The Voynich Manuscript

Wikipedia
Wikimedia Commons
The full manuscript in high resolution

Where music stands

Information is not knowledge. Knowledge is not wisdom. Wisdom is not truth. Truth is not beauty. Beauty is not love. Love is not music. Music is the best…

~ Frank Zappa, "Packard Goose", "Joe's Garage Acts II & III" (1979)

The fragrant time

The short period of fragrant blooming trees comes once a year.

Appreciate the little things we usually ignore

The QF Attitude

Looking for a 'Quick Fix': the result is more important than the process. The faster, the better.

This leads to frustration: you get only an occasional 'prize enjoyment moment' instead of loving it all the way.

And then, you never go too deep about it.

True love takes decades to mature and then decades to savor.

Exploring the dark side

No dark corner should be left unlit.

No dark feeling should be left unexplored.

Leonardo da Vinci (attrib) - la Belle Ferroniere

Good goals

1. Positive
Bad: I'd like to stop eating meat.
Better: I'd like to eat only vegetables and fruit.

2. Measurable
Bad: I'd like to improve my flute playing skills.
Better: I'd like to learn 10 new tunes and 5 new techniques.

3. Controllable
Bad: I'd like to become a popular musician.
Better: I'd like to find my own voice and meaning in music.

4. Gradual
Bad: I'd like to become a world-famous musician.
Better: I'd like to become known in my neighborhood, then town, then county, etc.

5. Sincere
Bad: I'd like to do this because my family want it.
Better: I'd like to do it because I can't not do it.

6. Balanced
Bad: I'd like to work harder and also find extra time for my hobbies.
Better: I'd like to prioritize my activities to find the exact balance.

The patient art of crocheting

This is one of the best techniques of dynamic meditation I know. And it produces beautiful things, to boot. :)

Limewood Saint George by Tilman Riemenschneider, circa 1490

Antonello da Messina - Virgin Annunciate

Lorenzo Lotto - Annunciation (ca 1527)

Jacek Jerka - Artist's Kitchen

Knowledge and humility

Being humble and open-minded makes you more open to information contradicting what you believe. The more knowledgeable you are, the more important it is to be humble and open-minded.

A fascinating article on the topic - How facts backfire.

Daily meditation - Tower reversed

The Tower card refers to all things changing and being ruined. Reversed, it denotes all things unchanging and impossible to ruin.

In meditation, I need to look for these things - unchanging and impossible to ruin.

Picture source

The joy of Tarot

- Enjoying the images/art
- Exploring the history
- The element of surprise/game 
- Mystery solving/deciphering a secret message
- Illuminating the subconscious

Hóka-héy, today is a good day to die!

A quotation from the Sioux leader Crazy Horse, who shouted "Hóka-héy, today is a good day to die!" meaning (loosely), "Let's do this, today is a good day to die!" 

Often incorrectly thought to be a famous saying translated from the Siouan language.

From Wiktionary

The Flute

Not playing technically correctly, but using the technique to play my soul. 

Knowing the notes not to play a melody properly, but to play the melody's heart through them.

Happy New Year!

There's a belief that what you do on New Year's Eve, you'll be doing next year.

So, I'm putting this little congratulation here, because I want to blog in 2014 as well. :))

Happy New Year everyone!!!

Changing my personality

Changing my personality or personalities of those around me is as difficult and unnecessary as trying to turn a chair into a fridge. 

Why not make it a better chair instead?

Buddha of Healing Palace - Medicinal Flora and Fauna

The blue Medicine Buddha, Bhaisajyaguru, sits centre in the first of the medical thangkas. This placement illustrates his vital importance to the practice and study of Tibetan Medicine. This painting consists of a walled 'City of Irresistible Beauty' where a host of deities reside alongside the Medicine Buddha. The city itself is square with four gates opening up in each of the cardinal directions. Outside the palace's walls lie four mountains where medicinal plants grow and animals roam.

Growing in the Snow Mountain to the north of the city are white and red sandalwood, camphor, arecanut palm, chiretta along with many other plants and trees. Although it is not clearly visible in this photograph, the moon is located in the center of the top row of the north mountain. The east, south and west mountains each contain different plants corresponding to their climate.

The figure in the top left of this painting is the Fifth Dalai Lama (1617-1682) who was responsible for communicating the teaching of Tibetan medicine to Sangye Gyamtso. The figures that follow are a variety of medicine Buddhas.

Source.

Snow on Cypress - Full Moon

Snow, Moon, and Flowers

Good King Wenceslas

This is one of the warmest songs in a cold snowy night. I often hum it when I go to work in winter. 

It's already dark at 4 o'clock, the snow is crisp, the frost is cruel, and the best place to be is home. However, the warmth of the saint's footsteps keeps me happy and going.

The Fire Wheel

The ancient symbol of the wheel of the year is the wheel of fire. 

What goes up must go down.

The Winter Solstice

The darkest time of the year is the time to explore my dark side, to celebrate my gratitude for the gift of darkness and death. 

This time calls for vigilance and cleaning out the old junk. Lighting a fire or a candle will help clear the air and warm up these three days at the bottom of the year cycle.

Floris Claesz. van Dyck, Still-Life with Fruit, Nuts and Cheese, 1613