Ashkenazi Jewish white supremacy in Israel

(Vrillium) Inside Israel's racial hierarchy ("c*m squads" to preserve Ashkenazi DNA European "Jewish" bloodline)

DNA testing is illegal in Israel. Why? It would prove they have no connection to the land

(Furaha from Kenya) Jewish Americans in DISBELIEF as DNA reveals the truth about them

• Buddhist rebuttal to Jewish Palestinian DNA results

Meditation shack, solitude shed (sutra)

Householder can dream of futuristic designs harnessing cosmic energy, but a treehouse is easier

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Caution: DIY shacks may lead to mixed results

Sometimes, we just need a little time alone. This time of year can get stressful due to the political climate, holiday plans, visitors, work, and travel to visit others, so when we can get a bit of peace and quiet, it goes a long way.

If we’re ready to build our don't bother me sanctuary, Costco has it covered with its surprisingly chic line of "solitude sheds."

Palisade Storage Shed Palisade Storage Shed © amazon.com $2454.00

For $2,454, I got a VW van, a mattress, and a bucket. I love it and so does Rocky!

.

Can I add a full bathroom?

What are solitude sheds? They’re essentially outfitted annexes to a home. The Studio Shed line takes what one gets from a normal storage shed up a notch in comfort.

Every model includes installation, shipping, a finished interior with drywall and insulation and, perhaps most impressive, a full electrical and lighting package! It can all be customized, everything about it, online -- from the flooring to the siding color.

Portable do-it-yourself model on wheels

All these extra elements take the shed from a simple shack or backyard storage space to an area a person actually wants to chill in. More:

• Costco is selling solitude shed that comes with drywall, electricity, and more!
• studio-shed.com/home-office-spaces

Building a backyard studio from Costco

What is there to do in a shed?

SUTRA: Wisdom

Bhikkhu Bodhi (trans), Paññā Sutta (AN 8.2) edited by Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly

What the Buddha taught still leads to awakening

“Meditators, there are eight causes and conditions that lead to gaining wisdom fundamental to the spiritual life when it has not yet been gained and furthermore to its increase, maturation, and consummation (fulfillment) by development after it has been gained. What are the eight?

I can do this, too!

(1) “Here, a meditator lives depending on the Teacher or on a certain monastic in the position of a teacher, toward whom one has set up a keen sense of moral shame and moral dread, affection and reverence. This is the first cause and condition that leads to gaining wisdom fundamental to the spiritual life when it has not yet been gained and furthermore to its increase, maturation, and consummation by development after it has been gained.

(2) “As one is living dependent on the Teacher or on a certain monastic in the position of a teacher, toward whom one has set up a keen sense of moral shame and moral dread, affection and reverence, one approaches that teacher from time to time and inquires: ‘How is this, venerable? What is the meaning of that?’ That venerable one then discloses what has not been disclosed, clears up what is obscure, and dispels perplexity about numerous perplexing points. This is the second cause and condition….

Solitude is of two kinds, physical and mental

(3) “Having heard that Teaching (Dhamma), one resorts to two kinds of withdrawal -- withdrawal of the body and withdrawal of the mind. This is the third cause and condition that leads to gaining the wisdom fundamental to the spiritual life….

(4) “One is virtuous; one dwells restrained by the [precepts or Pātimokkha], possessed of good conduct and resort, seeing danger in the smallest faults. Having undertaken the training rules, one trains in them. This is the fourth cause and condition that leads to gaining wisdom fundamental to the spiritual life….

(5) “One has learned much, remembers what one has learned, and accumulates what one has learned. Those teachings that are good in the beginning, good in the middle, and good in the end, with the right meaning and phrasing, which proclaim the perfectly complete and pure spiritual life — such teachings as these one has learned much of, retained in mind, recited verbally, mentally investigated, and penetrated well by view. This is the fifth cause and condition that leads to gaining wisdom fundamental to the spiritual life….

What a mystery it is to "go within"

(6) “One has aroused energy for abandoning unwholesome qualities and acquiring wholesome qualities; one is strong, firm in exertion, not casting off the duty of cultivating wholesome qualities. This is the sixth cause and condition that leads to gaining wisdom fundamental to the spiritual life….

