View allAll Photos Tagged nochoice
With a lovely sunny day and rain coming on the weekend, we really had no choice but to get outside today. There was also no choice about eliminating unwanted shadows for this particular view. That said, I still liked the way the trees and branches curved in over the viewpoint and thought it was worth taking a shot.
Sad to say, I am still undecided. Since I am not impressed with any of our choices, I'm considering writing in Eduardo. At least he's got a cool belt buckle.
.... must turn left, or maybe not!!
Our Daily Challenge ~ Choices ...
Stay Safe and Healthy Everyone!
Thanks to everyone who views this photo, adds a note, leaves a comment and of course BIG thanks to anyone who chooses to favourite my photo .... Thanks to you all!
magneticpic.posterous.com/911-9-years-later
Anti- Abortionist leader prays kneeled to the ground in front of a poster of a dismembered fetus
Yesterday morning the little Coyote I've been watching made a kill. I had just arrived at the dogtown. The snow has all melted over the past week and mild temperatures have returned, so the prairie dogs are active again. Ahead of me and to my right, I noticed Coyote crouching. As I slowed down my car, she suddenly shot forward, like a bullet, charging perhaps 100 ft; the prairie dog had strayed too far from its burrow and couldn't escape. This is the first frame I shot. A very good day for Coyote, a very bad day for Prairie Dog.
It's difficult not to empathize with the prey here, and in fact I do, but I was happy to see that this young coyote is learning quickly and being rewarded for her efforts. Coyote has no choice; this is how she lives. Prairie Dog has no choice; this is how most of them die. Predators keep things in balance. A few weeks ago I saw a golden eagle with a prairie dog in a different dogtown, and badgers also take their share. It's a commonplace prairie drama that I just happened to witness.
Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan. Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission © 2017 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
The future planned by the Banking System is without notes and coins. The Banks are working towards a cashless community.
Photo: Lon Casler Bixby
Web: www.whileyouweresleeping.photography/
Date: October, 2015
Location: My Studio, Burbank, CA
Medium: Canon Digital
Print Size: Various
Limited Edition: Yes
Copyright - All Rights Reserved
On our travels my wife and I will take a walk around the town or city that we are visiting. We love to walk around the residential and downtown areas. I snapped a photo of this sign and would love to hear the story behind it
The sign reads: We did not choose to live by a crematory. Marnoff, Shultz and Shaw decided for us.
Photographed in Jordan Minnesota
July 7th 2019
heavenly widened roses
seem to whisper to me
when you smile...
thank you pink sherbet & jaiel for the textures!
though you have nochoice, waiting does pay off. after many cloudy days..we finally had a beautiful weekend. soaked in the rays.
The rock ABOVE the shrine that looks like a vulture; upper right, facing left.
THIS ROCK IS NOT BELOW THE SHRINE, BUT, RATHER, ON THE ROCK SPIRE COVERED WITH PRAYER FLAGS BETWEEN THE PATH UP AND THE SHRINE, I.E. YOU SEE THE ROCK SPIRE BEFORE WALKING UP AND CLOCKWISE AROUND IT TO THE SHRINE.
Vulture peak clarification:
www.flickr.com/photos/wonderlane/4244061036/
www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2D8epuXla8&feature=related
The shrine at Vulture Peak (Grdhrakuta) is located at the top of this hill - shown in the next image in this photostream
www.flickr.com/photos/wonderlane/3678731097/
Vulture Peak is in Rajgir, northern Inda. It is where the Buddha inspired Avalokiteshvara to give the Prajna Paramita Hridaya Sutram requested by Sariputra.
During the Buddha's time, under the patronage of the Rajgir King, there were many monasteries and tens of thousands of monks. The Buddha spent many years here bringing beings to bodhi.
