"The Monkey Buddha"-10 Years!

I created this blog, The Monkey Buddha, 10 years ago today, on June 28, 2005!

The very first post I wrote was about a creation that I feel is one of my most notable achievements so far. It is an award-winning strategy game that I designed, based on the timeless principles of 'sacred geometry', called "Da Vinci's Challenge".

First Things First

In my second post, "Intro to The Monkey Buddha", I stated the reason for starting the page:

"Hopefully, this will be a place where I can finally share the ridiculous amount of info I have stored in my brain and its silicon symbiote I call my Apple Computer. I am looking forward to posting all kinds of important news, nuggets of crazy wisdom, interesting technologies, political rants, and useless fun crap.

Please bookmark this site and check back every once in awhile... I will try to be vigilant & continue posting new items. Basically, this blog will reflect the world and its infinite complexity - from my own infinitely limited perspective.
Enjoy!"

To celebrate the 10 year anniversary of this creative endeavor, I wanted to share some interesting things about it.

Since I started posting to The Monkey Buddha, I've been able to fit every one of the 1,591 posts to date into one of these categories- click the links to explore!

• Art
• Culture
• History
• Humor
• Nature
• Philosophy
• Politics
• Religion
• Science
• Tech

Here are the Top 5 most viewed posts, since I created the page. My review of the iPhone was by far the most popular article.

1) iPhone 4S: Full Review

2) The World Was Always Awful

3) Monkey Business T-shirt 

4) Logos with Hidden Messages

5) Interview with Alex Grey


Although I love to write about all different topics, I am a professional graphic artist. The Monkey Buddha has also been a place to show my art, such as 3D renderings and graphic design work.

Art by Paul Micarelli

After years of uploading images, I've also built up a huge database of visual imagery in my Picasa Web Album.

Picasa:

The Monkey Buddha

Visual Archive

For me, blogging has always been a purely creative pastime, an opportunity to express my thoughts and interests publicly for anyone who happens to see it. I truly appreciate anyone who follows this page or The Monkey Buddha Facebook page.

I have never tried to directly make money from this page. There have never been ads or even a donation button on the page.

On occasion, I have shared some products featuring my designs that are available in my Cafepress shop.

Cafepress:

The Monkey Buddha Bazaar

Like so many others, I am a endlessly creative person, and this blog is a tremendous outlet for my ideas. It is a credit to Google that they offer this free blogging platform to people.

Sometimes I wonder, though... What would happen to all my work if Google or the Blogger service stopped existing? Would all my thoughts & work be lost? It's almost like the idea of a Tibetan sand mandala, where the intricate creation of the Buddhist monks is swept away after completion, leaving no trace. It is a meditation on impermanence, the fact that neither we humans nor our accomplishments will last forever.

However, there is the possibility that, because I've had the opportunity to add my presence to the Internet's electronic hive mind, my writings and artwork will outlive me for a time.

Hopefully, humanity will expand into the Universe beyond Earth, and my thoughts & artistic work will continue to exist in the repository of our species' shared knowledge as we travel to the stars.

I'd like to think that the content of this blog will last for many more years, and perhaps even decades- so that The Monkey Buddha can continue to inform, entertain, and perhaps enlighten others into the future.

Snake Love

 I uploaded a nature video I shot this weekend while relaxing outside. My backyard is like Wild Kingdom.

Not long before filming the video below, I also heard something walking around the side of my house. All of a sudden a wild turkey almost as high as my chest walked up on my patio! It surprised the crap out of me & I yelled "WTF!" The turkey ran off into the woods before I could get any pics of it, but then I witnessed this serpentine spectacle:

I recommend watching it on YouTube, using the HD 720p setting.

Here's the description of the video:

"I'm always seeing interesting wildlife in my yard... On a Friday after work, I was sitting outside on my back patio enjoying a beer. All of a sudden, I heard a rustling in the leaves near my woodpile.

When I went over to check it out, there were 2 large snakes (at least 4ft each) intertwined with each other. It was pretty freaky, but my first instinct is usually to take pictures when I see something crazy. They were going at it for awhile, so I tried to get as much video & photos as I could.

