Hello, Dalai!

I hadn't realized it at the time, but my interest in Buddhism goes back a bit further than I'd realized. I was on a company trip to New York last year that included a trip to Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. In a room full of figures of world leaders, past and present, there was one that stood out for me. While most of the figures were tallish men in suits, he was a small man in loose robes. And in a room full of faces ranging from serious expressions to pleasant smiles, the small man positively exuded happiness. It was a wax figure of the current Dalai Lama.

I went back to look at him several times, enjoying his smile and trying to puzzle out how a wax figure could radiate happiness. Obviously Madame Tussaud's did a wonderful job of capturing the essence of the man. I told my wife about it, commenting that I could certainly use some of that bliss. She could only say "Me, too".

I recently read "The Art of Happiness at Work", which is credited to the Dalai Lama and Howard Cutler, M. D. The title says it all. The book is essentially the Dalai Lama and an American psychiatrist discussing how to be happy at work. I can't say that I learned much about Buddhism from it, but they do a great job in showing how to usefully apply Buddhist ideas to the western workplace. You get a real sense of who the Dalai Lama is as a human being, and that it's truly possible to be happier at work if you have the right perspective. I might have to pick up the first book, "The Art of Happiness".

I'm currently reading "How to See Yourself as You Really Are", which was written by the Dalai Lama himself, and finding it enlightening and useful. It's not surprising that Buddhism is practical, as they've had quite a long time to apply it to the Real World. The thing that continues to amaze me about Buddhist thought is the practicality of it all at the same time that it goes to some very metaphysical places. At the end of the day, it's all essentially about your personal mind set, which is what I think makes that possible.

Lest anyone thinks I've entirely fallen down a Buddhist rabbit hole, at the same time that I purchased "How to See Yourself as You Really Are", I bought a collection of Richard Matheson short stories and was considering "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead: The Dirty Life and Times of Warren Zevon". I loved one revealing quote in the book, which was something to the effect that he got to be Jim Morrison a lot longer than Jim Morrison did. I wouldn't want to live that life myself (though I did for a while, once upon a time), but I enjoyed the man's creative work.

The rest of the first season of Torchwood was waiting for me at my Friendly Local Comics Store, courtesy of the same friend who lent me the first eight episodes. I think I'll finish the season before blogging about it.

Work on the house continues, and for what I think is the third straight weekend, my wife and I barely left the house. The living room, kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom all look fairly good now, though there are odds and ends yet to be done even in those rooms. Our spare room, the basement, and the outside of the house still need some attention, and the spare room is next on the agenda. We've packed up a lot of stuff, and by the time we actually move, there won't be that much that needs to go. Uncluttering the house feels like uncluttering our lives, and contributes to my recent feeling that things are, if busy and imperfect, at least trending in the right direction.