Kevin's posterous

Before We Start

Imagine this scenario: you are a young, recently out of grad-school, well educated man or woman (keeping it PC). You were just hired at your dream job and all is right in the world…well almost. Unfortunately, even though you have that chic uptown apartment, the newest iphone, and a sweet ride you feel like there is something missing. After years of trying to fill that gap with something (ANYTHING) you realize that maybe there’s something more than material wants or even peer relationships. Maybe it is a lack of spirituality? You were raised a Christian/ Jew / Hindu / Muslim but since you have drifted away from your once religious past and into the fast passed—often secular world-- of business meetings, 70 hour weeks and stressful deadlines.

Now the ultimate question is: What do you do? How do you find spirituality?

This is an all too common question for many teens, young adults and, as shown in the example above, for everyday working professionals. In fact, I would be willing to bet that many of you reading this blog (the very, very, very, VERY few) have felt at one time in your life that you feel lost in your spiritual journey or just didn’t care about your spiritual path. 

Possibly feeling lost? >>>>>

The story I want to tell you is my personal journey this year as a spiritual dater. Similar to the example above I was raised protestant (Presbyterian to be exact) but have since felt detached from my largely white, conservative and older congregation at my church and have struggled to find a church that I feel comfortable with. After many years of not looking for any particular religious or spiritual guidance, I decided at the commencement of World Religions that I would explore the religion which I best felt reflected my personal values. Thus, my period of spiritual or relgious dating BEGAN!!! How exciting =]]

But what is a spiritual or religious dater?

Well in essence, it a person who experiments or explores various religions in order to see which religion makes a deep spiritual connection with them. Just like as young person dates many people (or maybe just one or two) before finding a life partner. Why shouldn't a spiritual being be able to date multiple religions? Often one does not find their true love on the first date, so why should a person be coerced into a religion if it does not touch them spiritually.

In my own personal experience I chose to explore Buddhism, initially as moral/ethical/spiritual system of thought, but as I learned more and more about the religion I realized that it very well could be "the one". After months of dating. Buddhism and I had our ups and downs. There were times when I didn't know if being a follower of Buddhist principles was compatible with Christian principles. And of course there were times I felt being Buddhist was just not practical in Western society. However, just like any relationship I got through my ups and downs and have now become content with that fact that I can call myself a Christian guided by strong buddhist principles and practices. What does that mean? No really, that makes no sense? Well the best way I can describe being religiously inclusive in my example is that I believe in God. I believe in Christ and his sacrifice for our sins. But I also believe that Buddha existed & reached nirvana (enlightenment of mind). I believe in personal spiritual practice. I believe that everyone can become a Buddha.

As I learn more about both Christianity and Buddhism I know that i will have to stop my double-dating game =( But for now I don't have any philsophical discrepancies, internal ideality crisis' and I am at the time in my life were drawing from two very different yet similiar thought systems can be extremely beneficial to personal spirtual/ethical/moral growth. So, for now let the good times roll and keep the questions coming!

^^ Every interview deserves some good music...whether it relates to the topic is a toss up but try to enjoy nonetheless.=]]

Here's Where the Interview-Question Part Starts

1.  So as a religious dater, how do you worship or practice your various religions?
   

I definitely lean towards the personal aspect of religious worship which Buddhism seems to faciliate. So for example, on weekends I will meditate early in the morning for about 30 minutes and at 7:00 on certain Sundays I'll visit Wat Thai (the Buddhist Temple which initially brought me closer to the Sanha or community). When I do sitting meditation it will usually just be a time to empty out the thoughts scrambling in my head. There is no distinct purpose but to rest the mind. Often I will have incense burning (David's Natural Market has a good selection) because it relaxes the spirit and calms your body. Many people use a meditation cushion but I just use an old rug to sit on and I face my window. Depending on weather or not I'm sore from soccer, I will either do the lotus position or take a more simplified criss-cross applesauce position.

 You can learn too! It takes time, patience, and a little bit of pain at first but eventually it becomes very relaxing.

As a Christian, I do far less ritual--practice type of activities. Maybe once every month I will go to church with my Mom and Dad but that is usually just to make them happy. I am not to big on singing or the whole social scene thing that goes on at my Church so the only times I really feel enlightened after church is if I go with my girlfriend and her sister to their church.

