Thai Forest Tradition

(Raw fucking tomorrow, at the latest...)

URGENT House Renovation Campaign - Venmo...

...Or donations can be mailed to:  WILLIAM R WAY PO BOX 206 STONYFORD CA 95979

Psyched Up For 2017

Buddhist bare-knuckle fighting.

Quotidian

So it's Winter in a remote rural area. I have little money, and as I've mentioned there are few opportunites for employment... So what do I do with myself besides firewood, housecleaning and cooking? Well, I'm brushing up on my Spanish- and Japanese-language skills, learning smatterings of Arabic and Chinese, and finding success in maths with this series from LearningExpress.

I'm finding the learning process smoother and much more enjoyable than I did during high school...

William Way/Hollow Man Christmas Campaign

Drop The Meth, General Zod...

Life changes:  tweeting, driving, using firearms, learning self-defense, eradicating my personal debt, and saving money...

William Way/Hollow Man Christmas Campaign

Mendocino National Forest, October 2016

Nature Boy

There was a boy
A very strange enchanted boy
They say he wandered very far, very far
Over land and sea
A little shy and sad of eye
But very wise was he

And then one day
A magic day he passed my way
And while we spoke of many things
Fools and kings
This he said to me
The greatest thing you'll ever learn
Is just to love and be loved in return

The greatest thing you'll ever learn
Is just to love and be loved in return

- Nat King Cole

On The Role of Fear

"Now, fear is not always an unskillful emotion. I've had many psychotherapists talk to me about this. They're curious about the fact that when the Buddha lists the roots of unskillful behavior, there's greed, aversion, delusion - or passion, aversion, and delusion. Where's the fear? For so many of them, fear is *the* unskillful emotion. Well, that’s not necessarily the case. Actually, there are some good things to be afraid of.

"Be afraid that you're going to do things unskillfully, be afraid you’re going to act in harmful ways. Be afraid of wasting your time –- the time that could be devoted to developing the mind. Those kinds of fears come under what the Buddha calls ottappa -- compunction or fear of wrong-doing. There's also the fear that comes with heedfulness: realizing that there are dangers out there and dangers in your own mind, and you've got to do something about them.

"So fear isn't always unskillful. It's when the fear gets mixed up with the greed or aversion or delusion: that's when you got a problem." - Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Nurturing Your Inner Adult"

To paraphrase Pema Chodron, to feel fear means you are approaching the truth.  (Not always true, but usually.)

She's also said that "Everything you want is on the other side of fear."  I think that was her -- I don't feel like looking it up.  But again, often true.

Thanissaro Bhikkhu

Great resources from a great teacher -- food for thought (and of course, non-thought) on your path to enlightenment.

The Enemy Within

The external enemy can be deadly, but the enemy within is even more dangerous.

Reversal of Fortune

I'll do what I can to effect this.  If we ignore the money, what I've left is a social life in which I've earned a lot of respect and love and kindness.  Earned, from people who are naturally respectful and loving and kind.
Anyway, I'm very happy with my lot, and it's enviable, if you don't mind going without...

Tough Teachings To Ease The Mind

"You can’t go preventing pleasure and pain, you can’t keep the mind from labeling things and forming thoughts, but you can put these things to a new use. If the mind labels a pain, saying, “I hurt,” you have to examine the label carefully, contemplate it until you see that it’s wrong: the pain isn’t really yours. It’s simply a sensation that arises and passes away, that’s all." - Upasika Kee Nanayon

The Thirteenth Step

Drinking, smoking and drugging cover a multitude of virtues -- a valid and proven survival technique for those of us standing on the threshold of nirvana and turning back to help others reach the same goal.

Still, I've cut the drinking back to a pint a week; I'm no Chögyam Trungpa.  I've stopped partying for now, even though methamphetamine has time and again saved my life, and led to much insight and wisdom; I don't need that stuff any more to induce visions or hear voices.  The next project:  cutting back on or quitting the nicotine.  That last one is going to prove rather difficult, but I need to live as long as possible (as long as life is worth living...)

I've Braved 10,000 Hells To Bring This To You, Grasshopper

Basics for survival, sanity and enlightenment.  Read these stories and take them to heart.

The Inferior Sex

I've been accused of objectifying men, which is ridiculous:  Men love to be objectified.

I've been accused of manipulating men to my own aims, which is ridiculous:  Men are for better or worse ruled by their cocks, and so am I.

If you're interested in a date, I like them rough, nasty, no-necked, tattooed, and possessing fucked-up teeth.

But truth be told, I like all men, I don't care how much of an asshole, douche bag or troglodyte you are.  All comers are welcome.  I can't wait to pull off my Penelope act...

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

"The time is always right to do the right thing."

It's Time To Play The Music...

Why I Blog

"Practice any art, music, singing, dancing, acting, drawing, painting, sculpting, poetry, fiction, essays, reportage, no matter how well or badly, not to get money and fame, but to experience becoming, to find out what's inside you, to make your soul grow." - Kurt Vonnegut

Ping

I guess it's getting close to that time...

You Know What You Have...

...When you suddenly find out you were wrong about everything?  A good start -- a better start than most people have.  Pat yourself on the back, and carry on.

The Future Is An Open Plain

Janet sat in the lotus position at the base of the acacia tree.  Mara's army was relentless.  It raged, it cajoled.  Among the many lies it told her, a precious few truths sparkled like dewdrops in the dawn light.  The army assailed her night and day.  It teased at her desires, filling her at turns with yearning and revulsion.  For three days and three nights she endured voices that spoke over her and through her, voices that issued death threats and insults, or that tried to tempt her with promises of wealth beyond imagining.  Once, General Mara himself came before her arrayed in a cunning disguise -- that of true love.

He was seductive, but in the end he wafted away on the East wind.  Janet remained silent and unmoved.

Following the three days and three nights, Janet, still in the lotus position, spoke her first words in reply to the onslaught:  a few whispers of gratitude to the worlds of the living and the dead, and of compassion for all beings.  She then fell into a heavenly slumber, her dreams populated by singing birds and honest friends and flowers that swayed to sutras threaded in the breeze.  She felt as though she anchored the world and it pivoted around her.  She could see all the faces on Mount Sumeru; they looked content and serene, their inner fires harmonious with their Buddha smiles.

Janet has dreamed continuously ever since, and it is this dream in which we all live and die and are reborn, over and over again.  Namo amida butsu.