We debate whether Gwen should be committed. Wait… that didn’t come out right.

Links mentioned:

• Nonviolent Communication (NVC).

• The NPR story about 22 being the peak reproductive age.

• The video about getting older.

We scoff at the jerks who blow hundreds of thousands on sports cars and jewelry, but aren’t we just as guilty of living large? And perhaps the real problem is the scoffing itself?

Gwen hits a rough patch, and there’s only one thing to do… Hug it out bitchez! All about how we need each other to have a complete, fulfilling life. Warm fuzzies! Jazz hands!Links mentioned:

Gwen talks a little bit about the classic spectra of personality. Find more out here.

Books mentioned:

Awake at Work, by Michael Carroll

An online stress-test prompts us to think about how Zen helps us with life transitions, especially the biggest transition of all, dum dum dum dum, death!Links Mentioned:

• The Wiki entry for the Japanese phenomenon of karoshi, “working yourself to death.”

• The photo exhibition of people before and after they have died.

Books Mentioned

• Pema Chodron’s When Things Fall Apart .

• The book filled with Japanese Death Poems from Zen Monks.

We all think we’re pretty cool, and then that one thing from our youth turns us into a saggy nostalgic bag of sighs. Is this healthy, and even less important, is this Zen?

Links mentioned:

• All of your wishes have come true Gwen, NKOTB is back.

• An interesting article from the AMA on false memories.

• An in-depth talk on the 5 skandhas. It’s from a Dzogchen teacher but hey, gotta throw them a bone sometimes…

• And our man Thanissaro Bhikkhu and his blessed translations with a thankfully short sutra on samskara.

• Gwen talks some smack on Hot Yoga (Bikram Yoga) If you want some more info on why we’re not down with it read this engrossing Mother Jones piece.

• Patrick mentions the Uncle Rico character from Napoleon Dynamite. Now you can get the action figure! Sweet!

Sometimes you just don’t want to talk about, think about, or do zen. And that may be part of the practice. Also hear Patrick squirm about his coffee addiction.

Links mentioned:

• Scientific American on Orgasms

• Ethan Nichtern and the ID Project

• Our buddy Brad Warner

• And Brad’s most favoritest teacher, Genpo Roshi, talking to Gwen

• ibiblio’s Koan Site

• Jamba Juice

Books mentioned:

• Vanda Scaravelli, Awakening the Spine

• Three Zen Masters, by John Stevens

It’s spring and we both (without consulting the other) started big bodywork projects. A lot of people ask how you can do this kind of goal-oriented stuff and still live in the moment Zen style, so we take a crack at that question and give some tips for people interested in becoming healthier.Links mentioned

• Stickk.com, the website Gwen is using to keep her detox project in line.

• Mr. Pibb. Patrick used to like this stuff a lot. But not as much as this kid! (hilarious late 90’s homepage styling ahead!)

• Patrick’s Peak Condition Project, updated daily.

• Gwen’s homepage, Gwenbell.com

Clearing out the inbox, Zen is Stupid style.

Links mentioned

• Elephant Magazine.

• Carolina Morning zafu company. We really like these guys and think you’ll like them too. The Smile Cushion rocks.

Matching Headphones = Dorky

Last week a big scandal broke in New York, and we try to puzzle out why these things keep happening to people in positions of power, and how to deal with our judgmental natures.

Links mentioned:

• Here’s an interesting Q & A on the Spitzer scandal from the NY Times.

• The “Toe Tapping Senator” Larry Craig’s sexuality is talked about in this Washington Post blog.

• Ted Haggard, former Evangelical leader, on YouTube admitting to buying Crystal Meth from a Gay Prostitute.

• And, after wading through all that hypocrisy, shame, and smut, Thich Nhat Hahn’s Call Me By My True Names, in it’s entirety.

Call Me by My True Names

Do not say that I’ll depart tomorrow
because even today I still arrive.

Look deeply: I arrive in every second
to be a bud on a spring branch,
to be a tiny bird, with wings still fragile,
learning to sing in my new nest,
to be a caterpillar in the heart of a flower,
to be a jewel hiding itself in a stone.

I still arrive, in order to laugh and to cry,
in order to fear and to hope.
The rhythm of my heart is the birth and
death of all that are alive.

I am the mayfly metamorphosing on the surface of the river,
and I am the bird which, when spring comes, arrives in time
to eat the mayfly.

I am the frog swimming happily in the clear pond,
and I am also the grass-snake who, approaching in silence,
feeds itself on the frog.

I am the child in Uganda, all skin and bones,
my legs as thin as bamboo sticks,
and I am the arms merchant, selling deadly weapons to
Uganda.

I am the twelve-year-old girl, refugee on a small boat,
who throws herself into the ocean after being raped by a sea
pirate,
and I am the pirate, my heart not yet capable of seeing and
loving.

I am a member of the politburo, with plenty of power in my
hands,
and I am the man who has to pay his “debt of blood” to, my
people,
dying slowly in a forced labor camp.

My joy is like spring, so warm it makes flowers bloom in all
walks of life.
My pain if like a river of tears, so full it fills the four oceans.

Please call me by my true names,
so I can hear all my cries and laughs at once,
so I can see that my joy and pain are one.

Please call me by my true names,
so I can wake up,
and so the door of my heart can be left open,
the door of compassion.

Thich Nhat Hanh

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Now that’s hardcore.