Zero emissions and eco-friendly transportation doesn’t have to boring.  Just as the motorsports world has done wonders to improve our current vehicles safety, the same competitive nature will bring us the technology with need produce a viable zero emission vehicle for the real world.

Recently I made a Facebook status update (friend me / fan me) mentioning how I’ve been doing much of my work in the living room and things have been getting cluttered.  So in order to work more efficiently I decided to clean it up a bit.

This reminded me of one of the first principles I’ve learned in Buddhism, the simultaneity of cause and effect in terms of the three thousands realms in a single moment of time.  Without getting deep into Buddhist philosophies suffice it to say that I mean how we are immediately effected by our environment and as soon as we make a cause to change the environment our life condition instantly responds.

So often we lose scope of what the environment is.  We can easily get lost in the arguments of climate change, global warming and everything thing else real and imagined that it’s easy to just toss your hands and become overwhelmed.  We need to sit back and look at our immediate environment.  What’s around us?  What’s effecting our life condition right now, at this moment.  These are causes that we can take quick and measurable action on.  The simple things.  Removing clutter.  Reorganizing.

I only spent a few minutes cleaning up and once I sat back down and looked around I took a deep breath and suddenly I was in the mindset that I can easily get things done.  And get things done I did!

Take a look around you right now, what can you change in your immediate environment?  Do it and comment back.

Found it very interesting how I’m sitting at home, listening to the rain wash away all the snow while just a few miles to the north my neighbors are blanked in white.

It seems like almost yesterday when I was introduced to the Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin but in fact it’s been well over 3-years now.  After losing my wife to illness and wondering lost, I was introduced to the practice by singer/songwriter Vittoria Conn who I met while producing a show for iKiss-FM.

I couldn’t get enough of it.  I devoured every publication I could get my hands on scoured the net as well when I found a wonderful podcast hosted by Jason and Karen Jarrett called appropriately enough A Buddhist Podcast.

The show is produced more or less on a monthly schedule and combines a mix of Buddhist studies from the Gosho (the writings of Nichiren Daishonin) and readings from modern Buddhism based literature.  Currently there is an ongoing reading from The Reluctant Buddhist by William Woollard, a psersonal look at Buddhism in the modern world.

The Jarrett’s have smooth style and a way of articulating Buddhists points that is easy to understand for the beginner or curious while still containing enough depth and detail to hold the attention of those senior to the practice.

I’m not over stating it when I say that Buddhism truly transform my entire life and if you have any interest in improving your life condition and personal happiness this podcast is a great way to start.

Karen and Jason, thank you so much for all your efforts in producing this podcast.

Pleast Visit: A Buddhist Podcast Today!

As a new homeowner I’m presented with the task of buying all those things that typical apartment dwellers don’t need.  Namely yard-care equipment.  The thought of having dozens of small combustion engines to maintain and the task of transporting bottles of gasoline and oil around to keep these things working just had zero appeal to me.  So early on, I made the decision to go electric.  If the convenience factor weren’t enough, the ecological impact was.

Unregulated small engine emissions make up a large part of urban air pollution.  Now I’m not going to get into a “climate change” discussion because personally I think that’s a bunch of liberal nonsense.  But that aside, few can disagree that reducing the amount of pollutants we produce is a good thing to do.  For our own lungs if not the environment.

Early in the year I had mentioned that I purchased the WORX cordless electric lawnmower.  It was significantly more expensive than a comparable gas model but now that I’ve had it a full season I’m pleased with my decision.

The reported battery life is about 2-hours.  My lawn takes me 1.5 hours to cut.  Depending on growth rate, sometimes I do the front yard one week, the back the following week.  No matter how I do it, I have yet to run out of power.  During a particularly rainy period when the grass grew fast and thick the WORX had no trouble cutting it down though I could hear the motor was straining a bit.

Speaking of sound…  This baby is much quieter then a gas operated model but keep in mind any blade traveling at a high velocity is going to make significant noise.  It’s not silent as some of the manufacturer advertising my imply but I don’t feel too guilty about early morning weekend yard care as I would with a gasoline model.

