Hank's Blog
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Reginald A. Ray, Ph.D., is Professor of Buddhist Studies at Naropa University and teacher in residence at the Shambhala Mountain Center. His new book is Secret of the Vajra World: The Tantric Buddhism of Tibet. - Shambhala Sun Online
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
from "Deconstructing the Self", by Reginald A. Ray:
Feeling (vedana)
Now that the experience of “not-myself” (the “other”) has been objectified, the need arises to define a specific relationship to it. In the first step of this process, we must arrive at a specific valuation of what stands over and against us as this “other.” An implicit question hangs in the air: is this “other,” friend, enemy or neutral? Is the other—whether a person, a situation, an event or an experience—beneficent, hostile or of indifferent value to “me”? Does it affirm and support my sense of “self”? Is it threatening to my "self"? Or is it neutral and therefore of no particular value either way to the "self" I am trying to be?
We arrive at an answer through an elemental felt sense: we feel rudimentary pleasure at that which confirms our "self," pain at that which calls our "self" into question, and nothing toward that which is irrelevant to our enterprise. Arriving at this kind of valuation brings further definition and solidity into our self-concept.
- (source: Shambhala Sun archives)
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra with Roswell Rudd's MALIcool
Africa Lives!
Sat 24 September 7.30pm £12 / £6
(concessions tickets only available for school pupils and full-time students)
Tramway 1
www.bbc.co.uk/bbcsso
www.bbc.co.uk/africalives
Roswell Rudd, trombone
Ilan Volkov, conductor
Jazz trombonist Roswell Rudd and his group MALIcool join the BBC SSO and Ilan Volkov on a unique collaborative journey as part of the BBC’s Africa Lives Season.
Inspired by the special affinity that exists between the traditional music of Mali, classical music and jazz, this event will provide impressive proof of the artistic dynamic within African music. It also includes a varied selection of works for orchestra by Kevin Volans, Steve Reich and James Wood. This concert will tap into all the players’ abilities to stand outside the expected.
“It (MALIcool) cuts across so many borders that you don’t have to be a fan of jazz or world music to appreciate it.”
Steven Israel, Times Herald Record
The performance will be recorded for future broadcast on BBC Radio 3.
Africa Lives!
Sat 24 September 7.30pm £12 / £6
(concessions tickets only available for school pupils and full-time students)
Tramway 1
www.bbc.co.uk/bbcsso
www.bbc.co.uk/africalives
Roswell Rudd, trombone
Ilan Volkov, conductor
Jazz trombonist Roswell Rudd and his group MALIcool join the BBC SSO and Ilan Volkov on a unique collaborative journey as part of the BBC’s Africa Lives Season.
Inspired by the special affinity that exists between the traditional music of Mali, classical music and jazz, this event will provide impressive proof of the artistic dynamic within African music. It also includes a varied selection of works for orchestra by Kevin Volans, Steve Reich and James Wood. This concert will tap into all the players’ abilities to stand outside the expected.
“It (MALIcool) cuts across so many borders that you don’t have to be a fan of jazz or world music to appreciate it.”
Steven Israel, Times Herald Record
The performance will be recorded for future broadcast on BBC Radio 3.
Friday, September 09, 2005
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
This isn’t a tale of heroic feats,
It’s about two lives running parallel for a while,
With common aspirations and similar dreams.
Was our view too narrow,
Too biased, too hasty?
Were our conclusions too rigid?
Maybe.
Wandering around our America
Has changed me more than I thought.
I am not me anymore,
At least I’m not the same me I was.
- Ernesto Che Guevara
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
