Final Post

For the handful of friends who were regular followers, I offer my sincerest thanks. Your feedback has inspired me to a higher level with each new blog post. We have been drawn closer (even when we didn't agree), through this blog. I hope that I haven't let you down.

My heart and gratitude go to Jennie, for making my posts clear and accessible, and for her loving comments.

Here are some of the bests:

Best Post : Better Aspirations

Best Music : Stand by Me

Best Quote : Joseph Campbell

I hope that you have learned from some and enjoyed a few.

Finally: If you want to be happy, practice Compassion. If you want others to be happy, practice Compassion.

Blessings for health and happiness to all beings,
Nalton

Taj Mahal - Take a Giant Step

What is Education ?

As we prepare to go back to school as a nation, let's consider this.

The purely personal side of a good education, an education available to every one of us, is not emphasized enough. Not enough so that we can understand the fact that it is so much more agreeable and interesting to be an educated person.

And what ultimately is the goal of an education?

The goal should be to help us learn to think. And if that's truly the goal, when do we ever reach the destination?

What Do You Know ?

Here's a humbling question: If you were magically transported back in time -- say 1,000 years -- what could you teach the people of that time?

This makes me realize how little I really know.

If you could manage to keep from being burned as a sorcerer, wise men of the time would make pilgrimages to see you and ask thousands of questions.

You would be 400 years before Gutenberg and his movable type printing press; 600 years ahead of Galileo; 500 years ahead of Columbus. But of all of your knowledge of our modern world and its thousands of wonders, what could you show them how to do?

The aspirin tablet, the first real wonder drug and painkiller, would have been an unbelievable boon to them in their suffering. Could you show them how to make it?

How about the steam engine? Could you show them how to make one? Or a simple electrical generator? Or how to make wire? Could you make a clock?

We know so much about so many thousands of things, but with the exception of our specialty, we'd be really hard pressed to show them how to make much of anything.

Thinking on this also helps me realize how interdependent we are. We could do very little without the help of thousands (or millions) of other people. Everything we have comes from other people.

So what do we know enough about to teach to others if we should suddenly find ourselves without the help of our modern society? Without modern medicine and dentistry, communication and transportation, educational facilities or modern utilities?

Now Is Never Gone

Here is a HQ video on YouTube, if you'd like (larger & better pictures).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sv16_2PeCc8

Here is a live recording of Jim Chappell performing the track, Gone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGlR9p7lBZM

Now Is Never Gone - words

There is no refuge from this life
All that's dear
is slowly swept away.

My younger life's dreams
they are gone.

Scattered through the days;
never more to come.

My joyful hopes and plans
are withered and are dried
by the mounting years.

But that is how it is.

So what is it we are supposed to do
when our hopes and dreams
can never be fulfilled?

Need we live a life looking at a past
that is larger than what's left?

Why should that be all
that we have or all we'll ever be?


But this is what I've learned -
This moment is what you have.

It's all you ever had.

That is when your joy is found
For now is where you are.

If no joy exists right now
what hope is there in a time not come?

Albatross -Ottmar Liebert

Also look for the Fleetwood Mac (Peter Green) version in my blog.

Corinthians and the Buddha

Christians are familiar with 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, which describes love's qualities:

4) Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5) It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6) Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7) It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

What about the Buddha? Did he teach of these highest types of love?

The Buddha said, "He who abuses the abuser is the worse of the two. To refrain from retailiation is to win a battle hard to win.

"If a person knows that another is angry, yet refrains from anger himself, he does what is best for himself and the other person. He is the healer of both.

"One should do no unkind thing that wise men might condemn. One should not harm another or despise anyone for any reason. Do not wish pain on another out of either anger or jealousy.

"Just as a mother would protect her only child even at the risk of her own life, even so, one should develop unbounded love towards all beings."

The Buddha taught, practiced, and encouraged others on these qualities every day of his awakened life.

The Caterwaulers

Much press this week has gone to coverage of the angry mobs (ostensibly Republicans) at the town halls.

These uncivil crowds want democracy in American, so long as they get their way. They believe in free speech, so long as they're the only ones speaking.

So this caused me to take a look at some statistics regarding party affiliation.

I'll try to make this as interesting and short as possible.

With all of the caterwauling that goes on, you would think that the Republicans have a majority voice in America.

This is not true.

In Gallup polls running from January, 2004 to now, the only time a majority of voters identified themselves as Republican was February 2005. Read that again: There was only once in the past five years where a majority of voters identified themselves as Republican.

For that same time frame, a majority of voters identified themselves as Democratic around 48 times.

Out of the nearly 180 polls conducted during this time, only seven times did voters identifying themselves as Republican have higher a percentage than Democrats. Only seven times. The remainder of the polls went Democratic (with around a dozen ties).

So why do these people think that they have the right to cut off debate on health care reform? Why do they think they can control whether a sick or injured person can afford medical care?

Their numbers certainly don't provide that power. But their intimidating methods seem to be able compensate for their minority status.

We must do everything we can to keep these people out of power!

See this site for the source of these facts: http://www.gallup.com/poll/15370/party-affiliation.aspx

Robert Linton - Into the Grove

Be present.

10 Words

In business emails, make your point in 10 words.

If you don't your reader's attention will get interrupted by the BlackBerry, arrivals of new emails, a ringing phone (your desk phone or a neighbor's abandoned cell phone's funky music), drop in visitors or hallway chatter.

There is a habit of inattention that all of these distractions create and reinforce.

If you've read to this point, you have read more words and longer sentences than my average business emails.

Yet my attempt at brevity rarely focuses the reader's attention. It seems that people are so driven by the urgent that they seldom have time for what's in front of them.

They miss meaningful information and insights. They have no lingering presence in the present. They are full of kinetic energy, like a tornado, that brings no rewards.

I've heard it said that every moment should be treated with the slow and full attention that you give to bathing your baby. Nothing in the world is more precious than this moment.

