The focus on Terri Shiavo and the legal battle swirling around her seems to miss an important component, and that is the reason why she became ill in the first place. As paragraph 15 of most articles will briefly tell you, she incurred brain damage due to her heart stopping due to a chemical imbalance brought upon by bulimia. The lesson to be learned from all this is to increase awareness of this psychological disorder and how to prevent it. While it is undeniable that Americans are getting disgustingly fat these days, the "technique" bulimia sufferers use to stay thin is obviously counter-productive, i.e. binging followed by disgorging, resulting in a whole array of serious health problems.
I think this whole Shiavo episode teaches us the importance of resolving problems before they get too serious, and our health professionals and educational gurus should increase efforts to make people aware of the hazards of bulimia. While some say it is itself the result of a chemical imbalance, I think psychology lies at the heart of the problem. And that means it can be cured. Healthy eating and regular exercise would prevent obesity in the first place. Of course, the sitting practice of meditation would also reduce this sort of obsessive-compulsive behavior. So let us not forget the hidden message in this Shiavo case, and that is to cultivate our health now and not let things get out of control, leading by chain reaction to far more catastrophic consequences. As such it is a good lesson of the law of karma.
Thursday, March 24, 2005
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Time out of Joint
I have suffered a painful tragedy...I cannot find my copy of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, the novel by crazy old Philip K. Dick later made into the noir classic Bladerunner. I must have had it since 1972 or so. Cannot remember if it was an Ace or DAW paperback, they are becoming collector's items in their own right. If my search and destroy mission at home does not find its target I will be forced to buy another copy online. So this puts on hold my comparison of the movie version and the book. Just for starters, the book takes place in a depopulated San Francisco, and the movie in an swarming Los Angeles.
The PKD theme of what is reality is evident in the book, raising the question of who we really are...in a broader scope, the question of what outside reality is, is brilliantly dramatized in Time Out of Joint, an early classic, in which a man living in a 1950's suburban enviroment discovers his community was built to trick him, and the real time is decades later. It seems likely to me the writers of The Truman Show were aware of this book and lifted the plot whole.
Another example straight from a PKD short story is Total Recall with a similar plot, this time with interplantetary connections. The Matrix also could be a takeoff on PKD's Ubik, in which people are kept in a half-life state of suspended animation but are able to communicate with the living and sometimes with each other.
This suspicion that all is not as it seems, inspired by a "healthy" dose of paranoia in PKD's case, would be seconded by the buddhists and other mystical traditions, who question our normal acceptance of reality. I recall the head of the Sakya lineage made the remark to a group that what we saw before us was not real. How this can be interpreted is open to dispute, one can belittle such assertions as clerical hocus-pocus to mystify the masses into accepting religous leaders as needed guides to salvation/enlightenment. The buddhist doctrine of sunyata or emptiness is quite subtle and complex, but bascially makes us question the solidity of the physical and mental world.
The PKD theme of what is reality is evident in the book, raising the question of who we really are...in a broader scope, the question of what outside reality is, is brilliantly dramatized in Time Out of Joint, an early classic, in which a man living in a 1950's suburban enviroment discovers his community was built to trick him, and the real time is decades later. It seems likely to me the writers of The Truman Show were aware of this book and lifted the plot whole.
Another example straight from a PKD short story is Total Recall with a similar plot, this time with interplantetary connections. The Matrix also could be a takeoff on PKD's Ubik, in which people are kept in a half-life state of suspended animation but are able to communicate with the living and sometimes with each other.
This suspicion that all is not as it seems, inspired by a "healthy" dose of paranoia in PKD's case, would be seconded by the buddhists and other mystical traditions, who question our normal acceptance of reality. I recall the head of the Sakya lineage made the remark to a group that what we saw before us was not real. How this can be interpreted is open to dispute, one can belittle such assertions as clerical hocus-pocus to mystify the masses into accepting religous leaders as needed guides to salvation/enlightenment. The buddhist doctrine of sunyata or emptiness is quite subtle and complex, but bascially makes us question the solidity of the physical and mental world.
