyone (whose) robe is torn from love,
becomes completely purified from greed and defect.
23. Be joyous! O our sweet melancholy Love!
O doctor of all our diseases!
24. O Medicine of our pride and vanity!
O you (are) our Plato and (our) Galen!
25. The earthly body went up to the heavens from Love!
The mountain began to dance and became agile!
26. O lover! Love became the soul of Mount Sinai!
Mount Sinai (became) drunk “and Moses fell down senseless”!
27. If I were joined with the lip of a harmonious companion,
I (too) would utter speeches like the reed!
28. (But) anyone who becomes separated from one of the same
tongue becomes without a tongue, even if he has a hundred
songs [to share].
29. When the rose has gone and the garden has passed away,
you will no longer hear from the nightingale (about) what
happened.
30. The Beloved is All, and the lover (is merely) a veil;
the Beloved is Living, and the lover (is merely) a corpse.
31. When Love has no concern for him,
he is left like a bird without wings. Misery for him!
32. How can I have awareness of before and behind,
when the Light of my Beloved is no (longer) before and behind?
33. Love wants these words to manifest.
(But) how is it that the mirror reveals nothing?
34. Do you know why your mirror reveals nothing?
Because the rust is not separated from its face!
I like to think of Rumi writing about love for What Lays On The Other Side. the Inside.
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“For example, many normal people tell certain kinds of lies from time to time in order to appear more important, more special, and to enhance their image in the mind of others: who they know, what their achievements, abilities, and possessions are, and whatever else the ego uses to identify with. Some people, however, driven by the ego’s feeling of insufficiency and its need to have or be “more,” lie habitually and compulsively. Most of what they tell you about themselves, their story, is a complete fantasy, a fictitious edifice the ego has designed for itself to feel bigger, more special. Their grandiose and inflated self-image can sometimes fool others, but usually not for long. It is then quickly recognized by most people as complete fiction.”
~Eckhart Tolle, A New Eath