Socialized Electricity !

Let's go back in time, roughly 80 years.

Why is anything older than 5 minutes ago important, you may ask.

Because it deals with electricity, the St. Lawrence river and the debate today on health care reform.

In the late 1920s, Franklin Roosevelt was New York's governor. The New York legislature was largely Republican.

Governor Roosevelt had a vision to use the fast flowing waters of the St. Lawrence to provide cheap electrical power to the citizens and businesses of New York. It would expand electrical generation and save money.

The Republican legislature, who were the paid lackeys of the existing power companies in the area, would not bring the bill to a vote.

Roosevelt argued that the Canadians had relied on inexpensive public electricity for many years. Americans should have this same public option, and not be monopolized by private electrical companies.

No vote.

Roosevelt proposed that the state develop the power plants, and that the private companies would contract with the state to transmit the power over their existing power lines.

No vote.

Roosevelt went directly to the people of New York in speeches and radio addresses, appealing for them to persuade their representatives to vote on the proposed legislation. Eventually, the bill was passed with major obstruction by the Republicans. However, the project was not completed for nearly 25 years.

See any parallels with what is happening today on health care reform?

Brule and AIRO - Buffalo Moon

Just Do It

How do you feel about the things you do? Everyday things like washing dishes, mowing the lawn, going to work. I have discovered long ago that how you feel about doing those things is irrelevant. You must just do them, and do them with mindfulness.

I learned this from "Water Bears No Scars", by David Reynolds.

This book introduced me to Morita therapy, and literally changed my view of how to relate to the tasks that I had to do. I used to "hate" doing this or avoid doing that because of how I felt about the task. Morita therapy led me beyond these feelings and into an active and full participation in the task.

It has the additional benefit of combating minor depression, by having the student focus fully, mindfully on the task at hand. It says that if you are fully aware of the task that you are involved with, you cannot be depressed.

Basically, Morita therapy aims at building character. Character is developed by behavior, by what one does. Decisions, the basis for action, become grounded in purpose rather than influenced by the flow of feelings.

While it recognizes emotions as a rich type of experience and a valuable source of information. They are just not used in determining what's needed in the moment.

By taking constructive action, grounded in objectivity by the "what is" of a situation, helps in achieving a full and meaningful life.

Visit http://www.todoinstitute.com and http://constructiveliving.org

Georgia Guidestones

This post concerns the intolerance that some (often religion leaders) have for Reason. Also, I have found that unfortunately it's often the crudest people who have the loudest voice.

The Georgia Guidestones are granite monument in Elbert County, Georgia, USA. A message comprising ten guides is inscribed on the structure in eight modern languages, and a shorter message is inscribed at the top of the structure in four ancient languages' scripts: Babylonian, Classical Greek, Sanskrit, and Egyptian hieroglyphs.

In June 1979, an unknown person(s) under the pseudonym R. C. Christian hired Elberton Granite Finishing Company to build the structure.

A message consisting of a set of ten guidelines or principles :

# Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.
# Guide reproduction wisely - improving fitness and diversity.
# Unite humanity with a living new language.
# Rule passion - faith - tradition - and all things with tempered reason.
# Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts.
# Let all nations rule internally resolving external disputes in a world court.
# Avoid petty laws and useless officials.
# Balance personal rights with social duties.
# Prize truth - beauty - love - seeking harmony with the infinite.
# Be not a cancer on the earth - Leave room for nature - Leave room for nature.

The Guidestones have become a subject of interest for conspiracy theorists. At the unveiling of the monument, a local minister proclaimed that he believed the monument was "for sun worshipers, for cult worship and for devil worship".

In 2008, the stones were defaced with polyurethane paint and graffiti with slogans such as "Death to the new world order."

Prelude - After the Goldrush

From long ago . . . 1974. Not even Neil Young did it better (imo).

What Americans Like, but . . .

Americans like science. Overwhelming majorities say that science has had a positive effect on society and that science has made life easier for most people. Most also say that government investments in science, as well as engineering and technology, pay off in the long run.

While the public holds scientists in high regard, many scientists offer unfavorable, if not critical, assessments of the public’s knowledge and expectations. Fully 85% see the public’s lack of scientific knowledge as a major problem for science.

A substantial percentage of scientists also say that the news media have done a poor job educating the public. The scientists are particularly critical of television news coverage of science.

While scientists express frustration with the public, there are some significant points of agreement between the public and the scientific community. Majorities of both groups point to advances in medicine and life sciences as important achievements of science.

However, when it comes to contemporary scientific issues, there are often differences. For example, while 84% of scientists say the earth is getting warmer because of human activity such as burning fossil fuels, just 49% of the public agrees.

So what's to be done? Truthfully, not much because people would rather be entertained than informed.

There are gold mines of knowledge in Wikipedia, TED, Nova, Earth & Sky, National Geographic -- just to name a few.

But when it comes to having the TV remote in their hands, it's time for sports, mindless contest shows or cultist opinion programs.

(Extracted from this article, except for the closing opinions which are mine.)

His Motives

I go to the train station in my evening commute home.

Once or twice a week, there is a man there yelling from the Bible. There is a strident cadence in his voice as he reads from a much highlighted text. There are yellow, pink, blue and green markings covering each page of his large study Bible.

There is neither love nor hate in his voice. Just a seeming forceful exorcism.

I have wondered whether he is trying to remove the demons from the world or from himself. He is not wanting to lead anyone to "salvation"; nor does he preach God's higher glory.

It seems to be a wail against some past "sin" of his, and he is asking God for forgiveness. I hope he receives it.

Penguin Cafe Orchestra

I've enjoyed the PCO since the late 1980s. I take their music on my walks, and find that if each step is a beat, you get a nice workout. Much of their music is light and whimsical. Enjoy.

Belief and Knowledge

People are not naturally skeptics, wondering if a single one of their beliefs can be reasonably preserved. They are dogmatists, angrily confident of maintaining them all.

