Well, I just got back an hour ago from watching another loss to the New York Yankees, the best team money can buy. Sure, they've got 27 championships and oodles of Hall of Fame candidates, but really, after a certain point, being one of the biggest and the best most of the time is a sure fire ticket to hell. Just ask the good folks at Bear Stearns or the Lehman Brothers.
Anyway, since I'm in a jovial, but slightly cantankerous mood, let's take a jaunt through the blogosphere together.
Nella Lou has a good post taking aim at those who argue that the internet is a terrible breading ground for bad behaviour and general meanness. Frankly, anyone who is worried about the horrors of the internet might best check themselves in the mirror as they crank down the highway, cussing out every last driver in their way. Or perhaps, if road rage isn't your fare, you might consider the latest gossip you shared about your relatives, or how you tore political candidate X a new asshole over lunch with your co-workers. I mean really, anything you see on Twitter or Facebook is just a mirror for what's going on in the "real world" folks.
Speaking of politics, Kyle over at Reformed Buddhist asks whether the political "center" is disappearing in the U.S., to which I'd say, yes. The same goes for the "left," the "progressives," the "Greens" and anything else not associated with a conservative, right wing agenda. Sure, plenty of us still hold ideas that fit into the "center" or "left" politically, but the power and control - right now - are firmly in the hands of right wing, corporate conservatives. And really Obama supporters, it's time to get over the apologies and recognize that the Obama Administration is mostly invested in maintaining the status quo.
Perhaps, enough of us will collectively take a hint from someone like Jodo Shinshu Minister Toshikazu Arai, who writes:
It is high time that humans mobilized their wisdom. They should all sit down together and solve existing territorial issues by establishing ways to share natural resources and dropping territorial claims for peaceful coexistence.
Or maybe more of us will start to feel that we have had enough, as Barry asks over at his blog, and begin to wonder what happens once you have burned through "enough" accumulated things and experiences that you thought would bring you happiness.
It seems to me that, at the very least, bringing about shifts in the world we live in begins with, as bookbird points to, fully accepting ourselves.
And if you aren't there yet, you can always take a seat and do some zazen, even if, as Petteri suggests, it might be good for nothing.
3 comments:
Hey Nathan, you can bash the Yankees any old time! As someone who grew up not that far from Fenway, I enjoy a good Yankees-bashing as much as anyone in Red Sox Nation. But really, they are all pretty repugnant. It's all just big business in the end.
I have been wondering about the disconnect between what I see among people raising children - in my experience lately, the messages are strong: peace, love, understanding, save the Earth. And this goes far beyond just me and and my three friends.
So there's this message that is clearly out there for children to learn, indeed, it seems mandatory. So what has happened to all of us adults? The mean-spiritedness? The narrowness? The greed?
What happens to cause this change? Puberty??
Hi Robyn,
I think all those positive messages are undermined by another set of messages - like, the world is filled with terrorists out to get you, you have to beat everyone else to be successful, money and stuff will bring you happiness, etc.
I sure don't have any solid answers as to why adults keep swallowing such views, but I suppose it's pretty much the greed, hatred, and ignorance that Buddha spoke about coming through.
One problem is that the righties are the only ones with a story. It's a shit story, for sure, but shit story beats no story. The lefties had their turn at having a shit story. If we're to survive, we'll have to make up a new one. I'd rather it wasn't as shitty as the ones before, if possible, TYVM.
(Thanks for the mention. I did think I was suggesting that zazen might be good for something after all, though, despite frequent claims to the contrary...)
Post a Comment