In case you notice anything unusual on this blog over the next few days, it has to do with migrating it over to a new host. 

I ran into some problems when trying to import the blog to the new host, so will keep it here for a few more days. 

The blog is on vacation again

Everything seems to work now. I added a rating feature on the single post pages.

I am updating WordPress so plugin related parts of the site may go out of whack for a day or two, until I get around to fixing it.

The journal is still on vacation, apart from possibly finishing a couple of draft posts. My sense is that something needs to shift (not necessarily anything major), so it seems right to go in “neutral” for a while. There is still a great number of posts here to look through, if you find it of value.

Update: There will be some occasional posts from now on, although less frequent than before.

The Blogisattva Award winners are announced! Go to their website to check out a range of excellent and interesting Buddhist themed blogs. Well worth taking a look.

The Blogisattva Award Nominees have been announced!

Here are the blog of the year nominees:

• American Buddhist [the combination of American Buddhist Perspective (1/1-9/23/07) & American Buddhist in England (9/23-12/31/07)]; Justin Whitaker
• Danny Fisher; Danny Fisher
• Dreaming of Danzan Ravjaa; Konchog Norbu
• Integral Options Cafe; William Harryman
• One foot in front of the other; Michael

Michael died last month, so I find it especially poignant to read through his blog… a good reminder of impermanence, and of the courage available to us even in difficult times.

I also see that Mystery of Existence is honored with four nominations! Best achievement blogging on Buddhist practice or Dharma, best achievement blogging on matters philosophical and psychological, and twice under best philosophy or psychology post.

Thanks to Spiritual Blog Reviews for a very generous review of this blog! That blog itself is well worth a look.

It’s funny to read quotes from what I have written. Most of the time, I am shocked that it actually makes some sense!

A few things about this blog…

I write it for my own sake, to get down on paper whatever comes up for me so I can move on, so I don’t have to try to think about or remember it anymore. I use it as a way to explore topics. A way to describe experience and (temporary) insights. A way to, hopefully, notice where I am stuck. I way to record whatever comes up when I plant seeds for myself in the form of questions or a topic.

And as for whomever may read it, it may serve as a pointer for something they can investigate for themselves. It may help clarify what is true for them, in experience or beliefs, even if it is very different from what is here. It may point folks in the direction of practices that work for them. (Any of those would be great.)

And most importantly, whatever is written here is only a question. Something to explore further. A starting point for investigation.

And from limited experience.

For a long time, there has been voices whispering in my ear about this blog… it is too repetitive, too serious, too obsessive, too much about figuring things out which cannot be pinned down, too narrow focus, too much of an isolated island, too much of an attempt to be balanced which also takes the spice out of it…

It is of course what comes up, and I am just the scribe… but now, the impulse to break out of it is coming up stronger.

And since I also want to break out from the island, why not include others? Maybe others want to break out from their islands as well?

Here is an idea that came up in a chat with deepsurface last night:

Set up a blog that is specifically for taking other perspectives than the ones we usually take… it will be an exercise in letting go, in finding valid points in what are usually the opposite views, for some it would be an exploration of different addresses in the aqal model, and could even be a good deal of fun.

Some ideas for guidelines:

• Take a different view from your usual one (a reversal, or if you want to be more specific, then as defined by the aqal model… decide on a level, line, quadrant and/or type)
• Find good points, and keep it short (write intelligently and succinctly from the perspective)
• Have fun, remember it is only a game.

And as a side-discussion, we can talk about our experiences with it, what we discovered, how well we stayed with the chosen perspective, and so on.

I moved the blog to WordPress. If you have the old address in your bookmark, links or feeds, please update to http://www.absentofi.org and http://www.absentofi.org/feed/

The look and feel is much the same, although there is a nice little tag cloud here, and some basic functionality restored (previous/next links, etc.)

WordPress is open source blogging software, and you can host your blog for free at blogpress.com, or at your own space. This blog is using the following plugins:

• Enlarger… for photos
• fArch… for the archive
• Organizer… for working with files
• Simple Tagging… for tags and tag cloud
• WP Database Backup… for just that

I am curious about who is reading this blog, so if you’d like to post a comment or feedback here - whether you are a new or regular reader - please go ahead!

Anything goes, including thoughts you have along the lines of “he’s …” and “this is …” Chances are, you are right, and seeing it may help me find it for myself as well. What is it that I am not seeing?

Also, what - if anything - do you find helpful for yourself? What would you like to see more of? Less of?

I am writing this blog mostly for my own benefit, although if someone gets something out of it beyond that, even better! You may discover something by exploring for yourself something referred to in these writings, or you may realize that “no, that’s definitely not how it is for me” which also helps you clarify it for yourself.

(With this new design, to place a comment click on the title of the post, and then on Comment in the green box appearing to the right.)

Note: this is outdated information.

I plan to move this blog to WordPress which should resolve some current shortcomings, including the limit of 20 posts shown when you select a label. For now, if you wish to read posts with a particular label…

1. Click on the label
2. Add “?max-results=200″ to the URL
3. Enter

For instance, to read all posts on inquiry, the URL would look like this:
http://absentofi.blogspot.com/search/label/inquiry?max-results=200

Reality periodically comes up against my beliefs and ideas of how this blog should be, and when it does, it is time to revise my attachment to those ideas. This blog is already more of an online journal than a blog as I think of it (frequently linking to other sites and posts, a place for lively comments and discussion and so on), so I’ll just settle with having it be a log of one person’s journey.

What this blog is, for me…

• A journal of some aspects of one phase of one person’s journey (leaving out most of my life, but including the parts I find more interesting to explore in writing.)
• A way to explore some select and few parts of my life more in detail.
• A depository for some of what the mind produces, allowing space for something else to come in (if it wants.)
• Only temporary and limited insights, at best.
• Allowing for repeated themes, as long and as often as they come up on their own (it means there is more processing to do there.)
• Written for my own benefit, mostly.

What it is not…

• A comprehensive journal of my life (obviously.)
• Reflecting any final insights (any insight is only temporary and limited.)
• A blog that links to a great deal of other blogs and sites.
• Written for others (although if anyone finds anything interesting or helpful to them here, they are of course welcome to read it…!)

After sticking with the not-so-attractive blogger templates for a while, I decided to go for a more earthy and simplified look. This template was developed by Derek Punsalan at 5thrityone.

(I hope the text is not too small? Will take a look at the source to see if I can make the default size a little larger.)

The Blogisattva awards for 2006 have been announced. The winner of the blog of the year award is Integral Options Café, which is well deserved for its quality, consistency and comprehensiveness (it is one of the few blogs I regularly read.) The rest of the list is also worth taking a look at.

The premier award, Blog of the Year, Svaha!, goes to Bill Harryman’s Integral Options Café [link] the fulsome and intellectually hefty — yet fun, smooth, easy and delightful — carnival of information and insight. Bill has a broad and sophisticated palate of what is worthwhile and interesting and has an ability to sweep his readers in to his world of treasures and responsible living. We learn to stay fit; eat right; take care of body and mind, but we are not being lectured to by a finger-wagging nag. Bill gives us things to do, fun to find and insights that come from his challenging, interesting life and then adds thoughtful essays that are finely crafted, masterfully done, about Buddhism informed by Integral theory.

The new issue of Holons has a selection of integral blogs, and the annual Blogisattva award nominees (including this blog…!) for Buddhist blogs has been announced. Lots of good blogs on both lists, and worthwhile checking out.