We should be skeptics with regards to our beliefs, unless we have been privately convinced they are true and worth having.

The idea is not to have the courage of our convictions; it's to have the courage to challenge our convictions.

I've often said that believing in something, anything, is easy. It requires nothing but belief. If I were to believe that it will rain tomorrow, but all weather patterns and pressure systems say that it won't, then all I have is my belief. Only when tomorrow comes, and brings no rain, will I rationalize the event and justify my belief.

Though I may be proved wrong, my belief was correct.

Of course, that's not the way to a rational and objectively lived life. Yet people cling rather than prove; deny rather than become open; believe only rather than do the mental legwork to know.

What do you believe only? Do you have the courage to challenge it, or are you angrily confident?

Windmills, Baby, Windmills

This energy thing isn’t just about global warming!

In a world that is adding one billion people every 15 years or so the demands for energy and natural resources are going to go through the roof. Therefore, energy technologies that produce clean power and energy efficiency is going to be the next great global industry, and the United States needs to be on board.

No longer can we only be interested in polluting our way to prosperity.

The U.S. is now home to only two of the ten largest solar photo-voltaic producers in the world, two of the top ten wind turbine producers and one of the top ten advanced battery manufacturers. That is, only one-sixth of the world’s top renewable energy manufacturers are based in the United States.

Sustainable technologies in solar, wind, electric vehicles, nuclear and other innovations will drive the future global economy. We can either invest in policies to build U.S. leadership in these new industries and jobs today, or we can continue with business as usual and buy windmills from Europe, batteries from Japan and solar panels from Asia.

Imagine how poor we would be today if U.S. firms did not dominate the top 10 Internet companies. Well, if we don’t dominate the top 10 Energy Technologies rankings now, there is no way we will ever come from behind. No way.

(An article by Thomas Friedman was a source.)

Buedi Siebert - The Light Dance

I discovered Buedi Siebert's music this week, and had the fortune to find this great slideshow, put together by Kim Russell. Enjoy both, and check out Buedi Siebert -- you'll be glad you did.

The Four Marks of an Educated Person

See how you fit in the educated person category:

1. He speaks and writes clearly and precisely. No matter how much information he has stored away, he's not educated until he's able to use his mother tongue with grace, precision and clarity.
2. She has a set of values and the courage to defend them. Knowledge and experience have given her the capacity to discriminate not only between right and wrong but between the trivial and the significant; between that which is cheap and that which has integrity.
3. He tries to understand his society and how it differs from others. He views these differences with compassion and respect. Whereas the uneducated man sees them as evidence of his own superiority, regarding the customs of others with condescension or contempt.
4. She looks squarely at the world and its problems, always with hope. She neither rejects nor fears the complexity and dangers of modern live, but accepts as her responsibility the task of making order out of complexity, opportunity out of danger.

Did you qualify on all four accounts?

1,000 Words

Of the 1,000 most frequently used English words (click here), regardless of education most people use only 403 words in nearly 80% of their daily conversations.

So whether you're a PhD, an office worker or a waitress, your basic spoken vocabulary is about the same.

To me this means you could speak any language with comparative ease by learning only about 400 words.

The words most used are: the, of, and, a, to, in, is, be, that, was, he.

These provide one-sixth of a person's vocabulary.

And the first 30 to 40 words on the list constitute over half a person's everyday speech.

Here again you can see how easy it would be to get along in a foreign language, if we know which words to learn and how to hang them together.

Brian Eno - And Then So Clear

Listen to this before and after reading the two blog posts, below. You'll need it.

Poisonus Speech

Can right-wing hate talk lead to murder?

In Buddhism the answer is yes.

Violent actions begin with violent thoughts. Violent words spread violent thoughts like a virus. Through mass media and the Internet, violence can become pandemic. The radio and television personalities who incite crimes may not be legally culpable, but there is a Karmic consequence to their wrong speech.

In the Dhammapada, the Buddha said,

All that we are is the result of what we have thought. It is founded on our thoughts. It is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him, as the wheel follows the foot of the ox that draws the carriage.

It's useful to think of hateful and divisive speech as a poison. To some people, hateful rhetoric they are marinaded with gives permission to commit violence.

I clearly see the connection between the paranoid megalomania churned out by these radio and television cult leaders. And it seems to me that speech in mass media and the Internet is growing more extreme.

What can we do? As individuals we can keep our cool and not give in to the temptation to answer hate with hate. We can practice the Four Immeasurables and cultivate loving kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity. We can hope that, eventually, more people will understand that thoughts and speech really are connected to violence.

(This post is extracted from this article.)

Right Wing Media Cult Followers

In my view the right-wing radio and television political commentators are the leaders of personality cults.

They cultivate a group of unquestioning followers, who believe the leader holds the exclusive Truth. Rational and independent thought is unnecessary, discouraged or forbidden. These followers isolate themselves from the outside world and any reality testing it could provide.

These personalities appeal to people with low self-esteem, and teach that the world is going to hell in a hand basket, and they're the only ones who see it coming. I believe they fulfill a desire in their followers to feel superior to everyone else; they are the only ones with the truth -- everyone else is wrong.

Sadly, these personalities are often psychopathic and power hungry. They exist only for their own material benefit, making 10s of millions of dollars annually.

This would all be rather harmless and curious if it did not cause violence (of which there have been several recent examples). They incite violence, yet take no responsibility for it.

It's also frightening that these cult followers vote based on the inbred information provided by the right-wing media.

I cannot change the right-wing media, nor their followers.

I can attempt to be objective, obtain my information from many sources, and do everything in my power to keep these people out of political office.

Brian Eno - Just Another Day (Timelapse)

Brian Eno has some great music; this is one of my favorites. A well done video, as well.

The Running Mockingbird

Recently I was working in my yard, when I noticed an adult mockingbird that kept running from me. It couldn't fly, so it ran.

