Strangely Perfect

Daisaku Ikeda wrote this some time ago, and it’s just popped up in my mail for me to share.  Originally it is from his book “The New Human Revolution” but he’s also similarly described HEALTH in later small discussions on various aspects of the Lotus Sutra.  Here’s how it goes: What Is Health? “Health is [...]

Who?  Who Are Megrahi and Calley Megrahi is a Libyan, convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering 270 people by blowing up a 747 over Lockerbie in Scotland – but released early after 8 years (but 10 years in prison) and sent to Libya to die of cancer. Calley is an American, convicted and [...]

Captain Beefheart’s Magic Band on Swedish Breakfast TV Once You Find Out, Your Circumstances. Then You Can Go Out, Oh Yeah! Little girl, don’t you know that the stars up above ….are blinking at you? Now the sun can sunburn you, but not as bad as those old people do Great!  From Clearspot. For a [...]

Pfc. Bowe R. Bergdahl, aged 23, of Ketchum, Idaho, is a member of the 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, from Fort Richardson, Alaska.  He was captured in circumstances that aren’t clear and has appeared in a Taliban video (prev at http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-afghan-soldier20-2009jul20,0,4913063.story), seen world-wide. So far, it appears [...]

Oleg Deripaska? Oleg is one of the world’s richest men.  Getting his Physics degree as the old USSR collapsed, then buying up shares in Aluminium smelters, getting an Economics degree and then setting up Basic Element, a vast metals empire, he somehow rid the company and industry of the Mafia, but no-one knows how. But [...]

Honi soit qui mal y pense – “Evil be to him who evil thinks”  While fishing around the exploded stomach contents purporting to be news, FoxNews.com, on a totally different topic I might add, I came across this headline, part of a poll for AP. Poll: More Than Half of Americans Say Torture OK This [...]

The pope says sorry for getting it wrong over the holocaust and the nutty bishop The bankers say sorry for getting it wrong with their greedy decisions that lead to the current economic crisis Cricket captains say sorry for losing some games US car maker bosses say sorry for being crap UK Politicians say sorry [...]

News Items The only news item missing is that from a premiership football club at the wrong end of the league regarding the future employment status of it’s manager… There have been two news items in the UK today that must surely have everyone either rolling their eyes in the air, or laughing down their [...]

Death Search Four men, old enough and with enough experience of life to be able to look after themselves, have gone missing in Loch Awe.  Two have been found dead and the search is still on.    This of course is tragic, but I can well understand their situation. Colony Holiday When I was 16, [...]

I’ve just been reading this fascinating book, Encountering the Dharma: Daisaku Ikeda, Soka Gakkai, and the Globalization of Buddhist Humanism by a non-Buddhist, Richard Seager, who gives a really good, well-balanced investigation into Buddhism, the Soka Gakkai (SGI) and it’s meteoric rise in popularity under the inspirational personas of Makiguchi, Toda and Ikeda. Well you’d [...]

Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources Two Films in a Great Story you Must See Before you Die. Today, Claude Berri died.  A common Frenchman who directed a duo of extraordinary films about common people, their loves, jealousies, humour, insecurities and real needs in a harsh land. The beautifully told plot unfolds to it’s [...]

Ron Asheton Dies at Home Tempis fugit and all that.  Ironically, the day after I saw Iggy Pop doing an advert on telly for car insurance, Ron dies at home with no suspicious circumstances.  Amazing. The first time I heard “Down on the Street” knocked me over.  I was just stunned. I heard “Search and [...]

You should not have the slightest fear in your heart. It is lack of courage that prevents one from attaining Buddhahood, although one may have professed faith in the Lotus Sutra many times since innumerable kalpas ago. There is definitely something extraordinary in the ebb and flow of the tide, the rising and setting of [...]

Happenstance, Circumstance or Co-incidence? In Ian Fleming’s “Goldfinger”, the villain, Auric Goldfinger uses part of the above phrase after bumping into James Bond several times.  The second time he actually says to Mister Bond; Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action In this article (Warning signs that may force committee to think [...]