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
Why meditation works
Many think meditation is some kind of spacey out-of-this-world experience suited only for eccentrics and people who want to avoid reality. This is obviously an outcome of our Faustian outgoing pragmatic cash on the barreled cultural bias, suspicious of non-productive activity, or worse yet, non-activity. Why sit motionless when you could be doing something? Something quirky or subversive must be going on here.
Yet sitting practice is not some sort of lackadaisical lazy lounging around, it is hard work. First of all, one must maintain a strict but relaxed posture, back straight, not leaning against anything, eyes open, legs crossed in some fashion, usually sitting on a cushion, maintaining silence, watching one's breathing and mentally observing the chaos the mindstream produces without following its seductive come hithers. One of the hardest things to get used to is to realize just how chaotic our subconscious gossiping mind is, and still sit quietly observing it. In this way we become familiar with our neurotic patterns, and they lose their grip on us. We become so acquainted with our games we no longer take them seriously. This is called cutting ego. Ego here means belief in a solid unchanging ME. Does this mean we lose our sense of identity and become vegetables or simpletons easily swayed by the most persuasive propagandists? No, it means we can relax and be who we really are, free of uptight defense mechanisms, and confident in our ability to think for ourself and defend our point of view.
We will not notice any improvement in our life while we meditate, only afterwards. Subtle changes will occur in our environment if we take the time to do sitting practice on a daily schedule. Problems that never get resolved will work themselves out without our input, favorable coincidences will present themselves, we won't take ourselves so seriously anymore, and people will respond favorably to this opening up. Gaps of fresh air occur in our solid suffocating cocoon-like world, and we can see clearly where before we were blinded by our own point of view. Meditation helps us become ourselves, what we really are, and there is no reason to be afraid of this.
Yet sitting practice is not some sort of lackadaisical lazy lounging around, it is hard work. First of all, one must maintain a strict but relaxed posture, back straight, not leaning against anything, eyes open, legs crossed in some fashion, usually sitting on a cushion, maintaining silence, watching one's breathing and mentally observing the chaos the mindstream produces without following its seductive come hithers. One of the hardest things to get used to is to realize just how chaotic our subconscious gossiping mind is, and still sit quietly observing it. In this way we become familiar with our neurotic patterns, and they lose their grip on us. We become so acquainted with our games we no longer take them seriously. This is called cutting ego. Ego here means belief in a solid unchanging ME. Does this mean we lose our sense of identity and become vegetables or simpletons easily swayed by the most persuasive propagandists? No, it means we can relax and be who we really are, free of uptight defense mechanisms, and confident in our ability to think for ourself and defend our point of view.
We will not notice any improvement in our life while we meditate, only afterwards. Subtle changes will occur in our environment if we take the time to do sitting practice on a daily schedule. Problems that never get resolved will work themselves out without our input, favorable coincidences will present themselves, we won't take ourselves so seriously anymore, and people will respond favorably to this opening up. Gaps of fresh air occur in our solid suffocating cocoon-like world, and we can see clearly where before we were blinded by our own point of view. Meditation helps us become ourselves, what we really are, and there is no reason to be afraid of this.
Thursday, March 10, 2005
My buddhist bio, ready or not
I became interested in buddhism during my college years at UC Santa Barbara. During that hippie era, I lived in Isla Vista, next to campus, which was one of the hotbeds of the radical/anarchist movement as well as being a psychedelic New Age hippie haven. The local psychic would read your palm at the coffee house and the nude beach was only a short walk away.
I was on the SDS hit list because in my newspaper column I poked fun at their leader's efforts to whip up the crowd to close down the university. When there were no riots in the streets there was quite an interest in Eastern spirituality, but there were no organized groups except for the Yogi Maharishi's organization, which actually bought one of the larger apartment buildings for a year. They used to burn incense sticks taped to the swimming pool fence and Hindu chanting could be heard as you walked through the courtyard. This was rather humorous to me as the football team lived there the year before, drinking beer and listening to rock and roll.
