The Morning March http://virb.com/themorningmarch Virb 2.0 (@themorningmarch) en Good to be back home. Trip was fantastic!... Christmas? What's the deal?... http://virb.com/themorningmarch/posts/status/6872666 Fri, 18 Dec 2009 11:26:48 -0800 http://virb.com/themorningmarch/posts/status/6872666 Back on the East Coast. Going to start my way up tomorrow morning. Time to... http://virb.com/themorningmarch/posts/status/6562121 Fri, 04 Dec 2009 01:57:54 -0800 http://virb.com/themorningmarch/posts/status/6562121 Spent the last four days in the Outback! Heading to Byron Bay tomorrow. http://virb.com/themorningmarch/posts/status/6516124 Wed, 02 Dec 2009 02:20:58 -0800 http://virb.com/themorningmarch/posts/status/6516124 Down in Melbourne. Saw some Kangaroos, Emus and even touched a wild Wombat!... http://virb.com/themorningmarch/posts/status/6366427 Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:59:29 -0800 http://virb.com/themorningmarch/posts/status/6366427 Hanging out in the Blue Mountains tonight. There's a cafe called 'Common... http://virb.com/themorningmarch/posts/status/6227923 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:16:28 -0800 http://virb.com/themorningmarch/posts/status/6227923 Hanging out in the Blue Mountains tonight. There's a cafe called 'Common... http://virb.com/themorningmarch/posts/status/6227893 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:14:47 -0800 http://virb.com/themorningmarch/posts/status/6227893 Today's the day. Australia-bound tonight!! http://virb.com/themorningmarch/posts/status/6105876 Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:21:23 -0800 http://virb.com/themorningmarch/posts/status/6105876 I don't have to work again until the new year!! Matthew Good Tonight! http://virb.com/themorningmarch/posts/status/6071056 Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:43:56 -0800 http://virb.com/themorningmarch/posts/status/6071056 Only a few days left. Pinback tomorrow. Matthew Good on Tuesday! http://virb.com/themorningmarch/posts/status/6026010 Sun, 08 Nov 2009 21:14:06 -0800 http://virb.com/themorningmarch/posts/status/6026010 Hardcore Zen http://virb.com/themorningmarch/posts/text/6025939 Punk Rock, Monster Movies and the Truth About Reality Sit Down and Shut Up - Punk Rock Commentaries on Buddha, God, Truth, Sex, Death and Dogen's Treasury of the Right Dharma Eye _________________ I found both the books quite interesting and thought I'd sum up a few of the important points for anyone interested. -Truth - Probably the most important thing there is. The truth can be hard, it can hurt, but if you accept the truth you can eventually see yourself and the world for what it really is. And really, you can't live a good life when you're lying to yourself and everyone else. Take responsibility for your actions and be honest. Simple as that. In the long run, life is far better when its honest. Media, Religions, Governments, Politicians, etc. feed you their versions of the truth... the point of the book is to be your own master, don't just absorb whats dished your way, find things out for yourself and even question those things. Reality is all around us but doesn't always fit into our convenient definitions and categories. "Question authority, question society, question reality, question yourself, question your conclusions, your judgments, your answers, question this [book]..." -Hardcore Zen. Don't take anything as infallible. Belief is possibly the most dangerous thing there is. All the bad things mankind have ever done stem from unquestioned belief. Question it, question everything fed to you. Reality is important, truth cannot be made up, truth just is, truth is reality... like those Wendys commercials say, "you know when it's real". -Live in the now - The past doesn't exist. That moment that occurred last week where you farted in the elevator, doesn't exist. So why would you dwell in the past. Live the moment, learn from it, and move on. The greatest moment of your life is the present. This, right here, right now. Nothing is better than it. Why compare the present to things that happened in the past. Those moments don't exist. You're living now, so enjoy the now. Its all there is. As children we saw the world in a way that everything was a mystery, everything was an adventure but we've since stopped seeing life that way. When you spend all your time worrying about the past or planning out your future you forget where you are in the present. Enjoy the present, don't ignore the future, but don't spend all your time planning it out or worrying about it. Enjoy your walk to the bus stop, look around, watch the wind throw the leaves around, watch the dogs running in the park. Its not that life stopped being an adventure, its that we stopped looking. -Enjoy What You Have- Too often people think: "If only"... "If only I had this new car" or "If only I won the 50 Million jackpot, then I'd be happy". We live in a world where we constantly seek the best, we're always looking for things to be perfect. Don't get me wrong, to an extent, this is a good thing. If no one strives to better themselves, nothing will ever get done. The problem seems to lie in the fact that in this search for perfection we don't take the time to appreciate things we do on the way, the little things that really are good. We're too busy looking for the ultimate fix, that one thing that will cure all our unhappiness and suffering. There is no such thing. Rich people are unhappy, poor people are unhappy, hell even people living the life they envisioned for themselves and working their dream jobs find something wrong with them. From what I can tell, people have to appreciate life for what it