      2. What has been your most profound emotional experience since the start of      spiritual dating?

 Surprisingly, the most emotional experience I've had was at an evangelical church. I went with my girlfriend's sister to a large evangelical church in Montogomery County and ended up being a little overwhelmed with everything going on. There was spiritual music, the congregation (more like a concert crowd) was very "into" the music, the sermon was powerful, and everyone seemed to be filled with a palpable sense of excitement. Naturally, I felt affected by this environment because it was almost sublime in a sense. The grandness, the power of everything was so different from what I was am used to so by effect I felt like it was a profoundly emotional experience. I didn't particurarily learn a lesson from my time at the church but I got to feel the emotional power that hooks so many evangelical Christians and now I understand why they come back each and every week.

It was a bit like this although admittedly a little less intense>>>>>>>

In class we analyzed Health Care Reform in two ways: Would nationalized health care reform be a more ethical solution and would nationalized health care reform be a more pragmatic/fiscially responsible choice when compared to privatized insurance? With these two questions in mind, I want to break down why I believe health care reform is an issue which goes beyond political boundaries and why health care reform is essential for the sustainablity of our nation.

Often I think people forget what it means to be Human. We see people by what race they are, what job they have, what family they come from, what school they went to, what neighborhood they live in, what political party they align themselves with, etc... We make a distinction between US and THEM. However, this distinction is one of the most crippling mind sets we can put ourselves into because it makes us forget that we are all humans. And Humans share basic wants and needs. We all want to be loved, we all want happiness, we all want to enjoy what life can offer. In addition, we all need to live, we all need to eat, we all need to stop suffering in our lives. If we all share the same basic wants and needs then why should we (as a single human race) deny our brothers and sisters of health care. Health care is what keeps people alive so they can live full rewarding lives, health care can stop suffering (inevitbaly one's suffering affects us all), health care reform ensures that all of the progress that Human Kind has made in technology, science, medicine does not go to waste but instead goes to benefit as many people as possible for the greater good. Health Care reform is a step towards a happier, healthier, and a more ethically sound society. Can you put a price tag on that? ....Well some say they can.

Many people argue that Health Care Reform could possibly pull the U.S. into a deeper deficit. And many people argue that Health Care Reform could possibly save the U.S. from falling into a deeper deficit. With experts on both sides, who are so sure that they have the numbers crunched correctly, who does one believe? My answer is nobody. Obviously, there is no way to be sure what the result of Health Care Reform will be if no one can come to a consensus. Nonetheless, keeping U.S. citizens alive, productive, and happy must be our nation's main priority. So maybe instead of spending 738 billion every year on defense contracting (China only spends 69.5 billion to protect its 1.3 billion people and comes second in the category for defense spending) the U.S. can allocate a billion or two to ensure that citizens are healthy enough to live another day.

But the longer we wait to fix the current health care system, the more people will suffer (45 Million people to be exact). In a world where every advanced nation guarentees affordable healthcare to a patient no matter what the existing condition may be (New York Times Quote), the U.S. system remains uniquely cruel. We live in a society where companys and organizations ignore the suffering of others, all for the sake of an extra dollar. In fact, between the years 2003 and 2007 Assurant Health Care Provider made 150 million by canceling coverage of people who thought they had insurance The U.S. government must protect its citizens from this cruelty, it has a responsibility to protect its citizens from this cruelty, the U.S. must act now.

His Significance to Sikhism:

Being the founder of Sikhism, he is held in the highest esteem and is the first guru of the Sikh religion. Without the actions of Guru Nanak Sikhism would simply not exist today (although he did have disciples to carry on his teachings).

So today I came to the unfortunate, well maybe not unfortunate but bittersweet, conclusion that in a little more than a month I will be leaving Oakland Mills along with the teachers, the friends, and the experiences which make it so special. I made this inevitable revelation when I was at College Park this week visiting friends and getting a taste of college life. Very few people mention their high schools, surprisingly even Oakland Mills kids neglect to talk about OM. Everyone has begun a new chapter in their lives and the amount of change i've seen in people is amazing. Being one who is cursed with a highly reflective nature, I asked myself, "Kevin are you ready to start a new chapter in your life?" If you asked me this question 2 or 3 months ago I would have said, " YES, YES, YES absolutely get me OUT of here!!" but if you ask me today I can't give you a straight answer.

