« December 2004 | Main | February 2005 »
January 26, 2005
Lost in New York
I'm off to New York City for a few days. Since I've never been there before, it should be fun. I'm going to see Avenue Q tomorrow night, visit museums, and see an old friend from high school. So probably won't be blogging til next week.
Posted by donna at 08:23 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 25, 2005
Adoration
Images on the altar,
Or imagined within:
We pray to them,
But do they answer?
The wise tell us how important adoration is. So we kneel before altars, give offerings, and make sacrifices. In our meditations, we are taught to see gods within ourselves and to make supplications to receive power and knowledge. This we do with great sincerity, until the masters say that there are no gods. Then we are confused.
The statue on the altar is mere wood and gold leaf, but our need to be reverent is real. The god within may be nothing but visualization, but our need for concentration is real. The attributes of heaven are utopian conjectures, but the essence of these parables is real. The gods, then, represent certain philosophies and extraordinary facets of the human mind. When we devote ourselves to gods, we establish communion with these deeper aspects.
The thought that we are worshiping symbolism may make us uncomfortable. We are educated to accept only the tangible, the scientific, and the material. We doubt the efficacy of adoring the merely symbolic, and we are confused when such reference brings about genuine person transformation. But worship does affect our feelings and thoughts. When the wise say that there are no gods, they mean that the key to understanding all things is within ourselves. External worship is merely a means to point within to the true source of salvation.
Deng Ming-Dao, 365 Tao
Some scientists have begun exploring the links between the brain and religion. In "The God Gene", Dean H. Hamer discusses his findings about brain chemistry and religion:
What he found was that the brain chemicals associated with anxiety and other emotions, including joy and sadness, appeared to be in play in the deep meditative states of Zen practitioners and the prayerful repose of Roman Catholic nuns -- not to mention the mystical trances brought on by users of peyote and other mind-altering drugs.At least one gene, which goes by the name VMAT2, controls the flow to the brain of chemicals that play a key role in emotions and consciousness. This is the "God gene" of the book's title, and Hamer acknowledges that it's a misnomer. There probably are dozens or hundreds more genes, yet to be identified, involved in the universal propensity for transcendence, he said.
Certainly spirituality and religion has inspired much of the world's great architecture, art, music, and other areas of creativity. It also has inspired wars, hatred, and destruction. Clearly there is a powerful link between religion and spirituality and the way it affects our thinking.
Perhaps it is the process of worship that provides the chemicals the brain needs in order to function, or perhaps the brain inspires the feeling of the religious trance that is attributed to god. For me, it was always the music that led me to feel most spiritual in church. Singing choral music or listening to it is very pleasurable for me, and can lead me to a rapturous state of mind.
But I also had a very rapturous experience when I went crazy, and I've had them when I've had sex, so perhaps the areas of the brain that control all these things are related. Maybe religious people get so hung up on sex because they experience those rapturous feelings during sex - or maybe because they don't and become jealous that others do?
Religion has to be seen as more than a mythology, but as a pathway to something else that is deeply spiritual and so transformative. Those who have no interest in transformation, only in the security of their own belief system, miss the point of connecting yourself with a higher power and a deeper way of life -- the need to learn to be more aware of yourself and the world around you, and more compassionate to other beings.
Posted by donna at 09:40 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Join the Kos...
Daily Kos is calling for bloggers to join their no vote stand on Gonzales. I certainly oppose him, and have encouraged my Senators to vote "NO". Please do the same, if you oppose Gonzales.
We, the undersigned bloggers, have decided to speak as one and collectively author a document of opposition. We oppose the nomination of Alberto Gonzales to the position of Attorney General of the United States, and we urge every United States Senator to vote against him.
As the prime legal architect for the policy of torture adopted by the Bush Administration, Gonzales's advice led directly to the abandonment of longstanding federal laws, the Geneva Conventions, and the United States Constitution itself. Our country, in following Gonzales's legal opinions, has forsaken its commitment to human rights and the rule of law and shamed itself before the world with our conduct at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib. The United States, a nation founded on respect for law and human rights, should not have as its Attorney General the architect of the law's undoing.
