The Eightfold Path

Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo......... the other day I realized that the MALE race might read this blog, and I am currently torturing them with incessant talk about fashion blah blah blah blah blah.  I would write about some boyish stuff, but the stuff I hear boys talk about these days would get me reported on blogger for sure.  I don't really know what guys like to read, besides playboy and stuff.  I'm not sure.  But anyway I decided to make a list of my top ten favorite books of all time.

1. Impulse(Ellen Hopkins)

2. Crank (Ellen Hopkins)

3. Burned (Ellen Hopkins)

4. The Book Thief

5. City of Fallen Angels (his mortal instrument series)

6. Beautiful Creatures

7. The Hunger Games

8. Pretty Little Liars (the BOOK series is amazing the show is a real poop)

9. All Harry Potter Books

10. Perfect Chemistry

These seem like books for BOTH genders so you should read some of them. 

Anyway, I forget to mention in my last post that I have become a Buddhist.  I decided that I need to go on some sort of journey to make me a better person.  I haven't gone to church in like twelve years, so I kinda gave up on Christianity.  My mom said Buddhism meant no Christmas presents, but at this point in my life i am trying to move past materialistic views.  And Buddhism actually makes sense. Here are some snippets and stuff from research that i've done.  

In summary, the Noble Eightfold Path is 8 basic steps to focussing the mind on being fully aware of our thoughts and actions, and developing wisdom by understanding the Four Noble Truthsand by developing compassion for others.
In other words, the Noble Eightfold Path, is our path from suffering.

The path has eight points and is known as the eightfold path.

.

.

.

.

1. Right view/True understanding.
   The first step is called right view or true understanding. It’s the step of understanding, that life contains joy as well as suffering.
   There is no such thing as life without suffering. May it be due to war, hunger, disease, death, depression, fears, insecurities, obsessions or other things in our lives.
   If we want to open our minds with awareness, we have to be able to look at life directly, and accept that life is made of both joys and sorrows.
   On the other hand. We also need to be aware, that most of the suffering in our lives are created by ourselves.
   This happens when we start clinging to our own view, on how things are supposed to be, and impose our own expectations about our lives.
   It is our reactions to events that create the suffering. Reactions like fear, greed, hatred, prejudice, delusions, lack of forgiveness etc.
   True understanding occurs when we see things simply, as they are, and react with an open attitude, instead of reacting with negative feelings as mentioned above.
   .
2. Right intention.
   The second step of the path is called right intention. It proceeds from right view. If we are able to abandon our expectations, our hopes and fears, we no longer need to be manipulative. We don’t have to try to con situations into our preconceived notions of how they should be. We work with what is. Our intentions are pure.
   .
3. Right speech.
   The third aspect of the path is right speech. Words are very powerful. And we need to respect these as such.
   Once our intentions are pure, we no longer have to be embarrassed about our speech. Since we aren’t trying to manipulate people, we don’t have to be hesitant about what we say, nor do we need to try bluff our way through a conversation with any sort of phoney confidence. We say what needs to be said, very simply in a genuine way.
   .
4. Right discipline.
   The fourth step on the path, right discipline, involves a kind of renunciation. We need to give up our tendency to complicate issues. We practice simplicity. We have a simple straight-forward relationship with our dinner, our job, our house and our family. We give up all the unnecessary and frivolous complications that we usually try to cloud our relationships with.
   .
5. Right livelihood.
   Right livelihood is the fifth step on the path. It is only natural and right that we should earn our living.Often, many of us don’t particularly enjoy our jobs. We can’t wait to get home from work and begrudge the amount of time that our job takes away from our enjoyment of the good life. Perhaps, we might wish we had a more glamorous job. We don’t feel that our job in a factory or office is in keeping with the image we want to project. The truth is, that we should be glad of our job, whatever it is. We should form a simple relationship with it. We need to perform it properly, with attention to detail.
   .
6. Right effort.
   The sixth aspect of the path is right effort.Wrong effort is struggle. We often approach a spiritual discipline as though we need to conquer our evil side and promote our good side. We are locked in combat with ourselves and try to obliterate the tiniest negative tendency.Right effort doesn’t involve struggle at all. When we see things as they are, we can work with them, gently and without any kind of aggression whatsoever.
   .
7. Right mindfulness.
   Right mindfulness, the seventh step, involves precision and clarity. We are mindful of the tiniest details of our experience. We are mindful of the way we talk, the way we perform our jobs, our posture, our attitude toward our friends and family, every detail.
   .
8. Right concentration.
   Right concentration, or absorption is the eighth step of the path.Usually we are absorbed in absent mindedness. Our minds are completely captivated by all sorts of entertainment and speculations.
   Right absorption means that we are completely absorbed in nowness, in things as they are. This can only happen if we have some sort of discipline, such as sitting meditation. We might even say that without the discipline of sitting meditation, we can’t walk the eightfold path at all. Sitting meditation cuts through our absent mindedness. It provides a space or gap in our preoccupation with ourselves.
   
