Buddhism | Mindfulness | Meditation

Posted on April 28, 2009 by Rio

These two quotes from two different Buddhist teachers are quite helpful. One explains the problem that we face, the source of our discontent. The other tells us how the problem is solved.

“Lack of vigilance is like a thief, who slinks behind when mindfulness abates.
And all the merit we have gathered in. He steals, and down we go to lower realms.”

–Shantideva, The Way of the Bodhisattva

“The more I doubted, the more I meditated, the more I practiced. Whenever doubt arose I practiced right at that point. Wisdom arose. Things began to change. It’s hard to describe the change that took place. The mind changed until there was no more doubt. I don’t know how it changed. If I were to try telling someone, they probably wouldn’t understand.”

Ajahn Chah, Food for the Heart

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Sycamore Ranch | Sycamore Forest | New Mexico

Posted on April 23, 2009 by Rio

After I left Arcosanti, Arizona, I eventually reached The Sycamore Ranch in New Mexico. I worked there as a ranch hand for a little over a year. At the ranch I started working on the manuscript for The Eye of the Dragon, Stalking Castaneda.

It was by chance, while digging some facts about the ranch for my book, that I found these pictures on the web. Here they are. Enjoy!

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This is the entrance and the Cactus Garden.

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This is the main house and my pad to the right:

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The forest. Animas Creek runs through it.

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Amazing place! It is right in the middle of the Chihuahuan Desert.

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The Four Agreements | Don Miguel Ruiz | Toltecs

Posted on April 19, 2009 by Rio

The Four Agreements

In a simple way, The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz show us how human beings distort our reality, trapping ourselves in negative beliefs that we never challenge. In the book don Miguel, also a Toltec shaman, gives us four agreements to help us break free from our limiting belief system:

1.Don’t take anything personally,
2.Don’t make assumptions,
3. Be impeccable with your word and
4. Always do your best.


It is interesting to note that if practiced consistently, each of the first three agreements would  take us to inner silence.  The fourth one refers to doing your best, just your best, with the other three.

“All paths, Arjuna, lead to me.” Krishna—The Baghavad Gita (4:11)

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Storage | Attachment | Non-attachment

Posted on April 15, 2009 by Rio

I recently realized that I had wasted over $1500.00 in storage space due to my attachments and I gave notice. We get attached to things that we don’t use (and maybe will never use again).  They have been with us for awhile, and we plan to use them again eventually…maybe!

If I would have gotten rid of everything I had in storage for over two years instead of putting it in storage, I would be able to buy three times what I had stored. Everything I had in there was not worth more than $500.00

Does it makes sense to use storage? Maybe sometimes. Most of the time, however,  we are just wasting money due to meaningless attachments. What do you think? Are you using storage space?

Quote: “A man can succeed at almost anything for which he has unlimited enthusiasm”.–Charles Schwab

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Door to Door | Movie | Bill Porter

Posted on April 10, 2009 by Rio

I had heard people talk about the movie Door to Door and recently came across a post at the Mawhinney blog,   reviewing the movie. I was impressed!  Bill Porter was born with cerebral palsy and against all odds became the top salesman for the Watkins company.  So I did a search in Wikipedia to corroborate the facts and this is what I found:
“Porter had been told for many years that he was not employable, but he threw all of his effort into working as a salesman for Watkins. Despite the pain of his medical condition, he would walk eight to ten miles a day to meet his customers. Porter has been able to support himself, and continued to work as a salesman at the age of 69 at the time of the film’s showing.”

At the age of 76 Mr. Porter is still working; you can visit him on the web.

The season of failure is the best time for sowing the seeds of success.– Paramahansa Yogananda

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San Diego | Pacific Ocean | Water Shortage

Posted on April 5, 2009 by Rio

On my last visit to the YMCA gym this past week, I found a note on the shower room refering to the fact that new shower heads had been installed which reduced the flow of water in order to conserve it.

I am trying to figure out why in San Diego, CA , a city famous for its beaches on the Pacific Ocean we are having a water shortage.  We do have  the technology (desalinization) to treat seawater and make it consumable, don’t we? I have asked around but nobody seems to know. Any ideas? Do you know?

Thanks for your input.

“Trust only movement. Life happens at the level of events, not of words. Trust movement.” ~ Alfred Adler

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