Sunset in Vancouver

If you are still looking for a reason to visit Vancouver, British Columbia, check this beautiful sunset from today, September 8, 2007.

In the wee small hours of the morning

I woke up at 4 AM and started tossing and turning in a vain attempt at going back to sleep.
Knowing that it would be impossible to do it, I caved in and took some natural sleeping pills. Waiting for the sleep to come, I tried to meditate.
I’ve finished reading Deepak Chopra: Life after Death. One paragraph stuck to my mind: how to review your day, starting with the most recent moment (going to bed) and finishing with the morning. A mini rehearsal for what’s happening when we die.
Probably my attraction to the Buddhism has lots to do with my need to leave in the present.I had to learn to meditate, to try to quiet my thoughts; most of the time they run like a torrent, jumping from one subject to other. To tame my mind proved to be a very difficult task. If things do not happen by chance, if they are part of my life lessons, boy, I must have had lots of gaps to fill up. One of the Fourth Noble Truths is suffering. Through suffering we learn more. Why? Are we more alert when we suffer? More open to thinking? Happiness makes us more selfish and maybe too cocky? According to the Buddhism, we suffer because of the attachment to people; we have to learn to feel happy or at least content with what our surroundings offer: the smell of the flowers, the brightness of a summer day, the ebb and flow of the ocean.