171 - Three Buddhas

Dim Sum thinks of several koans and wonders how different koans are from riddles.


There are three Buddhas.
The first Buddha is made of stone.
The second Buddha meows.
And the third Buddha looks on.
Can you find all three?

location: Yogyakarta Borobudur Indonesia

Strawberry's Zodiac Meme for this week isn't too time-consuming, so see below for my responses to her questions.

Technical notes

windlight: [AnaLu] studio3 (modified)

Strawberry's memes - Zodiac

What is your birthday and/or Zodiac sign?
I share my birthday with John Lennon. ;) In Western astrology, I'm a Libra with Gemini rising. In Chinese astrology, I'm an Earth Dragon. In Vedic astrology, I'm a Scorpio.

Do you believe in or follow astrology?

One of my RL best friends once asked how someone as analytical and logical as I am could believe in something as superstitious as astrology. Well, I don't really *believe* in astrology per se. Let me explain....

• First, I grew up in a culture (Filipino) steeped in superstitions, so I am open to the possibilities of other realities besides what we can perceive with our limited senses.
• Second, many belief systems subscribe to the idea of the unity of all creation, which means that everything affects everything. You know, kinda like that concept that the flutter of a butterfly's wings in Tokyo can cause a hurricane in Kansas. Heck, if something as flimsy as a butterfly's wing can have that much causative power, isn't it possible that the movement of a huge planet can also affect us on Earth?
• Third, I believe in synchronicity; that is, that accidents really aren't. I consult horoscopes and oracles, but I view them more as a tool to access my own intuition. There's really nothing esoteric about it. It's just like tossing a coin (or three, in the case of the I Ching) to make a decision. However, if you depend on someone else to interpret the prediction for you, you could end up doing the wrong thing, so it's always better to learn a method yourself and trust your own intuition. And, there's also the possibility that the prediction could end up being self-fulfilling.

Do you feel your sign’s attributes reflect who you are?
I think, at this point, it's a chicken-and-egg thing. I have been reading and studying astrology since I was a child. (When I was in grade school, my mom had astrology and metaphysical books, and I read all of them, along with her romance novels and my dad's engineering textbooks.) At that impressionable age, I'm pretty sure I've internalized the descriptions for my sign, so I *became* my sign. Well, up to a point.  ;)  (That last sentence could be the Libra indecision, btw. ;) )

Have you ever been to a psychic or astrologer either in RL or in SL? (Are there any in SL?)

• When I was in my 30s, I went to one who predicted my paternal uncle's death; everything else she said was wrong.
• Around the same time, I went to a psychic artist who communicated with and drew sketches of people's "spiritual guides." I tried to test her credibility by asking if my guide had a message for me. (I read somewhere that you should test psychics.) At first, she was giving me something generic that I couldn't relate to. Then, suddenly, she became very excited, and she said that she got a message from my guide, which was "Don't consult psychics." :D  "He" (my guide) said that, if I have life questions, my intuition would lead me to the right book to get my answer. And that actually worked for me. Once, I randomly picked out a book from my bookcase and opened it in the middle to find the exact advice I needed for a problem I was sorting through. I bought the book a year prior and didn't open it again after bringing it home, until that time.
• A couple of years ago, I attended a workshop on developing your own intuition. The speaker is a medical psychic (she suggests possibilities when doctors couldn't find the cause of a disease), who used to help the FBI or some other government agency. Over dinner with a few other attendees, she told me that my ex, who disappeared several years ago, has passed on. And she described the circumstances of his supposed death. I don't know if I should believe that, but I cried all the way home (a 3-hour drive) anyway.
• Yes, there are psychics in SL. I've met two, one of whom is a friend who is rarely in SL now. She actually makes a living as a psychic irl.

Do you read your horoscope daily and try to follow any advice, recommendations or warnings it may have for you that day?
There was a time when I saved horoscopes from different sources to see which were more spot-on. The daily ones were the worst. I follow a monthly one, which seems to be more reliable and more specific, at least from my perspective. But, I never calculated what the probabilities are to compare it with coincidence, so it's a subjective comparison, really. :)

I view horoscopes as something like a weather forecast. It might rain, it might not. Who knows? All they're saying is that there's a higher probability of raining that day.


Do you have very strong feelings about astrology, either negative or positive?
Not very strong feelings. I'm more of an observer than a believer. If you think about it, it's a great opportunity to observe how our beliefs create our realities. Because of quantum physics, science and metaphysics are slowly coming together. So, really, anything is possible.  ;)