Why People Vote Republican

Given the dismal failure of the Republicans over the past eight years, you would expect the voters to send them a loud and clear message.

Yet the Republican presidential candidate received 46% nationally, 56% in Texas, and 70% in my county.

Why?

Through the years, I've listened to co-workers, friends and family explain their reasons.  Here are the top five from that group.  (There are more and other reasons, but these are the top five from the people around me.)

1. I was raised Republican.  OK ... but don't you have a mind and free will of your own?

2. The federal government is evil.  OK ... but the founder of the Republican party (Lincoln) waged a civil war to keep the country together, and establish the supremacy of the federal law over state law.

3. The desire to establish a theocratic totalitarian state.  OK ... but did you forget or not know that the first settlers came from England to escape such state run religion?

4. Racial chauvinism. OK ... but having read Jesus' two commandments, why do you have such a narrow view of who is your neighbor? 

5. Peer pressure brought on by willful ignorance.  OK ... but it's better to be informed than entertained.

My experience is that no facts, evidence or reason will move these views.  The proof is in the percentages given at the beginning of this post.

Therefore, I will vote with my ballot and my credit card to prevent these people from getting into office.  

Antoine Dufour - Spiritual Groove

I just discovered Mr. Dufour. He brings such a wonderful vitality to his playing. Watch both hands carefully.

The Grain of the Wood

An important part of the Buddhist practice is discernment. That is, which qualities in the mind are skillful and which are unskillful. The skillful ones help make your knowledge clearer, make you see things more clearly -- things like mindulness, concentration and discernment, together with the qualities they depend on: virtue, morality and persistence. These are the good guys in the mind. These are the ones you have to nurture, the ones you have to work at. If you don't work at them, they won't come on their own.

The Buddhist practice is like polishing wood. The grain is already there in the wood, but unless you apply the oil, unless you polish it, it doesn't shimmer, it doesn't shine. If you want to see the beauty of the grain, you have to apply the oil, you have to work at it. You don't create the grain, but applying the oil is what brings out the grain already there.

So practicing the Buddha's path is like polishing away at the mind to see what's of real value there within the mind. That's what the mindfulness, the persistence, the ardency, and all the other terms the Buddha uses that suggest effort and exertion.

Exposing and beautifying the grain of your mind, and ultimately the grain of a skillful life, requires the daily effort of the Buddha's practice.

Our Constitution's Values

In my posts, I frequently celebrate our Constitution and its enduring values.  

Now the nightmare of its subversion appears to be almost over.

I applaud Mr. Obama's choice of Dawn Johnsen to head the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel and Leon Panetta to head the Central Intelligence Agency.

I cannot say it better than giving you their words.

Ms Johnsen said in March, 2008: "We must avoid any temptation simply to move on. We must instead be honest with ourselves and the world as we condemn our nation's past transgressions and reject Bush's corruption of our American ideals. Our constitutional democracy cannot survive with a government shrouded in secrecy, nor can our nation's honor be restored without full disclosure."

Mr. Panetta's word are equally stirring: "Our Constitution defines the rules that guide our nation. It was drafted by those who looked around the world of the eighteenth century and saw persecution, torture, and other crimes against humanity and believed that America could be better than that. This new nation would recognize that every individual has an inherent right to personal dignity, to justice, to freedom from cruel and unusual punishment.

"We have preached these values to the world. We have made clear that there are certain lines Americans will not cross because we respect the dignity of every human being. That pledge was written into the oath of office given to every president, "to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution." It's what is supposed to make our leaders different from every tyrant, dictator, or despot. We are sworn to govern by the rule of law, not by brute force."

Bravo!

The Sky in Motion

Watch this video in hi-def by visiting here.


túrána hott kurdís by hasta la otra méxico! from Till Credner on Vimeo.

Meditation May Protect Your Brain

For thousands of years, Buddhist meditators have claimed that the simple act of sitting down and following their breath while letting go of intrusive thoughts can free one from the entanglements of suffering.

Now, scientists are using cutting-edge scanning technology to watch the meditating mind at work. They are finding that regular meditation has a measurable effect on a variety of brain structures related to attention.

A team of Emory University scientists reported that experienced Zen meditators were much better than control subjects at dropping extraneous thoughts and returning to the breath.

The Emory team tested Zen meditators and non-meditators.  They discovered that the meditators, once distracted were able to quickly return to focus.  The non-meditators were easily distracted and had difficulty returning to and maintaining focus.

It is widely known that people lose neurons (gray matter) and have more trouble concentrating as they age, the study published last year by the Emory team found this wasn't true of the Zen practitioners.

What they saw in the meditators was pretty much a straight line. There was no decrease with age in their gray-matter volume.

So meditate today; your mind is a terrible thing to waste! 

Bloodshed in Gaza

It may be a new year, but the bloodshed in Gaza this past week is a clear reminder that peace will not come when the heart is filled with greed, hatred or delusion.  These three are the causes of all suffering.

Since December 27, these horrific attacks on Gaza have caused over 400 Palestinian deaths and 2000 injuries. Rocket fire by armed Palestinian groups, including Hamas, has taken the lives of 4 Israelis and caused several dozen injuries. All human beings should condemn the violence on both sides and call on all parties to abide by international law and policies. 

The U.S. government cannot continue its lop-sided blame on Hamas for the crisis. We must acknowledge Israel's disproportional response and its policies which have brought the Gaza Strip to the brink of humanitarian disaster. 

Civilians in Gaza, already trapped in dehumanizing conditions, are victims of Israeli air strikes and intensified attacks. Israeli blockades of humanitarian supplies continue to deny Palestinians the food and medical supplies they desperately need. 

Join Amnesty International in calling to help lift Gaza out of this crisis.