At one point they were completely twisted up, like a braid, but I didn't get a good shot of that. I had to get within a couple feet of them to get the footage & I think they realized I was there and both looked in my direction, which was freaky since I was so close to them.

They finally finished up & the one snake slithered into the wooded area. The other one hung around the woodpile for a bit so I got the pic of it alone, at the end of the video. I'm not sure what kind of snakes they were. I was pretty close to them, so I'm glad they didn't try to attack my hand.

I sent my brother some of the photos & he said, "Dude what are u filming snake porn?" which is technically correct. It's still funny, though.

Here are some of the still photos I got of the 2 snakes:

From The Monkey Buddha

From The Monkey Buddha

From The Monkey Buddha

From The Monkey Buddha

This isn't the first time I've had a crazy snake encounter. While hiking in the mountains, I almost stepped on a large rattlesnake:

Pocono Serpent Quest

From Poconos 2010

TOTALLY GROSS: Snake Eating a Frog

From The Monkey Buddha

Snake Lunch Buddy

From The Monkey Buddha

Was the Buddha a Shaman?

 I came across this article that contemplates whether Siddartha Guatama, "the Buddha," was a shamanic figure.

Was the Buddha a Shaman?

In the sense that he supposedly achieved altered psychic states & then brought back a message or wisdom for other people, he could probably be considered a shaman.

Besides exploring this specific connection, the article gives fairly detailed historical information about shamanism, Buddhism, and the use of psychoactive techniques in these traditions.

In an earlier post, I talked about the connection between the figure of the Buddha to that of Jesus Christ:

Monkey Buddha Archives:

Jesus the Buddha

Deep Dream Images

From Deep Dream Images

Deep-Dream-Eye-Botanical-Dimensions

I recently posted about software code that Google researchers have developed, using computers set up as neural networks.

The Monkey Buddha:

 Psychedelic Computer Dreams

The computer uses a feedback loop of image recognition algorithms to find features in the imagery,  and then enhance them. The Google engineers dubbed the process "Inceptionism," because the computer keeps going deeper into the image to discern features & patterns. Even if there isn't really any recognizable elements in the visual data, the computer will still process the information & try to find familiar forms. The images that are filtered through the software often end up with a trippy, bizarre, or dream-like appearance.

This research can give us a lot of insight into the nature of consciousness and altered states of all types. By modeling the way the brain recognizes & processes patterns, we will develop a deeper understanding of our own minds.

There is a web app I saw on Gizmodo that takes the Google code and allows you to upload your own photos & apply the different filters.

Dreamscope

There's no control over the parameters for each filter, but it's fun to plug different pics in and see how they turn out.

I put a bunch of my own photos through the various filters and created a gallery of images. The results were mostly pretty interesting. My favorites were made using the "Botanical Dimensions" filter.

There are more images in the linked gallery, below.

Picasa Web Album:

Deep Dream Images

Of course, I had to try adding the effects to The Monkey Buddha logo:

From Deep Dream Images

Deep-Dream-Monkey-Buddha-Botanical-Dimensions

This is a self-portrait that came out very strange:

From Deep Dream Images

Deep-Dream-Paul-Micarelli-Botanical-Dimensions

Here is a crazy rendering of my girlfriend Loretta. The original photo was taken by her friend Tessa from Colour Contessa Photography. I think she looks like an otherworldly Aztec goddess.

From Deep Dream Images

Deep-Dream-Loretta-Botanical-Dimensions

Finally, here is a psychedelically serene picture of The Buddha:

From Deep Dream Images

Deep-Dream-Buddha-Botanical-Dimensions

Bodhi Tree

I love nature and being outdoors. Being outside and surrounded by greenery is like therapy for me. As evident from all of my nature photography, I love to observe all the details of the natural world.

In our backyard, we have this large tree that has a clearing at the bottom where I sometimes sit and meditate, to clear my mind and experience the wordless beauty of nature. When I first saw the tree, it made me think of the legendary Bodhi Tree, where The Buddha gained enlightenment.