My answer is hard to articulate because it reflects the difficulties people often have when transitioning lifestyles or, in my case, even contemplating a change in lifestyle/environment. I have become such a creature of habit that I don't feel entirely comfortable with sudden change. Every morning I wake up at 5:30. When I visited College Park this week everyone went to bed around 5:30. I like to spend quality time with my girlfriend everyday. It is likely that in college I won't be able to see Sarah once a week. I like a certain amount of order in my home life. At college I will be sharing my "home life" with hundreds of other people.

Now I am sure I will be able to adjust and with time my concerns will fade back into everyday norms with which I am comfortable with, however, at this moment in time I wonder what the future holds. I would love to simply enjoy my next 5 months at hOMe but it is inevitable that I will think about both the great change college will bring and the great opportunity. I am both excited for the opportunities at Georgetown next fall and extremely sad that I will have to leave OM, the place which I sometimes hate BUT it provides me with a sense of normalcy and security. 

At the end of my four years at OM I can think of regrets I do have. I wish I was more spirited, I wish I took more pride in my school, I wish I had taken advantage of all the excitement senior year brings. However, I have always promised myself not to hold onto regrets and I will not change that policy now. I may not have been an OM sports fanatic, but I can always become a spirited Hoya (HOYA SAXA!!!) I have pride in my school next year because I know that it was my hard work and commitment which got me there. And I will know that my peers worked equally as hard to get to Georgetown as well. Next year, I won't let the opportunity to go to basketball games, support my friends in their extra curriculars, and make the most out of my environment pass me by. 

I can't change the past but I can certainly look to make the most of now and to strengthen my commitments and goals for the future. I certainly look forward to doing just that as the school year wraps up and as the next school year begins.

Here's some urban philosophy from Tupac on change and how sometimes change is neccessary for living in harmony. Rough on the outside but real of the inside, Tupac always called it like he saw it.

I thought I would post my ethics project for the 3rd quarter up on my blog so I would never forget it...AWWWWWWW =DDD But in all seriousness, I don't want to lose this ethics project and thought that if I posted it on a blog I would be able to:

1. Look over it whenever I wanted and where ever I wanted.
2. Edit it if I think of more things to add or more things to take away.

So if anyone actually does decide to take a look over the code of ethics here is some music you can enjoy whilst doing so (check out the British lingo!)

WARNING: This document is extremely boring!! Read at your risk. It was written as an official document not as a form of entertainment...WARNING.

Code of Ethics for an Oakland Mills Athlete

I. Preamble

At Oakland Mills High School we believe that PRIDE, an acronym for Pride, Respect and Responsibility, Integrity, Diversity, and Empowerment towards Achievement, is the foundation for a proactive and successful high school career and future. The same principles apply for both students and, in this specific document, athletes at Oakland Mills High School. We feel as if it is our duty to compete with PRIDE, to practice with PRIDE, to interact with the surrounding community with PRIDE, and to form relationships with our teammates and opponents on the precedent of PRIDE.  These principles hold true now and will hold true in the future, for we feel it essential to establish a base which fosters the growth of a well-rounded citizen.  Oakland Mill’s Athletes feel that PRIDE is the cornerstone of an athlete’s worth and hereby declare that we share a dedication to PRIDE and adopt this code to declare the Oakland Mills athletes’ values on and off the playing field.

II. Preliminary Statement

To elaborate upon the Principles outlined in the Preamble, we have promulgated this code of ethics with three distinct but interrelated parts:  Canons and Disciplinary Consequences.

The Canons are statements of intent, expressing the expected standards of an athlete’s conduct in their relationships with teammates, coaches, opponents, fans, faculty, members of the community, and within their own individual actions.

The Canons are the expected standards of ethical responsibility and the expected ethical actions which we as athletes should strive to achieve both on and off the field. It is important to note that the Canons are purposefully general statements. It is the responsibility of athletes, coaches, opponents, fans, faculty, members of the community and individual athletes to report unethical actions if deemed severe (See Section IV) or handle them with the values of PRIDE if deemed less severe (See Section IV). Any ethical dilemmas or incidents in further dispute must be taken to Oakland Mills Administration for ethical review, failure to do so will result in disciplinary consequences as outlined in Section IV of this code of ethics.

This code currently applies to Oakland Mills athletes and thereby these principles are not the expected behavior of non-Oakland Mill’s athletes. Each Oakland Mills Athlete must read and sign this code of ethics at the start of each sport season we are partaking in. This will ensure an understanding of the expectations and values we expect our school’s athletes to have.