(7) “In the midst of the spiritual community (Saṅgha), one does not engage in rambling and pointless talk. Either one speaks on the Dhamma, or one requests someone else to do so, or one adopts noble silence. This is the seventh cause and condition that leads to gaining the wisdom fundamental to the spiritual life….

(8) “One dwells contemplating arising and vanishing in the Five Aggregates clung to as self:

1. ‘Such is form, such its origin, such its passing away;
2. such is feeling…
3. such is perception…
4. such are volitional activities (mental formations)…
5. such is consciousness, such its origin, such its passing away.’

“This is the eighth cause and condition that leads to gaining wisdom fundamental to the spiritual life when it has not yet been gained and to its increase, maturation, and fulfillment by development after it has been gained.

Knowing and seeing

(1) “One's fellows esteem one [for these eight qualities and say]... This [meditator] surely knows and sees.’ This quality leads to affection, respect, esteem, accord, and unity....

(8) “‘This [meditator] dwells contemplating the arising and vanishing of the Five Aggregates clung to as self…. This [meditator] surely knows and sees.’ This quality, too, leads to affection, respect, esteem, accord, and unity.

“These, meditators, are the eight causes and conditions that lead to gaining wisdom fundamental to the spiritual life when it has not yet been gained and to its increase, maturation, and consummation by development after it has been gained.”

• Source: Paññā Sutta (unabbreviated, AN 8.2, suttacentral.net)

Building backyard Studio Shed

(Calirado Kid) With home prices going absolutely bonkers in California, we decided to install a Studio Shed from Costco in the backyard. This decision saves thousands of dollars by not going with a traditional home remodel. We landed on the 10x12 foot Pagoda Signature Series Shed because we really loved the design but also wanted to reduce the amount of light coming in, hence the single door. This gives greater control of the lighting when we start doing more inside. The Studio Shed will act as an office and production room. We added several options onto the standard build, including electrical and lighting, split system for heating and A/C, and additional power outlets. We'll be setting up the Studio Shed for many uses to make it a fully functional space. People ask about the total cost of the project, which depends on who installs it. Questions? Feel free to message via IG or email at thecaliradokid@gmail.com. #studioshed #backyardoffice #costco

• Studio Shed Pagoda Model with full Costco installation: $29,038 in July 2021
• Add-ons (may differ with local contractors): Interior electrical install including canned LED lighting, outlets, and exterior lights: $1,800. Electrical to main breaker, including trenching: $1,575. Cat 6 run and termination: $500. Wooden floor frame (insulated): $1,750
• Be sure to follow me on Instagram: instagram.com/caliradokid...
• Check out Studio-Shed's amazing products: studio-shed.com

• Janae McKenzie, Good Housekeeping (via MSN), 11/13/24; Bhikkhu Bodhi (trans.), Panna Sutta (AN 8.2), suttacentral.net; edited and abbreviated by Dhr. Seven (ed.), Pfc. Sandoval, Wisdom Quarterly

Tiny home of our own: Ajahn Chah Teachings

An A-frame solution full of light and two floors

What can be done to secure a spot, a quiet place to practice the Dharma, what the Buddha taught?

Having acquired the floorspace, by loan or lease, squatting or deed, it's time to set up a structure, a shelter from the elements and creeping things, nuisances and dangers.

The yurt, a Central and North Asian hut that can be carried about while being very environment-friendly, is a good option. But any hut will do, even a tent of saffron robes. Why won't Amazon, Temu, eBay, or Alibaba carry something like that. (Oh, they do?)

• Yes, this A-frame tiny house is for sale on Amazon for less than $15,000 (MSN)

Avoid covered wagons pulled by slave sheep.

Level some land. Sweep away rocks or add sand. Use a vehicle as a base. That's an option. It's stable and movable. It makes a good meditation kuti to expand the mind as the heart softens and stabilizes. And now for bhavana (bringing into being, self-development, cultivation of the good).