The Buddha was a prince who became disillusioned with his privileged lifestyle and went off to seek spiritual realization. After pursuing all sorts of disciplines and practices, including intense self-denial and asceticism, he was exhausted and sat beneath a tree. Here, he "awakened" and came to the understanding of reality that he formulated as the 4 Noble Truths, regarding the unsatisfactory nature of human existence. To address this state of suffering we all face, he then prescribed the Eightfold Path, defined by the "Middle Way" or living in a balanced state between indulgence and self-denial.

Siddhartha Gautama, who would be called The Buddha (simply meaning "awake"), was not a god or supernatural being, despite later religious iconography & legends. He was a man who achieved mental discipline, moral clarity, and spiritual refinement through the act of paying attention and living in a conscious manner.

The tree under which Siddhartha gained enlightenment has many layers of symbolism. The tree is an example of both stability and growth - rooted firmly in the ground, but expanding upwards and outwards in all directions. In ancient cultures, "The World Tree" was an archetypal feature of mythology- in which the underworld, earth, and the heavens were all connected. Shamans and visionaries would travel throughout the levels of reality via The World Tree.

Plant life and trees are also sources of life force and sustenance, as in the mythical Tree of Life. The tree contains a connection to our primitive past when we were connected more deeply to the forests and wilderness.

In an abstract way, the tree also has visual similarities to the fractal pattern of the spine and nervous system, where the energies of our consciousness and perception flow. This is a more subtle link to the idea of the Buddha's back being up against the tree, as the energy of enlightenment propagates throughout his neural fibers.

Anyway, all these things come to my mind when I look at & sit under this tree in my yard. This picture is of myself at the base of this majestic tree, embodying the peace of mind and connection to natural rhythms that The Buddha taught about. There is no time when I feel more at peace and more connected than when I am quiet and relaxed, immersed in nature...

Bodhi Tree - Paul Micarelli

Meditation on Life & Death

As a college design student, I created an interesting booth for my senior show.

One part of my exhibit was the hand-crafted prototype of the game, based on the Flower of Life, which became "Da Vinci's Challenge™".

In another part of my exhibit, I had graphic art & found items, accompanied by meditative quotes. At the time, I had begun to explore Eastern spiritual philosophies which expanded my perspective greatly.

For instance, I smashed a porcelain laughing buddha, with the quote: "If you meet the Buddha, kill the Buddha!"

One quote that was used with the Death Buddha I made below, & which I reflect on almost daily, was this:

"Of All Mindfulness Meditations, 

That on Impermanence and Death is Supreme."

-Buddha

I recently came across this painting, which initiated this post. It pictures a monk visualizing the process of bodily decay after death:

Although revulsive for many to think about, it is important to expose yourself to the natural cycle that follows the departure of life force from the body.

In addition to preparing the mind for its point of departure, meditating on the reality of Death should be meant to give you a greater appreciation for Life... right now!

Fully grasping the inescapable, impermanent nature of our existence should make any person eager to completely fulfill each precious moment they experience.

"The Monkey Buddha" on Facebook

 I've started a Facebook page for The Monkey Buddha blog.

If you are on Facebook, please 'Like' the page, to get the latest posts in your Newsfeed.

I'll also put a link on my profile info, on the side of this page.

Thanks!

Facebook:

The Monkey Buddha

The Monkey Buddha - 1 Million Page Views!

 

Between working my full time job as a graphic designer, keeping my side businesses going (Paul Micarelli Design and Fantasy Photos), helping my wife with our brand Conscious Living for You, being a husband, and trying to find time for myself, I haven't been able to post on my blog nearly as much as I'd like.

So, I opened up Blogger to post something tonight and realize that I missed a milestone I knew was creeping up...  The Monkey Buddha has passed 1 million page views since I started this blog, back in 2005!

June 28, 2005

 Intro to The Monkey Buddha

It took me almost 15 years to get that many views, but I've never advertised or really promoted this blog in any way. It has always been simply a creative outlet for me to share and write about the things that interested me.

