Thursday, 19 June 2008
Wednesday, 28 May 2008
Patrick Sweeney - Realizing Ordinary Mind
Dharma2.0
"Patrick offers a beautiful discussion of nondual consciousness, the nameless, effortless, self-liberating quality of awareness in which all distinctions between self and other, this and that, inside and outside fall away completely, leaving only the brilliant clarity of this very Moment, exactly as it is. Although this 'Ordinary Mind' is and always has been the ever-present condition of consciousness, the separate self somehow rarely seems to notice that which it always already is—in fact, it is fair to say that the majority of our actions and intentions as human beings are in avoidance of this simple recognition, with all its ego-shattering implications. However, we have all experienced this radical One Taste many times in the course of our lives, if even for the briefest of moments. Patrick mentions accidents, orgasms, and death as typical moments of spontaneous and profound realization, but these experiences tend to occur whenever the normal continuity of life becomes suddenly disrupted—during which people tend to report radically altered states of experience, including a sense of time dilation, an overwhelming feeling of peace or oneness with the world, and everything simply becomes much more vivid, vibrant, and present. Unfortunately, it can be all too easy to miss these experiences without a stable contemplative practice, which helps train our capacity to be persistently aware of ourselves and our environments, making it much easier to recognize our own Original Face whenever it chooses to reveal itself."
"Patrick offers a beautiful discussion of nondual consciousness, the nameless, effortless, self-liberating quality of awareness in which all distinctions between self and other, this and that, inside and outside fall away completely, leaving only the brilliant clarity of this very Moment, exactly as it is. Although this 'Ordinary Mind' is and always has been the ever-present condition of consciousness, the separate self somehow rarely seems to notice that which it always already is—in fact, it is fair to say that the majority of our actions and intentions as human beings are in avoidance of this simple recognition, with all its ego-shattering implications. However, we have all experienced this radical One Taste many times in the course of our lives, if even for the briefest of moments. Patrick mentions accidents, orgasms, and death as typical moments of spontaneous and profound realization, but these experiences tend to occur whenever the normal continuity of life becomes suddenly disrupted—during which people tend to report radically altered states of experience, including a sense of time dilation, an overwhelming feeling of peace or oneness with the world, and everything simply becomes much more vivid, vibrant, and present. Unfortunately, it can be all too easy to miss these experiences without a stable contemplative practice, which helps train our capacity to be persistently aware of ourselves and our environments, making it much easier to recognize our own Original Face whenever it chooses to reveal itself."
Monday, 31 March 2008
Monday, 3 March 2008
Thursday, 24 January 2008
Big Ass Footers
I've started collecting links of sites with big ass footers
http://del.icio.us/michaelrose/bigassfooter
If you see one, please tag it "bigassfooter"
http://del.icio.us/michaelrose/bigassfooter
If you see one, please tag it "bigassfooter"
Friday, 18 January 2008
Bloody Barclays
Has anyone else had to apply for a PINsentry device for Barclays Online Banking?
Despite being the victim of a cyber-fraud last year (I lost £200 to a Polish dude who somehow bought my pin from someone somewhere) I STILL think Barclays are being totally paranoid and over the top.
When asked to order the magic-device I thought it was just for setting up new payments and payees.
But no... I have to use it everytime I log in to my online banking.
Logging in is a painful, 6-step, process: entering all the usual details, numbers, random letters from password, then 4 digits from my card. I then add my pin to the device to identify myself and then have to provide the resulting 8-digit code to my online login.
Setting up a new payment requires me to enter all the details online, then all of them again on device (including their a/c number, sort code, amount) and then put a code from device back online.
It is, slightly quicker to do than to explain, but is it really necessary?
Every Barclays customer is being forced to 'upgrade' to this new plastic toy.
But won't it be hacked within time anyway? It's just an algorythm I'm guessing.
After setting up the payment I also get a text saying "a transaction has been set up, please contact us if it's fraudulent".
A little OTT?
*turning into a grumpy old man*
Despite being the victim of a cyber-fraud last year (I lost £200 to a Polish dude who somehow bought my pin from someone somewhere) I STILL think Barclays are being totally paranoid and over the top.
When asked to order the magic-device I thought it was just for setting up new payments and payees.
But no... I have to use it everytime I log in to my online banking.
Logging in is a painful, 6-step, process: entering all the usual details, numbers, random letters from password, then 4 digits from my card. I then add my pin to the device to identify myself and then have to provide the resulting 8-digit code to my online login.
Setting up a new payment requires me to enter all the details online, then all of them again on device (including their a/c number, sort code, amount) and then put a code from device back online.
It is, slightly quicker to do than to explain, but is it really necessary?
Every Barclays customer is being forced to 'upgrade' to this new plastic toy.
But won't it be hacked within time anyway? It's just an algorythm I'm guessing.
After setting up the payment I also get a text saying "a transaction has been set up, please contact us if it's fraudulent".
A little OTT?
*turning into a grumpy old man*
Blogged with Flock
Monday, 7 January 2008
TOP 50 ALBUMS OF 2007 - Paul Hillier & Theatre of Voices - Stockhausen: Stimmung
Harmonia Mundi / 186431
"Stimmung is one of the masterpieces of the last half century... in essence it is a vast elaboration of a single six-note chord based on the overtones of the note B flat, it never seems to stale in performance, partly because of the extraordinary variety of rhythm, attack and colour that Stockhausen generates within the 51 "models" into which he divides the 70-minute piece....
This is only the third commercial recording of Stimmung.. which places the voices (three female, three male) in a more spacious acoustic than before, far closer to what you experience when Stimmung is performed live, and lending even more enchantment to this extraordinary work."
The Guardian.
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