 In addition, this document must be reviewed by a equally proportioned representative body of Oakland Mill’s athletes, coaches, and administrators (The Ethics Revision and Review Committee) consisting of 41 members on a biannual basis. If revisions are found to be necessary at anytime, a two-thirds vote must be present, by a quorum of ninety-percent of the ethical revision committee, to be passed or rejected. All measures outlined in this document are eligible for amendment if found necessary by the Ethics Revision and Review Committee. All measures not accounted for in his document are to be voted upon by the Ethics Revision and Review Committee (with the already stated voting standards as precedent).

III. Canons

Canon 1.  Athletes are expected to treat all teammates, coaches, opponents, fans, school faculty, and themselves with respect, dignity, and appreciation as to help foster an environment for competition, growth, mutual understanding, responsibility, diversity and teamwork.

Canon 2.  Athletes are expected to meet and to surpass the expectations of their teammates, coaches, fans, faculty, and themselves as to help foster an environment for competition, growth, mutual understanding, responsibility, diversity, and teamwork.

Canon 3. Athletes are expected to show pride for their team, for their fellow athletes at Oakland Mills, and for their school in all seasons of the athletic year as to help foster an environment for competition, growth, mutual understanding, responsibility, diversity and teamwork.

Canon 4. Athletes are expected to treat all teammates, coaches, opponents, fans, faculty, and members of the community with the upmost respect for their diversity both on and off the playing field as to help foster an environment for competition, growth, mutual understanding, responsibility, diversity, and teamwork.

Canon 5. Athletes are expected to act with integrity both on and off the playing field as to help foster an environment for competition, growth, mutual understanding, responsibility, diversity, and teamwork.

Canon 6. Athletes are expected to empower others and themselves to hold true to the given standards as to foster an environment for competition, growth, mutual understanding, responsibility, diversity, and teamwork.

Canon 7. Athletes will be held ethically responsible in upholding the values stated in this document, both among themselves and their teammates as to foster an environment for competition, growth, mutual understanding, responsibility, diversity, and teamwork.

Canon 8. Athletes are expected to give back to their community, school, and family in whatever manner possible as to foster an environment of competition, growth, mutual understanding, responsibility, diversity, and teamwork.

IV. Disciplinary Consequences

Ethical Misconduct

Ethical violations which do not require administrative intervention, as determined by coaches, players, fans, community members, and faculty, are to be handled on a coach to player, player to player, player to fan level, etc…

Coaches in these instances of ethical misconduct are to give consequences equal to the severity of the infraction and within the appropriate bounds of what a coach is legally allowed to do.

Players should handle ethical infractions by first implementing the values of PRIDE to evaluate the situation and second report the ethical infraction to a coach, administrator, faculty, member, parent, or adult.

Repeated failure to follow ethical standards outlined in this code makes an athlete eligible for ethical review by the committee.

Examples of less severe infractions, defined by violations of PRIDE values, include but are not limited to:

-          Outward disrespect (both verbal and psychical) towards other players, coaches, fans, and administrators both on and off the field. (Respect and Integrity)

-          Skipping practice. (Responsibility)

-          Purposeful lack of effort. (Empowerment towards achievement)

-          Slander against team and/or school. (Pride)

-          Etc…

Using these examples as guidelines, athletes and coaches can make decisions on what action they deem appropriate. Athletes must keep in mind the expectation that we will report ethical misconduct or severe ethical infractions directly to coaches and/or other adults.

Severe Ethical Infractions

Severe ethical violations brought to the Ethics Revision and Review Committee are the most serious matters as deemed by athletes, coaches, opponents, fans, faculty, members of the community and individual athletes. The committee will determine if disciplinary consequences against the athlete are necessary, and if so, the committee will have the ability to take whatever action it deems necessary to protect the values of PRIDE within the student and athlete body.  All decisions are able to be appealed by the accused party only one time.

Failure to report a severe infraction will make the athlete or athletes involved equally responsible and, if a severe infraction is found, will share the consequence(s). In addition, any athlete or persons found aiding, helping, or conspiring with a athlete to commit an ethical infraction with be given disciplinary consequences.

Examples of Severe infractions, defined by violations of PRIDE values, include but are not limited to:

-          Cheating in Athletic competitions. (Integrity)

-          Use of performance enhancing drugs. (Integrity)

-          Overt and intentional violent acts toward any individual. (Respect)

-          Any overt and offensive statements or actions of discrimination towards any individual.(Diversity)

Evaluation

Preamble Strengthens:

-          Outlines the values which define the ethically sound Oakland Mills Athlete, PRIDE.

