Monday, November 11, 2013

Take an adventure, any adventure (TED audio)

Pfc. Sandoval, Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly; Guy Raz (TED.npr.org)
Beyond the Himalayas in Buddhist India, Ladakh, Buddha Maitreya (pranavbhasin.com)
Climb over the Himalayas and on the other side is Ladakh, Buddhist India (britannica.com)
 
J2, world's deepest cave (uwkinetics.com)
What could be worse than sitting at this monitor, atop this desk, in this cubicle? This is insufferable. I will die here. O, to be on the road again, suffering heat and sympathy pains, stomach unsettled and wondering what can be better than this. Why climb a mountain? "Joy," Mallory explained, after descending Mt. Everest, is why. We misquote him and think he said "because it's there."

Listening to NPR's the TED Hour with Guy Raz, adventurer after adventurer reminds us why we go. We are on a quest, we seek to discover, but WHAT WE FOUND is not out there. It is within, like the original name of "Death of a Salesman."

A privileged youth of 29 left the gray earth (shakya-land) toward the mecca that was ancient India in search of a teacher and teaching toward liberation (moksha). There surely someone had managed to escape this rigmarole, this endlessly cycling round (samsara).

Dr. Greer (Disclosure Project) reveals evidence for life in space

Buddhist art chiseled straight into the Ajanta cave walls, India ( lifestyle.iloveindia.com)
 
"This is the way, my son!" says one. "No, this!" says another. It may be, it may be. It is only right to investigate. To ascend (arguably) the highest peak, K2, or drop to its greatest cave depth, J2, Earth (Bhumi) has many secrets yet to plumb. Even Macmurdo Station might be good. Let's travel to the bottom of the mar, to that trench in Marinaras, or skim the surface of the sea. And there's space, of course, the akasha deva loka or realm of shining ones in space. That can be reached with balloons and an oxygen tank.

Could we find earth spirits, brownies (elves), dragonflies, and ogres (sasquatches) in burning Yosemite? It's worth a try on moonlit nights out in the dark at 3:00 am, midwatch. Then there is somewhere wholly different -- a folded dimension right here. A warp and weave, a stitch of seamless planes connected as a continuum. A Native American vision quest is what Homer Simpson had.

(SC) Johnny Cash as voice of coyote on The Simpsons, Season 8, "Mysterious Voyage of Homer"

Some might only dream of adventure, but for others, there's no option but to explore the most extreme places on Earth. What drives adventurers to constantly push to the brink of human endurance? In this hour (Nov. 9, 2013), TED speakers share their experiences of going to the edge of our world and being back. LISTEN

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