SFTS Lodge Friday Conversation – 1/31/10

(Based on the Minutes of the 1-29-10 SFTS Lodge Friday Night Meeting)

Over the years, one of the most enriching features of our Friday night conversations has been Prof. Jeff Curtis’ ongoing narrative on developments from the frontiers of science.

On 1-29-10, Jeff re-visited the basics of quantum physics, got us caught up with some interesting articles published recently, and then played a 20 minute video on the work of the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research (PEAR) lab.

The lab was established by Dr. Robert John, a rocket scientist at Princeton, after after an undergraduate’s  independent study on psychokinesis yielded some intriguing results.  PEAR was shut down after over 25 years of research.

Jeff brought a random event generator (REG) globe with him. The REG globe is sold by a small company that started up after the lab closed down. A Google search on REG conducted for this post come up with Mind Lamp as one source of information for such a  product.

We named our little friend, Subhuti.

Nyogen Senzaki’s Prayer

(Excerpted from Like A Dream, Like A Fantasy, Japan Publication, Inc., 1978)

Dharmakaya is the Buddha’s holy body.  It is the everlasting sea of noumena. It is the eternal reality of the universe.  From this transcendent point of view,  there is no coming of the Buddha, and so there is no going of the Buddha. Yet in the endless sea of phenomena arise the waves of charity and loving-kindness, to enlighten the ignorance of all fellow beings.  The eternal reality reveals its loving-kindness in the manifestation of the waves of phenomena. Thus, there is coming of Buddha, and so there is going of Buddha, from the phenomenal viewpoint of life.

My first prayer is to make myself a mirror of Dharmakaya, and reflect the whole world and the beings therein …

My last prayer is that the everlasting waves will carry us all to emancipation, so that we may enter the flowery door of Buddhahood. My adoration is for the knowledge of all Buddhas, and I will devote my life to enlighten myself and have others enlightened.

NOTE: Sensaki was a dear friend and mentor to two members of the SFTS Lodge, Samuel Lewis and Agnes Kast. His teacher Soyen Shaku was one of the first Zen teachers to come to the United States. Senzsaki’s dharma brother was the renown D.T. Suzuki. Soyen Shaku said that Suzuki’s mission was to become famous and influence the course of Western culture, and that Senzaki’s mission was to live the simple life of a monk, and be like a seed planted in the earth.

1-1-10 NO MEETING (Happy New Year!)

1-8-2010 Conversations in Theosophy

1-15-2010  Joe Miller
(Video Presentation)

1-22-2010  True North on the Pathless Path
Richard Power

1-29-2010  More Developments in Quantum Theory and the Nature of Consciousness
Jeff Curtis

2-05-2010 Hui-Neng & Shen Hsiu: Dust or no dust? That is the question
Jan Black

2-12-2010 The Divine Matrix
J.R. Collier

2-19-2010 The Hidden Word in Poetry
Dan Brady

2-26-2010 Conversations in Theosophy
(Annie Besant’s Introduction to Science of Peace)

POETRY: The SFTS Lodge’s Poetry Gathering is an informal, monthly group meeting from 6 pm to 7 pm, and will be held on 1/15/10, 2/12/10 and 3/12/10.  Bring your poetry and your  voice.

LENTEN MEDITATION: The Lodge’s ongoing Lenten practice will continue this year, starting Ash Wednesday, 2-17-10 through Good Friday, 4-2-10. We will be reading aloud the Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation on Ash Wednesday at 6:30 am, and then subsequently on Fridays only at 6:30 a.m. up to and through Good Friday. We will be reading aloud the Diamond Sutra on Friday evenings, at 6:30 p.m., up to and through Good Friday, 4-02-10.
We invite you to join us for this deep meditative experience, and encourage you to read these powerful Sutras aloud in your own space during the other days of the week throughout the Lenten season.

“One picture is worth a thousand words,” or so the saying goes.

There are over five hundred pictures (and counting) in this collection, but they are worth more than almost five hundred thousand words.

Indeed, their worth is beyond what can be expressed in words — however many are used, and however well they are chosen.

These photos capture love revealing itself to itself over and over again, in innumerable forms and incalculable ways.

Over time, we may add captions and organize by themes or chronology, but for now we are offering them up randomly. (This way, you will be surprised and confronted.)

You will find images of Joe and Guin, and their many friends, on the “Walk” in Golden Gate Park, at the SFTS Lodge, and elsewhere.

If you spent time with Joe and Guin, you will probably see yourself or some of those you will remember.

The faces of hundreds of people who loved Joe and Guin are included here, there are hundreds more we don’t have images of — yet.

To view the full gallery, download the images, print them out or e-mail them to friends, click here.

If you click on one of the thumbnails, you will get a light-box with the full-sized image.