Does Tiger Woods Practice Booty-ism or Buddhism?

Today is the day that Tiger Woods finally turns back to golf but of course the media won't stop talking about the scandal, so I figured I might as well take another crack at it myself. I'm not interested in the sexual escapades as that's his business. I try not to get involved with other peoples' sex lives. No, I'm talking about the Buddhist issue, which I guess in this instance sort of relates to the sexual issue but that's not my main point. My main point is about the use of Buddhist terms in relation to pop culture. Well, anyway, today someone thought it would be funny to fly a plane over the golf course with a banner that read, "Tiger, are you sure you didn't mean Booty-ism?"

Booty-ism of course being a mangling of the term "Buddhism." Booty, for all you none American English speakers is what some Americans use as slang for the butt. It's used in American street slang in the context of a "Booty call." That is a term referring to when one someone calls a "friend" on the telephone to meet up for sex. So, they're trying to be clever in making his religion, Buddhism sound similar to a sex term because of his past struggles with infidelity.

I'm not really offended over this one but the reason I am writing about it is to show how for all our intelligence, skills, education and rearing we humans are very childish. As I read on the great, "The Worst Horse," blog it's very sad that someone actually paid money to pay for that banner. This is the same kind of behavior I had to put up with in school with a last name like, "Ure." It's pronounced phonetically as, "Yewur" but the kids use to call me "Urine" as in the bodily fluid. Haha--very funny. I figured they were just jealous because I have a unique name with only three letters.

The point is that there are times to defend Buddhism and how it's used in our societies but we (or at least I) need to pick our battles. Otherwise, if we get upset over every bit of misuse of something Buddhist related we'd all be in the mental ward. That said, I enjoy dissecting a good "Dharma Burger." Speaking of which, Tiger is said to be getting Buddhist sayings on his Blackberry and asking for privacy in his hotel room for meditating. So, it's great to see Tiger walking the path again. I wasn't interested in his foibles as much as the Buddhist angle to the story. I'm not perfect, I have my weaknesses, I'm not a moral guide exactly so I leave that up to him and his wife. I mean, come on. Is his sex life really any of our business anyway?

~Peace to all beings~

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Lisa Simpson is a "Freakin' Buddhist!!"

James: Looks like Lisa needs to meditate more, but don't we all!! Hehe. Actually, despite the serene nature that the media paints Buddhism to be, we do get angry sometimes too. Just because we dedicate our lives to over coming such impulses--we're not perfect. Perfectionism is a sure way to burn out on your practice. As one fellow blogger put it, "We can both accept ourselves and want to change." When ever I find myself being self-critical of my practice I ask myself, "Would you be this critical toward someone else in your position?" And, invariably my answer is, "No, of course not."

So, we need to be more loving toward ourselves as much as toward others. It seems that sometimes it's easier to love others than ourselves. In the end, I see perfectionism as forgetting the Buddha's teaching of the middle-path. If we expect ourselves to be "perfect" in our practice then we're leaning too far toward aestheticism because perfectionism, like aestheticism, is unforgiving, not so compassionate and demands too much.

~Peace to all beings~

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Google PageRank Update

Seorang blogger tidak harus seorang penulis (menurut saya loh...) tapi kalau seorang penulis tentu sangat mudah menjadi seorang blogger karena sudah terbiasa menulis entah itu menulis berita atau apa saja yang bisa dituangkan menjadi sebuah tulisan yang menarik untuk dibaca.

Seorang blogger pun akhirnya bisa menjadi seorang penulis yang handal, namun ada perbedaan antara penulis yang satu

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Be not Afraid of Growing Slowly.

Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still.

-Chinese Proverb

James: This quote really resonated in my heart today because I often feel like my practice isn't where it should be, but how could it be anywhere except where it is? I must keep reminding myself (gently, of course) that there is no moment but this moment and that you can't get "there" without being here first. I use, "there" in quotations because in this case, "there" refers to realizing enlightenment and liberation from suffering--not an actual destination someplace in the ethereal future as we know that the future is but a hologram.

It can be easy to be discouraged and think, "I'm not meditating enough" or long-enough but even Buddha got discouraged. He studied with several mystics before his enlightenment but was eventually discouraged by their teachings, which he felt unsatisfied with. In addition, he pursued extreme aestheticism only to be discouraged by it. During his meditation under the Bodhi tree, before his enlightenment, he was tempted by desires to abandon his practice. He could have easily given up after all of these events but he pressed on not knowing what would come next until he shattered the hold of the ego and realized enlightenment.

Something else to consider is that our sense of progress is too often seen through the eyes of the mind, which demands immediate, Earth-shattering and over-whelming results. So it can be hard sometimes to see our progress; especially since progress seems to unfold in increments. Yet even the lotus seed has to burst up through seemingly unending layers of mud and inches of murky, shifting water to eventually reach the top of the water to bloom in the sun. Our journey is similar. It seems like an impossible journey yet it has to be such for if the lotus grew instantly to the surface the stem wouldn't be strong enough to hold the enlightened flower.

So, we too must build a strong base or foundation for our practice. Thus, we don't need to worry so much about how "fast" we're growing in our practice. We can only grow as fast as our karma will allow. There is a lesson in everything and just because someone might seem "advanced" on the path doesn't mean they aren't having difficulties on their way to the sun too!! The goal isn't to keep up with some Zen master or those around you whom you consider stronger meditators but rather that we keep growing--period. I realized that wanting to be further along in my practice is giving into the desire for being better than others. It's hard to accept it but that's at the root because why would we be unhappy with our practice if we weren't trying to, not only keep up with others, but outdo them? As if it's a race to see who realizes enlightenment first. No, it's better for me to stay happy with where I am because like it or not, that is the only true reality. The rest is destructive delusion.

~Peace to all beings~

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Perancang Template Terbaru dari Blogger

Blogger Dalam Konstruksi ini adalah fasilitas baru yang diperuntukkan pra blogger pengguna blogspot, sebagai bukti begitu besarnya perhatian blogger terhadap para pengguna blogger. Dengan fasilitas ini semua menjadi semakin mudah dalam mengolah blog dimana seorang blogger bisa melakukan konstruksi blognya sambil dapat melihat langsung hasilnya. Sebelumnya setelah melakukan perubahan pada

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