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and dignity of a conversation today no one i know would say i should have thought except perhaps ironically or in a role playing context the phrase would come across as a pretentious affectation but might there not be other ways by which the space distance and tone once created by that turn of phrase could be re imagined if only as a welcome alternative to the rude interruptions and abrupt dismissals the in your face confrontations and the unnecessary misunderstandings that afflict contemporary american discourse i should have thought so posted in 1 tagged adel books education fiction leeds life norman fischer writing zen leave a comment a peaceable heart 19 november 2025 by ben howard like the word silly which once meant innocent the silly sheep but now means foolish frivolous lacking in common sense the word contention has a distinctive history derived from the latin contentio it once meant striving struggle competition but sometime in the sixteenth century contention came to mean disagreement argument fighting unlike silly contention has retained its earlier meaning but today it most often conjures scenes of conflict dysfunction and disharmony or at its most extreme mortal combat a contentious person is someone inclined to instigate division discord and outright feuding and in the worst case incite violent action in its healthiest manifestation contention is fair minded competition physical or intellectual the bills and the chiefs contend for victory on the playing field olympians contend for the gold nations contend in an open if regulated market but in its unhealthiest forms contention is first and last a ruthless power struggle fairness goes by the board as do such norms as lawfulness decency and respect oxford debaters contend but unless they are prepared to be disqualified they adhere to established rules but contending parties in an ungoverned dispute may simply fight to the bitter end verbally or physically with no holds barred all that matters is winning or being in the right or both contention is often understood to be an existing condition akin to the temperature of a room or the quality of the air likewise a propensity toward contention is commonly viewed as an aspect of temperament a trait of personality more likely to harshen than mellow with age but from the standpoint of zen practice contentiousness is a mental and emotional capacity susceptible to changing conditions with sufficient self awareness we can choose at any time to nourish or actively neglect it at the same time we can also cultivate a peaceable heart a heart inclined toward peace toward that end classic zen teachings offer a practice known as the four great efforts an aspect of the noble eightfold path practitioners are encouraged to water the seeds of such wholesome states of mind as mindfulness patience kindness and wisdom as distinguished from such unwholesome states as greed hatred and vindictiveness the first effort is to cultivate wholesome states that have already arisen the second is to nourish wholesome states that have yet to arise the third is to allow unwholesome states that have already arisen to languish and the fourth is to do the same with unwholesome states that have yet to arise these efforts are to be conducted methodically their aim being the perfection of character in monastic settings the practice of the four great efforts may include the recitation of vows and the contemplation of such virtues as patience kindness and compassion for lay practitioners it may be enough to regularly stop whatever one is doing and check one s heart for currents of aversion bringing contemplative attention to such currents can lessen their destructive power and forestall future harm robert thurman an emeritus professor of indo european buddhist studies at columbia university once noted that throughout our everyday lives we are feeding one state of mind or another we may be doing so habitually and unconsciously with neither a beneficent nor malevolent intent but whether we are listening to a quiet contemplative piece of music or watching a violent blood drenched action film we are directing our attention to a particular object we are engaging as it were in a form of meditation in the first instance the mental state being fueled is one of tranquility harmony and accord in the second it is one of destructive ego driven action but whatever our present state of mind may be for good or ill we are at once sustaining and strengthening it in an old jewish story a man is strolling along a sandy beach when a bottle floats by out pops a genie who invites the man to make a wish without hesitation he blurts out world peace oh i m sorry replies the genie a lot of people ask for that but i m afraid it s out of the question please make another wish not everyone would agree with that genie in the views of such prominent peace advocates as desmond tutu dr martin luther king jr thomas merton and the ven thich nhat hanh peace between peoples and nations is an attainable if distant objective but as thich nhat hanh often reminded ardent pacifists back in the 1970s any serious effort toward peace must begin with ourselves at any moment we can examine the presence of contentiousness in our hearts and minds and if we so choose deprive it of favorable conditions we can practice what the dalai lama has called inner disarmament even as we tend a peaceable heart image fred easker mississippi meditation posted in 1 tagged buddhism meditation mindfulness philosophy spirituality leave a comment the practice of veneration 22 october 2025 by ben howard in the closing line of his poem sandstone keepsake the irish poet and nobel laureate seamus heaney describes himself as one of the venerators that line is striking not only because the verb venerate has largely disappeared from everyday discourse but also because the spirit of veneration itself like water in certain parts of the world is becoming as scarce as it is precious veneration derives from the latin root veneratio which means reverence or profound respect in his poem which was written during the troubles heaney depicts himself wading on a beach on the inishowen peninsula at the border between the irish republic and northern ireland there he finds a chalky russet chunk of sandstone which he subsequently likens to the long venerated heart of a 13 th century martyr and he portrays himself as a humble countryman out for an evening walk and no threat to the wary british authorities of northern ireland who may well be watching him with binoculars humility is an essential component of veneration it can be expressed physically through the acts of bowing kneeling or prostration no less important than these outer forms however is a mental attitude of selfless regard in zen parlance this attitude is sometimes described as lowering the mast of the self often it is accompanied by silence stillness and a profound sense of gratitude in formal religion the objects of veneration have most often been spiritual leaders saints martyrs texts statues and sites regarded as sacred a short list might include the cross the shroud of turin the torah the koran bodh gaya mecca and bethlehem informally however those unaffiliated with organized religion can elect to venerate an art such as painting sculpture or poetry an institution such as higher education medicine or law a trade vocation or profession the wild natural world blood or spiritual ancestors or not