In January 2002, Gonzales advised the President that the United States Constitution does not apply to his actions as Commander in Chief, and thus the President could declare the Geneva Conventions inoperative. Gonzales's endorsement of the August 2002 Bybee/Yoo Memorandum approved a definition of torture so vague and evasive as to declare it nonexistent. Most shockingly, he has embraced the unacceptable view that the President has the power to ignore the Constitution, laws duly enacted by Congress and International treaties duly ratified by the United States. He has called the Geneva Conventions "quaint."
Legal opinions at the highest level have grave consequences. What were the consequences of Gonzales's actions? The policies for which Gonzales provided a cover of legality - views which he expressly reasserted in his Senate confirmation hearings - inexorably led to abuses that have undermined military discipline and the moral authority our nation once carried. His actions led directly to documented violations at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo and widespread abusive conduct in locales around the world.
Michael Posner of Human Rights First observed: "After the horrific images from Abu Ghraib became public last year, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld insisted that the world should 'judge us by our actions [and] watch how a democracy deals with the wrongdoing and with scandal and the pain of acknowledging and correcting our own mistakes.'" We agree. It is because of this that we believe the only proper course of action is for the Senate to reject Alberto Gonzales's nomination for Attorney General. As Posner notes, "[t]he world is indeed watching." Will the Senate condone torture? Will the Senate condone the rejection of the rule of law?
With this nomination, we have arrived at a crossroads as a nation. Now is the time for all citizens of conscience to stand up and take responsibility for what the world saw, and, truly, much that we have not seen, at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere. We oppose the confirmation of Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General of the United States, and we urge the Senate to reject him.
Posted by donna at 08:04 PM | TrackBack
Real Women have Curves
Welcome to the Broad Band, where you can see Broads of all Widths (and Bandwidths) on the internet. Did you know that Vogue imported the word "cellulite" into the United States in 1973 as a pseudo-medical term for what was once healthy female flesh? (Thanks, Naomi Wolf, for this info!) Sick of Vogue and Seventeen? It's time to reinvent our notions of beauty.
Via Brutal Women
Posted by donna at 07:27 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Uselessness
An ancient gnarled tree:
Too fibrous for a logger's saw,
Too twisted to fit a carpenter's square,
Outlasts the whole forest.
Loggers delight in straight grained, strong, fragrant wood. If the timber is too difficult to cut, too twisted to be made straight, too foul-odored for cabinets, and too spongy for firewood, it is left alone. Useful trees are cut down. Useless ones survive.
The same is true of people. The strong are conscripted. The beautiful are exploited. Those who are too plain to be noticed are the ones who survive. They are left alone and safe.
But what if we ourselves are among such plain persons? Though others may neglect us, we should not thing of ourselves as being without value. We must not accept the judgment of others as the measure of our own self worth. Instead, we should live our lives in simplicity.
Surely, we will have flaws, but we must take stock in them according to our own judgment and then use them as a measure of self-improvement. Since we need not expend energy in putting on airs or maintaining a position, we are actually free to cultivate the best parts of our personalities. Thus, to be considered useless in not a reason for despair, but an opportunity. It is the chance to live without interference and to express one's own individuality.
Deng Ming-Dao, 365 Tao
I think a part of what Tao teaches me is that nothing is really useless. Even a tree with no other purpose takes in carbon dioxide and releases oxygen, allowing us to breathe.
The weeds I remove from my garden are put into the composter, to make soil for future plants. My recycling output usually equals my trash output now, and I keep working to generate less and less trash. I look for recyclable containers or tins or other things I can use again. I give away my used goods to the Salvation Army or Amvets when I can. So what seems useless to some, I try to find some use for.
Even my nephew and sister, who are mentally disabled, have their purpose. My nephew now lives with a kind woman who tries to help him, and so she feels useful in helping him with his life. They both are useful to me in providing me with more compassion and understanding for the disabled, and someone for me to care for. My mother found her purpose in life in caring for them and for so many other people.
The best way to get out of feeling useless is to help someone else with their problems. Right now, I'm helping my sister-in-law and her husband, providing bridge loans while they get moved and resettled. I don't mind helping out. It makes me feel useful. I care for my family and my pets, taking my cat to the vet today. Seeing people caring for all those pets, you can see how useful even a pet can be to someone, providing love and affection that person might not get otherwise.
It's easy to just dismiss someone or something as useless. But it's a lot more fulfilling to take another look, and respect that person or thing as a part of Tao, and prehaps see the true usefulness. At least, it's worth a try.