Something in its physiology was not right, so it dealt with my presence in the only way that it could.

This is true of humans, also. The human psyche is made up of certain dimensions which define all humans: the ability to reason, to delay gratification in pursuit of a higher goal, to show compassion, to display loving-kindness, to develop self-esteem and encourage it in others, to be objective.

When any of these qualities are distorted or missing, our lives are not the fullest. We cannot fly (or perhaps not even run). So we deal with the situations in life as best we can -- sometimes skillfully, oftentimes not.

I think that in most cases where these shortcomings exist, we can only compensate for their absense. We cannot be made whole, but we can learn to cope. We learn to run, like the mockingbird.

So how can we learn to cope with our shortcomings and encourage others to compensate for theirs?

A Public Plan

First get the facts straight, then you can distort them as you please. - Mark Twain

There are folks who will distort what health care reform is about, with or without the facts.

President Obama's goals for health care reform are:

1. Reduce costs — Rising health care costs are crushing the budgets of governments, businesses, individuals, and families, and they must be brought under control

2. Guarantee choice — Every American must have the freedom to choose their plan and doctor – including the choice of a public insurance option

3. Ensure quality care for all — All Americans must have quality and affordable health care

Remember nothing from this blog but these three goals, above.

Here are some other facts: 1) 68 to 88 percent of Americans strongly support or support health reform; 2) Between 45 million and 50 million Americans lack health insurance; 3) Annually between 18,000 and 20,000 Americans die because they don't have health insurance; 4) Medical bills force over half of all personal bankruptcies; 5) The United States is the only industrialized nation without a public policy.

The health care industry (hospitals and doctors), the pharmaceutical industry and the insurance industry are lobbying against health reform and a public plan. Of course, the Republicans were against Medicare and Medicaid when those were first introduced and they will certainly be against anything that President Obama proposes.

Finally, I personally think that my illnesses and infirmities should not be the profit motivation for these industries. I think doctors, hospitals and pharmaceuticals should either keep me in good health, or to restore me to health when I am ill. The reason for insurance is to spread the risk for its members -- that's basically what insurance is. I think all three industries could do better. But they won't without new governmental standards.

Diamond Sutra

I put this together from National Geographic, Brian Dunning and of course, the Buddha's Diamond Sutra. Enjoy.

Nanci Griffith - Boots of Spanish Leather

Few people would have the patience for this wonderful song It details the correspondence between two lovers, and their changed relationship.

It is a great Bob Dylan song, tenderly rendered by Nanci Griffith. Enjoy.

What do you hope for in this life?

I recently wrote to a friend that I hoped the Buddha was right about rebirth.

I wished for rebirth so that I would have more lives to do the things which I am not able to do in just one life. For example, I would like to write a great book, and play guitar masterfully, and take award winning photographs. Each of these things I do now, but at such a low level of quality. In other words, I wished for future lives so that I could accomplish the great things that I know I will never do in this one.

However, the last item on my list of things to accomplish was to devote the entirety of my days to the study and experience of Buddhism. Of course, I realized that if this goal had been the first on my list, I would not have wished for anything else -- much less to have wished for rebirth.

It is through living the life of Awakening that leads to Nibbana.

The Dhammapada says that Nibbana is "the highest happiness". This happiness is an enduring, transcendental happiness integral to the calmness attained through Awakening, rather than the happiness derived from impermanent things.

Therefore, my efforts should move me into a direction of permanence (Nibbana), and away from the craving for things which will perish.

The Prayer of the Prophet

"The Prophet" by Kahlil Gibran has inspired me through all of my adult life.

In wonderful language, Gibran presents a calm joy of living. It touches on themes of marriage, children, work, religion and death (among many others). Each topic is presented in an easy style and a poetic cadence which reminds me of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount.

Each time I read one of its chapters (or re-read the entire book), it tugs at my heart like no other work I have ever read. It inspires me to joy and wonder; openness and generosity; reverence and respect.

It is not a book about religion, but a book on how to approach life in a truly spiritual way.

(There are online versions of this book, but buy your own copy and keep it close to you, so that you can have a tangible connection to its beauty.)

As an example, here is a short excerpt from Chapter 23, Prayer:

Our God, who art our winged self, it is thy will in us that willeth.
It is thy desire in us that desireth.
It is thy urge in us that would turn our nights, which are thine, into days which are thine also.
We cannot ask thee for aught, for thou knowest our needs before they are born in us:
Thou art our need; and in giving us more of thyself thou givest us all.

Everlast- Friend

As a body of work, Everlast doesn't suit my nature. However, a simple song and two guitars are always a good thing.

The Karma of Choice

This is about abortion.

While the Buddha did not give a discourse specifically about this topic, I think the views expressed here are consistent with the Buddha's Five Precepts.

The First Precept is, "to abstain from taking life."

What life? All life.

Is abortion a violation of this Precept? I believe that it is; and as such it carries a Karmic consequence. However, I also believe that allowing executions (for which Texas is infamous), and murders with hand guns (16,000 annually) and deaths due to lack of health insurance (20,000 annually) and death due to an illegal occupation (in Iraq, hundreds of thousands) all carry Karmic consequence.

So people perform (or allow) unskillful and unbeneficial acts all of the time. Even those who rail about the "sanctity" of life, while ignoring many forms of "sanctified" killing.

So why is abortion the taking of life? From what I can gather, Buddhists believe that life begins at conception. (We also take a longer view that life began around 4 billion years ago, and that it has been manifested in many ways.)

However, Buddhists would not impose the First Precept exclusively on the female who is faced with this choice. The First Precept applies to us all, including the killing that we do nothing to prevent (by allowing an unjustified war for example).

All killing has a consequence. When someone we care about dies, we attend a funeral service. Perhaps all deaths should be viewed with this same solemnity.