-          Provides a vision for both now and for the future. This measure ensures that future readers and athletes will know that the code of ethics is here to stay and stands firm in its values.

-          Provides a declaration of commitment to the values entailed within the code of ethics. Later in the Preliminary Statement (section II) it states that all Oakland Mills Students will have to read and sign

-          It is implied that the code of ethics is written by the athletes themselves, for other athletes at Oakland Mills, thus it directly reflects the values they feel are important.

Preamble Weaknesses:

-          Is currently limited to only Oakland Mills’ values of PRIDE. Thus, if another school wants to use the code but does not agree or does not want to adopt the values of PRIDE then there will be conflict because the whole code is based off PRIDE. 

-          There may be only values besides PRIDE which are important to sport ethics. The same values that apply for academic success may not necessarily be congruent with the values that make up an ethically sound and successful athlete.  

Code Strengthens:

-          Addresses who is going to be directly affected by the code of ethics. It takes more than athletes to make a code of ethics work. This is why coaches, administration, community, etc… are involved in the process.  

-          Establishes a clear structure regarding the presentation of the code. Without the presence of structure or order to an official document, it would be extremely difficult to follow its entailments and it would consequently lose its legitimacy.

-          Provides a definition for what is going to be outlined in the code. For example, it constitutes what the purpose and content of the canons will be.

-          Establishes a way to enforce ethical standards through allocating responsibilities to coaches on the Ethical Misconduct level and to an ethical revision and review committee on the Severe Infraction level.

-          Outlines the voting procedures, quorum, and membership duties for maintaining a healthy revision and review committee. Without establishing a regulatory committee there would be little to zero legitimacy for the code. If athletes do not fear consequence then they will act in an unethical manner solely because they can.

-          Provides a clause which guarantees an athlete knows what the code says and implies. In addition, the athlete agrees to all of the measures stated in the code, thus, the code now has contractual legitimacy and, by effect, power.

-          The canons outline the expectations of every athlete while at the same time keeping in accordance with the values of PRIDE. The codes are general in nature and thus have a wide range of power. Nearly every ethical action, decision, or situation (pertaining to the Oakland Mills athletic community) can eventually be derived back to the eight canons.

-          In the Disciplinary Consequences section it provides sample examples of the nature ethical misconduct and severe ethical infractions. Using these examples as guidelines, coaches and the Ethics Revision and Review Committee can make decisions on what action they deem appropriate.

Code Weaknesses:

-          It does not provide a succinct enough definition of severe ethical infractions and ethical misconduct. In the future as values change, interpretations become skewed, and unique situations arise, there may be dissention regarding what is a severe ethical infraction and what is merely ethical misconduct. There needs to be more examples of what kind of behavior is expected from athletes. 

-          Needs to have an accompanying code of ethics for Coaches. A lot of responsibility is placed on the coach to make ethical judgments, however, they might not be able to make ethical judgments or they themselves may not abide by ethical principles.  

-          Needs to have an accompanying constitution for the Ethics Revision and Review Committee. Every organization (especially regulatory committees) needs to have structure and its own constitution. The Ethics Revision and Review Committee will have to write a constitution which is entirely compatible with the Code of Ethics for an Oakland Mills Athlete. 

As I was going through my iTunes today, looking through/organizing/enjoying my favorite songs...I had my "Ah moment" of the week. As I played various songs, I suddenly got a wave of nostalgia. In this post I want to share some of my favorite songs which are accompied by some of my favorite and warmest memories starting from my freshman year all the way through my senior year. As I share each song, I will talk alittle about the people, the moments, the places, etc... it evokes. It wasn't an easy task, i've never deleted a song for nearly 4 years and it seems like every song holds some personal memory BUT Here is my walk through memory lane, enjoy!

^^ The first time I ever heard Daft Punk was right before my Chemistry mid-term Sophomore year. I remember thinking that I had never heard something so upbeat, danceable, so fresh and it really opened up a world of music to me. From the moment my brother showed me Interstella 5555 (the extended one hour music video with all of Daft Punk's songs from the album Discovery) I had been instantly into Daft Punk and all things House. For about 6 months Daft Punk was the only thing I listened to and at every chance I could get I would share the link with my friends to the Interstella 55555 video. When I went to France to visit my friend, Sebastian, we would play soccer on his street while listening to Daft Punk. When I went to bed I would listen to Daft Punk. When I was cramming for my Chemistry mid-term that year I was constantly playing Daft Punk. I Lived Daft Punk my Sophomore year and I'll never forget the good times I had while listening to Daft Punk.