Posted by donna at 04:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
America the Model for Democracy? Think again...
When the soviets withdrew from Central Europe, U.S. constitutional experts rushed in. They got a polite hearing, and were sent home. Jiri Pehe, adviser to former president Vaclav Havel, recalls the Czechs' firm decision to adopt a European-style parliamentary system with strict limits on campaigning. "For Europeans, money talks too much in American democracy. It's very prone to certain kinds of corruption, or at least influence from powerful lobbies," he says. "Europeans would not want to follow that route." They also sought to limit the dominance of television, unlike in American campaigns where, Pehe says, "TV debates and photogenic looks govern election victories."
So it is elsewhere. After American planes and bombs freed the country, Kosovo opted for a European constitution. Drafting a post-apartheid constitution, South Africa rejected American-style federalism in favor of a German model, which leaders deemed appropriate for the social-welfare state they hoped to construct. Now fledgling African democracies look to South Africa as their inspiration, says John Stremlau, a former U.S. State Department official who currently heads the international relations department at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg: "We can't rely on the Americans." The new democracies are looking for a constitution written in modern times and reflecting their progressive concerns about racial and social equality, he explains. "To borrow Lincoln's phrase, South Africa is now Africa's 'last great hope'."
Posted by donna at 09:19 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 24, 2005
Insecurity
MaxSpeak, You Listen!: INVEST THIS
Quotable is Barkley Rosser, Professor of Economics at James Madison University, January 20, 2005, in the Harrisonburg Daily-News Record (print version only):
"Second involves the private accounts proposal, with the stock market forecast to rise annually at 7.8% per year forever. However, if economic growth decelerates [as projected by the Social Security Trustees--mbs] we should expect stock market growth to slow down much more. We had a mild recession in 2001 and the economy is now growing above its historical rate. However, all stock market indices remain below their March, 2000 peaks, the NASDAQ below half that peak, even though President Bush pushed through tax cuts favoring stock market investment. We hear that the stock market has always increased over periods at least 20 years long. But many people die less than 20 years after they retire, possibly facing negative returns. The Dow-Jones hit 1000 in July, 1966, not reached again until the end of 1982. The Nikkei in Japan remains below half its level of more than 15 years ago. The impending retirement of baby boomers may worsen this as their stock market investment for retirement ran up stocks in the 1990s. As they retire, they will start selling stocks, putting downward pressure on the market (price-earnings ratios remain above historical averages)."
[MaxSpeak] A basic assumption in the debate about Social Security is that everyone should be invested in equities, or private sector assets in general. We beg to differ. Most people -- meaning those whose ability to accumulate wealth is limited -- need title to low-risk assets. This means pension plans with defined benefits, wherein the risk lies with the party better able to shoulder it -- the employer. Such employers need to be properly regulated to ensure responsible fiduciary behavior. The trends have been in the other direction. For people who want to save for bequests, there are already tax-favored vehicles available.
Most people won't beat the market. Neither can most highly-paid fund managers. You pay them extra for a sub-market rate of return. Pick individual stocks? Forget it. You're playing against people with much better information, and the time to make the best use of it. "Control over your own money" is jive.
Posted by donna at 07:28 PM | TrackBack
Sustainable Living
GreenBiz News | Japanese Burger Chain Powers Steel Mill with Food Waste
Maybe our government could support projects like this, if we weren't busy plundering another country for oil...
________
Japanese Burger Chain Powers Steel Mill with Food Waste
Source: Japan for Sustainability
TOKYO, Jan. 19, 2005 - Mos Food Services, Inc., a Japanese burger chain with 1,467 stores across the country and 120 stores overseas, is actively promoting the recycling of food waste. The company says it has started recycling food waste and warehouse waste (used packaging material such as cardboard boxes and plastic bags) in the Kanto region (Tokyo and six neighboring prefectures). The food waste includes products that are unsellable due to breakage or damage and a portion of expired food products, and amounted to nearly 0.14% of the total annual food purchases of all chain stores in fiscal 2003.
In the Kanto Region, about 26 tons of food and warehouse waste from Mos Food have been processed at the Chiba Biogas Center operated by Japan Recycling Co. Food waste is recycled into methane gas based on Japan's Food Recycling Law and used as fuel at a steel mill next to the center.
