how does attention work? how does attention improve perception? ken paller and colleagues from northwestern university conducted a study to shed some light on this mystery: You know the sensation. When something has your full attention you see it vividly. And when you don’t pay attention, you’re liable to miss something important. … The mystery… Continue reading orchestrating attention
Category: spirituality
the zen of football
another guest contribution from my good husband, glenn: Besides liking babies, and smoking, I also watch the occasional football game. Okay, maybe more than occasional. Actually, my Sundays between September and December, from 9:00 in the morning until 6:00 in the evening (when I get called away to dinner) are dedicated primarily to watching NFL… Continue reading the zen of football
enlightenment with dr. seuss
let’s have some more dr. seuss. this is from the grinch who stole christmas. grouchy, grumpy, mean, bitter grinch has just stolen all the christmas gifts from the people in who-ville, pretended to be a nice guy by giving little cindy-lou who a glass of water, taken the last little crumb out of cindy-lou’s pantry… Continue reading enlightenment with dr. seuss
mental health and churches
photographer and author marja bergen recently sent along this email. her thoughts on the topic of mental health in the community – in this case religious communities – are very important. i asked for her permission to reprint her letter here, and she graciously gave it. i’d like to add that christmas, a time that… Continue reading mental health and churches
grow a brain: surf with the sufis
at the alliance for arts and culture 20th anniversary party yesterday, i met writer and photographer ruth seeley, whose blog started me on an interesting little surfing journey. it led me to jecate’s blog, who again led me to grow a brain, one of those blogs that you can spend days and days on, written… Continue reading grow a brain: surf with the sufis
of praise and other good things
genkaku talks about praise: I like to praise things. It feels delightful. It feels good. It feels right. And I imagine other people have similar feelings. Of course, sometimes they can be pretty obnoxious about it — praising one god or another and insisting you do the same — but in general I like to… Continue reading of praise and other good things
9 small ways to feed your spirit
most people i know want to have a stronger spiritual life. somehow it seems difficult to do that, though, because there are so many things that distract us. then you find yourself in the bathroom brushing your teeth, dead tired, and the though flits through your mind, “drat, another day when i didn’t meditate”. if… Continue reading 9 small ways to feed your spirit
zen tales: the strawberry story
skipping further along the path of storytelling, here is one of my favourite zen tales: a man walking alone in the wild suddenly finds himself chased by a tiger. he starts to run but soon arrives at the edge of a cliff. with no way out, he jumps and, luckily, manages to grasp a vine.… Continue reading zen tales: the strawberry story
tsurezuregusa: wisdom from an idle poet
november’s issue of bodhi mind, the vancouver buddhist church’s monthly newsletter, introduced me to the poet kenko. i was intrigued by his words that “there are seven undesirable things as friends,” among them “a strong person who has never been ill.” wise words. although there are always
day of the dead
today is the day of the dead, so i looked around my poetry to see whether i have something on the subject. in 1988, this is what i said: i wake up in the morning and i realize: death must be so sweet. death has a younger brother and he is my lover, death has… Continue reading day of the dead