Tag: Buddhist

Noah only had to take them two-by-two via an ark  

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

One of the struggles I had as a writer was in trying to keep abreast of the riches presented me in my wider world despite the upheavals of my professional life. Just as I would be getting centered into one landscape, I was yanked into another, as if being dropped into yet one more planet. The sources of inspiration kept changing faster than I could record them in any depth. It’s a wonder I didn’t drown.

Among the drafts I’ve uncovered in my journals review, the ones now available as free PDF downloads at my Thistle Finch digital bookstore, please consider these Chronicles: Buddha Notes, Endless Prairie, and Thunder Cloud.

Welcome to another Rabbit Hole on the Internet.

 

Among unspoken initiations along the Way, befitting an Ashram Journal  

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

When we sit silently in worship, clouds that separate us may evaporate, allowing us closer to oneness, our own fullness, which is the essence of God.

The closer we get to Truth, the more tolerant and understanding we become of others. There can be no lasting revolution in the world until we’ve changed ourselves, as in reborn or liberated or enlightened, even self-realized.

 

Feed the fire

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

And so I am, when finished transcribing a journal in my spiralbound series.

The title line was from another wide-margin volume in that series.

Was I journaling at the office, too? Or even awaiting the bus? That would explain the lengthy, detailed entries so close together by date. When dates were included.

~*~

Meditation, quiescence or Dhyana, not enough: the practice should be fierce!

As with fire.

Still, tension or anger

reduce to nothing!

Nothing tangible, that is. How divine!

 

From yoga to Zen, though not in the route I took

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

Sanskrit Dhyana was corrupted into Chinese Ch’an and thence, in Japan, into Zen.

The sixth patriarch insisted there would be an awakening in prajna (transcendental wisdom) rather than in mere absorption of quiet sitting …

~*~

My name, Jnana, also appears transliterated from Sanskrit as Gyana, meaning the “wise use of knowledge,” among other nuances Here, in an image by Yulem via Wikimedia Commons, is an Indian hook hanger made of bronze with rudraksha beads showing one of the most frequently used hand positions, or mudras, during the practice of pranayama and meditation to symbolize the movement of human consciousness toward holy light.

 

The doors on this train are about to close

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

The clock’s winding down on my offer of a free ride on my novel, Subway Visions. Who knows when, if ever, you’ll have another opportunity on such a deal.

The surrealistic story presents an adventurous ride in its flashes through underground culture. Some of it even erupts into verbal graffiti.

It’s one of five novels I’m making to you for free during Smashword’s annual end-of-the-year sale, which ends just a few hours from now on January First. Remember, the ebook comes in the digital platform of your choice.

Step aboard promptly, then, before the door closes. There are good reasons I see these mass transit rails as an urban amusement park. Check out the ebook and you’ll discover why.

For details, go to the book at Smashwords.com.

Along the tubes to nirvana

 

How do you feel about family?

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

Cassia would have to say she’s in a big happy extended family, but she would disagree with

Tolstoy on his other point. Hers is not the same as any other. As for the unhappy part, she carries a world of grief after the disappearance of her father in a mountain avalanche.

My novel What’s Left follows the bereft daughter in her quest for identity and meaning over the decades that follow. Bit by bit, she discovers that he’s left her far more than she ever would have imagined, in effect guiding her to some pivotal choices.

The ebook is one of five novels I’m making available for FREE during Smashword’s annual end-of-the-year sale. Pick up yours in the digital platform of preference.

Think of this as my Christmas present to you. How can you not be interested in insights about family, especially at this time of year? Even if this one does have some Goth twists, probably unlike yours.

For details, go to the book at Smashwords.com.

Accept my free token for an eye-opening ride

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

Some things are timeless, and subway trains and their tunnels and elevated lines are that for me. They do get my imagination rolling.

That’s how I came to write Subway Visions, my surrealistic novel of adventurous rides through underground culture. Some of it even erupts into verbal graffiti.

The ebook is one of five novels I’m making available for FREE during Smashword’s annual end-of-the-year sale. You can obtain yours in the digital platform of your choice.

Think of this as my Christmas present to you. Now, get rolling and enjoy the trip!

For details, go to the book at Smashwords.com.

Along the tubes to nirvana

The act of tedious revision can lead to some favorite lines

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

My novel What’s Left, was in no rush for completion, contrary to my own desires. Still, I wasn’t going to artificially pressure this one.

As for my personal surprises this time? Some of my favorite lines popped up while swimming my daily laps in the city’s indoor pool.

Here’s one of Cassia’s outbursts that almost prompted me to change the name of the novel itself:

Oh, my, am I torn! I’ll tell you this, though. Buddhism comes in very handy when other kids are giving you so much grief you threaten to cast a spell on them and break out chanting Su To Ka Yo Me Bha Wa repeatedly and then just watch them back away. Oh, I tell you, it’s so satisfying!

What’s that do?

You’ll find out. You better be good to toads.

You get lots of respect for doing that.

~*~

Which title Do you think’s better — “What’s Left” or “You Better Be Good to Toads”? Or have I overlooked something even better?

~*~

Think of it as a cool Christmas present for somebody really special. Available at the Apple Store, Barnes & Noble’s Nook, Scribd, Smashwords, Sony’s Kobo, and other fine ebook distributors and at Amazon in both Kindle and paperback.

Within a daughter’s own living Greek drama

About the practice of intense meditation

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

Answers to some of the questions about Cassia’s father’s reasons for intensely pursuing Tibetan Buddhism, first encountered in my Freakin’ Free Spirits novels, can be found in Yoga Bootcamp, my story about eight young American yogis living on a former farm in the mountains. While each student is at a different stage of discovery, their widely divergent motivations still lead to common struggles and victories. Nothing is easy, but the lessons are priceless.

Do you practice meditation? How about yoga exercises, chanting, or Zen? Any other spiritual exercises you care to discuss?

~*~

The paperback cover …