I also was invited to a Religious Studies class one day by the professor at which the head honchos of Nichiren Shoshu (the so-called buddhist guys who chant for Cadillacs) were supposed to give an explanation of their beliefs. But instead they went right into their heavy-handed conversion rap. Since the lackadaisical RS students did not raise any serious questions, I took it upon myself to argue with the Nichirens about their obnoxious brainwashing techniques as well as expose their political ultra-nationalism in Japan, which was not well known here, and was informed by the chain-smoking Japanese leader that I was going to hell....I considered this a victory. Also later their group did not catch on locally, which did not bother me a bit.
I attended a few discussions about Zen led by a libertarian grad student, (who proposed the strange idea that beer was preferable to pot,) but found the sitting posture nearly impossible, so badly out of shape I was, both physically and mentally. I would sit in a corner of my apartment living room but get embarrassed when my girlfriend walked by and stared at me. I really had no idea what I was trying to do, I have to admit. This is what happens when you don't have a meditation instructor. But through my reading of Eastern spirituality vs. Western philosophy I determined that the buddhist path was more grounded in practical experience and I wanted to try that out myself. I really wanted to know what enlightenment was and thought I could find out pretty soon.
A few years later Chogyam Trungpa gave a talk at a house in Santa Barbara, but I heard about it a week too late. After all, why would anyone living in the Isla Vista god realm bother to drive a few miles to Santa Barbara, where real working people lived?? I had recently read his book Born in Tibet so I had some idea of who he was. I later went to this house and met some of his students and there seemed something genuine about them. In fact a guy I knew who came with me, a New Age charlatan of the worst sort, declared that the vibes in the house were definitely bumming him out and he was leaving and not coming back. This impressed me, because if Trungpa Rinpoche's vibes got to this nut case then Rinpoche must be a great teacher. I became determined to hook up with his group in LA when I returned there.
Subsequently, I joined the Los Angeles Dharmadhatu, and took the opportunity to attend Trungpa Rinpoche's seminars in Rocky Mountain Dharma Center, and later in Berkeley/Santa Cruz. I also lived one year in Boulder to be close to the source and another year in Denver for the same reason. I returned to LA and kept in touch with Trungpa's students.
I also became registered as a religious volunteer with the state corrections system. At first one of the Zen students and I used to make the long haul to the prison once in a while. This was in response to a request by the chaplain who said some of his guys were interested in Buddhism and wanted to meet with any Buddhist group on the outside. We were so ignorant we did not realize we could not enter the prison wearing blue jeans, as that is the standard prisoner issue, and in case of a riot the guards want to know who to shoot. So we had to drive over to the local mall and buy other clothes and change into them before we were allowed into the prison. As my companion was female I was suddenly stuck by the avid attention her words and presence received compared to mine, but upon reflection I realized we could convert the whole prison yard to the buddhadharma or any other religion if we brought in enough women volunteers to talk to the guys. One day driving home I made the comment, "It seems we are all in prison, not just the cons at the joint, but all of us imprison ourselves somehow with our ego."
Later I carried a big bag full of zafus (meditation cushions) to the prison twice a month to a meditation group I started there. The prisoners were quite sincere and were grateful someone on the outside cared enough to meet with them. Some of them had access to a great number of buddhist books donated to and purchased by the prison library. Therefore some of the guys there were better read in buddhism than I was, and this made the discussion groups very lively. I kept this group going by myself for about three years.
I propose buddhism and meditation are certainly compatible with Republican politics, but I will admit I am in the minority about this. I think some sort of contemplative practice is at the heart of every religion, and such practice does not have a political label or bias. I believe we should not be content to believe in the faith created by the founder of whatever our religion is, but actively attempt to practice the contemplative techniques these founders used to reach their insights into spirituality. Only then can we truly think for ourselves, and become what we really are.