^^ Every team has that song they listen to before a big game or before any and EVERY game in the case of Oakland Mills Soccer. For some strange reason, the OM soccer team has a tradition of listening exclusively to reggae music before matches. One of the favorites was Damian Marley's Road to Zion, eventually becoming the teams theme song for my Freshman and Sophomore year. When I listen to this song I think about the great players I had the honor of playing with, the games we won together and the rediculous moments we had after big wins in the locker room. It also reminds me of the upsetting losses and low moments of the season. Nonetheless, I will remember OM's strange fascination with reggae and I have no doubt in my mind that someone will continue the legacy of reggae before games.

^^The first week of French III my sophomore year, Madame Hepler (now Madame Tourtlotte) introduced us to French Cafe style music while. It was her first year of teaching and it was my first year of truly taking an interest in French, not just as a subject but as a passion. In early September, I had just returned from my first visit to France through the Sister Cities Student Exchange and I was excited to use the French I had learned, to meet my new teacher, and to really start treating French as more than just one of my everyday subjects. When I first heard this song I was instantly thrown into Francophone mania. I went to Borders bought the CD, listened to it ad nauseum, memorized all the words and went back to Borders to buy any and all the French music available there. This song reminds me of the turning point in my life when I really began pursuing my academic passions. I have gone back to France twice since that moment, bought every French grammar/vocab/exercise book I could find and to this day I still listen to French Music, talk to my French friends on skype, do extra studying when I get the chance and genuinely enjoy everything the Francophone world has to offer.

^^  A lot of the time it isn't what songs you are listening to or what artists you are listening to but what is going on in your life when you hear that song or that artist which makes it memorable. As everyone knows Junior year of high school is CRAZY. The school work, the SATs, the SAT IIs, the sports, the extracurriculars, in my case a job, the attempts to keep something which may resemble a social life, the AP tests, EVERYTHING. When everything was "go, go, go" I turned to music to help me relax and get away for a bit. MGMT and M.I.A (kinda odd how they are both acronyms =PP) as artists aren't traditional and at first listen their songs might not make a lot of sense BUT that was and still is part of their appeal. Junior year, when everything is planned out and has order, the music I listened to didn't and that was incredibly refreshing. Junior year has a lot of rules, does and donts, and expectations, the music I listened to did have meaning but when listening to MGMT or M.I.A you don't know what to expect. Sometimes you'll be listening to MGMT and you'll hear a sitar, synthesizer, flute, and air horn all combining into one meledy but that's okay...and surprisingly badass music. When you listen to M.I.A you would never expect that a 35 year old mom of English-Sri Lankan descent would be blasting African beats and rapping but it somehow all works out. That's the important thing to note, it all works out. I guess the music I listened to and my junior year weren't too different, they both worked out to be awesome unforgettable experiences deriving from two different sources, one from stressful order and one from blissful disorder.

TO BE CONTINUED...after dinner...and for the remainder of the year...as I find more songs...and more memories

Ever since winter break part 2 (also known as snowpocolypse, snowmagedeon, you get the jist) I have been reading alot of thought provoking books. Okay, to be honest maybe all of them aren't thought provoking (I'm talking about you A Coaches Guide to Youth Soccer) but for the most part they have been extremely insightful and have affected the way I see the world, even if that change in very minor. So, what I am eventually going to get to is how I have been able to find inspiration from the books I've read AND the sources of inspiration I have come across in my everyday life (i.e. the people I meet, the things I see, the emotions I feel, etc...)

The Heart of The Buddha's Teachings has undoubtadely put a new light on, not only how I see the teachings of the Buddha, but on how I see everyday occurences, events, etc... I mention this book first because it has taught me an important principle which I has helped me see the beauty or inspiration in everyday things, the value of Mindfulness! So what is Mindfulness? What's so good about Mindfulness? Why is mindfulness so important in my life? In your life? Before I say what it means to me I'll share with you what the author of the book says about Mindfulness:

Yet I don't think he expresses the idea of Mindfulness as well as he does in his book in a piece of poetry he shares with the reader:

Waking up this monring, I smile.

