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.