| Justin Whitaker

Returning from retreat or long travels (England, China [Taiwan soon, and then hopefully India]…), and I find it difficult to reintegrate with technology. I feel overwhelmed by it all. There are 13 tabs on my browser now. Facebook and twitter feel like the death of me, each pulling me in countless directions with pretty headlines, links and/or enticing images.

What happened to my ‘in the moment-ness’? Being present is too easily lost in this sea of hedonic treadmills. Presence is even mocked; too often without understanding. But the felt psychological – phenomenological – effect of being in 13 places at once vs. being in just one is amazing… bewildering.

Let’s close a couple tabs. First, I found a photo via a twitter contact here that finally answered my question from here. The bird that I observed swooping again and again, sometime diving, coming up silently, empty handed and swooping again over the snowy planes at the headwaters of the snake river was a White-tailed Kite.

Our White-tailed Kite (to my knowledge not found in Montana, at least not widely), in action and with prize in hand/talon in the photo on the right.

Last night’s rainbows in Missoula. Spring sprung in Montana. Then got scared and ran away. And now the cold and damp of late winter seems to be back (stay tuned for snow photos to come – note the snow-free Mount Jumbo in the photo on this day).

Other things I’d like to blog about, but haven’t the time/energy:

Is Sri Lanka Heading Towards a Radicalization of Nationalistic Buddhism? by Kyle
A leak in your Dhamma boat, by Theravadin
What is Buddhism? by Jayarava, and
Do not tell a lie, except when, by Richard

These four really cut to the heart of Buddhism, Buddhist practice, and Buddhist ethics. So, if you have the time, go have a look. Let them know what you think, or let me know here.