Is anyone else an atheist with BC besides me?

[Deleted User]

Lisa,

I can even SMELL it, it is so heavenly....just copied to my To Be Painted File ;-)  I've used watercolors, interesting, but SO unforgiving, trying soft pastels, which I call "fingerpaints for grownups" - AND, just bought a huge set of Faber Castell water color pencils - oh, my, what fun!  And there really is somethiang about having survived bc, that makes me much more forgiving with myself about learning to draw & paint.  I really think the chemotherapy killed my inner critic!!!!  Hope it did as well on the bc!

So happy all are enjoying your gorgeous flowers.  We still have about 2 feet of SOLID snow on the ground, and are expecting 3 inches of rain tomorrow.  Not sure where all this water is supposed to go, but have a feeling the dirt floored little basement of my cabin is going to be swimmable.

Maya2

Caerus: If you find you want more control, try Gouache paints. They also work with water, but are thicker and can easily be controlled. BUT, many artists enjoy the washing and layering you can do with watercolours. Each can be blended into lovely images. I'm glad you're expressing yourself through art.

3jaysmom

Arlene: thats' a wonderful story.. somehow reminded me of the wizard in the wizard of oz.. which, of course, is MY fav. charecter" pay no attention to the men behind the curtain!! there are So many lessons to learn from that story!!!     metta,, 3jays

ChrissyMH

Gosh, Lisa, am I glad I stumbled into this section.  That bloom photo just flooded my night with peace and calm.  Thank you.

ananda8

The most important lesson of the story is what the shaman learned alone on the ice in the snow.

Cancer was my time alone on the ice and snow.  There is only metta.

'This is to be done by one skilled in aims who wants to break through to the state of peace:

Be capable, upright, & straightforward, easy to instruct, gentle, & not conceited, content & easy to support, with few duties, living lightly, with peaceful faculties, masterful, modest, & no greed for supporters.

Do not do the slightest thing that the wise would later censure. Think: Happy, at rest, may all beings be happy at heart.

Whatever beings there may be, weak or strong, without exception, long, large, middling, short, subtle, blatant, seen & unseen, near & far, born & seeking birth: May all beings be happy at heart.

Let no one deceive another or despise anyone anywhere, or through anger or resistance wish for another to suffer.

As a mother would risk her life to protect her child, her only child, even so should one cultivate a limitless heart with regard to all beings.

With good will for the entire cosmos, cultivate a limitless heart: Above, below, & all around, unobstructed, without hostility or hate.

Whether standing, walking, sitting, or lying down, as long as one is alert, one should be resolved on this mindfulness. This is called a sublime abiding here & now."

3jaysmom

notself: thank you for posting that. i have learned so much from you, most of all Metta. i have followed several of the links you've left me on the buddhist thread. i so feel peace when i comtemplate your teachings. i still struggle with an angry, violent nature that i always have to work at forgiving, before attempting anything further...       Metta,    3jays

flannelette

Notself - (Anatta) Do you mind if I call you Anatta here? You are so right. There is only Metta. thanks for posting that. me, on dial-up, I just don't follow up links. Such a peaceful start to the day. you must be a night-owl!

But, aren't there 3 other sublime abidings? ...metta (loving kindness) , equanimity? joy for others' good fortune and.....? I've forgotten. Pema Chodron is giving a workshop on them at some venue in New York State this spring, I believe. I would so love to go...

molly52

Caerus, I've been using the watercolour pencils for about a year now, and love them.  They also have watercolour crayons which are good for big areas.  Sometimes, I start with a wash or two of watercolour, and then move on to the pencils and crayons.  What fun.  The pleasure for me is in the doing, and sometimes, in the story that comes out.  Often, more accurately tells me how I am feeling.

Maya2 - I haven't tried gouache yet.  It seems like a fun medium.  I did try acrylics, but the off-gas when drying was too much for me.

ananda8

3jaysmom,

It is important to spend time every day wishing metta to yourself before you go on to wishing it to others. 

flanelette,

Here is a link to the Sublime Abidings and how they work together.  It is an essay by an American monk named Thanissaro Bhikkhu.

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/headandheart.html

Of these four emotions, goodwill (metta) is the most fundamental. It's the wish for true happiness, a wish you can direct to yourself or to others. Goodwill was the underlying motivation that led the Buddha to search for awakening and to teach the path to awakening to others after he had found it.

The next two emotions in the list are essentially applications of goodwill. Compassion (karuna) is what goodwill feels when it encounters suffering: It wants the suffering to stop. Empathetic joy (mudita) is what goodwill feels when it encounters happiness: It wants the happiness to continue. Equanimity (upekkha) is a different emotion, in that it acts as an aid to and a check on the other three. When you encounter suffering that you can't stop no matter how hard you try, you need equanimity to avoid creating additional suffering and to channel your energies to areas where you can be of help. In this way, equanimity isn't cold hearted or indifferent. It simply makes your goodwill more focused and effective.....

[Deleted User]

Maya,

Did you paint that GORGEOUS dragon fly in your avatar???  I love the transparency of waterecolor paints, more than the opaque of Gouache, but I found I was so easliy "overworking" my painting - I decided to use the watercolor pencils while I improve my drawing skills.  Really LOVE what you can do with them - especially using OMS ( Gamsol, odorless mineral spirits)  I too tried acryllics - just felt too "heavy" for me.  For real 'looseness' the soft pastels are divine.

Molly - I've used the watercolor paints as an underpainting for both soft pastels, and waterecolor pencils.  I am having such fun learning to mix the various medias.  First time in my life I've had the time to really try to learn this.  Just loving getting older ;-)))  ( I'll be 66 in a few weeks!!!)

