Tales of Ordinary Madness

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

This video moved me in a way I can’t explain. It’s so easy to be us versus them, but so easy to forget it when you see people together sharing the same silly experience.

http://www.wgrz.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=44744

At Steve’s Wonderful World of Pets in Williamsville, owner Steve Lane is selling tattooed fish for the first time. Some have polka dots, some have stripes and others even have pink hearts.

The fish are imported from Singapore. Lane believes they have to be restrained and then tattooed with a tattoo gun.

This whole practice makes me ill. I thought I had a lot to say about it — but I really don’t. I would just encourage everyone to boycott any store that you see is selling these tortured fish. We can only stop this practice by voicing our disgust with our dollars.

I used to practice with my Sanghavery regularly. I would regularly attend Tuesday night sittings and wouldn’t miss an opportunity to attend the twice yearly retreats.

And then something happened….

Part of what happened was the Sangha moved to a new home. The home they found puts them in a part of town that is far from convenient for me, it’s very difficult for me to get from work to sitting in a reasonable time, especially if I have any thoughts of eating dinner beforehand.

Part of what happened was that I allowed myself to get too busy. I’ve started back to school, working on my Masters, I’ve become a father, and we bought a house — all within the last year. Balancing this all with a job that often requires more than 40 hours a week is difficult.

Lately, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the practice and how much I feel I benefited from it. I’ve also been reading “The Art of Power by Thich Nhat Hahn” which has me longing again for the practice and for my Sangha.

Unfortunately, my schedule in the near future doesn’t look like it will allow.

What is a busy Buddhist to do?

The below link is to a video I created. I found it quite amusing, hopefully you will to.

[flv:http://chris.teodorski.com/LordofTheDance.flv 400 300]

Power is good for one thing only: to increase our happiness and the happiness of others.

A wonderful quote from my teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh. I’ve been thinking about this quote a lot, wondering how I can apply this in my life and in my work.