In my youth (to coin a phrase) I played (in order) the song flute (aka recorder), cornet (small version of a trumpet) and finally the sousaphone (tuba). Later in my life I took up the guitar, first steel-string acoustic but now exclusively classical guitar.
...Bill! --- In [email protected], William Rintala <brintala@...> wrote: > > My major instrument was Trumpet, I minored in Piano.   Think Haydn's > Concerto in > E-flat Major for Trumpet and Orchestra. I never played it but it influenced > my > early years. My teacher was an Italian gentleman by the name of Essoto > Pelligrini. Here's a taste of Haydyn's work >  http://wyntonmarsalis.org/discography/title/trumpet-concertos > > >  B > > > > > Find what makes your heart singâ¦and do it! > > > > > ________________________________ > From: Merle Lester <merlewiitpom@...> > To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> > Sent: Tue, September 25, 2012 7:48:43 PM > Subject: [Zen] knowing > >  > > > thank you bill...you have and are on a wonderful journey... good to > hear...and > you have witnessed much and thank you for sharing and opening out your heart > the blue blue yonder and the never never land to me are not negatives... i > like > the expressions..what they mean is  up to you... > make of it what you will > yes we are all awaiting the final curtain call... and life ..is but > death..and > death is life..." you cannot have one without the other"..was that not a song? > it is a surprise to know that one dies  when one hears this from the lips of > others at a tender age > > ...question: if we did not see death or was not told..would we ourselves know? > >  of course this is impossible. > .it's all around us everyday...the flowers bloom ..they die and so us too > >  how did we as you and me come to be? > >  that is the question? > >  in the back of my mind i knew >  being is shaped by knowing >  i knew >  long before i was born >  i would be >  born > > is this a strange fantasy of childish imagination or is it a reality? > >  what musical instrument do you play? > > have a beautiful day >  merle >  > Merle: > >    My initial post was to wish you a happy Birthday. But then your post > mentioned that you were "another year older and closer to the blue blue > younger > ....the never never land". That sounded negative and started me thinking > about > my concepts of time and space. > > > > My hammer is not meant for you it was meant for everyone here who would > deny the > reality of existence as we experience it in a physical form. It is just > slightly > metaphorical. What can I say? I have exerienced, as I am sure you all have, > many people who can parrot all of the right words and act the appropriate way > so > as to play the part of an enlightened being. My hammer statement is aimed at > those people who insist that "this suchness", "this isness", is > illusory.  Descarte's pronoucement Cogito Ero Sum, to me means that I know > that > I am experiencing something. Something is hammering at my senses and I > respond.  Someone among us in the Forum might say that all of this is > form, > without substance. Ephemera. That person will get hit with my hammer. > Anyone > who will deny the fact that we are all here collectively, in this stuff, > at this > moment. Even as we seek a deeper understanding of existence, we are all > still > participants. > > > I know that you meant 'yonder' rather than 'younger'. > > I have no Fundamentals to be 'ist' about.  > > I am no Fascist. I have met so many people over the years who, in the > comfort > of their life situation, will easily deny the pain of another and dismiss it > as > an illusion. I bristle at pedantry. It is easy to say that it is all mind > stuff, > it's something quite different when you are hit with a hammer. > > Again you stated that you were "another year older and closer to the blue > blue > younger ....the never never land". Even though we have all seen bodies and > we've > all lost loved ones, our age has little to do with our own death. I've seen > new > born babies die, young children, young men and young women, all dead. Death > is no closer simply because the Earth has completed another circuit > around the > Sun. > > > I began to muse about the magnitude of our self importance as percieved from > the > here and now. Many thoughts. We take ourselves too seriously. We live at a > point > where new things are coming into being and old things are falling away. As it > and ever shall be.... (insert the appropriate finish) > > Where do I imagine going after I shuffle off this mortal coil?   My > education is > as a scientist. Empirical data shows me that my body's vital functions > will > eventually cease and the body will decompose. If you were to dissect my > body while I was living, you would never find my soul, my eternal essence. > If > you were to amputate my arms and legs and remove all but the non-essential > organs from my body I would still be 'here'. I've heard stories from > people who > have had out of body experiences or who have had a near death experience. > I've > experienced neither. I've read of people who could recall past lives. I > can > not. To my knowledge no one that I've ever known has tried to communicate > with > me from beyond the grave. I know no non-corporeal beings. So I have no > emperical data, I have only anecdotal information. Logic takes me back to > Rene, > "I think, therefore, I am". > > > The logic puzzle/thought experiment that I like to play with is this: If > there > was no consciousness in all of creation, would creation exist?  Or; If > there was > "no thing" to be aware of all of this stuff, would there still be stuff? > The > purely physical answer is yes it would all still be here, but no one would > know > it. Which is pretty much the same thing as saying NO. To exist implies a > consciousness. If there was no consciousness there could be no universe. I > am > aware, I am conscious. Does my awareness come to be and cease to be, when my > body is no longer able to survive. The only logical answer is no. I believe > that what we are is more that just electrochemical discharges across our > synapses. > > > Where does my imagination take me when I contemplate the end of this life. > My > mind draws a blank so I'd have to say that we don't go anywhere. My heart > says that we go somewhere deep, warm, comforting, full of LOVE and Joy. >  I feel > that. I feel that when I hold a new born child or when I am with someone > who is > dying. > > > Last word, just in case you've read this far. In order to reduce further > confusion about me. I have a Bachelor's Degree in Geology and a Master's in > Geophysics. After working for Texaco from 1979 through 1993. I left the > oil > business and went to Nursing School. I work as a Registered Nurse. I > worked > for 5 years on a Medical/Surgical/Oncology unit at a hospital. I then spent > 10 > years working with hospitals as a Clinical Systems Analyst doing Healthcare > IT. > I left that and I've now been doing Hospice work as a nurse and as a > volunteer. > So you may see me hop around from physics to math to Geology to Medicine. > Oh, > and I started my college training as a classical musician. > > B > > > > > Find what makes your heart singâ¦and do it! > > > > > ________________________________ > From: Merle Lester <merlewiitpom@...