The Teachings of Ajahn Chah

Edited by Dhr. Seven, inspired by Sayalay Aloka. This selection taken from pp. 311-316

RIGHT PRACTICE – STEADY PRACTICE

The Teachings of Ajahn Chah

AJAHN CHAH: There was a time in my practice, after I had been practicing about five years, when I felt that living with others was a hindrance. I would sit in my kuti (hut) and try to meditate.

People would keep coming by to chat, disturbing me. I ran off to live by myself. I thought I couldn’t practice with people bothering me. I was fed up, so I went to live in a small, deserted monastery in the forest, near a small village.

I stayed there alone, speaking to no one – because there was nobody else to speak to. After I’d been there about 15 days the thought arose, “Hmm, it would be good to have a novice or pa-kow [1] here with me. He could help me out with some small jobs.”

• [1] Pa-kow: Eight-Preceptor who often lives in training with Buddhist monks (bhikkhus). In addition to his own meditation practice, he also helps with certain services that monks are forbidden from doing by the Buddhist Monastic Disciplinary Code (Vinaya).

I knew this would come up! And sure enough, here it was. So I said to myself, “Hah, you’re a real character! You say you’re fed up with your friends, fed up with your fellow monastics and novices [samanas and samaneras, wandering ascetics and little-wanderering ascetics], and now you want a novice. What’s this?”

“No,” it [my rationalization] says back, “I want a good novice.”

If mind is happy, then you are happy anywhere.

“There! Where are all the good people? Can you find any? Where are you going to find a good person? In the whole monastery there were only no-good people. You must have been the only good person to have run away like this!”

...You have to follow it up like this, follow up the tracks of your thoughts until you see... “Hmm, this is the important one. Where is there a good person to be found? There aren’t any good people. You must find the good person within yourself. If you are good in yourself then wherever you go will be good.

“Whether others criticize or praise you, you are still good. If you aren’t good, then when others criticize you, you get angry. And when they praise you, you get pleased.”

I know you're good, Homer. - STFU, B*tch!

At that time, I reflected on this and have found it to be true from that day up until the present. Goodness must be found within.

As soon as I saw this, that feeling of wanting to run away disappeared. In later times, whenever I had that desire arise, I let it go. Whenever it arose, I was aware of it and kept my awareness on it. Thus, I had a solid foundation.

Wherever I lived, whether people condemned me or whatever they would say, I would reflect that the point is not whether they were good or bad. Good or evil must be seen within ourselves. However other people are, that’s their concern.

Don’t go thinking, “Oh, today is too hot” or “Today is too cold” or “Today is....” Whatever the day is like, that’s just the way it is.

Really we are simply blaming the weather for our own laziness. We must see the Dhamma [the Truth and practices to see it the Buddha taught] within ourselves, then there is a surer kind of peace.

So for all of you who have come to practice here. Even though it’s only for a few days, still many things will arise. Many things may be arising which you’re not even aware of. There is some right thinking, some wrong thinking...many, many things.

So I say this practice is difficult. Even though some of you may experience some peace when you sit in meditation, don’t be in a hurry to congratulate yourselves.

Oh, yes, yes, now it's good and peaceful.

Likewise, if there is some confusion, don’t blame yourselves. If things seem to be good, don’t delight in them, and if they’re not good don’t be averse to them. Just look at it all. Look at what you have. Just look. Don’t bother judging. If it’s good, don’t hold on to it; if it’s bad, don’t cling to it.

Good and bad can both bite, so don’t hold fast to them. The practice is simply to sit, sit and watch it all. Good moods and bad moods come and go as is their nature. Don’t only praise your mind or only condemn it.

Know the right time for these things. When it’s time for congratulations then congratulate it, but just a little. Don’t overdo it. Just like teaching a child, sometimes you may have to spank it a little. In our practice, sometimes we may have to punish ourselves, but don’t punish yourself all the time. If you punish yourself all the time, in a while you’ll just give up the practice.

But then you can’t just give yourself a good time and take it easy either. That’s not the way to practice. We practice according to the Middle Way.