In the Kinki and Chubu regions (western and central Japan), the company has been recycling food waste into animal feed since 2003 in cooperation with Kyoto Prefecture's Yasuda Sangyo Co., which has one of the largest food recycling plants in Japan. Mos Food expects about 50% of the total annual warehouse waste from its chain stores will be recycled at the two plants in the Kanto and Kinki regions.
Posted by donna at 04:06 PM | TrackBack
Laughter
Hilly village lanes,
Whitewashed sunlit walls.
Cerulean sea.
The laughter of children.
No matter where in the world you go, no matter how many languages are spoken, and no matter how many times cultures and government clash, the laughter of children is universally uplifting. The mirth of adults can be variously jealous, insecure, sadistic, cruel, or absurd, but the sound of playing children evokes the ideal of a simple and pure act. There are no concepts, no ideologies -- only the innocent pleasure of life.
We as adults dwell upon our grizzled complexities, our existential anxieties, and our preoccupation with responsibilities. We hear the merriment of children and may sigh over our lost childhood. Although we can no longer fit into our old clothes and become young again, we can take comfort in the optimism of children. Their rejoicing can gladden us all.
We are too often in a rush for our children to grow up. It is far better for them to fully live each year of their lives. Let them learn what is appropriate to their time, let them play. And when their childhood is spent at adolescence, help them in a gentle transition. Then their laughter will continue to resonate with cheer and hope for us all.
Deng Ming-Dao, 365 Tao
Laughter is truly the best medicine. In taking care of your health, it's important to relax and enjoy life as much as possible. Drink some green tea in the morning instead of that coffee, and see if your spirits don't lighten up. Practice meditation and yoga. Make time for yourself, and plan special outings that you look forward to and enjoy. It doesn't have to be fancy - a trip to the fabric store to admire different fabrics. A walk in your neighborhood, taking care to smile and greet your neighbors. A visit to a garden center to admire the flowers in bloom.
Take time for laughter - the laughter of nature, the laughter of your own spirit, the laughter of your friends and family. Not sarcastic or cynical laughter, but real, honest, friendly healthy laughter. Namaste.
from a previous post on laughter
I don't think I feel much differently about laughter now than I did then. I always take time to notice children when I see them, watch how they act and am amused by their antics. Sometimes they see me and smile, and those children get a big smile back. Sometimes we will then play peekaboo or just looking at each other and then looking away, giggling. Other children become shy when they see they are being looked at, and I try to respect their privacy then. Others almost immediately look guilty and stop what they were doing. Those children I feel sorry for, since they obviously think adults are always judging them. I wonder what their parents have done to make them feel that way.
I miss my own children being small; I miss playing with them. I'm always glad I took time away from work to be with them. I have a golden retriever now and we play a lot, but he is getting older and playing less. So now I long for a puppy to play with.
Enjoy and appreciate the children in your life - and in yourself. If you find yourself playing and laughing, don't feel guilty and think you should be doing something else. Enjoy the play and the laughter and hust have fun. We all need more fun and laughter in our lives.
Posted by donna at 08:36 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 23, 2005
Renewal
City on a hill,
Untouched lands beyond.
A fallow field is
The secret of fertility.
In the city, we see millions of lives represented in the windows, doors, and many floors of each building. We see excitement and the glories of civilization. But no matter how much those who follow Tao may enjoy the city, they understand the need for retreat into nature.
In the countryside, they find the nurturing quality of freedom. They can see new possibilities and can wander without societal impositions. In the past, pioneers saw the open prairies and were filled with dreams of dominating nature with the glories of man. Now we know different: We must preserve the wilds for our very survival.
We need time to lie fallow. If you cannot leave the city, just find a little quiet each day to withdraw into yourself. If you are able to walk in fields or in the hills, so much the better. But none of us can maintain the fertility of our beings without renewal.
We all need time to rest and reflect, to renew ourselves physically, spiritually, and mentally. Being out in my garden does this for me, or being in nature anywhere. Other ways I achieve renewal are soaking in the spa, quietly relaxing, or sometimes just taking that mental second to ask myself if something is really that important before getting upset.
I'm off to New York this week so will definitely enjoy the city. And appreciate my 70 degree weather and my garden when I get back! I always like coming back from a trip because the garden will have changed. The roses are just starting to put out new growth; they will be covered in it when I get back. And the bulbs may start to bloom. And it will be a new month, so I will get to flip all the calendars to a new month - yet another renewal!