   

Vintage

Junior Tears and Mints to Remember

Well sorry I haven't posted anything in a REALLY long time.  I have just been so busy lately with school and soccer and procrastination.  I feel like I'm slowly loosing time to the world's master clock(or whatever).  Anyway, I have been so busy lately, I don't even have any new pictures or anything.  I'm a slacker, I know.  Anyway, I was thinking about posting something yesterday when a certain friend invited me for a sleepover.  It went from bad to worse.  First we went to CVS where a drama unfolded.  Marta and I were going into the CVS with roller-blades on, and hoping to get away with it.  Unfortunately when we were in th chip aisle, an old lady started to yell at us.
"Hey!!!! No roller-blading in here!!"
We just decided to ignore her, cause she seemed old and senile.  That didn't work.
"Hey! Do you hear me!!!! I work here!!" she screamed as she hobbled towards us.  She obviously didn't work there, but we just went with it.
"Alright ma'am would you like us to take our roller-blades of here?" we asked.
"Of course not!  Take them off outside!" she ordered.  Of course, that made no sense so I had to say something.
"Ma'am if you want us to take them off outside, we're going to have to roller-blade out of the store" I said politely.  It was the last straw.  The old lady's temper flared, and I could see something bad coming.
"THAT'S IT SMARTY!  I'M GETTIN THE MANAGER!!!!!"
and she stormed off to get the manager.  We proceeded to get kicked out of CVS.
But the story goes on.
We went back to her house to watch Glee, and afterwards, Marta begged me to watch A Walk to Remember with her.  I finally gave in, being the great friend that I am.  We unpacked out junior mints and chips from CVS and started the movie.  An hour into the movie, I was sobbing so hard I almost had an asthma attack.  Yep.  That's the update.
Peace Out
-Alia

I saw SAW and SAW saw me

I watched SAW he other day, at midnight, with the old man.
"Are you sure you can handle this?" he asked me.
"Sure sure.  This is a kids movie" I answered flippantly. 
Of course, twenty minutes into the movie, I was shaking like a leaf.  
But I bit my trembling lip, and kept watching.
Until I saw him.
With a creepy puppet clown mask.
And I flipped out.


That very night, I couldn't sleep.
I sat on my floor all night, a hanger in one hand and a butter knife in the other.
There was no way he was going to take me by surprise.
I was prepared.
And fierce.
And brutal.
I would not be sucked into SAW's games.
I stared at my closed closet door, not daring to open it.
And that is how I sat, all night.
The END




I just wanted to post this because I changed the Blog's layout(temporarily), from innocent minty green, to barbed wire.  I just wanted to do this because barbed wire was a big thing in SAW, and it looked cool.  So if you are someone who has no regrets, watch SAW.  You'll have one.

Quarantine

OK guys, I'm going to try and make this short.  I'm sick.  Very very sick.  In fact, I am currently hallucinating.  Well, not really, but still this is a serious illness.  The Latin name is Common Cold, and the side effects are deadly.  So that the disease doesn't spread and cause mass death, I have been quarantined in my house, and my yard.  I took some pictures, but they are all kind of dull.  I decided that the pictures would have a theme in common.  Hallucinations. I wanted the pictures to seem like something someone would dream up.(Plus some easter pics)

Creepy Gnomes Anybody???

Nose Job Gone Wrong