The Fruit of our Character

Nature magically suits the man to his fortune by making these the fruit of his character. -- Ralph W. Emerson

We might experience some difficulty in finding out what we're really like by trying to look inward. But we have only to look about us - at our fortunes - for they are the fruit of our character. You would judge someone the same way you would judge an apple tree: by his fruit, by what he produces.

Any person who has had the chance to live as an adult for any appreciable length of time begins to collect about him what we call his fortunes. They represent a merciless mirror of him as a person. They reflect his nature.

We surround ourselves in an environment and circumstances which reflect us, and which include our true beliefs. No matter how loudly we talk about what we believe in, our circumstances reflect our true beliefs. They show to others what is important to us; they reflect our degree of maturity at any stage of our lives.

As we get older, our environment and circumstances should change to reflect the changing person. If they do not change, it is an indication that we are not changing. If they are not growing in quality, it is an indication that we are not growing and maturing as persons.

A person will grow in proportion to two main conditions: The first is his degree of receptivity to new ideas. The second is the source or sources of ideas; if our sources fortify the ideas that we already live by then there is no growth.

So who are your teachers and how open are you to the learning you must undertake in order to grow? How is that learning bearing the fruit of your life?

Iron and Wine - Naked As We Came

For Daniel . . .

Pirates of the Caribbean [Main Theme] on guitar

Other options for Texans as Antarctica meets Texas!

The Mountains Rolling Upon Us

Then King Pasenadi approached the Blessed One in the middle of the day and, on arrival, having bowed down, sat to one side.

"What do you think, great king? Suppose a man, trustworthy and reliable, were to come to you from the East and on arrival would say: 'If it please your majesty, you should know that I come from the East. There I saw a great mountain, as high as the clouds, coming this way, crushing all living beings in its path. Do whatever you think should be done.'

"Then a second man were to come to you from the West... Then a third man were to come from the North... Then a fourth man were to come to you from the South and on arrival would say: 'If it please your majesty, you should know that I come from the South. There I saw a great mountain, as high as the clouds, coming this way, crushing all living beings in its path. Do whatever you think should be done.'

"If, your majesty, such a great peril should arise, such terrible destruction of human life, what should be done?"

The king replied, "What else should be done but Dhamma-conduct, right conduct, skillful deeds, meritorious deeds?"

The Buddha said, "I inform you, great king, I announce to you, great king: aging and death are rolling in on you. When aging and death are rolling in on you, what should be done?"

"As aging and death are rolling in on me, Lord, what else should be done but Dhamma-conduct, right conduct, skillful deeds, meritorious deeds?"

The Buddha said, "One who practices the Dhamma in thought, word and deed, receives praise here on earth and after death rejoices in heaven."

Antarctica Meets Texas

Texas has a lot of shoreline along the Gulf of Mexico, not much of which is very attractive. For those who have not seen it, imagine a brownish sandpit filled with jellyfish.

As you get a few miles out into the Gulf, and away from the shallow basin of much of our coastline, perhaps it gets a little cleaner and clearer.

But it's that shallow basin and the cities along its shore that has my interest for this post.

The question is what low-lying Texas coastal cities will be affected by the Arctic, Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets melting?

Here are the ones which will be totally submerged: All of the sandbar islands, including Galveston and Padre; Port Aransas; many cities in Matagora Bay; Freeport; much of Galveston Bay, including Texas City; and Port Arthur.

Here are the cities impacted: Orange, Beaumont, Houston, Rockport, and Corpus Christi, Brownsville. On the upside, if you don't already own shoreline properties, you will without having to move. So fellow Texans, enjoy your new view!

For more information, see this link and this one (look for the dropdown, where you can select different cities in many of the coastal states).

Damien Rice - Older Chests Acoustic

Simple elegance.

Buddhist Consumption

This week I encountered in two separate articles the same individual. These articles were published about 30 years apart.

The articles, and this individual, go to the heart of one of the globe's biggest problems: wasteful consumption.

E.F. Schumacher argued in the 1950s that economic production was too wasteful of the environment and non-renewable resources. But even more than that, he saw decades ago that ever-increasing production and consumption -- the foundation of the modern economy -- is unsustainable. He criticized policy makers who measure success by the growth of GNP, irrespective of how the growth comes about or who it benefits.

Mr. Schumacher's economic gospel has two planks: First, he believes in the simple life. He also regards economics as a discipline which should subordinate to the needs of a life guided by moral intelligence.

The least possible consumption consistent with decency and health is his idea of the way human beings need to live.

Economic progress is good only to the point of sufficiency; beyond that, it is evil, destructive, and uneconomic. Schumacher promoted the idea of "enoughness." Instead of ever-increasing consumption, the emphasis should be on meeting human needs with no more consumption than is necessary.

From a Buddhist perspective, it is unwholesome to have an economic system that sustains itself by stoking desire and reinforcing the notion that acquiring things will make us happier.

We end up with a heaping pile of entertaining consumer products that are rapidly discarded into landfills. Wasteful consumption.

Industry Ignored Its Scientists on Climate

For more than a decade the Global Climate Coalition, a group representing industries with profits tied to fossil fuels, led an aggressive lobbying and public relations campaign against the idea that emissions of heat-trapping gases could lead to global warming.

The coalition was financed by fees from large corporations and trade groups representing the oil, coal and auto industries, among others. Throughout the 1990s, when the coalition conducted a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign challenging the merits of an international agreement, policy makers and pundits were fiercely debating whether humans could dangerously warm the planet.

Environmentalists have long maintained that industry knew early on that the scientific evidence supported a human influence on rising temperatures, but that the evidence was ignored for the sake of companies’ fight against curbs on greenhouse gas emissions. Some environmentalists have compared the tactic to that once used by tobacco companies, which for decades insisted that the science linking cigarette smoking to lung cancer was uncertain. By questioning the science on global warming, these environmentalists say, groups like the Global Climate Coalition were able to sow enough doubt to blunt public concern about a consequential issue and delay government action.

