Yogaville

           I went to Yogaville on Sunday with my mother, and as soon as I got there I was asked to join in the May Pole ceremony. It was really great because it brought back memories from my childhood when I went to the Waldorf School and we did May Pole ceremonies all the time. After the maypole we went down to the Lotus Temple and joined in the twelve o’clock meditation. The Lotus Temple was a great experience; it felt like I was walking into a kingdom. It was really amazing to walk up the stairs and walk into the room and see all of the different religions and the plaques with a saying from each religions holy book. I then did a Thirty-minute meditation of complete silence, I was looking forward to it from what we learned and talked about in class. I did my best to let my thoughts wonder in and out of my head, and see if I could pick anything out. I do not have a lot of familiarity with meditation and it did not help that both of my legs went completely numb.  I felt really relaxed after the meditation, and I could definitely relate to what we learned in class and how anyone must have felt after a meditation. I guess I was looking for an enlightening moment but it never came.

            I then went downstairs and on the first floor and they had a showcase of each spiritual leader and pictures from each culture.  After the meditation my mother and I went up to the top tower and visited the statue of Shiva, which was in a glass room, and priest were the only ones allowed in the room to pray to him. I enjoyed every moment of it and how peaceful it was there. After we left there we went to check out the medicine wheel that my mother helped build out of stone, which is considered the third temple in Yogaville. The only real question raised for me was if all the religions can coincide at Yogaville and they are so open to anyone to come there then why can’t that happen in the world. I was so amazed that Yogaville could be filled with so much love and respect for each other and for all religions.

"The Weeping Demon"

I decided to watch “The Weeping Demon,” and I thought that is was very interested. It started out with a man that was walking in a wasteland, he ran into a creepy man that claimed to be a demon. The land had been destroyed by nuclear attacks and has killed everything, now the only thing growing are huge dandelions. The demon showed the man all of the other demons that are suffering and wanting to die because they are immortals and have to live with what they have done.

            I relate this to Shinto in the act of sin, because humans have destroyed all sacred objects when they decided to drop bombs and kill everything. Also with the demons being cannibals, and committing murder is also against Shinto ethics. The large dandelions were also against nature’s true way, and Shinto says that everything is spiritual and therefore there is continuity between humanity, nature, and the spirits/gods, But in this clip by Kurosawa, there is obviously no continuity.

The Tao of Pooh!!

          I think that The Tao of Pooh was an amazing book, and how it incorporated all of the characters of Winnie the Pooh. Benjamin Hoff made some good points on the western thinking. Hoff said, “Its seems rather odd, that Taoism, the way of the Whole Man, the True Man, the Spirit Man (to use a few Taoist terms), is for the most part interpreted here in the west by the Scholarly Owl, by the Brain, the Academician, the dry-as-dust absentminded professor.” (Hoff 25) I liked this because it basically talks about how the west has a one-minded track and we put things in categories and compartments, and were always trying to solve things. Hoff also talked about how Westerners try too hard and how animals in the forest don’t try, they just do, and we have declared ourselves The Superior Animal. Pooh said “If people are superior animals, then why don’t they take better care of the world.” (Hoff 77) Although Hoff for the most part is right about Western society, I feel like he is a little hard on Westerners. Hoff talked about how Westerners have a hamburger stand, China has a tea stand and France has a café. Those places are places of peace, respect, family, and you are important and the hamburger stand is all about you are not important “eat and get out.” He’s kind of pulling all the bad stuff about westerners and comparing it to eastern culture. He also compared Taoism to the “Confusionist scholar who studies knowledge for the sake of knowledge, and who keeps what he learns to himself or to his own small group, and does not work for the enlightenment of other.” (Hoff 26) I think that Hoff was right on with the thought of America as a culture of Busy Backsons. He talks about how we are constantly doing things, never stopping and destroying nature. “When he talks about how we work to work, work when we exercise, and work when we play.” (Hoff 95) We never have anytime for ourselves, and we have all of these devices to save us time but we end up losing more time then saving. I can agree on how Taoism is a solution to the American problem and its people. Taoism is one with nature, and reverting to a child like mind set, erasing all of the little things that have been drilled into our head through our life time.