Steve Jones, an LA member of SGI-USA shares the some of the thought that went behind the objects placed on his altar.

Up until now (Steve has given me some inspiration) I’ve set up my altar in the traditional way and have done some research as to why objects are typically placed they way they are and what this significance of them is. Of course now I think I’m going to reverse that process a bit a give back a bit. It’s been three years since my conferral so perhaps I’m ready for that now.

You can see more of Steve’s works and find links to his other sites at multimediajones.com.

Here’s a powerful 911-centric video written by Eddie Moore and produced by Wayne Duncan at Studio-D in SanDiego Californa.

We must all continue to focus on peace.  Looking back on history, we’ve achieved a great deal towards that goal.  This proves it can be done but we must not stop now.  It’s the powerful messages in videos like this that keeps peace, and the need for it in the forefront of our minds.

Time: April 19, 2009 from 3:30pm to 5:30pm
Location: AMC Loews Boston Common, at the Boston International Film Festival
Organized By: Darin Nellis and Cory Taylor, SGI members

Event Description:
“The Power of the Powerless” will be screened in Session 10 of the Boston International Film Festival on Sunday April 19th at 3:30 PM (film actually starts at 4pm) at the AMC Loews Boston Common, 175 Tremont St. Boston, MA 02111.

Acclaimed actor Jeremy Irons, who narrates the film offered these words of praise: “So much of history has been airbrushed. It is an exhilarating experience to watch the brutal honesty of The Power of the Powerless as it documents the momentous changes in Czechoslovakia since the Second World War. To witness fallible human beings make their way through this period of turmoil, in all their hopelessness, fear and bravery, is a truly uplifting experience. I was proud to be, in a small way, involved.”

Even if you are not in Boston for the premiere, please invite your friends living in the Boston area to attend. The Director, Cory Taylor, and Producer, Darin Nellis, will be there and would be very happy to greet your friends and/or family at the screening.

Here is a short synopsis of The Power of the Powerless:

History has shown that societies, which fail to address past injustices are tragically destined to repeat the same mistakes. Narrated by Academy Award winner Jeremy Irons, The Power of the Powerless, examines the harmful effects of erasing history, twenty years after the fall of communism in Czechoslovakia. Contrasting the experiences of those who fought against the communist regime, with the silent majority who supported it, The Power of the Powerless investigates why many Czechs today don’t want their communist past dug up, and exposes the alarming impact this is having on young people. Featuring original interviews with dissidents such as former President Vaclav Havel, this film tells the inspirational story of the Velvet Revolution of 1989, and asks why Czech youth aren’t being taught their own history.

See more details and RSVP on:  SGI Buddhism

About SGI Buddhism
SGI Buddhism – SGI community created by independent members of SGI. This is not an official site of the SGI Buddhism organization.

As you can see by many of the comments that have been posted to this blog from its inception in 2007, many believers are rooted firmly to the practice as it was when it was presented to them for the first time. This need not, and should not be the case!

As the Lotus Sutra was written, Shakyamuni took it through many incarnations. At times even discarding multiple chapters and openly admitting the he was wrong. The true power of this practice is that it is based on truth. At times, we know things to be true that we cannot explain but when an explanation becomes apparent we adjust our teachings.

In the Roman era of Greek Gods it was taught that the great god Mercury rode his chariot across the sky pulling the sun behind him. At that time, this was true. The sun did travel across the sky and the logic of the time dictated that someone must be responsible for that action. As man became more sophisticated, the principles of astronomy was taught and of course today, nobody believe that Mercury is towing the sun across the sky.

The presentation above by Jennifer 8. Lee depicts the migration of Chinese food to the west. Just as Americanized Chinese food may not be recognized as a native product, Buddhism may change just as dramatically. Does this make it any less powerful or effective then it’s ancient ancestor? The Gohonzon was scribed on paper, not chiseled in stone.

Impermanence is the constant.