By promoting doubt, industry had taken advantage of news media norms requiring neutral coverage of issues, just as the tobacco industry once had. They didn't have to win the argument to succeed, but only to cause as much confusion as possible.

In other words, the very industry which caused the problem had in its possession the facts of the damage being caused, and they chose to suppress it.

Daniel Lanois - Shine

This Daniel Lanois album is one of my favorites. However, he is also well known as a producer. Here are some standouts: The Joshua Tree - U2; Oh Mercy - Bob Dylan; Wrecking Ball - Emmylou Harris; and Teatro - Willie Nelson.

Hiding Your Light

In Matthew 5:15, Jesus entreats us to not hide our light, but to put it on its stand, and give light to everyone in the house.

A recent I Ching casting had a different recommendation.

Hexagram 36 says that there are times when we should hide our light in order to protect ourselves.

I have found that this hiding must occur with co-workers, friends and family. It must occur, in other words, with the people who are closest to you.

When you speak out to an entrenched people, you will run into criticism and ostracism.

I have found that many do not want dialog; they want to hold to their beliefs, prove you wrong, and resent or demean you for believing differently.

They do not want your light.

So place your light under that bushel; let it glow and shine within; develop the truth within yourself.

Spend your time educating and enlightening yourself, rather than wasting it arguing and disagreeing.

A Little Tea and Irony

Irony is lost on some of our more conservative citizens.

You undoubtedly saw the pictures of the demonstrations full of people wearing teabags or tricorner hats who kept comparing themselves to the founding fathers at the Boston Tea Party. Did anyone every tell them that they have the right to vote for their representation every two, four and six years?

Also, these states where anti-tax sentiment is strongest are frequently the same states that get way more back from the federal government than they send in. Alaska gets $1.84 for every tax dollar it sends to Washington.

And of course they have totally overlooked the fact that they were protesting in public areas paid for by taxes; that they rode to the demonstrations on roads paid for by taxes; that they were protected by police and fire personnel paid for by taxes.

In another example, our very own governor of Texas was cheering with the crowd of demonstrators as they waved the U.S. flag while yelling, "Secede!" Yet they called candidate Obama unpatriotic for not wearing a flag lapel pin.

Or they complain about the moral depravity of our citizens for allowing gay marriage. Yet they've allowed 120,000 murders with handguns since September, 2001. Worse still, some conservative pundits have incited their followers into killing police officers and church goers.

Finally, as my very own U.S. Representative has said, regarding the efforts to curb green house gases, "They want to save the planet by wrecking the economy!" It sounds like he thinks we can wreck the planet and have an economy. What is he thinking?

What do any of these folks think?

Celtic Woman - Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring

Happy Easter.

And Men Do Not See It

Jesus reconciles mankind to God. Upon the cross is where God and man meet. The cross is where man gives up his animal nature, and becomes Divine.

However, Christians tend to see themselves as one thing and Jesus as another. But in the Thomas gospel, which has all of the flavor of the other four Gospels, a slightly different view is given.

For example, Thomas verse 113: His disciples said to Him, "When will the Kingdom come?" Jesus said, "It will not come by waiting for it. It will not be a matter of saying 'Here it is' or 'There it is.' Rather, the Kingdom of the Father is spread out upon the earth, and men do not see it."

In other words, the Kingdom of God is here, now.

Or consider verse 108: Jesus said, "He who will drink from my mouth will become like Me. I myself shall become he."

Jesus is talking from the point of view of the Being of beings, which we call the Christ. Anyone who lives in relation to that is as Christ.

In other words, you are the radiant vehicle of the Christ spirit. And if you are, then you recognize that same radiance in your fellow man, and indeed in all living beings.

That is basic Buddhism.

Taxes Made Equitable

It is tax time. Do I hear the appropriate groans and mumbles?

Well, as I've said in several posts, I support fair and equitable taxes. Taxes are the dues we pay to live in a civilized society. They pay for our police officers; for our public education; for our roads, bridges and highways. They pay for all of the things that people ignore when they're complaining about taxes.

Here are a few things to consider to make our taxes fair and equitable taxes.

1. Close the "tax gap" which is defined as the difference between taxes owed and taxes actually paid. Earnings: $290 billion annually.

2. Eliminate the huge tax shelters and off-shore tax havens harboring trillions of dollars from U.S. corporations and very wealthy Americans who do not wish to share on-shore tax responsibilities. Earnings: $300 billion annually.

3. Implement a 1/10th of 1% Wall Street sales tax on speculative derivatives (not stocks or bonds). Earnings: $500 billion annually.

4. Restore the tax rates on corporate profits that were paid in the relatively prosperous nineteen sixties. Earnings: $300 billion annually.

5. Taxes on "unearned income" — that is dividends and capital gains on investments — should never be lower than the tax on "earned income" by human labor. Why should a teacher pay a higher tax rate than a multi-millionaire does on capital gains?

6. A carbon tax would be another important source of revenue, with the added incentives to shift faster to energy efficiency and renewable energy such as various kinds of solar and geothermal.

So as you complain (or hear complaints) about tax season, know there are solutions and alternatives.

But those people in government, who are supposed to represent We the People, will bring none of them to pass.

White Bird - It's a beautiful day

Who remembers this?

The Ladder

Our practice requires a lot of letting go.

We prefer to think that it involves letting go of things that we don't like, while allowing us to hold onto the things we do like. But it requires more letting go than that.

The Buddha's strategy in teaching us to let go is to give us better and better things to hold onto. He teaches us to get attached to more and more refined states of well-being, and to become disenchanted with everything else.

It's like climbing a ladder. To climb up the rungs of the ladder, you already have to be holding onto a higher rung before you can let go of a lower one. Finally when you get to the top of the ladder, when there's nothing higher to hold onto, nowhere else to go: That's when you get off onto the roof or where ever you're headed. That's when you can totally let go.