is. Take pleasure in the little things. But don't look at them as little things. Enjoy the things you have. It all goes back to living in the present. Do what makes you happy. Don't suffer all your life with a job you hate just for the dream that one day you can get a juicy promotion with lots of money. That day may never come. If you're not enjoying whats going on right now, whats the point of putting off life. What makes you think things will be different when you finally get to where you were miserably working for? Don't raise everything up to ridiculous expectations either. You'll only be disappointed. Nothing is as good as that image of perfection you create in your head and ultimately, focusing on it will only take away the joy of the moment. Love whats going on around you. -Be A Good Person- Common sense really. You can call it Karma. Brad Warner says Karma actually means 'Action' so it doesn't actually mean 'Cause and Effect' like they tell you in 'My Name Is Earl'. But essentially, if you're good to others and yourself, your life will be much better for it. Living Ethically and Morally is really important. The principal of moderation is also important. Life is all about balance. Its unhealthy to have too much of one thing. Food, Sex, Alcohol and even things like Greed, Anger, Hate will hurt you in the long run. -Keep Your Place Clean- Pretty simple, and I've noticed its very true... a clean room gives you a cleaner headspace. Before you go and commit yourself to causes, saving the world and whatnot make sure your own life is in order. You can give all your money and possessions to good causes but if you're walking around being a miserable prick, whats the point. If you work on getting your life straight, it will come out in the things you say and your actions. Like a butterfly effect, could make things better around you and with the people you know. Cause and Effect. It really could do more good for the world than giving all your money to charities. "You bring about world peace when you bring about peace within your own body and mind." "Treat people with kindness and respect. Go out and appreciate the beauty of billowing smoke from a tire factory or the spectacle of sunset over the city dump. Appreciate your life and help others appreciate theirs. Stop the racist, gay-bashing Nazis from going to war to club baby seals in the burning South American rain forests if you want - but also clean your room." -Anger- Anger is another topic these books covered and its one of the best things I've taken from it I think. What is anger. What does it stem from. Why are you really angry. One of the guys I work with gets mad at everything. The car in front is going 58.5km/h instead of 60 and he's riled up and yelling. Its absolutely ridiculous. Is the fact the the guy is slowing you down going to effect your life at all? Of course not. If you look at the big picture, is that 6 seconds you save by swerving around him worth the throbbing vein in your forehead or the stresses on your car, body, environment? I doubt it. It makes me think about where the anger is coming from. Did that driver in front of him really produce his anger or is the real cause of the anger something deeper? "What is the need we so often feel to prove to everyone around us that we are right and they are wrong? Why is it important to us that others agree with what we believe? Where does that desire come from? Why do we do that? Does that help? Or does it just begin a chain reaction that will inevitably lead to more anger?" It comes down to the state you're in, your headspace. Change the way you think about things that set you off. Is that baby crying on the ferry really making your life that miserable, is it so intolerable that you want to scream at the poor mother that's desperately trying to quiet the child amid the dirty looks from annoyed passengers? I don't think so. Its a crying baby, a beautiful thing really. Not really something to get mad at. Its hard though. To really find the source of the anger you have to look at your life. Find the truth hidden under layers of lies. To many people its a lot easier to drop bombs or shoot guns than it is to confront the truth and that's why the world has as many problems as it does. That's not to say that when you figure yourself out, your anger will stop but if you change the way you look at it, it will happen less frequently and irrational, ridiculous reasons for getting mad can make you smile instead of start throwing your fists around in a white hot rage. "Hate can be your teacher. Anger can be your guide. See your anger for what it is, and you can see yourself for what you are... Watch how your anger begins, and see how it grows. Don't accept any justification your ego coughs up at you and put it aside." ________ And that's the gist of what I took from it. He goes further into doing Zazen in order to achieve real balance of the body and mind but I don't think I'll be going there. I feel like I get a similar balance from doing the things that I love. Playing guitar, snowboarding, surfing, concerts, and even walking around town listening to music put me in that place. Anyway, to anyone who actually read all of that, awesome, hope you get something from it. I highly recommend the first book 'Hardcore Zen'. Its one of the best I've read. You can borrow my copy if you want. ]]> Sun, 08 Nov 2009 21:09:15 -0800 http://virb.com/themorningmarch/posts/text/6025939 Novembers Almost Gone http://virb.com/themorningmarch/posts/text/6006546 Sat, 07 Nov 2009 17:35:33 -0800 http://virb.com/themorningmarch/posts/text/6006546 Novembers Almost Gone http://virb.com/themorningmarch/audio/452453 November's Almost Gone

