This week in Blogmandu, a robust discussion of blogging, Fogueira's wonderful squirrel, the tough slog through life, a rediscovered woodpecker, vegetarianism, and a so long to Andi.
A stream of discussion that surged through the Buddhism Blogosphere during the week centers on a post by Jeff of ZenDiary.org,"If you meet the Buddha online, blog about him," which begins with the issue of "the politics involved in blogrolls [definition]." Jeff first cites a post in Terrance's The Republic of T that asks "Are Blogrolls Hurting Us?" Terrance finds that many of his political-blog-minded & -minding friends are ridding themselves of the 'roll. Of himself and his blog, Terrance writes,"To some extent I realize I've fallen into the 'more is better' mindset, definitely. More inbound links are better than less. More traffic is better than less. More comments is better than less. Metrics, metrics, metrics. ... Quantity, which doesn't always mean quality, rules the day." A caste system is getting created because "A-list status is somewhat self-perpetuating."
Terrance, with Jeff's endorsement, recommends that linking to other bloggers' posts [i.e., permalinks] -- rather than nakedly linking to blog homepages -- could ease the skelter and competitiveness in bloggery.
Jeff extends the discussion, quoting from an April post of Fudo, the ScurrilousMonk, which berates people who aren't properly inspired by his blogs. Jeff then discusses the issue of "feelgood spirituality, or a cute aesthetic for decorating their white middle class homes, or a forum to have unending intellectual debates to make them feel grand. Sorry if that's harsh and judgmental, but I think it's true." He concludes his post: "Blogrolls can be very useful for building community and creating online solidarities. But they can also turn into a popularity contest, more about ego than anything else. And that's when the Buddhist blog ceases to be a tool for one's own practice and for the benefit of others." [Note: ZenDiary.org does not have a blogroll.]
Jeff's post generated a flood of comments and spinoff posts elsewhere in the Buddhism blogosphere. The discussion seemed to move in two directions: Is there bloggery that is self-interested, frivolous or elitist using the appellation "Zen" or "Buddhism?" And, how does blogging contribute to Buddhists' practice?
Al of Breath by Breath focused on the "tripe out there," but said that it just meant readers and bloggers needed to meet the challenge to work hard. Chalip of Zen Under the Skin wrote about her evolving blog practice and better means than blogrolls to find sympatico blogs. whiskey of whiskey river seconded a comment by Nacho of WoodMoor Village, saying that if you can not attach to all the stats and lists, "and not let your ego make a strange game out of it," blogging is good practice -- an internet heaven instead of an internet hell. Dharma Vision's Amadeus delved into the problems, but concluded "I am glad that I started blogging about my Buddhist practice and other things in my life. Likewise, I am grateful to be able to read about what you all are doing, thinking and contemplating. It has been priceless. I guess it is one of the great things about the Internet -- being able to reach out to others around the world you would have never met in any other venue." James of The Buddhist Blog expressed admiration and thanks to the e-sangha, but said it is not a substitute for a "real," physical sangha. Still, he was most grateful to the e-sangha from which he learned things all the time. Cliff of this is this wrote "The dilemma is that the more I write about Zen, the less Zen my blog is." Sifting Samara's Dukkha Earl wrote that blogging "is a vain tool, but in the end, only a tool, and it too will be discarded." Jeff commented in support/clarification of his original post. He especially liked what Cliff wrote, but added that Zen Buddhism is meditation for realizing the "truth" of existence -- and should not be watered down to mean "something along the lines of 'it's all good.'"
In his blog, RB of Renegade Buddha starkly acknowledges the "wide-eyed new agers and consumer Buddhists," but writes, "delusions of others don't degrade the teachings. ... The important thing, for those of us so inclined, is to find a path that we trust and walk it."
And over at WoodMoor Village, Nacho writes in his post "Onlightenment, or Meeting the Buddha Online", "my blogging was always meant as a way to explain my mind to me, to write as means of discovery, to hear other voices and to reflect. What I have found is that blogging is, more than that 'mentalistic' exercise, an embodiment of my practice. Albeit one with plenty of challenges."
 Squirreldelic © f. kwan 2005; posted with permission. |
Posted in Fogdex, in an entry titled Tueday far from Rubies. Blogger Fogueira Kwan Zheng Dao writes, "Yesterday the camera refused to cooperate, or else I was just too gorked to remember to turn the little rocker switch back to normal exposure, who knows, and I photographed a squirrel with almost a sea of black showing when I uploaded the pix from the camera to the computer. When I adjusted it with my editor a lot of the pixels were gone, resulting in a sort of drawing effect, but hell, it expresses what needs to be expressed about the dear squirrel, whom I thanked for letting me photograph him." Fogueira's photos and wordsmithery continues to delight and amaze us. |
Kristian returns to his blog, Wandering where you will after an absense due to depression. He quotes Kahlil Kabran, from which can be plucked these concluding words: "If either your sails or your rudder be broken, you can but toss and drift, or else be held at a standstill in mid-seas." 'The girl' who blogs auspicious coincidence bemoans "the trap of doubt [and of] dualistic thinking, my belief that the trap is somewhere outside of me, separate from me. I am cornered by my poverty mentality, my belief that richness too is outside of me." Chodpa writes of this dreamlike life in Luminous Emptiness. "Bringing experiences to mind from the past - they are like shimmering dreams, with a life of their own, never quite the same, and seemingly not like the experience in the present which seemed to inspire them." In Whiskey River this week is found a poem by Robert Pinsky, called Samurai Song. The final two stanzas are these:
When I have no means fortune
Is my means. When I have
Nothing, death will be my fortune.
Need is my tactic, detachment
Is my strategy. When I had
No lover I courted my sleep.
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The artist, Mark Bowers is a Fish and Wildlife Biologist with the Raleigh Field Office. The original is 25 inch X 30 inch, created in charcoal and colored pencil. Posted with permission. [See this government webpage.] |
A wonderful long post by Dave of Via Negitiva, called "Learning from the ivorybill," tells of his jubilation in hearing of the rediscovery of the ivory-bill woodpecker in Arkansas and his involvement in the aftermath in his capacity as co-chair of the Public Lands Committee of the Pennsylvania Chapter of Sierra Club. Great stuff.
eric of virtual zen ordered a Vegetarian Starter Kit from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals [PETA]. A video that came with the kit was tough viewing. Says eric, "The kindest thing I saw on the entire DVD was the little chickens getting their beaks burned off with a hot knife. The KINDEST thing." A day later, in another post, eric tells of posters from PETA he has displayed around his desk at work where he awaits discussion from colleagues. "Told you I'd get a bit militant about this stuff."
Dukkha Earl, in a comment to eric's first post, wrote, "In short, going vegetarian is an act of mindfulness, for yourself if nothing else. That you are sparing harm to others is a bonus. Cheers to you." And in his own blog, Sifting Samsara, Earl asks, "[I]s being vegetarian an idea that has come and gone?" Then he suggest many reasons for being vegetarian, including the extreme cruelty toward animals, the environmental harm of ranching and poultry farming, disease and social & economic repercussions.
Andi Young has become a nun and, thus, ended her blog -- with a May 3rd entry titled Gates. "Faith is the answer to happiness," she tells us. Robert of Beginner's Mind bows to her. RB of Renegade Buddha posts a best-hits sampler of her blog entries from June - Sept of 2004. David Brazier of Dharmavidya Web says Andi has found faith after consulting oracles. [So true!] Kit of Paper Frog, in his post "the raft, ditched" says goodbye to Ditch the raft and ends with a haiku:
An old boat —
its bench worn smooth
at the oars.
…and then two final words: "Peace, Andi."