Posted by donna at 10:36 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 22, 2005
Communication
Movement, objects, speech, and words:
We communicate through gross symbols.
We call them "objective,"
But we cannot escape our point of view.
We cannot communicate directly from mind to mind, and so misinterpretation is a perennial problem. Motions, signs, talking, and the written word are all encumbered by miscommunication. A dozen eyewitnesses to the same event cannot agree on a single account. We may each see something different in cards set up by a circus magician. Therefore, we are forever imprisoned by our subjectivity.
Followers of Tao assert that we know no absolute truth in the world, only varying degrees of ambiguity. Some call this poetry; some call this art. The fact remains that all communication is relative. Those who follow Tao are practical. They know that words are imperfect and therefore give them limited importance; The symbol is not the same as the reality.
In self-differentiating into all beings, Tao has initiated the first moment of communication. The second moment of this ontological communication is a process of returning back. All beings, as be-gotten by Tao return to Tao through a process of conversion. Cor-responding to the process of differentiation, is the process of con-version. Lao Tzu said, "All things come into being, and I see thereby their return. All things flourish, but each one returns to its origin. This returning to its origin means tranquility. It is called returning to its destiny. To return to destiny is called the eternal Tao" (ch. 16).Tao, in self-manifesting in all beings, still works inside all beings in order that they return back to it. Therefore, differentiation and conversion, this process for to and fro constitutes the original act of communication. Tao in fact is an original communication. The process of communication constitutes also all things and man’s relation to Tao, because differentiation and conversion define our relation with Tao. Lao Tzu summarizes this relation in saying that, "Return to the Simple Origin must be the act of all things, since they are begotten by the self-differentiation of the Simple Origin" (ch. 28). Sometimes he uses the metaphor of the relation between mother and son to illustrate this: "He who has found the mother thereby understands the sons; and having understood the sons still keeps to its mother" (ch. 52). Lao Tzu thereby has well grounded ontologically all the other derivative communications between man and other men, between man and other things. Begotten by Tao and returning to Tao, all beings are ontologically related. We can communicate one with another, because we are all sons of the same mother.
Extending our hand to another, we join with that other in a union of contact that embraces our essence. Satir captures this sweet realization in her reminder that we are all born little. The practice of psychotherapy and leadership have much in common; both are art and science, and both require the conscious and strategic use of self to facilitate desired positive outcomes. Lao Tsu's counsel to those of us who want to change culture reads:
If the sage would guide the people, he must serve with humility
If he would lead them, he must follow behind.
In this way when the sage rules, the people will not feel oppressed;
When he stands before them, they will not be harmed.
The whole world will support him and will not tire of him.
(Chapter 66)
Likewise:
He who stands on tiptoe is not steady.
He who strides cannot maintain the pace.
He who makes a show is not enlightened.
He who is self-righteous is not respected.
He who boasts achieves nothing.
He who brags will not endure.
According to followers of the Tao, "These are extra food
and unnecessary luggage."
They do not bring happiness.
Therefore followers of the Tao avoid them.
(Chapter 24)
-- Jean McLendon, Tao of Communication and the Constancy of Change
So communication comes first from the Tao to us, by way of the initial differentiation. Communication with other people then becomes, in a sense, getting past that differentiation and back to commonalities, in other words, back to the Tao. If we are followers of Tao and that becomes reflected in our words, they will ring truer to others than if we simply speak from our own self interests.
But, we can't expect this from others, so we have to learn not to trust so much in their words, but look more to their actions to know what their real purpose is. I've gotten to where I'm actually rarely listening so much to the words people say as to their mood, their feeling, their body language, and whether they have that glow in their eyes that tells me they are actually excited about and interested in what they are saying. If it's obvious to me that it is important to them, I pay far more attention to what they are saying. Passion speaks volumes to me. Travel with passion...
Posted by donna at 09:54 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 20, 2005
Skills
Zither, chess, book, painting, sword.
These symbolize classical skill.
There was once a wanderer who cared nothing for fame. Although he had many chances for position, he continued to search for teachers who could help him master five things: zither, chess, book, painting, and sword.
The zither gave him music, which expressed the soul. Chess cultivated strategy and a response to the actions of another. Books gave him academic education. Painting was the exercise of beauty and sensitivity. Sword was a means for health and defense.
