Buddha said that the cause of all unhappiness is Desire. If you cannot have something, you become frustrated and unhappy. I desired this lamp when I saw it in the window of an Indian/Asian shop downtown.
Jumping around a bit in my trip. This beautiful face of Buddha is from a statue made by artisans at the Norbulingka Institute in Dharamsala, India. The institute is for the preservation of Tibetan culture.
Just one year ago, I left for my first trip to India, with my little friend Radovan, shown here by his fireplace and with two of his friends from India. Little did I ever think I would get to India at all, and here I am going again. By the time you read this, I'll already be there...I'm not sure of my Internet connection, so I have uploaded photos until the end of the month. I hope I can post some from India, beginning January 1st. I'll be back on the 6th, and will resume visiting your blogs then! 
Radovan is on the road again, and 'Bibi" is well enough (she hopes...) to accompany him. Radovan has become camera shy and won't feature in all of Bibi's posts, but he'll be with her as she travels through Tamil Nadu and to one other mystery destination Radovan won't allow to be disclosed just yet....stay tuned.
The Noble Eightfold Path describes the way to the end of suffering, as it was laid out by Siddhartha Gautama, later known as Buddha. It is a practical guideline to ethical and mental development with the goal of freeing the individual from attachments and delusions; and it finally leads to understanding the truth about all things. The eight aspects of the path are highly interdependent principles that have to be seen in relationship with each other. The eighth principle of the path is Right Concentration. Right Concentration means concentration on wholesome thoughts and actions through meditation.
The simplest definition for Zen is 'contemplation.' I found this quote while searching more about Zen, in order to tie Zen in with my 'ice' photo. (Addendum after posting: I'm always a bit bothered when I believe to have posted something with no direct relation to Belgrade/Serbia. I ran another search about "Buddhist thought in Serbia" and surprisingly, I found this site for you to check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barlaam_and_Josaphat Looks like this goes waaay back.)
One of my best-loved books is Walden, by Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), American author and philosopher. Walden is a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and simplicity and self-reliance were Thoreau's goals. He made clear in this book that his cabin was not in the wilderness, but at the edge of town, not far from his family home. Mama Thoreau undoubtedly often brought him goodies, but that’s what mothers are for, after all! Thoreau did not intend to live as a hermit, but rather to live at a distance from society in order to raise his awareness of how one's life is lived, materially and otherwise, and how one might choose to live it more deliberately, mindful of the present moment. He put into practice the Transcendentalist belief that one can best transcend normality and experience the Divine through nature. Some say he was the precursor of American Buddhism, since he was perhaps the first American to explore the nontheistic mode of contemplation which is the distinguishing mark of Buddhism. One of my favorite quotes of his is: “Our life is frittered away by detail—simplify, simplify!” 
Nope, this isn't a Buddhist temple; far from it! It's one of Belgrade's many floating restaurants/cafes/discothèques (splavovi, in Serbian) that line the riverbanks of the Sava and Danube rivers. These are tremendously popular places, especially in the summertime. The back of this one is visible in yesterday's photo taken from the Old Belgrade side.I think these grapes will never be wine. They are part of a larger mass of grapevines that form a trellis for shade over an outdoor patio. T...
