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On Tuesday, March 10, I participated in a panel at Meredith College in Raleigh on Religion and the Environment. Here is the gist of my introductory comments. It was a great panel - good discussion. News Release

Good afternoon. My name is Barb Baranski. I am here as a representative of the Kadampa Center for the Practice of Tibetan Buddhism here in Raleigh. I am honored to take part on this panel, and want thank Dr. Benko for inviting me to participate.

My qualifications for being here are mostly that I am a person who seriously practices Buddhism, and has a serious interest in the environment, but I am not a monastic. From my childhood in northern Wisconsin, I was always interested in the environment.

My father was a wastewater engineer, and dedicated his life to clean water and preserving natural resources. I followed in his footsteps into engineering because I wanted to make the world a better place. Then I found out just how complicated that was - lots of conflicting interests influencing public policy on the environment. I had to take a break!

As an adult, when I heard the principles of Buddhism with respect to the earth and life, it just made sense to me. Don’t harm others. Take only what you need. Think about the consequences of your actions. Do what you can to help others have the causes and conditions for happiness.

A basic premise of Buddhism is interdependence. Everything that happens is dependent upon something that happened before it. Everything we do influences something else, and we, as thinking, powerful individuals need to consider our actions very carefully for the sake of all sentient beings. (Read the article)

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What an incredible day - fresh white snow all over everything, still falling, and a brand new president. Spectacular sites from Washington - everyone seems so pumped, ready for this new beginning.

I’m looking forward to the change. I hope that President Obama brings a strong sense of integrity, compassion, and honesty to our world - a place, these days, that seems to be lacking these things so much. May he set an example that greed and self-centeredness do not have to be things that Americans are known for and strive for. What an awesome opportunity to see what we can do to make the world a better place. Share our wealth and good fortune when we have it with those who don’t. Look deep into our hearts and set all the good things free.

Peace to all, and best wishes to President Obama, his family, and everyone in this great nation!

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This week has been one of those weeks - in my head, of course, there was too much to do for me to be out of commission with random sickness. But my body decided differently, and settled me flat on my ass on the couch for the better part of four days. I think it finally realized that to get my attention it has to annoy my brain. So it decided to mess with my equilibrium. Funky. Several times, I felt like I was watching myself from outside. Couldn’t type a coherent sentence. Just laid on the couch, dozing in and out of random episodes of Law and Order, the Dead Zone, and a movie or two. Makes for interesting hallucinations!

It gave me a chance to step back and re-evaluate. Slow down. Start listening to my heart. Toss out those layers and layers of misconceptions, preconceived notions, and silliness I add to everything with my over-active brain. I felt like I was shedding layers of clothes. Funny - because the temperature outside would have had me thinking differently, with its bone chilling winds.

The thick overcoat is slowly shredding - it is made up of the stories woven over years and years that I thought were protecting me from the scary things. The hard conversations. The unpleasant news. It also contains all the reminders of mistakes and mis-spoken words that pop up to remind me of my stupidity. Like when I said those nasty things about a co-worker to another co-worker, and the person I was talking about heard me. That happened ten years ago, and the person I dissed is dead, but I still relive that terrible moment in my head - over and over and over again. It is like one of those twiggy hard spots in a tweed coat.

I hope I can keep this sense of hopefulness and openness. I pray that it does not go away when I get sucked into the mundane usualness of the work week. May I remember that each day, each hour, each breath is a new adventure, and how I remember it is totally up to ME.

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Thank you to everyone who helped us strive for another “Buy Nothing” Christmas!

Ethics Added to Christmas Spirit

Instead, we donated on everyone’s behalf to the North Carolina Food Bank, the Healing Place of Wake County, the Family House at UNC Hospitals (they now have a 12-foot Christmas tree and lots of lights), Goodwill, and, of course, Kadampa Center.

We have been very fortunate this year, and are thankful for all our friends and family, both near and far. We wish everyone the best during this holiday season. Commit some random acts of kindness if you can!!

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Santa Needs a Nap

It is fun to watch the holiday activities from afar. I cherish all the great memories from childhood of baking cookies, shopping, opening presents, and lots of snow. But I don’t miss all the stress I used to put myself through to satisfy expectations that I thought others had of me. It was liberating to realize that I didn’t have to do all those things.

Externally, I’m practicing minimalist holidays. But know that in my heart, I wish everyone peace and happiness!!!

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Babs with Natalie Originally uploaded by cbb4104

We spent much of July 4th with our new little friend Natalie - she is almost two weeks old! So tiny…

Just before this she was wiggling around, trying to get comfortable so she could take a nap.

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On Monday nights in July, there will be a Buddhism 101 class happening at Kadampa Center. Ven. Tonden will be teaching the first two classes, and Barb will be doing her best to explain samsara, nirvana, dependent arising, and emptiness on the last two classes.

It is a great opportunity to get a taste of Tibetan Buddhism, and perhaps you will be interested in sticking around for the Discovering Buddhism series.

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The time has finally come to give up the old table-based markup site and do the right thing and get it into something more standards compliant!

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