The rock just below the shrine that looks like a vulture; upper right, facing left.
prajnaparamita hridaya sutra-perfect wisdom heart sutra
aryavalokitesvaro bodhisattvo
(Avalokateshvara bodhisattva)
gambhiram prajnaparamita caryam caramano vyavalokayati
(deep perfect wisdom action perform luminously)
sma panca skandhas tams ca sva bhava sunyam
(saw five bundles them own nature empty)
pasyati sma iha sariputra
(I saw oh Sariputra)
rupam sunyata va rupam rupan na prithak
(form emptiness evidently form form not different)
sunyata sunyataya na prithag rupam
(emptiness emptiness not different form)
yad rupam sa sunyata ya sunyata sa rupam
(this form that emptiness this emptiness that form)
evam eva vedana samjna samskara vijnanam
(like this feeling thought choice consciousness)
iha sariputra sarva dharma sunyata
(oh Sariputra all dharmas emptiness)
laksana anutpanna anruddha avmala anuna aparpurna
(mark not born not pure not increase not decrease)
ta sariputra sunyatayam
(therefore Sariputra in the middle of emptiness)
na rupam na vedana na samjna na samskara na vijnana
(no form no feeling no thought no choice no consciousness)
na caksuh srotam na ghrana jihva kaya manah
(no eye ear no nose tongue body mind)
na rupa sabda gandha rasa spistavya dharmah
(no form sound smell taste touch dharmas)
na caksur dhatur ya van na mano vijnanam dhatur
(no eye-area up to no mind-consciousness area)
na vidya na vidya na vidya ksayo va vidya ksayo
(no clarity no clarity no clarity exhaustion no clarity exhaustion)
ya van jaramaranam na jaramarana ksayo
(up to old age no old age exhaustion)
na duhkha samudaya nirdoha margajna
(no suffering end of suffering path)
na jnanam na prapti na bhismaya tasmai na prapti
(no knowledge no ownership no witnessing no thing to own)
tvad bodhisattva prajnaparamita asritya
(therefore bodhisattva perfect wisdom dwells)
viha ratya citta varano vidya ksayo na vidya ksayo
(in dwell thought no obstacle clarity exhaustion not clairty exhaustion)
ya van jaramaranam na jaramarana ksayo
(up to old age no old age exhaustion)
na duhkha samudaya nirodha margajna
(no suffering end of suffering path)
na jnanam na prapti na bhismaya tasmai na prapti
(no knowledge no property no witnessing no thing to own)
tvad bodhisattvanam prajnaparamita asritya
(therefore bodhisattva perfect wisdom dwells)
viha ratya citta varano citta varano
(in dwell thought no obstacle thought no obstacle)
na siddhitvad atrasto vipa ryasa ti kranto
(no existence fear fright inverse reverse ? separate)
ni stha nirvana tya dha vyava sthitah
(perfectly stands nirvana three worlds thing experiences)
sarva buddhah prajnaparamitam asritya
(all buddhas perfect wisdom dwell)
(a?)nuttaram samyaksambodhim abdhisambuddhah
(unexcelled ultimate perfect insight together ? buddhas)
ta smai jnata vyam
(therefore should know ?)
prajnaparamitamahamantram mahavidyamantram
(perfect wisdom great charm great clear charm)
anuttaramantram asamasama mantram
(unexcelled charm unequalled equal charm)
sarva duhkha prasa manam sa tyam ami thyatvat
(all suffering stop terminate genuine real not vain)
prajnaparamitayam ukto mantrah tadyatha
(perfect wisdom declaired charm saying)
GATE GATE PARAGATE PARASAMGATE BODHI SVAHA
(gone gone totally gone totally completely gone enlightenment awaken)
The text itself describes the mantra as "Mahāmantro, mahā-vidyā mantro, ‘nuttara mantro samasama-mantrah", which Conze translates as "The great mantra, the mantra of great knowledge, the utmost mantra, the unequalled mantra, the allayer of all suffering." These words are also used of the Buddha, and so the text seems to be equating the mantra with the Buddha. Although the translation is acceptable, the case ending in Sanskrit mantra is the feminine vocative, so gate is addressed to a feminine person/figure. A more accurate translation is "Oh she who is gone!" In this respect, the mantra appears to be keeping with the common tantric practice (a practice supported by the texts themselves) of anthropomorphizing the Perfection of Wisdom as the "Mother of Buddhas."
