Nocturnal Celestial Emissions from The SeaGoose Nebula

Etiquette is a code of behavior for social interaction. It is usually developed through years of interaction and formality a way to treat people well without going out of the way of insulting them. Etiquette is something adaptive to culture and location it forms independently, from house to house, situation to situation, state to state and country to country. Business Etiquette seems to be much more of a universal entity throughout the world but social etiquette is something that can be different from place to place, something you thought was OK may not be. I am not saying we must fallow these things such as laws cause if we do a people can become prisoners to their systems and unadaptive to change, and without change and growth comes death. I mention this cause I had and interesting experience that made me think about an aspect of my move to Brasil (Brazil: for those who will say I spelled it wrong.) and that is the etiquette rules here. My Portuguese lesson was wrapping up and I let my teacher open the door to my apartment, she told me that when you let a guest open the door it means you don’t want to come back, I found this interesting and it right away started to get me thinking, cause the opposite is what I am used too, when you  “show someone the door” it means you want them to leave, but if you let them open it to leave it means that you let them decide when to part from you place cause you have enjoyed their company, I honestly think the American way makes a bit more sense to me cause “showing someone the door” is just saying get out we are done here, but if I am insulting here it is good to know and easy to do. This got me to ask Cristiana my teacher to tell me some more practical etiquette rules that one would find insulting if I mistakenly carry out.

I have gotten into a good grove here I have been running (on a treadmill) and have started my P90X routine over again. I have not found a place to go and do Yoga but have been doing it at home. Also have not yet joined a gym which is something that I would like to do so I can cover some weight work that P90X does not do, only cause I use bands for the P90x routine due to that I do not have enough room for free weights or desire to spend the crazy amount of money a good free weight set costs with no practical place to put it. But with a gym I can use free weights and much more, hopefully like a sauna. I want to add if you have not tried P90X, I recommend trying it, this will be my third time doing the three month program and I have to say it works very well and does transform the body it did wonder for me.

My grandmother does not keep a whole lot of plants in the house, she stays here for six months of the year and travels to Spain for the rest of the year. Because of this she is not able to properly take care of plants. I myself enjoy plants and greenery around the place especially during my morning meditation. I bought some very nice plants for the place, and something that is cool here in Brasil the temperature and climate is perfect for Orchids and I have gotten three blossomed Orchids and six that are very young. Four of which should be blossoming here within six months and every six months on. The other two I was told that it will not start blossoming or flowering for three years so that is a long term commitment. I saw the flowers for the six plants I choose and they are amazing so I cant wait. I will take some pictures and post them on flickr to share. I got a bed as well, which is something that I was quite excited about. The bed is a whole lot bigger then the one that was in my room, and I actually fit on it. The other one was to short and my feet hung down which did not allow me to get good sleep at all. But I am now floating on clouds with a this new bed which is soft and called American style simply because it has a box spring, the size is a full, fits two people nicely, now I need a girlfriend. Everything else is going great and I am having fun, their is still a few things that I need to came this apartment a bit more homely for me. My grandmother keeps it sort of like a museum with a whole lot of things on the tables, such as highly decorated boxes and bowls which is cool and all but take up lots of space and serves no direct purpose and that is my only problem with it, one thing that I do like is the paintings their is a whole lot of original large paintings on the walls, which I like a lot, I am going to move one to put in a flat screen television but I am going to hang up else where. I am bit reluctant to move it cause I do enjoy the works. Original art is something that should be admired and I do, that is all but the painted bowls and boxes they take up practical space.

Little by little all things get done, it is what I practice and believe. Over time everything will come together, and hopefully everyone will stop trying to get me a job, my whole family have came out with stuff I can do for work some with my degree others not. I feel I need to do some learning and just being a little here before I am ready to work and what I want to do is teach English, but I also feel that dismissing offers  is shutting doors and I hate to do that. So I will keep my eyes and ears opened and if I get offered something that seems really interesting I will hear it out. That is if I cant get my English lessons going.

