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I’m attending a “rights of passage” session with my eldest son for one week at the Shambhala Mountain Center. It is a retreat designed to help a child begin the process of separation from his/her parents in a healthy manner.
Most cultures around the world have some kind of ceremony or activity that marks this transition. Perhaps you are given a sling shot and must now tend to the safety of the family’s herd of yaks. Maybe in an agricultural community you become responsible for an important part of the harvest. Whatever it is, it signifies the first change in your status from child to young adult. You begin to take responsibility for yourself and your immediate community.
In the West, there aren’t too many opportunities for this kind of new responsibility to be assumed by a child. One area that each of us can be tasked with is to begin to understand our minds. In particular, how to quiet our minds so that we may better understand ourselves and thus be a better citizen of the community. At this retreat, my son will be engaging in activities that cultivate a quiet mind- calligraphy, Kyudo (Japanese archery), haiku and of course, meditation.
Sounds good, no?
BTW- The Shambhala tradition was begun by Chogyam Trungpa in the early 70’s. Historically, when Tibet was occupied by the Chinese in the 1950’s, the great teachers fled and ended up scattered across the globe. Chogyam was one of those teachers who made it to the States. He took Tibetan Buddhism and combined it our western cultural mentality to make the Tibetan wisdom more approachable. As with many forms of Buddhism (so I’m told), it is centered around sitting meditation. Being, not doing…
Here are some wonderful photographs taken by Chogyam Trungpa during his life. They are really quite fascinating.
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Pepsi Center, Denver CO
The Police took center stage on Saturday after 20-some years of being ex-super star musicians. I suspect the lure of $1M per show was too tempting. I don’t think Sting needed the money, but Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland may have been in another boat entirely. The two of them seem to have kept a lower profile in the music world.
I seem to recall the Copeland had some success in the music production end of the business, but that momentary attempts with other bands didn’t gain much traction. I bought two Animal Logic albums, but they haven’t stood the test of time and I recently sold them for $2/disc to a music store.
Here is a video of the night taken from a small digital camera that also captured video. The quality gives a sense of what was experienced.
Yup, I’m taking the plunge! I’m buying a Toyota Prius!
It’s part of the 40th celebration and an effort to walk the talk. We live in a small enough environment that the stop-start advantages of a hybrid really make sense. If I was primarily logging freeway miles, a diesel would have been my choice, particularly the VW Jetta TDI. The lines on those keep getting better.
So here’s the pricing that I have in front of me. First, you should know that I’ve tried haggling. There doesn’t seem to be any maneuvering room as these just sail off the lots. It’s hard for me to accept that as I always am looking to strike a deal based on invoice, not MSRP.
If someone knows better about this, then by all means, contact me immediately. The car is to be delivered on Friday, but I’ve only put down a deposit of $500.
Pricing:
25,639 – Standard model with Package 4 (HID headlights, 6-CD changer, premium sound, Bluetooth, MP3/iPod connection, homelink)
24, 895 – discount
+ 1,550 – leather and heat seats
+ 2,184.81 – taxes
$ 28,828.81 total
Again, if you know how to get a better price, contact me or this is what I’ll end up leasing for. BTW- I’m leasing as the technology will be changing so much in the next few years, that I don’t want to own. In about 5 years, I’ll buy a used hybrid.