What is the Middle Way? This Middle Way is difficult to follow. You can’t rely on your moods and desires. Don’t think that only sitting with the eyes closed is practice. If you do think this way, then quickly change your thinking!

Steady practice is having the attitude of practice while standing, walking, sitting, and lying down. [This is sati-sampajanna, "mindfulness and clear comprehension."] When coming out of sitting meditation, reflect that you’re simply changing postures. If you reflect in this way, you will have peace.

Wherever you are, you will have this attitude of practice with you constantly. You will have a steady awareness within yourself. Those who, having finished their evening sitting, simply indulge in their moods, spending the whole day letting the mind wander where it wants, will find that the next evening when sitting meditation, all they get is the “backwash” from the day’s aimless thinking. There is no foundation of calm because they have let it go cold all day.

If you practice like this, your mind gets gradually further and further from the practice.

When I ask some of my disciples, “How is your meditation going?” They say, “Oh, it’s all gone now.”

You see? They can keep it up for a month or two, but in a year or two it’s all finished. Why is this? It’s because they don’t take this essential point into their practice. When they’ve finished sitting, they let go of their samadhi [coherence, stillness]. They start to sit for shorter and shorter periods until they reach the point where as soon as they start to sit, they want to finish. Eventually they don’t even sit.

It’s the same with bowing to a Buddha image. At first, they make the effort to bow every night before going to sleep. But after a while, their minds begin to stray. Soon they don’t bother to bow at all. They just nod until eventually it’s all gone. They throw out the practice completely.

Ah, like this, the mind settles quickly. I'm calm.

Therefore, understand the importance of sati [mindfulness, bare awareness, not discursive thinking but being with and accepting what is happening now without abandoning ourselves].

Practice it constantly. Right practice is steady practice. Whether standing, walking, sitting, or reclining, the practice must continue. This means that practice, meditation, is done in the mind, not in the body.

If our mind has zeal, is conscientious and ardent, then there will be awareness [nonabsentmindedness, nonforgetting, presence]. The mind is the important thing. The mind is that which supervises everything we do.

When we understand properly then we practice properly. When we practice properly, we don’t go astray. Even if we only do a little, that is still all right.

For example, when you finish sitting in meditation, remind yourselves that you are not actually finishing meditation. [Mindfulness meditation continues all the time.] You are simply changing postures. Your mind is still composed. Whether standing, walking, sitting, or reclining, you have sati with you.

If you have this kind of awareness, you can maintain your internal practice. In the evening when you sit again, the practice continues uninterrupted. Your effort is unbroken, allowing the mind to attain calm. This is called steady practice.

Whether we are talking or doing other things, we make the practice continuous. If our mind has recollection and self-awareness continuously, our practice will naturally develop. It will gradually come together. The mind will find peace, because it will know what is right and what is wrong. It will see what is happening within us and realize peace.

If we are to develop sila (virtue, moral restraint) or samadhi (firmness of mind), we must first have pañña (wisdom). Some people think that they’ll develop moral restraint one year, samadhi the next, and the year after that they’ll develop wisdom. They think these three things are separate.

They think that this year they will develop, but if the mind is not firm (samadhi), how can they do it? If there is no understanding (pañña), how can they do it? Without samadhi or pañña, sila will be sloppy. 

In fact, these three come together at the same point. When we have sila (restraint), we have calm (samadhi); when we have samadhi, we have understanding (pañña). They are all one like a mango.

Whether it’s small or fully grown, it’s still a mango. When it’s ripe, it’s still the same mango. If we think in simple terms like this, we can see it more easily. We don’t have to learn a lot of things just to know these things, to know our practice.

Don't Look Down on Defilements: They Will
Laugh at You (Ashin Tejaniya)

When it comes to meditation, some people don’t get what they want. So they just give up, saying they don’t yet have the merit to practice meditation. They can do bad things. They have that sort of talent, but they don’t have the talent to do good. They throw in the towel, saying they don’t have a good enough foundation.

This is the way people are. They side with their defilements.

Now that you have this chance to practice, please understand that whether you find it difficult or easy to develop samadhi, is entirely up to you not the samadhi.

