RaeAllen.net

Author: Rae Allen

  • Audio Online

    This is a presentation made to first year Journalism students at the University of Queensland. it was used as part of the Radio subject.
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  • It Ain’t What You Do, It’s What It Does To You

    I have not bummed across America
    with only a dollar to spare, one pair
    of busted Levi’s and a bowie knife.
    I have lived with thieves in Manchester.

    I have not padded through the Taj Mahal,
    barefoot, listening to the space between
    each footfall picking up and putting down
    its print against the marble floor. But I

    skimmed flat stones across Black Moss on a day
    so still I could hear each set of ripples
    as they crossed. I felt each stone’s inertia
    spend itself against the water; then sink.

    I have not toyed with a parachute cord
    while perched on the lip of a light-aircraft;
    but I held the wobbly head of a boy
    at the day centre, and stroked his fat hands.

    And I guess that the tightness in the throat
    and the tiny cascading sensation
    somewhere inside us are both part of that
    sense of something else. That feeling, I mean.

    – Simon Armitage

  • the mind does not decrease

    All of you should penetrate your own minds;
    do not record my words.
    Even if principles as numerous as the sands of the Ganges are spoken of,
    the mind does not increase.
    And if nothing is said,
    the mind does not decrease.
    – Ma-tsu (709-788)

  • lives of quiet desperation

    Most men lead lives of quiet desperation
    and go to the grave with the song still in them.
    – Henry David Thoreau

  • there is nothing I dislike

    “The true practitioner of the Way completely transcends all things. Even if heaven and earth were to tumble down, I would have no misgivings. Even if all the buddhas in the ten directions were to appear before me, I would not rejoice. Even if the three hells were to appear before me, I would have no fear. Why is this so? Because there is nothing I dislike.”

    – Linji Yixuan
    .

  • An autumn night

    An autumn night.
    Don’t think your life,
    didn’t matter.
    – Basho

  • Little minds

    Little minds are interested in the extraordinary;
    Great minds in the commonplace.

    – Elbert Hubbard

  • Red vs Blue eps 01

    This is the original Red vs Blue episode, marking a new way of interacting with computer games.
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  • Live close to the ground

    In dwelling, live close to the ground.
    In thinking, keep to the simple.
    In conflict, be fair and generous.
    In governing, don’t try to control.
    In work, do what you enjoy.
    In family life, be completely present.

    – Tao Te Ching

  • Study only death

    A recluse came and asked: “What is the primary concern in religious practice?”

    The Master responded: “Put everything aside and only study death. Always study death, free yourself from death, and when death really comes you will not be flustered. In order to save others, knowledge is necessary. For your own salvation, however, whatever knowledge you have grasped becomes your enemy. Just be mindless as earth; recite the nenbutsu (praise to Amida Buddha) and study death.”

    Suzuki Shosan (1579 –1655)
    From Warrior Zen – The Diamond-hard Wisdom Mind of Suzuki Shosan