For real

Okkervil River - For Real

Some nights I thirst for real blood,
for real knives,
for real cries.

And then the flash of steel from real guns,
in real life,
really fills my mind.

Then I really miss what really did exist
when I held your throat so tight.
And I miss the bus as it swerved from us
and almost came crashing to its side.

Sometimes the blood from real cuts
feels real nice
when it's really mine.

And if you want it to be real, come over for one night,
we can really, really climb,
and those blue bridge lights might really burn most bright
while we watch that dark lake rise.

And if you really want to see
what really matters most to me,
we can just take a real short drive.

Just a drive into the dark stretch,
long stretch of night,
will really stretch this shaking mind.

And this room, unlit, unheated,
and the ceiling striped,
and the dark black blinds....

I want to know this time if you're really finally mine.
I need to know that you're not lying,
and so I want to see you tried.

And I don't want to hear you say
it shouldn't really be this way,
because I like this way just fine.

And there's nothing quite like
the blinding light when that curtain's cast aside,
and no attempt is made
to explain away
the things that really, really, really are behind.

You can't hide..

Time is not on your side

By treating meditation/awareness/insight as a process, you will always distance yourself from it. It takes place immediately, it is action, you just do it. This is the most important thing you'll ever learn, in fact it is the only thing you must learn. We all try to increase our levels of knowledge; we read books, we discuss and debate and analyze things until we acquire a desirable level of intellectual understanding. But what we are doing is pushing it all in front of us, creating a division between "us", and "it". Insight exists in the present moment. Insight requires immediacy. How can you possibly prepare for insight? Where does preparation end, and insight begin? Time and the idea that improvement is gradual, creates a gap between us and what we label improvement. We will never reach it. If you want to see truth, there must be a revolution, it can not be a series of reforms. Time, improvement, reforms... these are all verbal entities. We create them out of our fear of confronting the present moment, they aren't real - they lead us astray. Fear is always verbal. Fear does not exist in the moment, it is based on experience and memory, and is played out verbally in our thoughts.

Right here, right now

"No matter where we are, no matter what we do and what we face, we have to take care of this moment. That's all.

This moment is not the idea of this moment. If you see it as a concept, it becomes frozen. But the real moment is not frozen. The only thing to do is to see and deal with this moment as it is - right now, right here."

Dainin Katagiri

Sleepwalkers

Copyrights soon a thing of the past?

Not too long ago, Trent Reznor of the band Nine Inch Nails announced his decision to start releasing his music independently, without the "help" of record companies. Prior to that, Radiohead, pioneering the concept, released their latest album online, giving you the choice between downloading it for free or donating the amount you think they deserve for their efforts.

In my eyes, music is art. To the record companies it is first and foremost a commodity, and I, for one, would love to see the demise of this greedy and shallow business. I hope, and truly believe, this is the beginning of the end for the sort of mass-produced drivel that has dominated the music world for years and years.

Get Trent Reznor's new project here.
Get Radiohead's album here.

The most beautiful part about it, is this method ensures that the artist himself gets the full amount, instead of the 5% or so they usually get.

A different approach is taken by Mark Erelli, who offers his fans the chance to support and participate in the recording process from day one. By pre-ordering his album, you give him money towards studio-time rental and other expenses, and give him the chance to experience complete artistic freedom in the process. Kris Delmhorst has done something similar. Check it out here.

To top it off, one of my favourite bands of the past few years, Glossary, decided to give away their latest album. Do yourself a favour and check it out here.

Awesome nightfall

Why do I, who broke
so completely with this world,
find in my body
still the pulsing of a heart
once dyed in blossoms' hues?

Saigyo Hoshi


This wikipedia page is a terrific guide to Japanese poetry.

That's where she'll be..

I had a dream where I went to your room,
and I cut off my hand to let go of the pain.

Jim Hsieh's prints are amazing

Buy them here: Thumbtack Press

Shunryu Suzuki said that

Wherever you are,
you are one with the clouds
and one with the sun
and the stars you see.
You are one with everything.
That is more true than I can say,
and more true than you can hear.

No-mind

Being present in every moment means to forget oneself, forget your practice, forget the moment, forget everything, to be dissolved into the moment and become one with it, transcending every notion of subject and object existing independently of eachother. This moment takes place before your mind is able to identify it, and before it can be measured and classified. If it exists in our thoughts, it has already left us.

...

And the truth cannot be hid;
Somebody chose their pain,
What needn't have happened did.

I'm on a roll, I'm on a roll

Problems occur only when there is change, and are thus opportunities for improvement. Everything is in constant movement, therefore, the possibility of constant improvement exists. Every problem is an opportunity.