Reddit reviews Ficciones

My favorite SF short story writers (in no special order):

• Philip K. Dick--Selected Stories of Philip K. Dick is a really good collection
  
• James Tiptree Jr aka Alice Sheldon--Her Smoke Rose Up Forever is the best collection IMO, but it is sometimes hard to find (at a reasonable price)
  
• Ray Bradbury--too many volumes to count
  
• J.G. Ballard--The Best Short Stories collection is a nice sampling of his early classic SF. The Complete Stories is a comprehensive collection that includes his later conceptual work.
  
• Kurt Vonnegut--Welcome to the Monkey House has several SF short stories
  
• Jorge Luis Borges--Ficciones is a great short collection, but Collected Fictions is a wonderfully complete collection
  
  EDIT--added Amazon links
  
  EDIT2--Also Gardner Dozois' "The Year's Best Science Fiction" is always ridiculously good. I haven't read this year's collection, but I am sure it's excellent.

Spent the last weekend taking on The Tantric Consort program, which delves into relationship as a powerful arena of spiritual growth. It consists of tried and true techniques within Reggie Ray's repertoire while providing a framework that most meditators seldom pursue. Meditation is almost always an isolated, solo affair (even when we practice in shared space), which speaks to the real concern of using practice as a means to transcend the human experience and suffering while closing ourselves off to others. This program asserts that with a consort we can address some of the most challenging aspects of life, thus deepening our intimacy with the world at large. There is nowhere to hide as consorts behold each other while traversing a shared path regardless of challenges that arise along the way. Even early on the benefits of this practice are immediately apparent; as such, my partner and I are including this daily in addition to our regular meditation routine.

EDIT: To clarify, one not need be in romantic relationship to take this material on. Dedicated spiritual friendships are equally as viable, and the tantric approach of visualization is also available (and equally effective in its own right). You may find more information in parts I and II of a talk on consort practice.

I've also been reading Buddhist Fasting Practice this last week, as I've been a fan of intermittent fasting for several years as a means to address previously mentioned health issues. Nyungne, a technique associated with Chenrezig (aka Avalokiteśvara, Kuan Yin), is when one eats a single meal the first day then abstains from both food and drink on the second while conducting a series of meditative rituals. Eight continuous 2-day cycles equate to the merit of achieving stream-entry, 108 to that of an arahant. Though I haven't read on the actual practice just yet I plan on following it in the near future: I'll report findings in due time.

As I've continued to slow down and settle in I see how much I contend with the doing/fixing/productivity mind. Staying in over the weekend proved how important it is to use that energy and inclination as fuel for practice. Also, I've felt creativity surge in light of sitting more, and my passion for literature has thus reignited (after a decade long interest in Jorge Luis Borges I'm delighting in his collection Ficciones). I'm pleased with how former intuitions are proving correct as I return to a more consistent sitting regiment.

Jorge Luis Borges - Ficciones

His stories are just awesome, they are really creative and detailed

this is the first story from the book:
http://art.yale.edu/file_columns/0000/0066/borges.pdf