Final note: The Graffiti here is amazing, true art and pure talent. I have not taken many photographs lately, but not because lack of desire. I am told that carrying a nice camera like that by myself is not a good idea so I cant walk and shoot like I like to, but once I figure a way around it I will be taking lots of photos. Salvador itself is beautiful, the beaches are amazing, the people are pretty (I think that most women here are beautiful), so their a whole lot of subjects not including the stellar graffiti.

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My flickr.com account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/brothershine/

Thank you very much for you time… This has been BrotherShine coming to you from the limitless void in the back of your mind. Peace.

Email Me: brothershine@gmail.com

Taming the Mind by Thubten Chodron

(Our minds create our experience by interpreting the objects we perceive. How we interpret something determines how we experience it. Although we generally assume we accurately perceive what is “out there,” our experiences are in fact colored by our interpretations and projections.

For example, when two people meet Joe, one likes him while the other doesn’t. One see Joe as considerate Joe as considerate and intelligent, someone with a good sense of humor. The other perceives Joe as a person who makes fun of others and is competitive and insensitive to their feelings. Both assume they perceive Joe as he is. However, if that were true, they would perceive him the same way, and they clearly don’t.

Both people hear the same words and voice when Joe speaks, yet they interpret what is said differently. Their minds move very quickly from perception- the sounds and sights they perceive through their senses- to conclusion- the meaning placed on the sense data.

Thus, one person experiences Joe’s jokes as humorous and good-natured and thinks, “Joe is a nice person. I enjoy being with him.” Thereafter, whenever he meets Joe, he sees a friend and expects to have a good time. The other interprets Joe’s words as sarcastic and thinks, “Joe is egotistical. I don’t like him.” Later, when she meets him, she sees a disagreeable person and feels aversion.

Both people assume their perception of Joe is correct. But in fact, both relate to Joe through the veils of their own preconceptions. Joe’s qualities of being friendly or obnoxious are created by the projections of the people perceiving him. In an of himself, Joe is neither.

How we interpret our environment and the people in it depends on the purity of our minds. Just as the image reflected in a dirty mirror is unattractive and obscured, so too is the appearance of an object to a mind sullied by afflictions and negative karmic imprints. The same object reflected in a spotless mirror is clear and beautiful. Likewise, whatever is perceived by a pure mind is lovely.)

—-This is a very important principle in Buddhism to me it is one I wrestle with. Not because of lack of understanding but in application. In the way that the author illustrated his example, it is best most ratable explanation of the principle of the Buddhist believes of mind as creator of experience I have seen. How hard is it to see someone as they truly are? I think it almost impossible there is fear on both sides, it takes a lot of risk to show another who you are, and it takes a lot commitment to try and want to see, what if you don’t relate? Another problem I come to in my mind is that in the past a person has been told certain things about themselves by others: let me stick to the example and try and explain “wow Joe you are funny”, and so from past events where others have thought specific trains of Joe’s thoughts where funny when verbalized them; Joe would not want to take the risk again stick to what he knows that others in the past have liked. But then I come to, is that Joe being himself or going with what he beliefs will make him more ratable? This thought in my mind has always made me questions people more. I tend to not make judgments, but that becomes hard as you think you start knowing another person more and more. So my struggle with this principle is like most in Buddhism what is the middle path in knowing another? Is it complete trust that they are being honest with you? Is it not caring whether you know it or not? I have problem with this when it comes to love. I tend to think that we the potential to love, accept and know another fully, with our perceptions getting in the way. How do we drop our perceptions? I think a good start is to understand why we believe what we believe.

But remember this in knowing that you don’t know a person who you think you know but that you only know them through your preconceptions allows us to forgive people fully, right? .

Thank you very much for you time… This has been BrotherShine coming to you from the limitless void in the back of your mind. Peace.

brothershine@gmail.com

What happens to my fist when i open my hand?

“It is better to be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.” I agree with that sentiment but I also think that we all must make our attempt to share how we see this things. I have been having a scatter of ideas recently and am going to try to share the ones that have been coming to the forefront of my mind most. I most likely will repeat myself from other post, but this whole process is a expanding and ever building process.