I was on the SDS hit list because in my newspaper column I poked fun at their leader's efforts to whip up the crowd to close down the university. When there were no riots in the streets there was quite an interest in Eastern spirituality, but there were no organized groups except for the Yogi Maharishi's organization, which actually bought one of the larger apartment buildings for a year. They used to burn incense sticks taped to the swimming pool fence and Hindu chanting could be heard as you walked through the courtyard. This was rather humorous to me as the football team lived there the year before, drinking beer and listening to rock and roll.
I also was invited to a Religious Studies class one day by the professor at which the head honchos of Nichiren Shoshu (the so-called buddhist guys who chant for Cadillacs) were supposed to give an explanation of their beliefs. But instead they went right into their heavy-handed conversion rap. Since the lackadaisical RS students did not raise any serious questions, I took it upon myself to argue with the Nichirens about their obnoxious brainwashing techniques as well as expose their political ultra-nationalism in Japan, which was not well known here, and was informed by the chain-smoking Japanese leader that I was going to hell....I considered this a victory. Also later their group did not catch on locally, which did not bother me a bit.
I attended a few discussions about Zen led by a libertarian grad student, (who proposed the strange idea that beer was preferable to pot,) but found the sitting posture nearly impossible, so badly out of shape I was, both physically and mentally. I would sit in a corner of my apartment living room but get embarrassed when my girlfriend walked by and stared at me. I really had no idea what I was trying to do, I have to admit. This is what happens when you don't have a meditation instructor. But through my reading of Eastern spirituality vs. Western philosophy I determined that the buddhist path was more grounded in practical experience and I wanted to try that out myself. I really wanted to know what enlightenment was and thought I could find out pretty soon.
A few years later Chogyam Trungpa gave a talk at a house in Santa Barbara, but I heard about it a week too late. After all, why would anyone living in the Isla Vista god realm bother to drive a few miles to Santa Barbara, where real working people lived?? I had recently read his book Born in Tibet so I had some idea of who he was. I later went to this house and met some of his students and there seemed something genuine about them. In fact a guy I knew who came with me, a New Age charlatan of the worst sort, declared that the vibes in the house were definitely bumming him out and he was leaving and not coming back. This impressed me, because if Trungpa Rinpoche's vibes got to this nut case then Rinpoche must be a great teacher. I became determined to hook up with his group in LA when I returned there.
Subsequently, I joined the Los Angeles Dharmadhatu, and took the opportunity to attend Trungpa Rinpoche's seminars in Rocky Mountain Dharma Center, and later in Berkeley/Santa Cruz. I also lived one year in Boulder to be close to the source and another year in Denver for the same reason. I returned to LA and kept in touch with Trungpa's students.
I also became registered as a religious volunteer with the state corrections system. At first one of the Zen students and I used to make the long haul to the prison once in a while. This was in response to a request by the chaplain who said some of his guys were interested in Buddhism and wanted to meet with any Buddhist group on the outside. We were so ignorant we did not realize we could not enter the prison wearing blue jeans, as that is the standard prisoner issue, and in case of a riot the guards want to know who to shoot. So we had to drive over to the local mall and buy other clothes and change into them before we were allowed into the prison. As my companion was female I was suddenly stuck by the avid attention her words and presence received compared to mine, but upon reflection I realized we could convert the whole prison yard to the buddhadharma or any other religion if we brought in enough women volunteers to talk to the guys. One day driving home I made the comment, "It seems we are all in prison, not just the cons at the joint, but all of us imprison ourselves somehow with our ego."
Later I carried a big bag full of zafus (meditation cushions) to the prison twice a month to a meditation group I started there. The prisoners were quite sincere and were grateful someone on the outside cared enough to meet with them. Some of them had access to a great number of buddhist books donated to and purchased by the prison library. Therefore some of the guys there were better read in buddhism than I was, and this made the discussion groups very lively. I kept this group going by myself for about three years.
I propose buddhism and meditation are certainly compatible with Republican politics, but I will admit I am in the minority about this. I think some sort of contemplative practice is at the heart of every religion, and such practice does not have a political label or bias. I believe we should not be content to believe in the faith created by the founder of whatever our religion is, but actively attempt to practice the contemplative techniques these founders used to reach their insights into spirituality. Only then can we truly think for ourselves, and become what we really are.