One day a little boy asked the wanderer what he would do if he lost his five things. At first the wanderer was frightened, but he soon realized that his zither could not play itself, the chess board was nothing without players, a book needed a reader, brush and ink could not move on their own accord, and a sword could not be unsheathed without a hand. He realized that his cultivation was not merely for the acquisition of skills. It was a path to the innermost part of his being.
Too often people seem to stop learning once their official education is over. But like the wanderer, the reality is we need to be constantly seeking new teachers and learning in order to really be ourselves. Acquiring things is not the purpose of life; it is to become more ourselves, and one way of doing that is by constantly working to better our skills and abilities.
Life is about growth. If you're not busy growing, you're busy dying. To become set in your ways, never changing or learning anything new, is to start dying. From the Ko Yuen Translation of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching:
A Warning Against Rigidity
1. At the birth of man, he is elastic and weak; at his death, rigid and unyielding. This is the common law; trees also, in their youth, are tender and supple; in their decay, hard and dry.
2. So then rigidity and hardness are the stigmata of death; elasticity and adaptability, of life.
3. He then who putteth forth strength is not victorious; even as a strong tree filleth the embrace.
4. Thus the hard and rigid have the inferior place, the soft and elastic the superior.
So we need to stay flexible and adaptable, not become hard and rigid. By practicing our skills, and learning from those who can teach us, we stay alive. If we refuse to learn and grow, we become dead inside. Even the oldest of trees still have new, tender, soft growth.
Soul, strategy, education, sensitivity, and health. Things that keep you alive...
Posted by donna at 06:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Happiness
Let us not follow vulgar leaders
Who exploit the fear of death,
And promise the bliss of salvation.
If we are truly happy,
They will have nothing to offer.
Some leaders use threats to win adherents. They invoke death to force good behavior and to herd people toward paradise.
Others woo with grand promises. If you have no satisfaction, they offer bliss. If you feel inadequate, they offer success. If you are lonely, the offer acceptance.
But if we do not fear death and are happy, what will such leaders have to offer? Spirituality is an organic part of daily life, not something dispensed by a professional. True spirituality is liberation, not just from the delusions of reality but from the delusions of religion as well. If we attain freedom from the fear of death, a sound way of health, and a path of understanding through life, there is happiness and no need for false leaders.
Deng Ming-Dao, 365 Tao
Posted by donna at 01:12 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 19, 2005
Initiative
Let us not be confused
With kaleidoscopic reality.
Using wisdom and courage to act,
Let us not add to the confusion.
The world is a storm of myriad realities, yet we cannot allow ourselves to be swept into the vortex. To do so is to be lost and to lose the true center where all understanding will come. We must act, but in the right way.
Action must be guided by both intellect and experience. We learn from teachers, elders, and others. But we must also test what we learn in the world. It is not enough to simply meditate, and it is not enough just to have theoretical knowledge. We need both in order to be wise.
Only when wisdom, courage, timing, and perseverance are combined can one have a sound basis for initiative. The action must be complete. It must burn clean; it cannot leave any bad ramifications or lingering traces. An act that leaves destruction, resentment, or untidiness in its wake is a poor one. Then initiative is insufficient, and Tao has not been attained.
Deng Ming-Dao, 365 Tao
Hmmm. Well, I certainly do lots of things that leave untidiness in their wake, although I usually clean them up... certainly have caused a few resentments in the past, although I try not to do that too much now. I try to avoid destroying things, it's probably better to leave that sort of thing to Shiva, after all. But this untidiness, got to work on that one.
But those are good things to keep in mind before taking a major action. Is it going to hurt anyone, or cause resentment? Is it going to destroy anything? Am I able to clean up the mess this is going to make? Think if we would consider such questions before a country takes an action like going to war... that would make a difference, wouldn't it? Or maybe before you say something snarky to someone, or start an argument, or just try to prove you're right about something... is it worth it to lose a friend because you have to be right?
We can't always wait for the perfect moment to act, or wait to know what is the perfect thing to do, but I think we can keep those questions in mind and consider what results our actions will create before we make a mess of things. I don't expect everything I do to perfectly "achieve Tao", whatever that actually means. But I can certainly try to keep Tao in mind and work to create balance and harmony, and not destruction or resentment. Untidiness, well, we gotta work on that...
