Hasu Transitoire (The Transient Lotus)

My day job is rather unique...I read and write about Buddhism - history, art history, philosophy, texts, social issues, architecture, food, etc. - as I work toward my doctorate in Buddhist Studies at UCLA. One of the best parts of this journey is my yearly trip to Japan, and I thought some of you might find it interesting to know what's in store for 2010. You can read all about previous adventures in my old blog posts from 2007, 2008, and 2009. This next one's gonna be incredible...check it out! 2010 Buddhism & Art Exploration Seminar in Japan

Just woke from a night of beautiful sleep. My sleep is almost always filled to the brim with fantastical, heartbreaking, heartwarming, inspiring dreams, and I try to make the effort to record these special moments in (non-awakened) time. It is a very personal experience to share such intimate details of one's consciousness, however, and since this is my first time blogging about dreams, I have selected a (less personal) snippet from an October dream: ****I’m wading in cold river at night when a middle-aged man and his son come up to me asking if there is anywhere along the bank they can camp. The man lost his job recently and is homeless with his young child. The river is wild and not safe anywhere, but I tell them that where I stand there is a shelf rock that sticks out and they can at least stand on it/camp? As I stand on the shelf, I can see through the clear water to the smooth rocks below as thundering waters come rushing by, heading down an ominous path toward a waterfall.