That Kamala Harris:

The fact that Harris is 1) Female, 2) Black, and 3) new to the Senate (i.e., easy target of senior Senator White Male privilege) seems to guarantee to those already in her boat that she is beyond criticism, and on the correct side of history. 

It also plays well if you've already decided that Sessions is a bum that deserves perp scumbag style treatment. I do support intensive, rigorous investigation. She came off as just another politician playing to her base. We'll certainly now be seeing more of Senator Harris. 

[So tell us Senator Harris, are you still beating your wife? YES or NO! Answer the question! YES or NO!]

More, to seal my point: CLICK ... 

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/448672/kamala-harris-rude-bullying-victimized-future-american-politics

Joyful Recognition: 

Discovery of a Shechen Monk’s Reincarnation

Earlier this year Tsultrim Tarchen, a five-year old boy from Silambi, Mongar (Eastern Bhutan) went with his father, Sangay Letho and mother, Sangay Zangmo, to attend the Rinchen Terdzo empowerments being bestowed by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche at Takila in Northern Bhutan.

When the boy saw some of the monks from Shechen Monastery, his behaviour amazed everyone who witnessed it. Based on his repeated statements it appeared that he must be the reincarnation of a monk from Shechen Monastery, called Tamdrin (ordained name Jigme Sherab).

Tamdrin had died tragically on the 27th of December 2006, from lack of oxygen due to a stove left burning in his room. The little boy’s parents said that at a very young age he spoke of fire and smoke and his monastery friends to his father, but the family didn’t pay much heed to his stories.

There are many things that the boy said and did to confirm his previous life. One moving example was when he saw a particular monk from Shechen he said, “Oh, I admitted you to the monastery, where is the other one?” It turns out that Tamdrin had personally admitted this monk to Shechen, along with another child. The parents of the late monk, Tamdrin, came to meet the little boy. When he saw his parents from his previous life, he became very shy and hid, peeping at them from behind a door. They left some gifts for him and when they left, he cried and said “my father and mother have gone.”

Rabjam Rinpoche said:

“When he came to see me, he stayed in his previous parents house and when he was there he asked me where his mala was, where his radio was, and many things like that.”

Tsultrim Tarchen and Tamdrin Rinpoche expressed his happiness at seeing this child, who had been one of his monks. In the case of the recognition of a tulku (reincarnate lama), very rigorous testing procedures need to be taken. Rinpoche pointed out that it is a very pure example confirming the belief in reincarnation. ‘This is a case of an ordinary child remembering his life as an ordinary monk.”

The monks and teachers of Shechen were very joyful to meet the reincarnation of their old friend in this little boy.

So You Think You're So Smart

This, from Sogyal Rinpoche:

"Because in our culture we overvalue the intellect, we imagine that to become enlightened demands extraordinary intelligence. In fact, many kinds of cleverness are just further obscurations. There is a Tibetan saying: 'If you are too clever, you could miss the point entirely.'

"Patrul Rinpoche said: 'The logical mind seems interesting, but it is the seed of delusion.” People can become obsessed with their own theories and miss the point of everything. In Tibet we say: 'Theories are like patches on a coat, one day they just wear off.'

"In his very first teaching, Buddha explained that the root cause of suffering is ignorance. But where exactly is this ignorance? And how does it display itself? Let’s take an everyday example. Think about those people — we all know some — who are gifted with a remarkably powerful and sophisticated intelligence. Isn’t it puzzling how, instead of helping them, as you might expect, it seems only to make them suffer more? It is almost as if their brilliance is directly responsible for their pain.

"What is happening is quite clear: This intelligence of ours is captured and held hostage by ignorance, which then makes use of it freely for its own ends. This is how we can be extraordinarily intelligent and yet absolutely wrong, at one and the same time."

Angels Among US

I'm sure I'll get some flack for this, but I'm always on the alert for how others may attempt to frame my reality. Take what gets communicated through the so called media by the so called news reporting, politicians, and pundits.

In fact, all that put together and looked at with some distance and open minded dispassion seems to be nothing more that a propaganda machine to mold the thinking of the hoi poloi. (That would be, of course, you and me.) "Boy! I'll tell you what it is ... and how it is!"

Take Jim Comey. The best of us, is he. True Blue Eagle Scout ... certified. Until I heard the way he answered a question in an open committee session when asked about his veracity.  He prefaced his response, with the ever so humble statement that "[his] mother taught him to never talk that way about himself". As in, not brag or praise himself. A doubt crept in.

That did it for me! The guy reminds me of the kid in school or the co-worker who knew what side to butter the bread. And, always with lots of spread.

The ongoing impression from all that I've heard about the gentleman is how moral he is, beyond reproach ... unquestionable integrity and honesty. I'll assume those who said those things about him were sincere. Yet ... Maybe a little too much praise?

One gets the impression that private citizen Comey could be trusted to be locked in a room full of naked coeds and never even take one single solitary peek. Even, not once be tempted to imagine doing so.

Now that our President has called him a liar, we'll see how things unfold. Worst case reading: if I had a stellar reputation for truthfulness and moral integrity, I would be sure that if I veered off script with the one untruthful stone to throw ... it would be at a HUGE target.

If you've been contemplating getting onto the spiritual path ... be advised ...

Not designed to cheer you up ~ Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche

"The aim of far too many teachings these days is to make people 'feel good', and even some Buddhist masters are beginning to sound like New Age apostles. Their talks are entirely devoted to validating the manifestation of ego and endorsing the 'rightness' of our feelings, neither of which have anything to do with the teachings we find in the pith instructions.

So, if you are only concerned about feeling good, you are far better off having a full body massage or listening to some uplifting or life-affirming music than receiving dharma teachings, which were definitely not designed to cheer you up.

On the contrary, the dharma was devised specifically to expose your failings and make you feel awful."