As you can see in the screenshot above, my most viewed post is, much to my continued amusement, "The World Was Always Awful".

I have had many people contact me over the years or leave comments through the blog. I've even met some friends and clients from it. It has been rewarding to hear how people enjoy enjoy reading it, and it's mind-boggling to think about how many people may have been affected, influenced, or just entertained in some way over all those years.

If you happen to be following The Monkey Buddha, or just landed on this post somehow, leave a comment below with your thoughts on this virtual information outlet I've created. Hopefully I can continue to post here for at least another 15 years! By then, I will be uploading information to the holo-blog through my Apple iThink implant.

This about sums ups my feelings right now:

A Monkey Buddha Family Halloween

 This was the first Halloween for my son Paul Giuseppe Micarelli. My mother-in-law brought Paulie a monkey costume, so I thought it would be fun for me & my wife Loretta to dress like a monkey family.

I originally wanted to wear robes & be "Monkey Buddhas", but it's hard enough trying to get things together with an infant! So, we were a plain-clothes Monkey Buddha family. 

Since he's still a baby & we weren't interested in pandemic trick-or-treating, we individually visited his grandparents and one of our friend couples. It was a lot of fun & we look forward to a more conventional Halloween when he's older.

Meditating on Death & Impermanence

I've posted this picture before, but found a better quality image. It is a picture of an enlightened being meditating on Death.

"Of All Mindfulness Meditations, 

That on Impermanence and Death 

is Supreme."

-Buddha

Although it seems macabre to think about dying, I deeply love Life & the incomprehensible miracle of being alive. One thing that keeps me fully aware and appreciative of the experience of living is the awareness of my own mortality.

The realization that, one day, I will no longer be in this world helps me to live with a greater sense of immediacy in the present moment.

The Buddha taught that meditating on the inevitable death, decay, & dissolution of one's own body was a way to overcome the ego & delusional sense of "self" that is an illusion of our limited perceptions.

Only by accepting and contemplating the idea that our bodies will soon cease to exist, can we overcome the fear of death and truly awaken to the rare treasure of being alive.

“This existence of ours is as transient as autumn clouds. 


To watch the birth and death of beings 

is like looking at the movements of a dance. 

A lifetime is like a flash of lightning in the sky,
 

rushing by, like a torrent down a steep mountain.” 

-Guatama Buddha

Altruistic Apes

This painting depicts the Buddha while living in the deep forest,
where no people were around who could support him by offering food.
The monkey then gave the Buddha some honey.

It shouldn't be a surprise that life with complex cognitive and social structures could exhibit behavior similar to ours. The more people observe other creatures, the more we realize the depth of life's processes.

Monkeys and other simian are the closest forms of life to ourselves, therefore many of their social processes are similar to ours. Altruism, or the idea of compassion, has been considered a uniquely human trait. However, it should be expected to be seen in living things that form social networks and produce the cognitive feedback that we call emotion.
Monkey Buddhism is alive and well among our fellow primates -

Science News:
"Ape Aid: Chimps Share Altruistic Capacity with People"

PLoS Biology:
"Spontaneous Altruism by Chimpanzees and Young Children"

Of course, just like people, sentient creatures are also prone to what we consider negative characteristics such as violence and aggression. Just as there is a Monkey Buddha, there must be a Monkey Devil to explain this madness -

USA Today:
"Birthday Party Turns Bloody When Chimps Attack"

"Wired for War?
Killer Chimps Fuel Debate on How War Began"

The Monkey Buddha Bazaar

I don't usually run ads, ask for donations, or try to earn money through this blog. This is something I do for my own enjoyment & creative release.