If it is difficult, it is because you are practicing wrongly. In our practice we must have “right view” (samma-ditthi).

...If our view is right, then everything else is right:

1. right view,
2. right intention,
3. right speech,
4. right action,
5. right livelihood,
6. right effort,
7. right mindfulness,
8. right stillness – the enlightening Eightfold Path.

When there is right view, all the other factors [of this Eightfold Path] will follow. Whatever happens, keep the mind from straying off the track. Look within and you will see clearly.

For the best practice, as I see it, it isn’t necessary to read many books. Take all the books and lock them away. Just read your own mind.

It's good to read. I like reading. I get lost in books

You have all been burying yourselves in books from the time you entered school. I think that now you have this opportunity and have the time, so take the books, put them in a cupboard, and lock the door.

Just read your mind. Whenever something arises within the mind, whether you like it or not, whether it seems right or wrong, just cut it off with, “This is not a sure thing.”

Whatever arises just cut it down, reminding yourself, “Not sure, not sure.”

With just this single axe, you can cut it all down. It’s all “not sure.”

Sophia (Khema Theri), Goddess of Wisdom

For the duration of this next month that you will be staying in this forest monastery, you should make a lot of headway. You will see the Truth. This “not sure” is really an important one. This one develops wisdom.

The more you look, the more you will see the “not-sure-ness.” After you’ve cut something off with “not sure,” it may come circling round and pop up again.

Yes, it’s truly “not sure.” Whatever pops up, just stick this one label on it all: “not sure.” You stick the sign on, “not sure.” And in a while, when its turn comes, it crops up again. “Ah, not sure.” Dig here! Not sure.

You will see this same old one who’s been fooling you month in month out, year in year out, from the day you were born. There’s only this one who’s been fooling you all along. See this and realize the way things are.

When your practice reaches this point, you won’t cling to sensations, because they are all uncertain.

Have you ever noticed this? Maybe you see a clock and think, “Oh, this is nice!” Buy it and see. In not many days, you’re already bored with it.

“This pen is really beautiful,” so you take the trouble to buy one. In not many months, you tire of it again. This is how it is.

Where is there any certainty? If we see all these things as uncertain, then their value fades away. All things become insignificant. Why should we hold on to things that have no value?

We keep them only as we might keep an old rag to wipe our feet with. We see all sensations as equal in value because they all have the same nature.

When we understand sensations, we understand the world. The world is sensations, and sensations are the world. If we aren’t fooled by sensations, we aren’t fooled by the world. If we aren’t fooled by the world, we aren’t fooled by sensations.

The mind that sees this will have a firm foundation of wisdom. Such a mind will not have many problems. Any problems it does have it can solve. When there are no more problems, there are no more doubts.

Peace arises in their stead. This is called “practice.” If we really practice, it must be like this. More

• Ajahn Chah, The Teachings of Ajahn Chah (pp. 311-316) edited and rearranged by Dhr. Seven, with help from American DRC and Sayalay Aloka (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Clever Tiny Homes for sale in U.S.

Clever Tiny Homes

A high-end, full, modern kitchen

Quality tiny homes at unbeatable prices: Tiny homes on wheels are for sale from Clever Tiny Homes (CTH) with kitchen and bathroom, bedroom and lots of windows. Imagine a Murphy bed for more space and a high-end kitchen.

CTH is one of North America's largest Tiny Home builders. Its deep investment in technology, sourcing, and supply chain optimization allows them to manufacture homes with uncompromising quality at an unbeatable price. There are at least two sizes to choose from, with three completed every week at 40% savings compared to custom builders. It takes 3-4 months to build a home. But it has big windows, lofty ceilings, and is meticulously designed to maximize space and livability.

These homes feature massive windows, high ceilings, strategically-placed mirrors, bright interior colors, and storage tucked away everywhere. Uncompromising kitchens feature large, quartz countertops, soft-close hardware, quality, and custom-designed cabinetry throughout. These kitchens are ready for foodies.

Homes feature 5-star bathrooms. Rejuvenate in a spa-like restroom, complete with a full bathtub or shower, elegant tiling, a large vanity, tons of natural light, and those same tall ceilings as the rest of the house.