Went to the Louisville Science Center yesterday and toured the center and watched an IMAX film. The IMAX was called Grand Canyon Adventure, it was about a tour down the Colorado River. But to be honest this film helped me to think about something. More then just a kayak tour down a beautiful river, it was a conservation film. But the film really talked about the threat to the Colorado River, and the threat to the river is guess what US. Yes we vile nasty uncaring, people. OK my problem with science and religion is that they both have the same message and for some reason both philosophises try to first scare you into believing their way, this done through using whatever thought logic is most convincing in  getting a person to believe that they are the problem but if you come to thinking their way, we got the answers, and you will feel good about yourself. AHH I don’t have to come with an answer myself you will tell me, great sing me up. After you believe enough that you are the problem, then comes the world ending events, this is where science is a little more loose then religion a bit more ha ha, because they don’t limit themselves to one Earth ending event, we got asteroids, global warming, mega quake, and many more but I don’t want to stop my train of thought to come with more ha ha sorry. But in religion they got one, which in honesty help solidify the juxtaposition of the idea because it will go for one making it seem that it is tapping into a outside source. If you believe in an existence of infinite possibilities betting on one is just as good having tons of options such as science. Last thing to further drive the point I guess, both have answers for what we are, what created what we are sitting in, what happens to us when we die, what will end the world, and our purpose. Don’t ever trust anyone who says they have an answer for you.

The reason we currently trust science more is that it is able to make more predictions of reactions to the causes we can make, so this convinces people that it is solid. One last thing on it in being an opened thing as apposed to religion as science is any new thing that comes up after science will now be part of if, it makes shit bland and strips the magic from this reality, and we will never get it back. As apposed to religion where it is all magic.

(Picture Break, ha longish post I guess.)

After that intermission we all know, that everyone is trying to sell us something. This is my sale , drop both and find the middle path. How to get the magic back is to realize that it is all trying to explain shit we don’t understand even if science can predict a reaction in the future, it does not mean it can know what allowed the reaction to happen. Both are to concerned with cause and effect, this is the wrong thought. I don’t have what is the right way cause I guess that is what I am trying to find on my middle path.

America is great and I love it. I respect it cause so many revolutions have taken place on the battle ground of the United States. The one I give all my love to is the mental revolution of the sixties. A peaceful revolution takes time. In Buddhism the message has never been spread with death as in such other so called religions. During the 60’s a shift in mind and thought occurred here in America and in my opinion was a good thing, but I have spoken to people I respect who lived it and in their opinion it happened to quick and it put a lot of people off, and so the message could not spread cause it was to much to fast for those who where are too far behind, I disagree people need to be shocked. But the thing is to me the great gift of the sixties was the spread of the true path, cause all these people who did these substances and explored their minds came back with a glimpse of what was possible but wanted to know how to reach higher worlds without the substances that in all honesty is outside the self, how it be done within the self, and so the exploration being and fortunately a few of them reached to the old world where the sun rises and found Buddhism and so spread it here, before the sixties there where few Americans spreading Buddhism(I understand that in the 50’s there are great American scholars that wrote many good books on Buddhism such as from the father of Buddhism in America Alan Watts and his great book “The Way of Zen”-1957, and the only other of his works I have read “Buddhism the Religion of No-Religion” but I still consider that as part of the movement.). I do not count myself independent from this movement, I came here from a different country and did benefit much from those who originally explored their minds, and spread the word and I was lucky to find ti, and because I love and cherish the word so much I long ago vowed to spread it myself in a way that others will understand that the path is no path, its a balance of all, we are all connected all the time, come together to form the original you see as we spread out the further and further away we get away from the source. Imagine a small puddle, then something heavy is dropped on the puddle thus creating a splash, sending water away from the original splash. I do not know what force or cause created our universes splash or vibration, but I know that we have to try to come back together. The idea of the sixties worked it is just slow, we see how much part of the world culture the ideas of the sixties have left on the world, but imagine another peace movement that started a long time ago and just like the world itself it works in shifts or waves it has ages of large spread and of small spread, but the message wont die, it is just repackaged and sold to people in the different words of the time, as it need to happen for people to understand .