However, I do have a Cafepress store, with products featuring many of my own designs, photography, and abstract art. I appreciate anyone who purchases items from my shop, any time of year:

Cafepress Shops:

The Monkey Buddha Bazaar

Some of the designs have been featured in previous posts on The Monkey Buddha blog:

The Letter Clock™

Celtic Ireland Flag

Green Earth

Know Thyself

Under the Big Green Leaf

Meta Morphosis

The Monkey Buddha Bazaar - Now Open

The Monkey Buddha Bazaar

Well, I have been trying to get an online store started on Cafepress.com, and I've finally got a few designs up & the basic setup done. I added a link to the top of my list on the side of the page. Hopefully, I will be motivated to continue generating more creations if I get some shoppers through ads & word of mouth.

This blog is mainly for my own amusement & mental release, but I'd like to be able to get my art out there in a meaningful way, as well. Click below to visit "The Monkey Buddha Bazaar":

Green Earth

Today is Earth Day, and it's a good opportunity to reflect on the importance of the living ecosystem that sustains life on this planet.

The Monkey Buddha Archives:

Earth

I love nature and being outdoors, so Spring is a time I truly enjoy. The return of animals, warm weather, and greenery on the plants & trees makes dealing with the winters of a temperate climate worthwhile.

The industrial age has wrought all kinds of havoc on the Earth, some of which may be irreversible- such as climate change and mass extinctions. However, I feel like we are finally entering a time where mankind will learn to once again live in symbiosis with nature, instead of trying to subdue it & exploit its resources.

People are increasingly looking toward nature-based solutions to approach technological problems.

The Monkey Buddha Archives:

Green Technologies

By working with nature and using design solutions based on living systems, we can begin to undo the damage from centuries of destructive human activity.

I made this graphic below to express the importance of maintaining a vibrant, living planet- in order for humanity to thrive, along with the countless other lifeforms that dwell here with us.

There are many items available in my Cafepress shop with this "Green Earth" design on it, if you'd like to check it out:

The Monkey Buddha Bazaar:

"Green Earth"

Tiny Robot Buddhist Monk

Buddhism, at its essence, is more of a philosophy of mind than a religion, as most Western cultures understand the term. Although certain sects worship deities & believe in a Pure Land, the historical Buddha simply taught people how to awaken their consciousness and cultivate awareness.

Because of this philosophical trend, as opposed to religious dogmatism the Abrahamic religions, Buddhism has been uniquely open to scientific inquiry. The Dalai Lama has fostered extensive conversations about the mind, quantum physics, and other scientific disciplines.

Scientific American:

Neuroscientists and the Dalai Lama 

Swap Insights on Meditation

This embrace of science & technology has manifested in the playful, yet functional, development of a little robotic monk, named "Xian’er", by the Longquan temple in China.

I saw this linked on fUSION Anomalog and thought it was interesting development in the approach to studying spiritual matters.

Smithsonian:

A Robot Monk Is Spreading Buddhist Teachings in China

Xian'er can answer simple questions about Buddhist ideas, chant mantras, & move around via voice commands.

The merging of spirituality and technology is one of those things that seem paradoxical- but only if your perspective is still immersed in the duality that Buddhism & meditative practice seeks to dissolve.

Meet Xian’er: Robot monk spreads Buddhist wisdom in China

See also:

The Monkey Buddha Archives:

Robot Buddha

Photography @ The Monkey Buddha Bazaar

I have uploaded some off my photography for new items in my Cafepress shop, The Monkey Buddha Bazaar.

There will also be more photos added to the section soon.

The Monkey Buddha Bazaar:
Photography

This is one I took of a reflecting pool at Longwood Gardens. I thought the various textures, silhouette in the water, & zen-like power of the circle make it an effective image:

Circle Reflecting Pool

The Universe is Brain-Shaped

This is the 1,000th post I've written since I started this blog over 6 years ago, in 2005.

"Intro to the Monkey Buddha"

Although I don't usually have time to post as often as I'd like, this is a great creative outlet for me.

Since I'm usually busy creating visual art, I'm not sure how else I would get to write about all the topics that interest me.

Anyway, for a milestone post such as this, I decided to reveal one of the funda-mental mysteries of the universe, in graphic form:




I've also added this design to my Cafepress shop, The Monkey Buddha Bazaar, featured on different items:

Cafepress:

"The Universe is Brain Shaped"



“We are what we think.
All that we are arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts, we make the world.”

