{"id":362,"date":"2009-04-06T05:01:00","date_gmt":"2009-04-06T05:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2009\/04\/kreativ-blogger\/"},"modified":"2009-04-06T05:01:00","modified_gmt":"2009-04-06T05:01:00","slug":"kreativ-blogger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2009\/04\/kreativ-blogger.html","title":{"rendered":"Kreativ Blogger"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>Along with much of the other wonderful news of last week came a very lovely award from Kristen, aka Miss Vesper of Vesper in Limbo<\/a>. (Thanks, miss V)<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re awarded the Kreativ Blogger Award, you\u2019re supposed to post 7 Things You Love and 7 Kreativ Bloggers whom you wish to bestow the award upon. <\/strong><\/p>\n

7 Things I Love: [aka 7 things I\u2019m grateful for]<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Buddhist Philosophy <\/span>\u2013 So maybe it\u2019s a bit nerdy, but when I take the time and allow Buddhist thought to flow over me, from cosmology to ethics to meditation techniques I am always left refreshed and simply feeling great about life, the world, and everything else.<\/li>\n
  2. Modernity <\/span>\u2013 the world, as it is, <\/span>right now. Oh, and I don\u2019t think now<\/span> is postmodernity, except maybe for a handful of intellectuals, web-geeks, and others for whom virtual trees are about as good as the real thing.<\/li>\n
  3. The Illuminati <\/span>\u2013 not <\/span>those of conspiracy theory, but the truly enlightened folks out there, which could include: your grandpa, Barack Obama, my girlfriend\u2019s cat, Oliver, and many others. Often, we just don\u2019t know.
    \n

    One of my favorite Tibetan teachings describes the Buddha as like the sun, who compassionately sends his teachings in all directions without discrimination. Why are we all so ignorant and suffering then? Because we\u2019re standing behind a building. Move.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n

  4. Landscapes<\/span> \u2013 I\u2019m hooked on the mountains of Missoula; Mount Sentinel which I climb about 80-100 times a year, Lolo Peak off in the south-west, the Black and Blue Mountains due west, the north hills, which seem to lean into town on sunny days as you drive (er, I mean ride your bike<\/span>) north on Higgins Ave or Orange St.
    \n

    Mountains, I believe, cradle us in a way that connects us with our anscestors. They, and the great oceans and seas, set out human boundaries. They also remind us of our smallness<\/span> and the grandeur of nature. For those of us happily still in the modern age, they are a reminder for humility, both personal and societal. They shall endure longer than all of our efforts. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n

  5. Community<\/span> \u2013 It comes in many forms: the community of people we graduated high school with, the community of Missoula joggers or hikers, the community of bloggers, etc. But I think the most important community we can have is one built out of time together \u2013 around the dinner table, the camp fire, through hard times and good. I\u2019m optimistic that we can replicate this in cyberspace \u2013 perhaps even completely \u2013 but I think the communities in the physical world around us somehow have a richer<\/span> texture.
    \n

    That said, I am<\/span> a Buddhist philosopher living in Montana, not exactly a hot-bed for such oddballs (though I am happy to say there are a few: Matt, Larry, Brad, Chris, et al.), so I am very grateful to my cyber community.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n

  6. Spring <\/span>\u2013 if it would just come<\/span><\/span> and stay and be nice <\/span>(like today and tomorrow will be).<\/li>\n
  7. Books<\/span> \u2013 I seem to be on a steady diet of purchasing about 10-15 a month of late, and checking out dozens more, so I am now surrounded on all sides by mountains of \u2019em.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Passing it forward:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Sjors<\/a> \u2013 One of my London flatmates, he is one of those rare people living squarely in postmodernity. Very cool. Very creative.<\/li>\n
    2. Patia<\/a> \u2013 phenomenal <\/span>writer and photographer and a pretty darned nice gal, to boot.<\/li>\n
    3. Julie<\/a> \u2013 \u2019cause she\u2019s my girlfriend, er, I mean \u2019cause this blog\u2019s got killer potential. Having seen her photography and goldsmithing, I know<\/span> she\u2019s wonderfully creative.<\/li>\n
    4. Raven<\/a> \u2013 this guy is amazing. He somehow straddles modernity, postmodernity and some ancient, ancient western wisdom.<\/li>\n
    5. D<\/a> \u2013 I have a friend here in Missoula (who sadly just hit the road for who knows how long) who, every time I see her, tells me how much she loves<\/span> D\u2019s blog.<\/li>\n
    6. Margaret<\/a> \u2013 for all the poetry about dancing martian unicorns you will ever need in life, not to mention musings and photos from lovely Gozo, Malta.<\/li>\n
    7. Sana<\/a> \u2013 Who wins the award for furthest away in Pakistan (another of my London flatmates).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      okay\u2026 back to Buddhist Ethics!<\/p>\n

      \"\"<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Along with much of the other wonderful news of last week came a very lovely award from Kristen, aka Miss Vesper of Vesper in Limbo. (Thanks, miss V) If you\u2019re awarded the Kreativ Blogger Award, you\u2019re supposed to post 7 Things You Love and 7 Kreativ Bloggers whom you wish to bestow the award upon. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":118,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nKreativ Blogger<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Along with much of the other wonderful news of last week came a very lovely award from Kristen, aka Miss Vesper of Vesper in Limbo. 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