I will conclude by saying this, these are my reasoning and thoughts for believing what I do, If anyone find it interesting please take the step yourself, cause trust me if you come to the conclusion for your answers yourself it is so much more solid, and you will always be happy with it, cause it comes with unshakable belief, and is that not what we all want the solidity of being right. It is a sad fact, but right is different to us all and in Buddhism it helps find what is right for you.

Don’t forget this has been a sale of pitch of sort, we are sold things all the time and not for the exchange of money, but for space in your mind.

Thank you very much for you time… This has been BrotherShine coming to you from the limitless void in the back of your mind. Peace.

brothershine@gmail.com

I hope to be around when Alien contact is finally made, I have had many ideas on how this could take place, first of all I am in no position to dismiss that there has already been contact, due to that I just don’t know. So in my terms, contact is either: I get an Alien to come down and speak to me personally ( or maybe smoke a bowl of my shit if he is down, cause I will hit his stuff, I mean how cool would it be to try some stuff that get Aliens high, I just hope it would not make head explode haha.) and prove without a doubt it is what is claims to be, or if it becomes an accepted reality such as the moon or atoms (haha I use these two examples cause I have never been to the moon or have seen an atom with my eye, but I believe they exists. Its all hearsay and leaps of faith my friends. We only experience up, down, left or right like a video game, that is pretty much all we got to work with that and our other senses and look at the world we have created it is pretty we should be proud. ).

But my thoughts on the issue is, how would a specie’s not from this Earth make contact with us? Ok let me begin by laying out this scene cause it is one I was thinking about and want to express into words if I am a good enough communicator so here it goes. Have we made contact with cows? Technically we coexist with cows but we have in no way made our presence shown to a cow consortium. I say knowing full well, and I say it in light and as an example; but the argument is we have no way to converse  and tell cows our intentions when we pin them, to them we are Aliens. Every once in a while a few of them are chosen and taken to a place and never seen again. So what I am trying to say is there are layers and layers of reality occurring among each other and also every individual thing creates its own small reality. Since cows are not aware what they are to us and we have not found a way to make our intentions or our purpose for them known to the cows, we are literally the Alien being abducting large amounts of them.  So in theory there could be a bigger species already here herding us and not able to communicate what we are to them. Wow that would be strange, no? I hope we are not food but sort like Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy a complex calculating machine that would easy my mind better haha or would it, how would I know.

So many different realities are always stacking upon each other even among people. I just hope we can agree one day and start looking to the sky and almost more importantly our own minds for some clues to the questions; We as people are too caught up in the illusion of reality to see the Aliens among us.

Space is something that fascinates me and should everyone on earth, cause what if there is really nothing else out there and the end of space is a far as another person has proven. It is like a canvass opened for the artist to create. That makes my heart beat faster with the possibilities to create new galaxies and nebula’s all the colors of the imagination so what ever you believe spend a little time thinking about what is out and maybe one day someone will see your unique creation.

I leave you this song cause a Mr Will Wright surely has it right Express Yourself

Express Yourself!
Express Yourself!

You don`t ever need help from nobody else. All you got to do now:

Express Yourself!

What ever you do, do it good.
What ever you do, do it good. All right…

It`s not what you look like, when you`re doin´ what you`re doin´.
It`s what you`re doin´ when you`re doin´ what you look like you`re doin´!

Express Yourself!
Express Yourself!

They`re doin´it on the moon, yeah…
In the jungle too.
Everybody on the floor, now.
Jumpin´ like a kangaroo.
So let the horns do the thing they do, yo…

Some people have everything, and other people don`t.
But everything don`t mean a thing if it ain´t the thing you want.

Express Yourself!
Express Yourself!

O, do it! O, do it.
Do it to it. Go on and do it.
Yo, do it. Give.

Express Yourself!
Express Yourself
Thank you very much for you time… This has been BrotherShine coming to you from the limitless void in the back of your mind. Remember Peace.