-Siddhartha Guatama, The Buddha

Mandala of American Life

I saw this interesting & somewhat humorous "Mandala of American Life" on Ultraculture.

This Incredible Mandala 

Depicts the Insanity of American Life

It is called "Americosmos" by Darrin Drda.

(click for larger image)

 

The image is a depiction of the "American way of life"- in the form of a Tibetan Buddhist mandala, or sacred diagram.

The Monkey Buddha Archives:

Mandala

It shows the illusory existence that so many people in this country experience, and the habitual patterns that give rise to our insane way of living.

There is a more in-depth description of this modern-day mandala here:

Americosmos: 

A Mandala of the Unenlightened States of Affliction

The traditional Bhavacakra mandala, known as "The Wheel of Life," is used as a meditation tool by Buddhists. This mandala is a representation of the idea of samsara, or the cyclic nature of existence.

The circular wheel containing the images represents the cycle of life & death, with all the various karmic activities that lead to suffering.

The very center of the mandala shows animals representing the 3 poisons; attachment (bird), aversion (snake), & ignorance (pig). People create their karma by acting through these poisons. In "Americosmos," the 3 poisons are shown as a dollar bill (greed), a tank (hatred), and a TV (delusion).

The thin ring around the center represents people ascending in consciousness on one half (white), and people descending to lower consciousness in the other half (dark).

The large divisions within the wheel show the six realms of samsara. The higher god-like states of being are on the top half, and lower hell realms are in the bottom half. These are the various states of being that a person can find themselves in during their lifetime.

The outer rim of the wheel show the 12 causal links, more specific activities that show how people get trapped among the six samsaric realms. They are basically a lesson in cause & effect, the essence of karma. Our thoughts and actions affect our being, and without awareness we are stuck in habitual or destructive behaviors. In "Americosmos," these 12 links are related to the endless cycle of consumerism, which traps us in the attachment to material goods & worldly experiences.

The giant demon holding the wheel is Yama, Lord of Death, representing impermanence & the transience of life. In "Americosmos," Yama is replaced by what the artist humorously calls "Uncle Samsara," a figure representing the illusion of nationalism & cultural identity.

Finally, the Moon on the upper left (in both images) represents liberation from the suffering associated with samsaric existence. It is possible to break the cycle of karmic conditioning and habitual behavior & thinking, to attain a state of Nirvana. This is the state in which suffering from unsatisfactory experiences cease to arise, due to a more peaceful & conscious state of mind.

The Buddha in the upper right points the way to the Moon, representing liberation. He pointed the way to this liberation through his teachings. The Four Noble Truths are the description of the problem of suffering, and The Eightfold Path is the Buddha's prescription to alleviate this suffering.

Mandalas, like these, are way to graphically depict profound teachings, in a way that people can easily understand. They are meditation aides that should be carefully studied, understood, and pondered to cultivate a higher awareness and deeper consciousness.

Monkey Buddha Birthday

I just realized, looking at the archive links down the side of the page, that The Monkey Buddha blog is 2 years old! It seems much longer since I made the first post, about the Da Vinci's Challenge game I created. Time flies when you're flinging knowledge around like monkey poop!!!

Blogger is a great creative tool, and I can only hope that Google or the whole internet isn't hit by some cataclysm that destroys the work of millions of people. That would suck. Ok, enough doom & gloom...

Since The Monkey Buddha is a virtual entity,
the best way to celebrate is with a virtual monkey cake... Enjoy!

Mmmm, those are some tasty-looking pixels!

Zen Sapience

I came across this wonderful illustration of a "Monkey Buddha" so, of course, I have to post it.

The artist is Garyck Arntzen, who goes by the name "magnaen".

Zen Sapience

by magnaen

click to see it full size, in all its awesomeness...

It's reminiscent of 'The Monkey Buddha' graphic I made for this blog, except much more subdued:

New Monkey Buddha Graphic