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
Friday, March 04, 2005
Samsara and Nirvana are One
One of my old favorite dharma texts is the Zen Teachings of Huang Po, translated by John Blofeld. It is the type of book one takes on hiking trips in the Sierras, for it contains very heady thoughts such as this which need solitude in nature to properly absorb:
"The Master said to me: All the Buddhas and all sentient beings are nothing but the One-Mind, beside which nothing exists. This Mind...is all that you see before you--begin to reason about it and you at once fall into error...The One Mind alone is the Buddha, and there is no distinction between the Buddha and sentient beings, but that sentient beings are attached to forms and so seek externally for Buddhahood. By their very seeking they lose it, for that is using the Buddha to seek for the Buddha and using mind to grasp Mind."
Of course this kind of speculation can lead to misty Theosophy or Transcendentalism, cute romantic offshoots. But the main point Huang Po alludes to is skepticism about the nature of duality itself. While duality is a necessary component of conceptual thinking, that does not make it real. In all mystical traditions, duality is overcome by some sort of integrated sense of oneness, or, as Chogyam Trungpa preferred, zero-ness. In our practical day to day life, if we can overcome the rigidity and concreteness of our dualistic thinking habits, we can perhaps gain an insight into the "wholeness" or "interdependence" of situations, and act appropriately. As is often said in Chinese buddhist texts, all things are interconnected in the Net of Indra.
Of course this kind of speculation can lead to misty Theosophy or Transcendentalism, cute romantic offshoots. But the main point Huang Po alludes to is skepticism about the nature of duality itself. While duality is a necessary component of conceptual thinking, that does not make it real. In all mystical traditions, duality is overcome by some sort of integrated sense of oneness, or, as Chogyam Trungpa preferred, zero-ness. In our practical day to day life, if we can overcome the rigidity and concreteness of our dualistic thinking habits, we can perhaps gain an insight into the "wholeness" or "interdependence" of situations, and act appropriately. As is often said in Chinese buddhist texts, all things are interconnected in the Net of Indra.
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
Hey, I said it first
Found this on Little Green Footballs.
Here is text:
NEW YORK More than one in four Americans would go so far as to utilize nuclear bombs if need be in the fight against terrorism, according to a national survey reported today by The Gallup Organization.
Gallup asked Americans whether they would be willing or not willing "to have the U.S. government do each of the following" and then listed an array of options.
For example, "assassinate known terrorists" drew the support of 65% of all adults. "Torture known terrorists if they know details about future terrorist attacks in the U.S."won the backing of 39%.
Finally, the option of using "nuclear weapons to attack terrorist facilities" drew the support of 27% of adults, with 72% opposing, which would shatter the taboo on using these weapons militarily since the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Experts agree that the power of today's weapons, their range of damage and the peril of drifting radioactive fallout far exceeds the bombs used against Japan. That support has declined 7% since 2001, however.
***
So as you can see, my proposals have been considered and found necessary by approximately 75,000,000 Americans.
Here is text:
NEW YORK More than one in four Americans would go so far as to utilize nuclear bombs if need be in the fight against terrorism, according to a national survey reported today by The Gallup Organization.
Gallup asked Americans whether they would be willing or not willing "to have the U.S. government do each of the following" and then listed an array of options.
For example, "assassinate known terrorists" drew the support of 65% of all adults. "Torture known terrorists if they know details about future terrorist attacks in the U.S."won the backing of 39%.
Finally, the option of using "nuclear weapons to attack terrorist facilities" drew the support of 27% of adults, with 72% opposing, which would shatter the taboo on using these weapons militarily since the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Experts agree that the power of today's weapons, their range of damage and the peril of drifting radioactive fallout far exceeds the bombs used against Japan. That support has declined 7% since 2001, however.
***
So as you can see, my proposals have been considered and found necessary by approximately 75,000,000 Americans.
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