Don't forget that Kevin Griffin, author of One Breath at a Time and A Burning Desire, will lead the Berkeley Dharma & Recovery Group on Tuesdays, May 1 and May 8. For more info on Kevin, visit www.kevingriffin.net.

Here's an interesting list of 108 Defilements of Buddhism: http://www.virtuescience.com/defilements.html

"Try to recognize that defilements are simply defilements; that they are not ‘your’ defilements. Every time you identify yourself with them or reject them, you are only increasing the strength of the defilements."  --Sayadaw U Tejaniya

A random sampling from the list from above:

ostentatiousness   
grudge   
gambling   
ingratitude
dipsomania   
ambition   
dominance   
faithlessness
manipulation   
stinginess   
pessimism   
hostility
abuse   
debasement   
sexual lust   
sarcasm
humiliation   
jealousy   
gluttony   
unruliness

Hi-Res Image of Earth

This is the new hi-resolution image of Earth I mentioned in the group last night. Read more about it here.

The image, named The Blue Marble 2012 by NASA, is a composite, created using a number of swaths of the Earth’s surface taken on Jan. 4, 2012. It echoes the legendary “Blue Marble” photograph, taken by the crew of the Apollo 17 spacecraft on Dec, 7, 1972. 

And here is the link to NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day that Bob mentioned.

Half Full or Half Empty?

A Buddhist Approach To Recovery: Turning It Over by Kevin Griffin

Here's a link to Kevin Griffin's article in the Huffington Post about Step 3 again:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kevin-griffin/turning-it-over_b_841087.html

And here are a few excerpts that I read last night:

The movement from the powerlessness of Step One to the power of Steps Two and Three is asking us to see how certain aspects of our thinking and actions were self-defeating. Here I want to distinguish between the ego-driven, deluded, selfish, unconsciously reactive, desire-self and the more conscious, aware, objective, compassionate and discriminating self. The former is the one that is powerless, that is addicted, that keeps us on the cycle of samsara, the constant birth and death of ego and the search for satisfaction. The latter can be called the "higher self" and is connected to our higher power -- some would say it is our higher power.

And here:

Turning our will and our lives over is a huge letting go. It means trusting the universe, trusting that if we do the right thing and then let go, things will be okay; trusting that when things aren't going our way, we still need to stay on our path. Suzuki Roshi says "Even if the sun were to rise from the west, the Bodhisattva has only one way." This is the kind of trust and commitment that we need, not just for recovery from addiction, but to find the kind of happiness and peace that makes life truly worth living.

Gravy: A Poem by Raymond Carver

Here's a poem by Raymond Carver that I've always found inspiring:

Gravy

No other word will do. For that's what it was. Gravy.
Gravy, these past ten years.
Alive, sober, working, loving, and
being loved by a good woman. Eleven years
ago he was told he had six months to live
at the rate he was going. And he was going
nowhere but down. So he changed his ways
somehow. He quit drinking! And the rest?
After that it was all gravy, every minute
of it, up to and including when he was told about,
well, some things that were breaking down and
building up inside his head. "Don't weep for me,"
he said to his friends. "I'm a lucky man.
I've had ten years longer than I or anyone
expected. Pure Gravy. And don't forget it."

                  RAYMOND CARVER
                   (1938-1988)

Stanford happiness class proves popular, helpful

Here's an excerpt from a San Francisco Chronicle article about a happiness class at Stanford (written by Kathryn Roethel, Special to the Chronicle - Tuesday, November 29, 2011)

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/11/28/BA821M2BVL.DTL#ixzz1f73UeBrf

Demand for Luskin and Pertofsky's classes is high. The fall class is full, and in a similar summer course for graduate students, 75 applied for 30 spots. Pertofsky said each year there are students - she estimates 10 to 12 - who take the course at the recommendation of the university's mental health counselors. 


In past classes, Luskin and Pertofsky surveyed students' stress levels during the first week of class, and again during the last week of class. On average, Pertofsky said, students were 27 percent less stressed at the end of the class. 


Course assignments include examining research on what leads to happiness - and what does not. One week, students must hold a discussion with people outside the class to share class techniques. Another week, students must seek out "invisible people" on campus, such as food service employees, janitors or groundskeepers, and thank them for the ways their work contributes to life at Stanford.

Pertofsky tells a story of one former student, an athlete with a tough exterior, who begrudgingly told the woman who cleaned his dorm bathroom each morning that it was nice to have a clean shower every day. 

"He said the woman burst into tears and said she'd cleaned at Stanford for 16 years and this was the first time anyone had ever thanked her," Pertofsky said.

Finding happiness at Stanford

Fred Luskin, instructor of the Stanford happiness class, said that the simplest definition of happiness is "wanting what you have." Conversely, the simplest definition of stress is "wanting something to be different."

Below are five techniques Luskin teaches for reducing stress and increasing happiness.

-- Keep a daily gratitude journal, listing items for which you feel grateful.
-- Perform a meditation practice, or simply a few minutes of deep breathing and quiet reflection on something that made you happy. Consider what you can do to achieve that happiness again.
-- Make a habit of sharing the highlights of your day with someone close to you.
-- Practice forgiveness routinely.
-- Construct a list of all activities and experiences that relax and rejuvenate you. Use items from this list to manage your daily stress.