least the person or persons standing before them in traditional asian cultures an attitude of veneration may be expressed by pressing the palms of one s two hands together and making a nod or bow more subtly it can be expressed by offering a friend a gift with both hands in the zen monastic tradition a sense of veneration extends to the familiar objects of everyday life such as one s cushion eating bowls garments and utensils beyond that it also encompasses such tasks as cooking cleaning gardening and temple maintenance and in japanese zen it is closely associated with two specific practices the first of those practices is known as ma which roughly translates as giving an object appropriate space whether the activity be the tea ceremony flower arranging calligraphy or one of the martial arts this principle enjoins the practitioner to honor both the objects of attention and the space around them in his notebooks the writer and zen practitioner peter matthiessen spoke of the fierce cleanliness of dai bosatsu zendo the monastery where he learned the practice of zen having trained there myself and having washed its windows vacuumed its tatami mats and washed its floors by assuming a deep crouch and running down its tasmanian oak floors with a wet cloth i can attest to the cleanliness of its interiors but equally important were the austerity and minimalism of its décor the objects to be dusted and meticulously arranged were few and far between and the spaces between them felt as present as the objects themselves both their presence and the space between them embodied the way of ma as the conscientious if temporary steward of those objects i learned to embody the second principle of veneration known in zen as menmitsu no kafu derived from roots meaning interwoven and family menmitsu refers to a warm wholehearted and intimate quality of attention to the objects in one s care however humble or precious those objects are to be treated with what is sometimes called grandmother mind as though they were members of one s family whether the items in question be the three bowls used in oryoki formal zen meals the towels folded and placed on the beds of incoming guests the exact woodpecker like striking of the han wooden block to initiate a sitting or the placement of one s hands when engaged in zazen seated meditation the way of menmitsu may be understood as a form of kinetic daily veneration john daido loori roshi an american zen master once noted that it was impossible to bow in gratitude and complain at the same time analogously it is difficult if not impossible to nurture the spirit of veneration while in pursuit of riches importance power and conquest the two sets of values are incompatible but even at a time when our cultural ethos has sharply veered toward the latter way of being it is still possible to become like seamus heaney one of the venerators at any given moment it is still possible to choose to read the full text of sandstone keepsake see https voetica com poem 7555 photo dai bosatsu zendo posted in 1 tagged buddhism ma menmitsu philosophy religion spirituality veneration leave a comment decent ordinary life 8 july 2025 by ben howard if you follow the national and international news you may be forgiven for concluding that current political economic and military developments are the most important things in this turning world next to them the ordinary activities of daily life may seem slight undramatic and banal but two paintings both of them focused on everyday life suggest otherwise johannes vermeer s a view of delft c 1660 1663 is by common consensus a great work of art when marcel proust author of remembrance of things past viewed the painting in a museum in the hague he pronounced it the most beautiful painting in the world over the past two centuries the collective estimate of art critics and historians has not been far behind a view of delft is a cityscape the painting portrays the city of delft holland as seen from a southeastern perspective from the position of the sun it is evident that the time is early morning in the foreground is the harbor normally a bustling venue but at this hour it is nearly empty with only a stationary barge two herring boats and a few sailing vessels occupying its waters in the middle distance the walls of the city s brownstone and brick buildings are darkened by shadows its famous gates and fortifications one of delft s distinctive features are also enshadowed their rough textures rendered by dots of paint higher up however the morning sunlight bathes the city s roofs and steeples most striking is the white spire of nieuwe kirk where vermeer was baptized a spiritual center of a thriving commercial city above the city are scudding clouds as the critic karl schutz has noted a view of delft for all its masterly illusionism has the feeling of a snapshot unlike a tranquil pastoral landscape such as john constable might have painted vermeer s picture conveys a sense of activity frozen in time an illusion created in part by the momentary ripples in the waters of the harbor and though the painting possesses a serenity of its own it is that of normal everyday life that effect is further enhanced by the presence of human figures in the immediate foreground near the water on the left two well dressed burghers accompanied by two women are waiting for the barge not far away two women in peasant attire are engaged in conversation i have a reproduction of a view of delft in my study and whenever i stop to look at it i am drawn to the image of those men and women and the activity they represent casual human interaction unhindered by the currents of political and social conflict james mcintosh patrick s the tay bridge from my studio window 1948 conveys a similar impression mcintosh patrick s paintings are well known in his native scotland and this picture is his most iconic work set in the city of dundee where mcintosh patrick lived and worked it balances a sense of intimacy against a panoramic vista it s late afternoon long parallel shadows thrown by a wrought iron fence traverse the lawn in the foreground at the gate of the fence stands the painter s wife who is returning from her errands on the street a cyclist identified as the artist s son is pedaling past a greengrocer making deliveries in his horse drawn cart has momentarily paused his horse stands still on the sidewalk on the far side of the street a man is walking his dogs and a mother is pushing a stroller beyond them lies a wide sward known as magdalen green above it the tay railway bridge winds like a serpent above the tay estuary where a cargo ship is making its slow passage across the water two locomotives pulling trains send white plumes of smoke into the overcast sky as the essayist chris arthur has observed mcintosh patrick s painting creates a compelling illusion of arrested activity in arthur s words the picture leaves a strong impression of capturing a moment the figures and objects in motion in the painting particularly the cyclist the dog walker the cargo ship and the steaming locomotives though captive in paint are replete with a sense of movement mcintosh patrick s art emphasizes the interruption of a flow that it does but like a view of delft it also honors the beauty waiting to be discovered in daily activities and common things it is no accident that i also have a framed reproduction of mcintosh patrick s painting on my wall where it quietly reminds me of the dignity of everyday life t...