Wake up, wake up, its dusk
The lights are flickering like November's dying sun

Tonight they're going to cut you up
Tonight the world is out for blood
Its written in the songs of men
And their steady, endless, wanton footfalls

And in our hearts we know we couldn't do it
And in our heads its never the same thing
You'll never hear about the burden of numbers
The cost is just, to fill your dinner plate

Wake up, wake up, its dawn, I'm starving
I haven't eaten a goddamn thing in all my life

The sun is wired into every foolish heart's embrace
And this simulated state is never dying
Its written in the songs of sadist sorcerers
And every flavour of your watchful, battered mind

Wake up, wake up, its dusk
The lights are flickering like our hearts,
November's almost gone

]]> Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:58:12 -0800 http://virb.com/themorningmarch/audio/452453 Getting my Belgian beer on tonight! http://virb.com/themorningmarch/posts/status/6005228 Sat, 07 Nov 2009 15:51:15 -0800 http://virb.com/themorningmarch/posts/status/6005228 Checking out 'The Men That Stare At Goats' tonight. http://virb.com/themorningmarch/posts/status/5993388 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:32:48 -0800 http://virb.com/themorningmarch/posts/status/5993388 H1N1 vaccination shots = Zombie Apocalypse?? http://virb.com/themorningmarch/posts/status/5921550 Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:45:08 -0800 http://virb.com/themorningmarch/posts/status/5921550 Sunshine http://virb.com/themorningmarch/photos/5920473 ]]> Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:29:51 -0800 http://virb.com/themorningmarch/photos/5920473 Clouds http://virb.com/themorningmarch/photos/5920464 ]]> Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:29:26 -0800 http://virb.com/themorningmarch/photos/5920464 Moon http://virb.com/themorningmarch/photos/5919708 ]]> Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:43:45 -0800 http://virb.com/themorningmarch/photos/5919708 Neil Young - Guitars http://virb.com/themorningmarch/photos/5919690 ]]> Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:43:01 -0800 http://virb.com/themorningmarch/photos/5919690 Neil Young http://virb.com/themorningmarch/photos/5919659 ]]> Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:42:39 -0800 http://virb.com/themorningmarch/photos/5919659