Where to find me...

UPDATE:  May, 2016    I've been blogging on ZiaLink.org  for the past year.  My book links are there, my social commentary is there, and I'm still VERY active on Twitter.  Hardly on FB lately, but ZiaLink is current, or check out 1Zenwoman on Twitter.  Thanks!!

Even though I dislike Facebook's prying policies, I have pages there. My ZenWoman personal page,  the AKS Book page  and even a page for ZiaLink Ink, my publishing biz.  Sometimes I'm active on Fbook without anyone knowing, because I'm involved in what is called "secret" groups for PKD fans, writing, and some other secret stuff ;)  ha!  Some of the groups are not so secret, but still require a request to join.

I love twitter and the idea of micro-blogging. I can't resist commenting on political matters, climate, and should post more of my spiritual insights--  at least promote my eBooks and writing there.  I have a personal and book page there, and Izzi even has a K9 Twitter account!

Sometimes in November, I hang out on the NaNoWriMo writing site.   Some year I may blog my 50,000 words.  (just deleted a bunch of old links here...)

I don't use Google circles, nor do I like or use Linked In.)  Forget the AKS book website, which only links to my Author profile page on Amazon.com  I've got quite an online presence ;) Of course, I always have since the old BBS days in the 1980s.  I think I still have my old, original blog, too...  over on Xanga (dates back to 2001), but I'm not going to reactivate that! 

Now, please comment and tell me how or where to find YOU!

TOO many books!

the actual "library" room

Contrary to this T-shirt on my library room futon, surrounded by books that need to be shelved or stored, YES there is such a thing as too many. I just spent over two hours trying to count how many books I own.

The real shock, is that I have more books in other rooms (and in bins, bags and boxes) than in my library!  I've been on record for at least two years now, that I prefer eBooks over paper books. HA! Who could tell! The exception to this should be specialty books like rare, antiquarian, collectibles, art books, or in my case my PKD collection, right?  And of course the first edition of my own novel ;) (Oh, look it just happens to be here on the right, a click away in "e" or paper.)  This book analysis began when I decided today was the day to clean up the loose, unshelved books around the house. OMG, I can't even tell you how many-- I stopped counting at around 150! That's when I decided to count all the books in my house. I was blown away to find 250 in my bedroom!
They aren't just on these shelves (left), a niche in the wall-- they're in drawers, on the night stand (of course), stacked in and on my bookcase bed... and sadly, on the bed. PLUS, I found another 335 lurking in the living room (crammed in small shelves), the computer room (more shelves) and hidden in drawers in those rooms!

I quit counting at 1425, because I knew there were those bins and boxes in my storage areas. That is just TOO damn many books. Oh, I know, some of you are laughing at this pittance because you know you have even more! But, look at this through the eyes of a post-millennial who rarely sees paper books. Shocking.  

I actually felt this way when I went to a bookstore the other day. I realized I hadn't been in one for nearly a year.  My new books are eBooks and my music is downloaded, so it was shocking to see a huge store full of what is on the verge of extinction. I must thin the herd here at home!  SPIT OUT a number. What is reasonable?  I think 500 is more than enough...  I have a lot of work to do. 

Grappling

Okay, I've been blogging and grappling over on a new site:  blog.zialink.org  (which for now uses a new blog format called Ghost.)  It's a pay-for place, so I may move that content back over here in February, but for now,  ENJOY!  As Pema says,  "May it be of benefit." 

First Light

In Tibetan Buddhism (at least in our Kagyu tradition) we bring in the new year and new energies with a celebration called "First Light." For U.S. "Westerners" this is held pre-dawn on New Year's Day. It is a puja, meaning a special ceremony with offerings and chanting.   At our local KTC (Karma Tegsum Choling) Center we lit 108 candles, in addition to the usual alter candles and regular rituals associated with our Vajrayana practices.
It was a beautiful ceremony and I'm really glad I attended. However...

I have been grappling with my practice, particularly with the aspects of being part of an organized "religion." And there's no way around it, the KTC is very structured and organized. So much so that I declined the generous offer to be on the board of directors for 2014.  Serving on the board requires an oath of office, basically "pledging allegiance" to the Karmapa (the head of our lineage who represents the embodiment of all buddha activity), the pecepts and tenets of the Kagyu lineage. To take that oath means upholding and always representing the views of the KTD and KTC. I just can't do that.  As I said, I'm still grappling. 

After years of seeking and dharma study, I felt (and still feel) that Vajrayana is as close as I can come to finding a set of practices that are meaningful and beneficial to me. I discovered His Holiness the Dalai Lama twenty five years ago and since then I've considered myself a student of his teachings and his brand of Buddhism. (Before that I dabbled in Zen and other Mahayana practices.) Buddhism is complicated with many variations.

 KTC in ABQ, NM

There are about 20 million people who claim to follow Tibetan Buddhism, but there are several schools and sects. Even though you might hear of four major schools (of Vajrayana), within the   Kagyu "school" there are 12 Dagpo Kagyu lineages, and as that wiki link shows there is disagreement about the number of major schools.  After all this time, I just learned this past weekend that our Karma Kagyu is actually part of the Drubgyu Karma Kamstang sect that falls under the Dagpo branch.

You can see the similarity to Christian churches--  one on every corner in America, each with their own set of precepts and peccadillos. Which brings me to the crux of my issue and angst. It was this kind of nitpicking and divisiveness that drove me away from Christianity as a teenager. While I must admit that in general Buddhism is more tolerant and forgiving than my "bible belt" experiences, this oath-taking and pledging of loyalty to one sect is more than I can handle.

We could have a lively discussion about why lineages and traditions are so important. In general I have great confidence in our "whispered transmissions" that have been passed down for over a thousand years. But, I still think blue deities (as seen here in my favorite Medicine Buddha iconography)  might be ancient aliens. Even HHDL has laughed with a twinkle in his eye when asked about that possibility, and did not dismiss it! Namaste!!

PS --  I'm about to embark on a new blogging process called  Still Grappling and may do that on a new site or platform.  I will link here for those who read or care ;)  It's mostly for my own sake, as is all my blogging and writing. But I always love and appreciate feedback.  "May it be of benefit," as my dear Pema Chodron says.  (Acharya Ani Pema strongly admonishes fundamentalist views -- yay!  And, beloved Thrangu Rinpoche is her Abbot. She also takes spiritual direction from Shambhala Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, who isn't KTD, or even Kagyu. My kind of gal! ;) )