The same principle holds true in the practice: You let go of lower attachments only when you've got something higher to hold onto.

All things in life are impermanent, and attaching yourself to impermanence will lead to suffering.

Therefore, move up the ladder from impermanence to that which is unchanging, and then step off into Nirvana.

The Unseen Flower

He was a large black man sitting on the train. He was dressed in work clothes that looked like he was ready to change tires on cars all day long.

At first, I glanced at him like I do most fellow passengers. Nothing special; just commuters like me.

But he was a pendulum in motion. He had an artist's sketchbook in his workman's hand. Next to him, was a satchel bulging at every thread of every seam.

He would reach into the satchel, pull out a bundle of felt tipped markers wrapped in a rubber band. From this bundle, by intuition only, he would extract a marker, take the cap off and place it on the marker's opposite end. Then he would touch the sketchbook page a time or two, swap the cap to the other end, place the marker back into the bundle, and stuff the bundle back into the satchel.

And again without hesitation, out would come another bundle of markers, and the process repeated again and again.

What could he be working on? Certainly only scribbles, I thought.

Then I saw. Amazing art. Art of an idealized young white woman, whose long blond hair provided a border for her perfectly youthful body. Art that a gifted fourteen year old girl would render. Art that was art; not gaudy; not sexual; not lustful. Art of innocence.

As the train pulled into his station, he closed the sketchbook, zipped the satchel and left.

Why did he draw and paint with those markers? Who will see his work?

Perhaps he is like a flower that grows unseen in the forest.

But I saw.

VAN MORRISON - When The Leaves Come Falling Down

Mellow and sweet.

Skillful Actions and Karma

Things will get better despite our efforts to improve them. - Will Rogers

A layer below the obvious humor here, there is a sublime Buddhist truth.

A Buddhist will say that things get better or worse depending on our skillful or unskillful actions. Too often, despite our best intentions our unskillful actions hinder improvements.

Mindfulness and concentration provide insight into the present moment, and of how you continually contribute to your present experience and to those in the future.

For example, when others cause us pain, we're intensely aware of what they are doing.

However, often we're not looking at what we're doing which is influencing their painful behavior.

Many times you can't avoid the way others are behaving toward you -- it's past karma. But with mindfulness you can avoid the unskillful ways you're reacting to their behavior. You find that the way you are reacting to the situation feeds back into the situation, influencing what those around you are doing, and making a painful situation worse.

Therefore, the goal is to respond to this moment with mindfulness, and work just with that moment with skillful actions and attitudes. By doing this you are creating new karma to both help the current situation and to feed into a better one in the future.

Earmark Conniptions

The Republicans roadblocked the federal budget this past week to throw a political conniption about earmarks. The shallow press played into this hysteria with their usual mindless incitements.

Let's look at a few things.

What is an earmark? Simply, it designates funds for a specific use.

How much of the federal budget is earmarked? Earmarks in the current budget bill amount to $7.7 billion, less than 2% of the overall spending.

What is an example of an earmark? Since the 2010 budget is stalled, I looked at the 2009 federal budget.

I looked at Agriculture and Rural Development (just because it was first in the A to Z list), and drilled down selecting the highest dollar amount in each of the categories.

Republican Senator Inhofe (OK) requested $894,000 specifically for biomass-based energy research.

So the money was earmarked for energy research in Inhofe's state.

You decide whether there is justified outrage or just political posturing from the Republicans this week.

(By the way, this research occurred as I ate breakfast.)

Damien Rice - 9 Crimes - Official Video

That which we seek to possess is subject to loss.

Eternity is Now

The Buddha represents the power of life in the field of eternity -- to be eternally alive.

Eternity isn't some later time; eternity isn't a long time; eternity has nothing to do with time.

Eternity is that dimension of here and now which thinking and time cuts out.

This is IT; if you don't get it here you won't get it anywhere.

The experience of eternity right here and now is the function of life. - Joseph Campbell

Steel Wheel Interstate

A good project for America right now would be to invest in our shrinking and congested freight railway system.  

Our highways are not free; they cost roughly $32 million per mile. A large portion of this expense is caused by either expanding them to meet increased trucking needs, or repairing them due to the damage caused by trucks.

On the other hand, a single train can move as many containers as 280 trucks while using one-third as much energy.

A recent study found that an investment in improved rail infrastructure would get 85% of all long-haul trucks off the nation's highways.  Due to efficiencies and reduced fuel expenses, it would also leave the nation’s economy 13 percent larger by 2030.

So why don’t the railroads build the infrastructure they need?  America’s major railroad companies are publicly traded companies answerable to shareholders. So asking them to incur these new expenses would be like asking the trucking industry to entirely pay for our roads and highways.

So is nationalization the answer? Perhaps not (but other countries have successfully done it). 

What the government can do is make creative use of public/private partnerships. For example, it could provide loan guarantees to the railroad to improve its lines. Also, reduced capital gains taxes for investors in rail infrastructure could help direct capital to where it is needed. Flat-out grants, akin to federal highway money, would also be appropriate.

I'm not talking about bailing out a failing industry, but about helping an expanding, more energy-efficient one to grow fast enough to meet pressing public needs.

Moon River - Sungha Jung

The quite passion and calm with which he plays is amazing. Why wouldn't a tear escape from your eye when you see this child play?

What Do You Lose?

Thus said the Lord Buddha, "If beings knew as I know the results of sharing gifts, they would not enjoy their use without sharing them with others, nor would the taint of stinginess obsess the heart and stay there. Even if it were their last and final bit of food, they would not enjoy its use without sharing it, if there were anyone to receive it."

“Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” (Matt 19:16) Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

But when the young man heard this, he went away sad, for he had many possessions. (Matt 19:21, 22)

What is it you lose by clinging to your possessions?

High Speed Rail

I have posted previously about the necessity and advantages of high speed rail. The reduced energy required for rail travel, the lower CO2 emissions and the boost provided to the economy are all excellent reasons to undertake this now.