One can also interpret the mantra as the progressive steps along the five paths of the Bodhisattva, through the two preparatory stages (the path of accumulation and preparation — Gate, gate), through the first bhumi (path of insight — Pāragate), through the second to seventh bhumi (path of meditation — Pārasamgate), and through the eight to tenth bhumi (stage of no more learning — Bodhi svāhā). As Geshe Kelsang Gyatso explains in Heart of Wisdom: This mantra, retained in the original Sanskrit, explains in very condensed form the practice of the five Mahayana paths, which we attain and complete in dependence upon the perfection of wisdom.[37]
The current Dalai Lama explains the mantra in a discourse on the Heart Sutra both as an instruction for practice and as a device for measuring one's own level of spiritual attainment, and translates it as go, go, go beyond, go thoroughly beyond, and establish yourself in enlightenment. In the discourse, he gives a similar explanation to the four stages (the four go's) as in the previous paragraph. Unlike Greek, Sanskrit distinguishes between 'para' (across, as in Greek and our derivations) and 'pāra', which means across to the other side. The preposition 'sam' equates to the Greek 'συν', with (which here we can reasonably expand to together with). In fact this meaning has been known in western Sanskrit dictionaries at least since Monier Monier-Williams: he gave "saṃgata" as "come together , met , encountered , joined , united AV. &c. &c. ; allied with , friendly to" and many other phrases that imply joining together. So, "Gone across to the other side, together with" or even "Met upon the far shore" would be an absolutely literal and very Mahayana translation of 'Pārasamgate'. This may be understood as referring to liberating all beings, or to the bringing of one's entire world over onto the previously realised higher plane of energy, and as identical in meaning to the Zen saying "First there is a mountain [our initial condition of perception], then there is no mountain [pāragate], then there is [pārasamgate]". "Bodhi svāhā" - "Enlightenment, awaken!".
A Brief Comment on the title of "The Heart Sutra" appears to refer to the use of perfect wisdom (prajnaparamita) to cleanse error from the heart (hridaya). There are numerous variations of the sutra in Sanskrit and many other classical, Asian languages. Edward Conze did extensive work in this field, although his methods are now challenged by contemporary scientific philologists. The search for an ur-text is probably always going to be inconclusive, although some evidence points to the existence of a single, original version. This is of no consequence for people whose interest in the Sanskrit text is based on a desire to inspect the Sanskrit vocabulary of the concepts in "The Heart Sutra" or to draw spiritual nourishment from the elegantly poetic repetitions of the Sanskrit text that follows. A spiritual friend provided me with the materials I have used to prepare this version of the text in Buddhist Sanskrit. This text is modified from: Hurvitz, Leon. "Hsuan-tsang (602-664) and the _Heart Scripture_" in _Prajnaparamita and Related Systems: Studies in Honor of Edward Conze_ (University of California at Berkeley Press). 103-113. Hurvitz describes this text as "brahmanical" and reports that Hsuan-tsang transcribed it in Chinese characters from a wall of a cave at Ta hsing-shan-ssu in Lo-yang, China, apparently on the Silk Road, during the 7th century A.D. The context in which the Chinese scholar presented the Hridaya Sutra makes it clear that he considered it a magical text. Although this text is not precisely identical with existing English translations of "The Heart Sutra," it is obviously consistent with the Hridaya textual tradition. The Sanskrit scans metrically and by sense into mostly four line verses, a classical verse form that suggests a strong literary value in the text. Repetitions and thematic emphasis on the pervasiveness of emptiness (sunyata) characterize the text. I found that in order to preserve the sense of the verses it was necessary to shorten one verse to three lines, to lengthen another verse to five lines. I modified the Hurvitz text by eliminating all Sanskrit diacritical marks, regularizing the spacing of the Sanskrit words and their spelling, and adjusting the lines of the text according to sense and (in some cases) meter. I used Hurvitz's interlinear vocabulary as a base and added to it. The difficulties in this text are partly due to the obscurities of Buddhist Sanskrit, partly to the ackwardness of the transcription into Roman letters from Chinese phonological equivalents by Hurvitz, and mostly to my radically imperfect knowledge of Sanskrit. I accept full responsibility for the errors experts in the Sanskrit language will find here. May the merit of this effort benefit all sentient beings. [CORRECTION: Hsuan-tsung found the text on the stone wall of the Great Monastery of the Furtherance of Good, not on a cave wall. -MM]
-text selected by Steve D.