What could someone do in such a pad?

Two thoughtfully designed layouts are offered. To save cost, they are manufactured in an assembly-line fashion with materials sourced in bulk for greater saving. CTH does not do custom builds or finishings.

The 26' x 8.5' goes for $64,995, and the larger bedroom "Park Model" with deck, which is 38' x 12', goes for $119,995. They are available from Hawaii to Alaska, New York to California. They are shipped all over the country. More clevertinyhomes.com

• Clever Tiny Homes; Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Jen Bradford, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Homeless freeway mansions of Los Angeles

The solution to homelessness could be easy and inexpensive rather than a bureaucratic mess.

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Not all 'homeless' are alike on the streets of LA

What will become of the people in Los Angeles who are priced out of the housing market and oftentimes strung out on drugs? Even if they are detoxed and recover from addiction, what does the city and county plan to do with the billions devoted to solving the system problem? New stories like this only highlight what every Angeleno knows is going on under every freeway overpass and most sidewalks in plain sight.

Riverside properties along the 110 Freeway in Highland Park are a nuisance to nearly no one.

There may be tiny homes nearby, but they are run like a prison and people do not want that.

• 

  If only the inside were clean

  Homeless families say they have "no choice" but to take up space next to dangerous freeways because they can't find housing or jobs.
• Some of the unhoused have taken creative measures to bring creature comforts to their tiny shanty homes.
• The freeway families say they "look out for one other" and have built their own tiny community.
• Caesar Duarte didn't flinch as an Amazon truck barreled down the busy 110 Freeway in Los Angeles, missing his makeshift home by just a few feet.

I want to go off grid and live in peace

The only thing that stood between Duarte's outdoor kitchen and speeding vehicles was a three-foot retaining wall and metal fencing. 

The 44-year-old mechanic and house painter said he has learned to deal with the danger and noise since he erected his homestead by the freeway about four years ago.

With all new materials, a home like this might only cost $40K to build and place on a foundation

Is there any hope for a future of modular homes with A/C and protection from rain and sun?

.

Could there be a double wide mansion on wheels?

"It doesn't bother me, and also I have no choice," Duarte told DailyMail.com. "Everything is too expensive. Rent is too expensive, and right now it's hard to find jobs.

"We are struggling like everyone here. We don't have any problems with anyone, and we don't make problems with anyone. The neighbors, we take care of one another."

Is there a homeless crime problem? Yes

• More + PHOTOS: Inside LA's ramshackle city built on the side of a busy freeway
• ‘I’m a builder by day then go home to my squat’
• A better tiny home: Abodu Quiz

What's the tiniest "home" possible? LA's plan for "tiny tent" housing

With more than $100 million to spend, Mayor Karen Bass and LA County should be able to afford at least 800 "tiny tents," according to Fishbone and Crab in the Morning on 95.5 FM (j/k).

If they don't like their tiny tents, we have ways to convince or house them in our jails - LAPD

• Hike along California coast on popular beachside trail
• 1 in 3 young women identify as LGBTQ+ reveals study
• 20 states with the highest LGBTQ+ population percentage
• 19 ways gender disparity negatively impacts men
• 21 reasons Americans are less tactile than rest of world
• 1 US dollar = 156.0400 Japanese yen
• 60 year-old breaks stereotypes as she is crowned Miss Universe Buenos Aires
• Selena Gomez says unrealistic beauty standards make her “sad for my generation”
• REVEALED: The Midwestern city where Americans can still make a killing on property after prices surged 52% in a year, with plentiful skilled jobs, cute streets, and lush greenery fueling country's hottest property market | Daily Mail Online
• Daily Mail (mailonline.co.uk) via MSN, 4/25/24; Crystal Q., CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly LIVE from Highland Park, along the Arroyo Mojado (LA River tributary)

How to build easy, inexpensive house

We'll move to the high desert and brave the heat, winds, sun, floods, drought, and rodents.

