Peace Train by Yusuf Islam

A wonderful message for hope and against prejudice, paranoia and intolerance.

Dependent Origination

The law of Dependent Origination is one of the most important teachings of the Buddha. It is a modern and scientific definition of cause and effect.

Dependent Origination's basis is that life and the world are built on a set of causes and conditions. It can be given in a short formula:

When this is, that is;
This arising, that arises;
When this is not, that is not;
This ceasing, that ceases.

This emphasizes an important principle that all life and processes in the universe are both the cause and effect of each other's existence. Nothing exists apart from the causes and conditions of its existence.

So what does this mean to you? Take a few seconds to reflect on all of the causes and conditions in your life that make you who you are and which have brought you to this point: your parents, their parents, your development and education, the cooperation and efforts of people in your community and country, the sun and moon and tides and the conditions for life on this planet. Remove any of these factors and you cease to exist. Cause and effect are the basis of your life.

(As notes, in a purely Buddhist sense, Dependent Origination is an introduction to the concept of Samsara (cyclic existence), but that is too complex for this overview. Also, I find it interesting that the Buddha taught this totally scientific and modern view over 2,500 years ago. This was roughly the time (539 - 334 BCE) that the Torah was being completed by Jewish scribes.)

For America's Sake

Our greatest presidents have had a common vision for the community we call America. Abraham Lincoln believed that government should be not just "of the people" and "by the people" but "for the people."

Today, what we have is an America fashioned into a second Gilded Age, for the comfort and luxury of the wealthy. The conservative movement has distributed wealth in our nation so that the top 1 percent of Americans are worth more than the bottom 90 percent. That is to say, that under the conservatives, government has ended up servicing the powerful by taking from everyone else.

There is a better vision for American as seen by Jefferson, Lincoln and the two Roosevelts. They each recognized that Aristocracy is not Democracy. They saw that Freedom is more than a private value, it is a social contract. We have obligations to each other, mutually and through our government, to assure that we all equally have a right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

America is more that the sum of our material appetites. Our country is more than an economic machine. Freedom is not a license but a responsibility -- the gift we have received and the legacy we must bequeath. We are the story of equal power -- of democracy and not aristocracy. We have and must provide the promise to leave no one out.

It's time to get back to these basics, and to reclaim Democracy.

Andy McKee - Drifting

I have three of Andy McKee's albums. Watching him is a lot more fun. Enjoy!

Highlights of Al Gore's Challenge

The thing about visionaries is that they don’t imagine what’s easy. They imagine the benefits to be reaped once all the obstacles are overcome. Mr. Gore tells us about the wind blowing through the corridor that stretches from Mexico to Canada, through the Plains states, and the tremendous amounts of electricity that would come from capturing the energy of that wind — enough to light up cities and towns from coast to coast.

“We need to make a big, massive, one-off investment to transform our energy infrastructure from one that relies on a dirty, expensive fuel to fuel that is free,” said Mr. Gore. “The sun and the wind and geothermal are not going to run out, and we don’t have to export them from the Persian Gulf, and they are not increasing in price.

“And since the only factor that controls the price is the efficiency and innovation that goes into the equipment that transforms it into electricity, once you start getting the scales that we’re anticipating, those systems come down in cost.”

The correct response to Mr. Gore’s proposal would be a rush to figure out ways to make it happen. Don’t hold your breath.

When exactly was it that the U.S. became a can’t-do society? It wasn’t at the very beginning when 13 ragamuffin colonies went to war against the world’s mightiest empire. It wasn’t during World War II when Japan and Nazi Germany had to be fought simultaneously. It wasn’t in the postwar period that gave us the Marshall Plan and a robust G.I. Bill and the interstate highway system and the space program and the civil rights movement and the women’s movement and the greatest society the world had ever known.

When was it?

In his speech, delivered in Washington, Mr. Gore said: “We’re borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the planet.”

He describes carbon-based fuel as the thread running through the global climate crisis, America’s economic woes and its most serious national security threats. He then asks: “What if we could use fuels that are not expensive, don’t cause pollution and are abundantly available right here at home?”

Who would you rather listen to: The nay-sayers or the visionaries? Visit this link to learn more.

Glen Hansard/Marketa Irglova - Falling Slowly

A gentle song. Enjoy.

The Disciple Learns

A disciple went to the Buddha late in the evening, and requested, "Lord, I wish to know the origin of the universe...and whether the soul is immortal. I demand that you tell me these answers. If you don't, then I can no longer follow you."

