I picked "Begin Anew" as the title for my blog after spending an amazing week with Thich Nhat Hanh on a silent retreat a couple of years ago. One of his dharma talks focused on the importance of beginning anew each day and each moment. Living mindfully in each moment allows us to let go of the heaviness of the past and the fears of the future.
Imagine my delight when I started receiving comments on my blog in Mandarin from what I thought were foreign readers who had found my blog through the title. Now it seemed to me that my blog, through it's spiritual underpinnings, had gone global and I was truly connecting with other spiritual writers...even though I couldn't read what they were saying. This was the gift of blogging, connecting us all to each other.
One of my dear friends sent this email: K....thought you would want to know that when you click on the comment under "Profiles in Courage" it links you to an Asian porn site...sorry
WHAT?????????????
So, it seems, that my foreign readers are actually spammers, linking my little blog to something else entirely. I am bemused by it all, mostly that I was so excited to be found by fellow Buddhists and all the assumptions that I made when I could not, in fact, read a word of what was written. My friend just clicked on the comment and was spirited away to another place...she was not thrilled as she was using a work laptop.
So, in the future, comments will be moderated and I will continue to hope for my global readership and be thankful for my readers who are actually quite mindful without my help.
Namaste
I love that blog! Mandarin readers indeed!
ReplyDeleteI learned a valuable lesson my Junior year of high school. During some crazy off-season training they had us harnessed to a rope pulling a tire. With an unknown power, I was jerked to an instant stop. Rattled and pissed off I jumped on the only person behind me. It was a set-up and I got into a fight with an innocent fellow (who happened to be from African dissent). Boy did feel stupid and then had to square-off against the guy (European dissent) who actually stepped on my tire. Things usually aren't the way they seem, especially if there is controversy involved.
ReplyDeleteA cop friend of mine in Colorado Springs sent me a link to vote for a fellow police officer's submission to Dunkin Donuts "create a new donut" competition. The guy said that his inspiration for his "cop cake" came form his handcuffs. His bright idea was to put a hole in the donut (thus, looking like handcuffs?!) and some chocolate on top... is this tongue and cheek or what?
Saw interesting movie "how to cook your life"
a documentary of zen master baker, Edward Espe Brown