> > To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> > Sent: Mon, September 24, 2012 6:27:09 PM > Subject: [Zen] eternity and you > >  > > > thank you B...for the birthday wishes > > .. so B... > . who are you really?..speak more of Thee and pray who are YOU? > > .. sorry i meant to write the "blue blue yonder." > ..why would i question youR take on life? > .why would i deny your understanding and your learning of life?.. > > .. why are you striking me with a hammer if i do not see it your way?. > > ...  is THIS the fundamentalist in you.. there isa little bit of fascism in > every human heart... > ... i do not understand what you believe the "blue blue yonder" and the > "never > never never land" mean to you...IF anything? > >  my take is: > > ..the endlessness of the universe, >  the timeless of time. > >  the no return of this body as it is > > ...when you B depart from your mortal coil the body as it is now/ here. > > .where will you go:..?????. > > ."the never never land"....the "blue blue yonder." > > ..what did you have in mind..? > .meaning where does your imagination lead you? > > what is time? >  you speak of billions of years > in who's language do you speak? > >  human > > time is timeless >  the universe is timeless... >  there is no time > >  in one's mind's eye >  there is only one universe >  and that universe is you > > without you >  what can you possible see? think? or feel? > in the never never land? > > merle > > >  > Happy birthday Merle. > >  My inital college degrees are Geology and Geophysics. In geology we > speak of > hundreds of millions of years, just as Joe might speak in terms of billions > or > million millions of years and even those chunks of time are but an instant in > eternity. Life on earth began 600 million years ago, the reign of the > dinosaurs > lasted less that 150 million years. Humanity's earliest ancestors didn't > show up > until less that 5 million years ago. The last Ice Age ended 12,000 years > ago. The first domesticated animals, 10,000 years ago. The first evidence of > writing 4,000 years ago. Each human life lasts but 100 years, that's > 0.00000017th the span of all life, 0.000000005th the span of the age of the > known universe. We live on a planet which seems significant yet > 1,300,000 Earths could fit inside of our Sun and that Sun is only a medium > sized > star in a universe of uncountable stars (billions and billions according to > Carl > Sagan). From the furthest known reaches of known space our sun could not > be > seen. > > > This is my perspective regarding Zen. First the concept of Infinite Time > and > Space. Huge, beyond imaging. An infinite Infinity of Infinities is still > nothing. It is no time or space at all. Given that infinite space and > infinite > time and given the demonstrated size and length of our physical existence > and > percieving myself as that point of being within the greater context of time > and > space. Who am I? > > You are no closer to that "blue blue younger....the never never land", beyond > the beyond, than you ever were or ever will be. Cogito Ergo Sum or in my > own > words I know that I am experiencing something. You can deny what I am > saying > but if I see you I will hit you with a hammer and then let's see if what I > say > is not so. > B > > > Find what makes your heart singâ¦and do it! > > > > > ________________________________ > From: Merle Lester <merlewiitpom@...> > To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> > Sent: Sun, September 23, 2012 4:57:28 AM > Subject: Re: [Zen] the green dragon > >  > > > >  jesus edgar...i was thinking which dragon was edgar..and it was red my > answer > long before i read this...at 8:00pm > ..what am i psychic or what?... and i am think grey dragon for KG..... > ???????? > which dragon am i .?..i know but who else knows.. > . and folks happy birthday for me..today.. 23rd sept. >  another year older and closer to the blue blue younger ....the never never > land. > > .. enjoy your day.. > one of the dragons! > > >  > Bill's dragon is green but mine is the red Welsh dragon. > > No wonder we are always going round and round! > > Edgar > > > > > On Sep 21, 2012, at 11:11 PM, Merle Lester wrote: > >  > > > > > > > > > > ah so we must google to see what the green dragon can and cannot do...is > >this > >you bill...are you calling?...merle > > > > > > > >I cannot prove that, but you can by coming close to him. > > > >anthony > > > > > >From: Merle Lester <merlewiitpom@...> > >To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> > >Sent: Saturday, 22 September 2012, 6:35 > >Subject: [Zen] the green dragon > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > goodness me.... is bill!!!!!!!!!!! that dangerous? > > > > > >..he might be all fire and breathing the breath of  the green dragon upon us > > > > > > is this his way of protecting himself lest we discover his true identity > >which > >may be the living buddha?. > > > > > >.merle > > > > > > > >Merle, > > > >I have hired a demon to protect me from enlightened people, such as Bill!. > >To > >prevent you being harmed by him, you better pretend not to be enlightened, > >even > >if you are. > > > >Anthony > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >yes watch out anthony..i bite..merle > > > > > > > >Anthony, > > > >Be careful not to 'twist things around' or 'change the subject'. Merle does > >not > >like that. > > > >In this case you're obviously 'twisting and changing' because the 'gospel' > >to > >which Merle refers is in the New Testament, not the Old Testament. > > > >Shame on you! > > > >...Bill! > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------------ Current Book Discussion: any Zen book that you recently have read or are reading! Talk about it today!Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Zen_Forum/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Zen_Forum/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