The Buddha answered, "Disciple, did I ever say that I would answer these questions?"

"No, Lord."

The Buddha then said, "Then that being the case, foolish man, who are you to be claiming grievances or making demands of anyone? If anyone were to say, 'I won't live the holy life under the Blessed One as long as he does not declare these things to me', then he will die and those things will still remain undeclared by me."

The Buddha continued, "It's as if a man were wounded with an arrow thickly smeared with poison. His friends and relatives would provide him with a surgeon, and the man would then say, 'I won't have this arrow removed unless I know who shot me...whether the bow was a long bow or cross bow...whether the bowstring was fiber, bamboo threads, or sinew...or whether the shaft was wild or cultivated...whether the feathers were those of a vulture, a hawk or a peacock.' The man would die and those things would still remain unknown."

The Buddha then said, "Why are these things undeclared by me? Because they are not connected with the goal of living a holy life. What is declared by me is how to remove the suffering from your life, and how to achieve awakening."

Upon hearing this, the disciple delighted in the Blessed One's words.

Community Values

Our politics, society and public discussions are highly polarized. We constantly look for differences to separate us, rather than looking for common ground and values upon which we can build and work together.

Many politicians and media pundits tell us that it's good versus evil, black and white, right and wrong, patriots and traitors.

But it's possible to develop another view. We can embrace Community Values, because our actions have consequences beyond ourselves; our fates are linked.

Embracing Community Values means believing that we prosper both as individuals and as a people when our politics and policies reflect that we're all in it together. We all know instinctively that we're stronger together. And history shows that when we work together to solve our problems, placing the well-being of the community as a top priority, we all move forward. Conversely, when we leave people behind, we all suffer.

We've always embraced the idea of different people uniting to accomplish a common goal and to move our society forward together. That story is embodied in our national motto of E Pluribus Unum — "From Many, One." We've embraced it in our efforts to meet common challenges like World War II, the Great Depression, childhood diseases, the denial of civil rights, even the race to the moon.

We can rise together to meet the current challenges: Climate change, the uninsured, immigration, education, sustainable energy and energy conservation.

Or we can bicker and fight and go to our separate corners, solve nothing and suffer the consequences.

It's our choice.

Leo Kottke - Little Martha

This is one of my many favorite Kottke pieces. Notice the nice touch with the harmonics.

The Four Right Exertions

What if someone gave you four simple things to consider and practice that would have a great benefit to you?

Buddhism appeals to me because of the logic and simplicity it applies to ethics and personal conduct.

According to the Eightfold Noble Path, the Four Right Exertions that a person should pursue are:

1. Abandon unwholesome and unskillful qualities in your conduct.
2. Do not begin any new unwholesome or unskillful qualities.
3. Begin to practice wholesome and skillful conduct.
4. Seek to maintain and increase skillful qualities that have arisen.

Study, practice and experience the way revealed by the Buddha.

Independence Day

The original Declaration of Independence was signed on August 2, 1776. You can learn more about its history here.

But what were the reasons for declaring independence, and how are the States' 1776 objections relevant to the current Administration?

I suspect that the objections raised by the States against King George have a few uncomfortable parallels to the situation that we find present in our current administration. Here are some of the charges against King George versus the actions of the Bush administration:

* "He refused his assent to laws." The Bush administration has issued over 800 signing statements, negating the laws duly passed by both Republican and Democratic Congresses.
* "He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance." The administration has denied various states the ability to pass laws regulating greenhouse gases, and other environmental concerns.
* "He has obstructed the Administration of Justice." The most blatant example of obstruction was this administration's destruction of millions of White House emails during the time of the lead up to the Iraq war.
* "He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone." The administration has fired federal judges, when those judges did not prosecute according to the administration's wishes. Judges may serve at the pleasure of the president, but they shouldn't serve to please the president.
* "For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury." Guantánamo Bay is relevant here.
* "For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences." Rendition of (kidnapping) citizens and other innocents for the purpose of torturing them in despotic countries is not unknown to this administration.
* "For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments." This administration has declared as void the U.S. Constitution (habeas corpus) and the Bill of Rights (warrantless searches).
* "He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us." The administration, and especially the president and vice president, has been primarily occupied with strengthening its grip on power by relentlessly attacking, and inciting others to attack, anyone who disagrees with them. Their concern from January 20, 2001 has not been governance, but expansion of personal power.

Happy Independence Day!