Posted by donna at 07:34 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 18, 2005
Wearing black for a few days
In honor of the dark times for democracy...
Posted by donna at 06:21 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Spectrum
Pure light is all colors.
Therefore, it has no hue.
Only when singleness is scattered
Does color appear.
When we see pure sunlight streaming down on us, it is a pure radiance so bright that we can discern neither details nor hues from its source. But when light strikes the gossamer wings of a dragonfly, or when it shines through misty rain, or even when it shines on the surface of our skin, it is polarized into millions of tiny rainbows. The world explodes with color because all the myriad surfaces and textures fracture the light into innumerable, overlapping dimensions.
The same is true of Tao. In its pure state, it embodies everything. Thus, it shows nothing. Just as pure light has all colors yet shows no color, so too is all existence initially latent and without differentiation in Tao. Only when Tao enters our world does it explode into myriad things. We say that everything owes its existence to Tao. But really, these things are only refractions of the great Tao.
Colored light, when mixed together, becomes pure, bright light again. That is why those who follow Tao constantly speak of returning. They unify all areas of their lives and unify all distinctions into a whole. There cannot be diversity within unity. When our consciousness rejoins the true Tao, there is only brightness, and all color disappears.
Deng Ming-Dao, 365 Tao
Look at the dust particles floating in the sunlight, like little bits of glitter. See the gnats shine as they zig zag in the light. Look at the light shine off the leaves of the plants. Look at it glisten on the coat of the cat in the window. Watch light reflect off glass, refract off everything. Tao is the same, reflecting and refracting everywhere.
I often think how fortunate we all are, to have such a wide variety of things to see and do in the world. Yet people are so unhappy, feeling stuck in their jobs or their lives. Even I feel stuck sometimes, until I look up and realize how much great stuff there is going on all around me. Quit thinking things will be better if you were doing something else, and learn to appreciate where you are and what is around you. Even a prisoner can go inside and explore what is within themselves - what is within us reflects what is around us and refracts the Tao as much as anything.
There is so much in life to enjoy. And yet it is really all part of the same thing, the Tao. It all seems so different, but it is all made from the same stuff, electrons, protons, neutrons. And so with people as well - all of us seeming so different, but really all so much the same. Why can't we just learn to enjoy the differences, celebrate our wonderful diversity of interests and ideas instead of believing we are right and they are wrong, or we are better and they are worse, or we are good and they are evil. We are one, yet many, together, yet always alone. And we fear being alone as much as we fear being together. Perhaps we need to get over the fear and accept that once we overcome the fear of diversity, we can overcome the fear of unity as well.
We all come from and return to the same source. Even the gnat. Isn't it time we use the magnificent brains we've been given to at least enjoy life as much as the gnat? Live in the light. Zig zag around and see what you find. Whee, you can fly. Yeah! Like that.
Posted by donna at 09:52 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 17, 2005
Best advice I've seen all day
You do the things that make you feel like a rock star. You stop berating yourself around the clock for everything you aren't doing, and start congratulating yourself for the little things you get right consistently. You recognize just how worthy of love you are. It's not that difficult, just pay a little attention to some of your nicer qualities for once. Do the things that make you proud of yourself.
And then, other people have nice qualities, too, and you notice these more than you notice how they fit into one or another cliché. You open your eyes a little. The green-eyed waitress might not like you, but her friend really does, and she's sort of funny and actually pretty cute and it's not really that scary when she cries, for some reason. It's touching, even.
A good director can make an audience fall in love with anyone, just by revealing this or that little quality that makes the person glow, or this or that weakness that makes the person feel small. Start looking at the people you meet through a filtered lens. That doesn't mean you'll date the alcoholic or the mother with three insane kids who just filed for bankruptcy. It just means you're open to what's there, you're interested, you want to know more, you're not rushing to categorize and label every human you meet according to how they're sure to eventually disappoint you.
Posted by donna at 11:04 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 16, 2005
Cooperation
Cooperation with others,
Perception, experience, tenacity.
Know when to lead and when to follow.
When we become involved with a fellowship, we must gradually become an integral, organic part of that organization. The relationship will be one of mutual influence: We must carefully influence the collective, and in turn, we will be shaped by the company we keep.
