http://www.youtube.com/user/culturedmonk1

my handle: << culturedmonk1 >>

check it out for some poops and giggles   basically, its my amateur attempt at humor, mixed in of course with some serious stuff.  Hope all is well with my visitors!  And will be writing a new entry here shortly regarding what I’ve been up to the past couple of months.

Ciao Ciao !!

Hello World. Looks like my last blog entry was in February… hmmm, yes. Well, I’ve had a lot going on the past few months I guess I shall recap here a few of the things that have gone on over the past few months. But, first we should all take not of the Title of this post. “Blogging is not rocket science”… so the Wudman told me. I agree but I tend to over-analyze most things in general. The point being I’ve been putting too much thought into what I should write on here and how I should write it. Spontaneity is also certainly not one of my strengths. I’m also going to try to tone down the theme and intention of my blog and make it not so philosophical, although eastern philosophy is not really philosophy, to be accurate. I.E. Philosophy (the passion for wisdom) consists of logic (the maintaining of truth) and Eastern “Philosophy” or as I prefer “Spirituality” has very little to do with logic. Logic comes from thought. And Spiritual truths i.e. “The Answers” come from doing the opposite of thinking which is… doing nothing at all, not thinking, simply being.But I am so digressing!

Well, in April I finally got to attend one of E.T.’s lecture’s. It was awesome. But I wish I was in a little better mental condition so I could have gotten more out of it. “No one ever solved anything through worrying. Worrying itself is the problem” and “Trust in God, be okay with not knowing” are two of the more memorable things he said. But most of the time I was just spacing out and thinking about my problems. Ha! I think that last thing I said was a little paradoxical. I did not take any pictures. I wish I would have. But sometimes I prefer not to take pictures.It can be a a bad habit.  Pictures are a way of honoring the past, when the only thing that is honorable is this moment.  Well, I did love seeing Eckhart. I think maybe I’ll go again in a couple years or something… I dunno. maybe.

And… My birthday was last week, I’m now 27. And I can see 30 on the horizon now. But, that doesn’t bother me. And this probably does not interest you. But something funny did happen wich I would like to share…

So, I just received in the mail one of my presents that my dad got me. It’s an Offspring shirt. yeah, ok well… When he ordered he only saw the front side. He thought it looked cool. But, what he did not know was that it had a little something on the backside

and now for the back…..

“Oh My God, Calvin. I didn’t know it said that.” – Dad

And anything else??   Yes, there is something else.  Yesterday I started smoking again for the first time since last year       ….. or maybe even    And, ironically the doc put me on an anti-depressant that was originally made to help people quit smoking – Zyban.  But as an anti-depressant it’s called Bupropion or Wellbutrin.  And I’ve been on this drug for over a month.  hmmm,  I guess I’ll quit smoking when I’m dead.

See ya next time friends!

C J T

I recently read Jon Krakauer’s “Into the Wild”. I think this Chris McCandless (Alexander Supertramp) was a very fascinating character.  I could really relate to him and his views of the World.  If I wasn’t held back by so much fear I would like to do what he did and wander around the country for a couple years.  I doubt I would want to do the whole Alaska thing but being in solitude in the wilderness for several months does sound nice. Human interactions seem too damn stressful than they are therapeutic.  Anyways, the movie was excellent.  It stars one of my favorite actors, Emile Hirsch.  And, the book is even better than the movie.  Christopher McCandless was a big fan of Tolstoy and Thoreau.  And there were also some other very interesting authors mentioned in the book “Into the Wild”.  One in particular was a guy named Anthony Storr.  I purchased his book, “Solitude:  A Return to the Self”  Storr says that solitary activity is not only essential for geniuses, but the average person, too, is enriched by spending time alone.

Well, on April 9th of this year I fly out to California to attend a live recording of Eckhart Tolle TV in San Francisco.  It’s a two day event and I fly back home on the 12th.  Eckhart Tolle TV is a subscription based web broadcast where Eckhart answers questions from the audience.  (You can check it out at http://www.eckharttolletv.com ) I wish I had planned to stay in San Francisco a little longer than 3 nights.  I like the West Coast and could probably find some other neat things to do out there.

And um, ehhhh, guess that’s all for now, can’t think of anything else…

Bye!

Before the World, there was nothingness. This nothingness – consciousness – was ignorant of its own self. That is, consciousness not knowing what consciousness was. Out of this ignorance came fear. Out of fear came the world and all things manifest. Now the point of life is to return to that primordial state – the state of bliss. That state can only be reached through meditation – slowing down one’s thinking. Through meditation we make the shift from thinking to being. Thus, the cycle of life goes like this: Nothing + Ignorance = Fear = The World (mind) = No Ignorance of Nothingness = Nirvana Now then, why do lives keep coming and going? The answer is simple. There is an infinite amount of nothingness – no thing is forever. Suffering (life) won’t end until all human beings are enlightened. This will jam the karmic waves between us and the animal realm, spreading peace throughout the World. And this will lead to the disappearance of the Universe.

a picture is worth a thousand words

Eckhart Tolle