Captcha – a meaningful story

A story made from Captcha words. Read on a video.

The meaning is drawn from context, which includes everything from spelling and grammar to plot, tone of voice of the reader and the similarity of nonsense words to actual words that have meaning collectively which we have taken in as we learned language. The latter is a function of our ability to connect, compare and categorize. Memory plays a significant role too. Complicated cognitive stuff going on here.

We are a species that likes to endow the meaningless with meaning.

Not all Rolls Royce-driving tulkus…

An interesting piece by Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche, better known to some as a film director and writer than as a lama,  appeared on The Buddhist Channel today. He wrote:

We must aspire to galvanize myriad manifestations of the Buddha, not just throne-hopping, Rolls Royce-driving tulkus who are a product of nepotism."

~Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche in The Real Dark Age on The Buddhist Channel Jan. 30, 2012

He writes earlier in the piece:

Shakyamuni with his lotus feet may approach your doorstep for alms but if we keep on being obsessed with Patek Philipe watches, fame or friends, or six pack abs, then Buddha’s truth is an annoyance, an inconvenient truth.

I had to look up Patek Philipe watches because I’ve never encountered such things. They cost a couple of hundred thousand dollars for the best models from the descriptions I found and make the Rolex look like a Timex if one is to believe the hype.

Moving on.

This teacher’s approach is one that resonates with me a lot. I enjoyed the book What Makes You Not a Buddhist, which quite a few people have also read as far as I can tell.

Then I think of teachers like Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, who just walked away from what could have been great renown, with hundreds if not thousands of students. He left two letters, one of which was for the general public and the other for his students. In the latter he stated, in part:

I have made a firm decision, based on the advice of the great masters of times past and my own heart’s desire, to, as the example goes, take the reins into my own hands. Our lives are as fragile as a bubble and the activities of this life are as endless as the waves of the ocean. Yet whatever we do, we should rely upon and place our hopes in the Buddha’s sacred and divine teachings. It is the Dharma that will benefit both us and other sentient beings. For this and other reasons, I have become disillusioned with the experiences of this life.

With genuine conviction in the lineage and instructions I have received, along with a motivation to be of benefit to others, various causes and conditions have prompted me to make the decision to wander alone, without fixed location, in remote mountain ranges. Though I do not claim to be like the great masters of times past, I am now embarking on this journey as a mere reflection of these teachers, as a faithful imitation of the example they set. For a number of years, my training will consist of simply leaving behind my connections, so please do not be upset with my decision.

There’s an example being set with these teachers. I hope people are paying attention to it.

If being a famous Tulku or a film director or an author of books or a teacher of thousands or a name on many people’s lips isn’t enough, then what is?

Buddhist or not.

This article came up in my social media. Shambhala SunSpace » Stephen Schettini: “Why I’m Not a Buddhist”

Here’s a thing I don’t get. Guy doesn’t want to be a Buddhist. No problem, don’t be. You tried it, didn’t suit you, fine. Why make the big hoopla over it? Same with Sam what’s his name, the atheist guy…oh yeah Sam Harris who’s had more than a few pages in Buddhist publications.
And why do Buddhist magazines publish this? It’s really odd.

I decide not to be a Muslim, Christian, Jew or Wiccan, do I expect their publications to put my articles there? Would they? Not too likely. Seems like a lot of these guys are hating on Buddhism but still trying to get some attention or make a buck off of it by scraping a few things off and repackaging it. Are the magazines that desperate for content?

Same with Batchelor and the Speculative non-Buddhism crew and a whole lot more.

Unhealthy attachments are…unhealthy.

And attachments.