Tenty-four brand new hours are before me.

I vow to live fully in each moment

and to look at all beings with eyes of compassion.

To me this is mindfulness and right diligence perfectly intertwined into a four line poem which can be repeated as you wake up every morning. Mindufulness is being right here, right now and truly taking in the wonder of the world. We often never truly live because we are to preoccupied about what is going to happen in our lives and what has already happened in our lives. Yet, both of these things we cannot control and they will give us only transient feelings of happiness or moments of dissatification. Twenty-four hours are a treasure-chest of jewels. If we waste these hours, we waste our life. Naturally, you can expect that this new outlook on life will foster some form of inspiration. Now everything is inspirational. The fact that I am here, sitting at this chair, typing on my computer, sharing my knowledge and insightful on life to an audience virtually unknown to me, is a blessing. The colors around me are vibrant, sky outside beautiful, and I am happy to be alive right here, right now. When I am mindful in this way ashing the dises, sweping the floor, or meditating become even more precious.

However, this blog is about inspiration! And now that I have established that everything can be appreciated and treated with compassion and care (even the stink bug which I just let out my window) I will share with you some of the most inspirational and thought-provoking "things" that I have come acorss this week or at least in recent memory.

^^This video, although retrospective in nature, is simply fantastic! The advice is heart-felt and extremely applicable to American culture and society. It really speaks for itself. I like to think about each point the author makes and try to internalize their moral code or at least pieces of it =}}

^^ So this next one might need a little explaination. I have never had a little brother or sister or even any little kids to look after BUT when I am with Calleum and Zoya (Sarah's cousins) I cant help but to feel happy all the time. I find inspiration in their smile and the way they approach the world with wonderment. They remind me of the blessing of life and the limitless potential of life. They are affectionate, non-judgemental, and innocent qualities often lost with age. They are also remind me that one day I will die and they will still be alive. This thought initially saddens me but at the same time it makes me incredibly happy because it is beauty of the circle of life. They, like me, will one day pass in old age and life and beauty can be born again from another being. But I am sure that they will do great things in their life and hopefully they will appreciate someone and love someone as much as I love and appreciate them.

=]

_Kevin

After looking back at my notes and reviewing the comments I had made on various topics, I felt the urge to share with you one of my favorite TED presentations. What orginally spurred my memory regarding this presentation was our class's lesson on the value of silence and the lack of silence which is present in our fast-passed, GO-GO society. I don't think Americans are at fault for being seemingly proactive, expressive, and reactionary because it is a part of our culture and society to "Get it done now" and in many ways it has been beneficial. However, I do think it is important to develop a reflective nature, meaning that when we hear something we take time to think about what the person is saying, the implicatins of what they are saying, etc... I feel like alot of times I am guilty of rushing to speak and therefore I am not truly hearing what the other person in front of me is saying. Thus, I am speaking with ignorance and with ignorance comes misunderstanding and with misunderstanding comes conflict. If our society was able to listen more and speak less I think we would have a very similiar experience as the man in the TED presentation...Soo, without further ado here's the video! (I'll make some comments afterwards)

Alrightty, I think it is important to note two things:

1. John Francis not only embraced silence but eventually he was able to embrace his own nature and realize that his ultimate goal was to spread the facts about environmental issues / inspire others, even if that meant having to use gas powered vehicles.
2. His outlook on the environment is without a doubt true: The way we treat the environment reflections how we treat fellow human beings.

He addresses two topics that we have discussed in class, silence and the ethics of environmentalism. Yet, he is able to expand on both of these topics and proposes a new ethical stance on how society treats each other. We can begin to reach peace if we listen to one another and respect the environment around us which we all share. The question that immediately arises when thinking about this is, "Did John Francis create a new form of ethics by mixing environmental issues and the spirtuality of silence?" Another question that may arise is, "Can everyone live a life like John Francis? How pragmatic is it to simply not speak for 17 years?" Most people would naturally say that not speaking for 17 years and not using motor-powered vehicles for over 17 years would be impossible and pull them back in life. However, it seems to have done the exact opposite in John Francis's life. He is an anomoly? I would like to believe that respecting the environment, others, working for the benefit of mankind is not an anolomy. Not everyones path is going to take them down the same road as Mr. Francis BUT I think it is impossible to ignore the lessons he has brought to the table through his experiences.

Thanks for LISTENING!!!

-Kevin