Having secured the land for cheap, trekking into the wilderness to find a rural spot, it is time to build a structure on the real estate. Of course, what could be better than a yurt if living in the cold Stans? A vegan yurt, no wool, could really be something if it remained dry and kept snakes and rodents out. But someone or something might cut a hole to get in. Something better than cob and haybales is needed. What could be better than modular building blocks? It's a Lego house that's easy to expand, sturdy, solid, permanent, earthquake proof. What if all the blocks come tumbling down in a 9.0 apocalyptic tremor? There's a solution for that:

A kuti [\coo-tee\] is a "meditation hut," and that's what's needed more than a place to stretch or sleep. A quiet place, a place apart, a room with a view...a hearth with a chimney stack and solar panels for a fan. This structure is actually portable if one breaks it down and sets it up somewhere else. But it will stay in place, even in the wind, and be a forever home, a meditation lodge with many happy visitors.

• TikTok solves everything; Team Tiny House (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Into the forest: Seclusion Sutra (SN 9.1)

Dhr. Seven (trans.), Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Viveka Sutta, Wisdom Quarterly

What is the ideal place to meditate? The Buddha frequently repeats some of his suggestions. Would it be a thatched hut in the jungle, a tent of robes in the desert, a mound of kusa grass next to a river?

• Tiny house? Abodu Quiz (prefabricated small footprint)

The Seclusion Sutra

Viveka Sutta, (SN 9.1) translated by Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly

"Oh, foolish mortals! ever blind to fate; too soon dejected, too soon elate" (Alexander Pope).

Thus have I heard. On one occasion a certain wandering ascetic was dwelling among the Kosalans in a forest.

At that time, having gone to spend the day in seclusion, he was beset by unskillful thoughts, clinging to reminisces about the life of a layperson.

Then the woodland fairy (devata) inhabiting that forest, out of sympathy for the meditator, wishing him success, wishing to return him to his senses, approached and addressed him in verse:

"Wishing for seclusion one enters the forest

Yet the mind (heart) keeps running back.

Being a person, subdue the desire for people.

Then be at ease, content, dispassionate.

Dispel discontent with keen mindfulness.

Wisely reflect on the higher good.

For the mire of the abyss* is difficult to overcome.

Do not be led astray, pulled in by the draw of sensuality.

A bird its feathers coated with dust sheds it

With a shake so that it adheres not.

Just so an ascetic, mindful and full of energy,

Abandons dust that adheres from the world."

Indeed, that meditator, chastened by the glowing spirit, came to his senses with a sense of urgency for the goal.

• *Abyss: not literal (as in Avici or the Downfall of Niraya in general) but figurative in the sense that sensual craving can never be appeased by feeding it, as it is an endless consumer of more and more pleasures, stimuli, and novelty.
• Viveka Sutta (SN 9.1)—Ven. Sujato (trans.) suttacentral.net

Plunging into a forest grove cabin

Oh, you men. Settle down. We can feel you.

In West Virginia we visited Bhante G's Bhavana Society (bhavanasociety.org), a Sri Lankan Theravada Buddhist meditation center in the woods. I was assigned a cozy cabin with a funny stove. It was the warm season, so I could hardly imagine how cold it gets part of the year, snowed in, surviving by chopping wood to feed the hearth. Outside, mushrooms sprouted on the damp ground, and all around were trees and plants and a creek farther down by the old country road. This would do for meditation, but there were still many social distractions. One could hardly be silent as people were in the habit of small talk or getting to know one another. External silence is a great support for internal silence, where it really counts if one wishes to absorb into one's meditation object. The visiting nun leading us, as the abbot was no longer himself post-stroke, gave us instruction capable of producing absorption (jhana). One retreatant constantly slipped into piti and swirled his body on his cushion, blissed out. I would look at him, and rather than let myself become annoyed, I would follow suit. I swirled. And piti arose like magic, just a little, enough to know he was onto something. The woodland glen the center is on seemed ideal for fairy spirits of some description, as in "The Rape of the Lock." But I didn't see them. I couldn't feel them; I wasn't still enough. Females, being more sensitive and attuned to nature, claimed they could.

The Bhāvanā Society, rural West Virginia, not far from DC (bhavanasociety.org)