Fortunately, the White House announced that it wants to remake rail with a huge new federal investment in high-speed passenger trains.

The $787.2 billion economic recovery bill — to be signed by President Barack Obama on Tuesday — dedicates $8 billion to high-speed rail.

It’s a sum that far surpasses anything before attempted in the United States — and more is coming. Administration officials indicates it will ask for $1 billion more for high-speed rail in each of the next five years.

As a candidate for president, Obama spoke of high-speed rail as part of his vision of “rebuilding America.” Campaigning in Indiana, he talked of revitalizing the Midwest by connecting cities with faster rail service to relieve congestion and improve energy conservation.

“The time is right now for us to start thinking about high-speed rail as an alternative to air transportation connecting all these cities,” he said. “And think about what a great project that would be in terms of rebuilding America.”

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is given 60 days to come up with a strategic plan for the funds.

Damien Rice - Delicate

Look for the crescendo around 3:30 and the phenomenal backup voice around 4:00.

On the Origin

This week marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of two men: one an observer, the other a visionary.

Here I will address the observer, Charles Darwin, and what the Buddha taught of the subject of origins.

Darwin was a mild-mannered Englishman who, through observation, revealed a way for scientists to explore the glorious complexity of life, rather than merely accepting it as an impenetrable mystery.

A recent survey indicates that 39% of Americans believe in evolution.

For some, Darwin's work seems to challenge their religion, morality and social tradition.

Why should that be the case?

Let's look at Buddha's view. His teachings have as a central role the concept of skillful and unskillful thoughts, words, and deeds.

He refused to address many metaphysical questions, such as the origins of the universe. He saw them as irrelevant or counterproductive to the task at hand: that of escaping from the stress and suffering inherent in all of our lives. This knowledge is not required for living a skillful life, nor leading a person to Awakening. (That's not to say that scientific discovery is irrelevant; it is very much so. It just isn't relevant to understanding the Four Noble Truths.)

Jesus provided the same general view, when He spoke of the two commandments.

If those of faith focus on these by bringing them into their daily life, how could any scientific pursuit be a threat?

Republicans Say the Darndest Things

I live in a Texas county which is 70% Republican. I'm one of the 30% percent.

For my daily commute to work, I ride the bus and train.

Since January 20, the Republicans have been in an apoplectic mood and even less coherent than before.

For example, as I was riding to work this week, two fellows were having a down with Democrats conversation.

One said that all the Democrats know how to do is tax everyone into the ground. The other was sure that the Bible said that Obama was a sign of the end times. Then he quoted Hezekiah 1:1 or some such.

I can't make this stuff up, sadly.

To the tax man, do you not see even the tiniest irony that you were riding to work in a bus 81% paid for the taxpayers? The way those who resent all taxes talk, a large chunk of their money is taken from them and thrown into a bonfire in the dead of night behind some government building; or worse still, it is showered upon undeserving minorities.

Seventy percent of my neighbors are oblivious to the benefits provided by paying taxes. Benefits like education, research, security and disaster relief, law enforcement, scientific exploration (think Hubble), aid to the poor or unemployed, support for those too feeble of mind or body to provide for themselves, or health insurance to those over 65.

To the end times man, how can you constantly quote from the Book of Hezekiah* and yet not see the lessons in the Bible for responsibility to a higher power, greater good, society and the less fortunate?

Honestly, I've given up on "educating" these folks. Their ideologies trump facts.

---

* There is no Book of Hezekiah; but it is often quoted.

Mercy Like the Rain

May the mercy of the prayers that Allah answers fall on all the people in Iraq; their fathers and mothers, their sons and daughters.

Iraq's Shocking Human Toll

Our politicians talked about "victory" in Iraq; now they talk about departing with dignity.

There will be neither in the bloody mudhole in which the American citizens have been co-conspirators in creating.

What America has brought to Iraq is about 1 million killed, 4.5 million displaced, and 5 million Orphans. This is according to information gathered by the United Nations, Unicef and the NGO, Iraq Body Count.

Nearly six years after the invasion, the country remains riven by sectarian politics and major unresolved issues, like the status of Kirkuk.

The availability of healthcare, clean water, functioning schools, jobs and so forth remains elusive. According to Unicef, many provinces report that less than 40 percent of households have access to clean water. More than 40 percent of children in Basra, and more than 70 percent in Baghdad, cannot attend school.

By any sensible measure, it would be difficult to describe this as a victory of any kind. It speaks volumes about the repair work we must do for Iraqis, and it should caution us against the optional and savage wars we are prone to.

Americans are Hurting

In the last five months alone, employment fell by 2.5 million. Millions more have lost their health care, their homes, and the savings that families worked so hard to build.

A majority of leading economists favor a large stimulus plan because through it the government will step up spending at a time when private-sector spending has fallen off sharply. At the same time, they agree that tax cuts are not as effective a stimulus as is spending.

President Obama has said that if nothing (or too little) is done, the recession may linger for years. Our economy will lose 5 million more jobs and unemployment will approach double digits.

Americans are hurting. Yet 100% of the House Republicans and 88% of the Senate Republicans voted against the stimulus.

They act as if we have all the time in the world. The party’s sole ambition is to play petty politics to gum up the works. As their leading spokesman has said, "I hope he (Obama) fails."

The crisis is at least as grave as any one that has recently confronted us. Which is why the antics among Republicans on Capitol Hill seem so surreal. These are the same politicians who only yesterday smeared the patriotism of any dissenters from Bush’s “war on terror.”

Americans are hurting. So where is the Republicans' patriotism now that economic terror is inflicting far more harm on their constituents than Saddam Hussein’s nonexistent W.M.D.?

What Americans expect from Washington is action that matches the urgency they feel in their daily lives -- action that's swift, bold and wise enough for us to climb out of this crisis.