miller's crossing

Martha and I are on our Midwest Minitour. Highlights thus far: Thai dinner on Grand Ave in St Paul, Harry Potter on zoo IMAX, grilling at Martha's, Highway 63, dinner at Drivers' house, Iowa Women's Archive in Iowa City, dinner at Galleria de Paco in Waterloo, Highway 18, the visitors' center in Prairie de Chien, Highway 27, dinner at Chilito Lindo in Viroqua, and the lovely girls on Minshall Ave. Road pictures on Flickr.

While Buddhism has a very logical and philosophical side, it also has a faith-based side. In many ways, I find the latter more difficult to access. My empirical mind steps to the front, often blocking the metaphysical view. Sometimes that's okay. Other times, I think it's best if it stays on the sidelines. That's how I approached viewing the relics of Buddhist masters.

The Maitreya Projects Heart Shrine Relics Tour, which is at Maitripa College in Portland, OR, this weekend, can be a powerful experience for the faithful and even for those without. Beautifully displayed in Maitripa's Jokhong, I was surprise by how much they moved me.

From the Maitreya Project website:

The relics were found among the cremation ashes of Buddhist masters. They resemble beautiful pearl-like crystals. Buddhists believe the relics are produced as a result of the master's spiritual qualities of compassion and wisdom. Since we can all develop these qualities, the relics are a reminder of our own essential nature of purity and our inner potential to manifest that.

Here are my pictures of the relics at Maitripa.

image from maitripa website

Is it the religion that’s important or the things fostered by practicing that religion that really count? More specifically what is the importance of an esoteric Tibetan Buddhist practice to a 21st-century American female like myself? I’ve been pondering these things since having the opportunity recently to attend Chenrezig and Chöd Initiations given by Lama Zopa Rinpoche. To be clear, I have deep respect and love for the practices of Tibetan Buddhism and for the great work and teachings of Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Even so, I wonder how several hours of unintelligible chanting, incense and bell ringing are relevant and meaningful to a Western life — fair questions for someone who is still relatively new to the religion.

Three books I’ve read recently — The Open Road: The Global Journey of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama by Pico Iyer; Cave in the Snow: Tenzin Palmo’s Quest for Enlightenment by Vicki Mackenzie; and Ethics for the New Millennium by His Holiness the Dalai Lama — have provided much food for thought as I’ve turned the above questions over in my head. The intention of my summer reading is to look at how people write about Buddhists and the Buddhist experience, with a strong eye toward Tibetan Buddhism. I’m grateful to the Multnomah County Library for having so many of the titles that interest me. The timing of my library holds becoming available explains how these three books ended up being written about together. But as these things go, I think these readings compliment each other well.

Xinran's 2004 book Sky Burial is many things. It is an epic love story, an amazing travelogue through Tibet, an unheard perspective on the China-Tibet situation, and a story of one woman's faith and strength. I read the book in one sitting, the whole time wondering if this incredible story could really be true.

In late-1950s China, Shuwen and Kejun are doctors who are very much in love. They marry, but after only three weeks together Kejun is sent off with the army to Tibet. Within 100 days, Shuwen receives notice that her husband is dead. She can't believe the news and sets off to find him. What follows is a story of breathtaking devotion, spanning over three decades and thousands of miles.

birthday flowers

I just got done listening to Pico Iyer talking with Paul Holdengräber as part of the "Live at the New York Public Library” series on his book The Open Road: The Global Journey of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama. Iyer is an insightful speaker and has a well informed mind. He’s fascinating to listen to about His Holiness, who was a friend of his father. Iyer’s book sounds like it could be a more literary look at His Holiness and what he represents than Chan’s book (see below). I’ve already put it on hold at the library. So, I’ll have more to say in a few weeks.

book review: dreaming me and the wisdom of forgiveness

There is a tradition in Tibetan Buddhist literature of the nam-thar, the sacred life story of a Buddhist saint. They are inspirational in nature, narrating how an ordinary human can accomplish great things. While nam-thar might not be an accurate description of Jan Willis's Dreaming Me: An African-American Woman's Spiritual Journey or Victor Chan’s The Wisdom of Forgiveness: Intimate Conversations and Journeys, it’s a model to keep in mind while reading them. Both Willis’s memoir and Chan’s account of the time he spent with His Holiness the Dalai Lama can serve as inspiration to all of us as we try to be good people on this troubled planet.

I'm currently loving soul singer Joy Denalane's 2006 release Born & Raised. Inspired by soul divas stretching from Aretha to Mary J, Denalane's second album avoids the generic over-produced sound that plagues recent releases by so many talent soul and R&B vocalists. Instead, Denalane draws heavy inspiration from a pluckier 70s sound. Denalane's voice is lush and expansive, calling to mind Erykah Badu's reedy flair, Lauren Hill's satiny cadence, and Amy Winehouse's deep grit.

Like Winehouse, Berliner Denalane proves Europeans no only get American soul music, but have something to say about it. Denalane sings of African ("Soweto '76-'06") and African-American ("Stranger in this Land") experiences as well as the torment of relationships ("Heaven or Hell"). In "For the Love," she ask why can't musicians "do it for the love" instead of constantly worrying about money. Denalane teams up with Lupe Fiasco on "Change," a song that could've been written for the Obama campaign. The video shot in Tokyo shows both artists at their sweetest.

Photo: Joy Denalane in Munich 2006, Wikipedia

Turned in a paper this afternoon and on the way to catch a bus home thought, "Today would be a great day to catch a matinee."

I've been meaning to see a matinee at one of the downtown theaters for months. Seriously, too long. It was now or never. So, I grabbed some portable spring rolls from a nearby Vietnamese food cart and ducked into see The Brothers Bloom.

Yeah! Perfect matinee fare: Beautiful actors! Stylish costumes! Hip, noirish production design! Amazing locations! Huge explosions! And it's all about con men! What's not to love?!?

“You can’t be happy all the time,” Gallagher tells me, “but you can pretty much focus all the time. That’s about as good as it gets.”

That's Winifred Gallagher, author of the new book on attention Rapt talking to writer Sam Anderson in his great essay for New York Magazine "In Defense of Distraction". Check it out.

This is a city of pink blossoms. Sure there are white ones, some orange, red, and yellow, but pink is everywhere. Here's a photo of one of the rhododendrons growing in front of my apartment. I took the picture last night after a delicious dinner at a newish Ethiopian restaurant in my neighborhood. So many lovely warm red spices in the food. The sun light was at a warm angle, too. I don't know ... it all came together for me.