THERE IS A BUDDHIST THREAD???????  How have I missed that???  Will have to go look in the forums to find it.

Still loving, loving, loving Lisa's rose.....

socallisa

I really appreciate those who have artistic ability..I did not get that gene, but

my mother did..she is 91 and still doing marvelous pastels, water colors and acryllics

a true Grandma Moses type..

So, those artists please keep it up!!

Here is where I went this weekend...

ananda8

San Diego in the late winter is one of the most lovely cities in America.

I'll bump the Buddhist thread. 

molly52

*

Mazy1959

Lewing, I dont know if anyone posted about the childrens bible but thought I would let you know there is one..Its titled " Doubleday Illustrated Childrens Bible" Author is Sandol Stoddard. It has many nice pictures and is written in story form for kids to understand. My grandson luvs this book and holds it like its made of gold (he is 5 yrs old). I am not an atheist ( I am christian..please dont beat me up for it) but I do come and read here once in awhile. I only posted to give you info. Hugs, Mazy

flannelette

Notself - thanks for your concise "essay" on the 4 abidings - I had studied them before, but you explained them in a more cohesive way, the way they inter relate. Also for that link - and for writing out the Metta words, so I can just read them in the morning.....

WE're having glimpses of spring here in southern Ontario - sun now strong enough that you can sit up against the west wall of the house on a sunny day and not freeze - and some birdsong, like the cardinals, and the countdown to the first robin - usually around March 15. then it snows, or we have the worst blizzard of the winter end March, and we all worry about the poor robins....

A busy day - I gotta go - but Metta to all

Arlene

AnneW

An interesting morning. I have a 21 year old nephew who is intelligent but makes stupid choices. Well, he is just 21. He'll get it. On Facebook this morning I found a post of his about contradictions in the Bible, and it stirred up an immediate discussion, as you know it would.

I was so proud of this kid for speaking his thoughts so eloquently about his belief in science, not a religion, and how he is a good person because of his values, not his faith. It goes on and on. I immediately thought of us here, and how this young man is echoing so much of what WE have said.

I can't wait to see him this summer and have a face-to-face with him!!

konakat

If anyone's interested Day started a Pagan Sisters thread in the Prayers and Spiritual Inspiration. 

AnneW

Will check it out, elizabeth. I'm not a pagan, but I'm always interested in what our sisters are doing and thinking.

[Deleted User]

thanks Elizabeth - going to read it now....

socallisa

I am a non theist...none of the above

[Deleted User]

I read Day's thread, and it reminded me I wanted to find the Buddhist thread - really valuable reading.  So grateful these threads are here - very important to me, while I'm "smelling" Lisa's rose...

socallisa

this is for quiet contemplation

Bren-2007

I'm not a Pagan, but I did read Day's thread and found it interesting.  They have a lot of rituals and I would have a hard time with that.

Someone posted about pantheism awhile back .. and I probably fall into that category more than any other one.

Lisa .. love the vivid pink!

Hope everyone is having a good day,

Bren

Maya2

Better now, after seeing Lisa's contemplative photo. Aaaahhh. Right before bed for me. Good timing.

[Deleted User]

Thank you, Lisa - waterlilies and lotus flowers are my absolute favorites!  Love to watch the process of a lotus blooming, the amazing stages the flower has, and the gorgeous leaf pod that is left after all that beauty.  I know the Tibetan Buddhists emphasize that the lotus needs deep muddy roots to grow all that beauty!  Hope for everyone's healing....

socallisa

I one great thing I have found as I became older is to agree to disagree..

luv_gardening

Confirmation for me that Buddhism already knows what scientists are still discovering.

MANY OF BUDDHISM'S CORE TENETS SIGNIFICANTLY OVERLAP WITH FINDINGS FROM MODERN NEUROLOGY AND NEUROSCIENCE. SO HOW DID BUDDHISM COME CLOSE TO GETTING THE BRAIN RIGHT? 

flannelette

Sheila - by actual experience. That was what the historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, "learned" when he sat under the bodhi-tree until he became enlightened. but so have countless others, only they didn't become the world's great teachers. jesus certainly did. He had the same enlightenment...only most have what he said was so eventually so twisted and distorted we no longer understood what he meant. And there are thousands of others. that experience is open to everyone. i believe it "happened" to Eckhart Tolle. it is an understanding of reality, but not from the conscious learned contents of our brains. it is another kind of understanding, which comes from rediscovering that you have never been disconnedted from the intelligence and love of the universe. and I am convinced it is real. Because I've been close to there there, for only a moment, myself. The Buddha exorted everyone to work out their own salvation with diligence. Buddhsim does not depend on "faith". It strives for individual experience, so you KNOW.  but when formal "religions" get their hands on the truth as provided by learned others - look out! it is turned into scary dogma and used for other purposes.

luv_gardening

Hi, Arlene, 

That's not my question, it's the title of the article in the link. If you click the link you'll see what I mean.

I do believe Jesus was enlightened but his message was misunderstood and twisted to suit the beliefs of the writers. Buddha's message has also been ignored in part as Buddhists are so attached to their rules and rituals which he warned against. I read or listen to the words of enlightened people every day.  Mooji is my favourite but also many others, dead and alive. I also listen to some ordinary enlightened people on a you tube channel called "Buddha at the Gas Pump" and a similar site who's name I've forgotten.  I've also followed the teachings of Esther Hicks for more than ten years.  She doesn't claim enlightenment but does converse with her higher self who she calls Abraham.

I believe there are degrees of enlightenment and many stop when they first feel at one with all, and don't continue the process. 

3jaysmom

thanks, notself, for the reminder. im the one i have to start with.. which im always painfully reminded of!!(not by you) by my stupid reactions to others..    3jays