Friday, August 17, 2007

Letter to Mary


When we were in Nepal, sitting around a fireplace on chilly night, Stephen Batchelor said something I've never forgotten: "Buddhism is something you do, not something you believe in." It follows then that he doesn't even call himself a "Buddhist." Nor do I. It's a meaningless label. As are all the different schools of Buddhism, or the eight-fold this, or the three precious that. Much like Christians could rely on the Beatitudes alone to understand the meaning of their own religion, "Buddhists" can read the heart sutra, contemplate its profound meaning, and have all they need to understand the Buddha's teachings. Read it. Think about it.

And certainly don't worry about being "wrong." What can be wrong with having compassion for all sentient beings, even your enemies? Or being kind, giving, nurturing? Or taking care that your acts don't cause harm to the environment or others? Do that, and the rest takes care of itself. Even if the hereafter, whatever that may be, rewards only Christians (which is really too ludicrous to even write but I do so for the sake of argument), would it be because of their label or of their good works? If just the label, then the hereafter is hell, not heaven, and no place I want to be. Can you imagine spending the rest of eternity with the likes of Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell? Jesus, take me somewhere else.

So forget the labels! If somebody asks you what you are, use the label you're wearing. "I'm a...let's see here. I'm a Nike." Maybe then they'll get the message.

And you can't worry about your family. If they worry that your path is leading you away from their own belief system, be kind and understanding but firm. You might even relate to them what the Dalai Lama told the National Council of Churches when he addressed them. He said in his own humorous way that Buddhism was not trying to take "market share" from them; rather, Buddhist thought and practices can make someone a better Catholic, Jew, Muslim, Protestant, whatever. One can practice Buddhism within the context of any faith because, in fact, it's not a faith. It's a way of life.

Returning to Batchelor, it's what you do, not what you believe. And "doing" compassion is how you get there. It is good in and of its own. It is also the effective tool used to peel away the self to find the true nature of reality. And that's the deep irony of Buddhism; being selfless is ultimately a form of selfishness, too.

Be purposeful, but without hurry. There is no "answer" to find, only an emptiness full of no obstacles. A path never trod before, a lit darkness, a night bright as the first day of summer. The seeking and the awareness you develop to do that is life itself. Enjoy.

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

WSJ. Lame-o.

The Wall Street Journal news operation is the best in the business (well, for now , anyway, what with Rupert about to give it his inimitable beating), but their op-ed, certainly editorial, is a joke. Case in point is this piece from Ion Pacepa, former KGB operative and now U.S. citizen (beware the zealotry of former smokers).

With this subhed, you get an idea:

"Propaganda Redux - Take it from this old KGB hand: The left is abetting America's enemies with its intemperate attacks on President Bush."

At this point in our political dialog, those who no longer support Bush are, prima facie, leftists. Doesn't matter if you are a Republican, a conservative (whatever that means today), libertarian, evangelical, whatever...you are now a leftist. Criticism of Bush is a scurrilous leftist campaign to undermine America. So let's ask you leftists once more: Why do you hate America?

Back to the article. Aside from so many other things I could say, I'm not sure that Pacepa realizes the profound difference between the propaganda spouted by European lefties in the thrall of their commie overseers and the loud, boisterous, and freely expressed opinions held by the American people. I ask, if millions of us, and I count myself one of them, have on our own come to the conclusion based on abundant facts that our president is indeed a "liar," a "deceiver," and a "fraud," are we just supposed to shut up? I don't think so. If we are, then this isn't the America I remember. If our publicly expressed distaste for our president causes the rest of the world to think that we're weak, or headless, or smelly, then so be it.

The WSJ didn't run any such op-eds during the Clinton administration when we had troops in Bosnia. In fact, I recall quite the contrary: their intemperate attacks on Clinton. But I must be wrong. That would be abetting America's enemies, and if the WSJ isn't always consistent in their principles, they are always patriotic.

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Dems and taxes

Now that Rupert has sealed the deal with the WSJ, watch it go south in the next few years.

But even before that happens, Republicans will claim that lower taxes are spurring economic growth and we need them for the sake of the Republic. But the prescription for economic growth is far more complex than the tired mantra about lower taxes being the cure-all for everything. What actually IS our economy? Does it include the intangibles, like the actual costs of gasoline, health care, energy use, national security, education, cigarettes, obesity, or the myriad other things that cost real dollars? Or is it simply the balance sheets of raw numbers that make up the GNP? And what is "strong economic growth" (does that include the deficit we are handing down to our children?). Do lower taxes have any effect at all on those intangibles that Republican propagandists ignore?

As the country now faces new enemies who defy easy definition and targeting, I hope the country has finally shaken itself free from the juvenile either-or analysis of life that has become the legacy of the Bush Republican party (and which has hopefully sunk its electoral chances for a generation).

I am profoundly suspect of ANY single issue politics and the inane tactics they create. They have weakened us profoundly. The way we are all woven together resists our undoing by the unraveling of any single string. Yet, for some reason, the Republicans have tried, and in many ways succeeded in doing that. We need new leadership and new ideas desperately to restore our strength. Bring on the Dems. Please. Anything but these idiots now in charge.