A special dedication to all my favourite people in flickr!
Have a great weekend! se ya'll on Monday!
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I've always been puzzled by this piece of pavement. There's no evidence that you could ever go straight or right. This is a gas station parking lot!
magneticpic.posterous.com/911-9-years-later
Caption :Anti-Abortionist rally near Ground Zero displaying the photo of a dismembered fetus.
united |yoōˈnītid| |juˈnaɪd1d|
adjective
joined together politically, for a common purpose, or by common feelings.
I had always thought I was a veteran, a hardened and at times even a bit cynical newsman, until that September eleven.
Years of travel to disaster areas and war zones did not prevent me to get deeply touched and traumatized by the events of nine years ago right in the heart of the city I call home.
When the twin towers were brought down I spent over four uninterrupted weeks in the area of what soon came to be known as “Ground Zero”, working for a television network.
We witnessed and reported the stupor, the incredulity and the sheer pain at first and later on, as the days passed by, the human strength, the heroism and civic values of the American people.
One of the things that helped me most in surviving emotionally such a horrible experience was the sense of togetherness and unity I could perceive around me, all the time.
While from the destroyed buildings noxious fumes kept smoldering up to the heavens for many days and the streets were covered in dust, shattered glass, burned papers and even human remains, we were all doing our jobs in unison.
From us in the press to the police and the fire brigades, whose heroism was truly relentless, to the many doctors who rushed to the scene, to sanitation workers with their unpleasant and most difficult task of cleaning up the mess, to the many NYC citizens, cheering to the rescue vehicles passing by and offering their time and labor in many supportive activities.
It was a truly horrible moment in American history, and we all silently understood it, deep inside ourselves. At the same time, I think it was one of the highest peaks, at least in my lifetime, of social union, as, in spite of the dreadful situation, we were all strongly focused towards common goals and feeling truly blessed for living in this country.
As the years went by, a lot of things in America, the world and even inside my soul have changed.
Although I sometimes returned to ground zero, to report about the commemorative events that take places there every September eleven, to this day I don’t particularly enjoy going south of Canal street since my month-long permanence in that area nine years ago. Whenever I do, memories suddenly become too vivid and I even have flashbacks, I smell the deadly smell again, I hear the sirens, and I have distressing feelings of total, unrecoverable loss that leave me quite unsettled.
This morning I woke up really early, feeling a little under the weather (or perhaps just a day older). I decided not to go to ground zero and instead pay my respect, have my moment of silence, in private.
Then, all of the sudden, I changed my mind and a little later I found myself emerging from a subway station in that area I unfortunately know so well.
I witnessed two main events, a city block away from each other: a rally in favor of the controversial Mosque, which is to be built nearby, and a rally by radical anti-abortionists. I took a few shots of both events and, despite my absolute respect, unobtrusiveness and a police press pass around my neck, I managed to be shoved rather impolitely in my chest, while I was taking a shot, by a Lieutenant screaming “and next time I’ll take your camera from you”.
Soon I had enough.
I don’t even want to attempt a judgment about what I saw. I’ll just say that my visit to ground zero didn’t allow me see much unity or civic values today. I think, had it not be for the massive police presence, most of the people there, some them screaming “Allah Akbar” in a megaphone, others kneeling to Jesus Christ in front the poster of a dismembered fetus, would have gladly tried to slash each others throat.
Got this on my iphone when I looked at Flickr…. they solicited my "opinion" with two choices (where's the "Ick" button?). So, I clicked on "It's OK", assuming it would be delivered with a roll of the eyes and resigned body posture. Got the "Bummer" screen next.
Since this was the only place I could see where Flickr was actually soliciting input about their redesign, I then proceeded to teeny-tiny finger type my response. Wonder if that fell on deaf ears.