Buddhism Blog 2

http://www.expandedpathways.com/images/email_images/monks_roller_coaster.jpg


        

The stereotype in this image is that monks do not have fun and they are always meditating, very calm, and are homeless wanderers begging for money and food. I feel like this is a really big stereotype and a lot of people feel that a monk’s life is very simple. Just meditating, drinking tea, and eating one bowl of rice a day. But in this picture it shows Monks having a great time on a roller coaster, and obviously going out and enjoying the many wonders in the world.  I think that this picture is a very positive stereotype in showing that they do have fun and go out and experience the world, and are not just cooped up in their monasteries. Warner said that, "it certainly flies in the face of the usual image of the serene monk sitting in his mountain temple and dispensing cosmic wisdom. But of course that image is complete crap anyways." (Warner Pg.11) 
       I definitely think that this helps with this stereotype just letting us know that it does not exist or is rarely seen. "In these days Buddhist monks don’t beg or even live on donations to their temples, but support themselves by running funerals.” (Warner Pg.12) I think what Warner talks about in his book is very well rounded, he looks at all aspects and is not scared to say anything that is on his mind.  He is very open-minded but I also felt that he kind of talked down on some of the other religions, when Warner said, “I saw through the bullshit handed out by the church I went to pretty fast,” and “the Hare Krishnas had nice songs and delicious foods, but the more I looked into it the stupider it sounded.” (Warner Pg. 4) All in all I think that Warner reinforces the stereotype. I really enjoyed this book and he had a lot of great points to share.

Blog 2

1. Birdman, "Money to Blow," Rap 2009
2. Soulja Boy "Successful" Rap 2010
3. Pink Floyd "Money" Rock 1973
4. Lupe Fiasco " Superstar" Rap 2008
5. Trey songz "Successful" R&B 2009

1. 2Pac "Thugz Mansion" Rap 2002
2. Bryan Adams "Heaven" Rock 1993
3. Toby Keith "If I was Jesus" Country 2003
4. Outkast "Liberation" Hip Hop 1998  (Explicit)
5. The Notorious B.I.G "Sky is the Limit" Hip Hop 1997 (Explicit)




         Once again the worldly success was a lot easier to find then Liberation. I think it is easy to write songs about getting rich, the drugs and the women. I found that worldly success was mostly in rap songs than any other genre of music. I was very surprised at how difficult it was to find songs on liberation, I'm not even sure if I got the right songs for liberation. I think that American pop does not have the wholesomeness about money, wealth, fame and power as the Hindu outlook does. I think that Hinduism is very different when compared to American pop. 

Dave Matthews Band- Jimi Thing

1) Dave Matthews Band "Jimi Thing" Rock and'Roll 1994

2) Al Green "Love and happiness" R&b/soul 1975  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfWPDGWP568

3) Kings of Leon "Sex on Fire" Alternative 2008  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RF0HhrwIwp0

4) lil Kim "Magic Stick" Rap 2003  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74J_R9Bifj8

5) Josh Turner "Just To Be Your Man" Country 2009 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nADTbWQof7Y

1) Micheal Jackson "Heal the World" Pop 1991 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWf-eARnf6U
2) Beatles "With a little help from my Friends" Rock and'Roll 1967 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBDF04fQKtQ
3) Ben Harper "With My Own Two Hands" Rock and'Roll Pop 2003
4) Blaxy Girls "Save the World" Pop 2009http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NMjYH-Olq8
5) R.E.M "Everybody Hurts"Rock  1994 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijZRCIrTgQc


         I definitely felt that the Pleasure Aim was a lot easier to find songs about, majority songs are about pleasure. I just feel that most people write songs about there pleasures and it makes it a lot easier to express your feelings. I was very surprised on how hard it was to find songs on community service, I hope that I got the right songs for Duty and Community Service. I really enjoyed finding songs and listening to them and hearing what they had to say. For the Pleasure and Duty Aims, I felt that they differed from American pop music, because American pop does not seek out pleasure intelligently and it is very ruthless in getting what you want and not being respectful.