Influencing others requires perception. We need to know when to act, when to be passive, when others are receptive to us, and when they will not listen. This takes experience, of course, and it is necessary to take part in a great many relationships -- from our families to community asociations -- to cultivate the proper sensitivity. In time, there will be moments of both frustration and success, but in either case, a certain tenacity is crucial. If we are thwarted in our initiatives, then we must persevere by either maintaining our position or changing it if a better one prevails. If we are successful, we must not rely on charisma alone, but we must also work to fully realize what the group has resolved to do.
True leadership is a combination of initiative and humility. The best leader remains obscure, leading but drawing no personal attention. As long as the collective has direction, the leader is satisfied. Credit is not to be taken, it will be awarded when the people realize that it was the subtle influence of the leader that brought them success.
Deng Ming-Dao, 365 Tao
I'm not really much of a leader or follower most of the time. When I've been in leadership positions, I think I pretty much followed the Tao advice to gently lead a group towards making decisions but feeling they did it themselves. Sometimes I did get overlooked for that, and others got the recognition, but that was all right. I'm definitely more comfortable as a leader or equal participant than as a follower. I can be persuaded, but if I know I'm right about something, I will maintain my position and try very hard to persuade others, sometimes too hard. I definitely haven't always known when others would not listen - or maybe, knew it but plowed ahead anyway in a desperate attempt to save things.
I try very hard not to feel desperate about anything these days. Yet I still have my passions, and I can push too hard at times. Mostly I very much let things run themselves, and try to trust Tao to take care of things more often than not. I've had lots of initiative in the past, but right now, not so much. And I've had little humility in the past, but now I find myself a lot more humble in life. Perhaps I'm approaching something of the right balance, but at this point, I definitely lack initiative.
Groups are not something I come to easily. I am far more of an individual, and work with groups as I need to, but don't really seek them out. I tend to see people as individuals rather than as part of a group, and I think it affects how I think of groups. Perhaps I'm too wary of groupthink, or not comfortable with the influence of a group. Or maybe I just don't want the association of a group. Whatever it is, it's something I know I need to work on and get over.
Posted by donna at 08:45 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 15, 2005
Ordinary
Umbrella, light, landscape, sky --
There is no language of the holy.
The sacred lies in the ordinary.
No one is able to describe the spiritual except by comparing it to ordinary things. One scripture describes the divine word as an "umbrella of protection." Another says a god is light. Heaven is supposed to be in the sky, and even ascetics who have rejected sex use erotic images to describe enlightenment. People have to resort to metaphor to state the divine.
Even esoteric languages have been invented, and they mystify the outsider. Holy words always appear that way to the uninitiated. After one learns to read them, their message becomes assimilated. We no longer worry about the images, for we have found the truth that the words were indicating.
When you buy something that has assembly instructions, you follow the directions, but you do not then venerate the instructions. Spiritual attainment is no different. Once you've gained it, instructions becomes secondary. Spirituality gained is no different than the ball game you play, the work you do, the car you drive, the love you make. If you constantly regard Tao as extraordinary, then it remains unknown and outside yourself -- a myth, a fantasy, an unnamable quantity. But once you know it, it is yours and part of your daily life.
Deng Ming-Dao, 365 Tao
All religion, as theologians - and their opponents - understand the word, is something other than what it is assumed to be. Religion is a vehicle. Its expressions, rituals, moral and other teachings are designed to cause certain elevating effects, at a certain time, upon certain communities. Because of the difficulty of maintaining the science of man, religion was instituted as a means of approaching truth. The means always became, for the shallow, the end, and the vehicle became the idol. Only the man of wisdom, not the man of faith or intellect, can cause the vehicle to move again.- Alauddin Attar (Shah 261)
Chao-Chou asked Nan-Ch'uan, "What is the Way?" Nan-Ch'uan answered "Ordinary Mind is the Way." We each takes up the path of awareness and care, and we attend to what is going on, within and without. And we discover things. Whether we are Zen students, take up the practices of Vipassana, or simply engage the spiritual practice of conversation so much beloved by Unitarian Universalists; in each of these disciplines we commit to being present, to showing up, to listening and paying attention. In any of these ways, we commit to using our ordinary mind, no capitals; paying attention to the ordinary things of life.-- James Ishmael FordAnd as we do this, we may discover we really do give up the capital letters. As we attend we may find ourselves letting go of our ideas of what should be. What we may have been searching for originally--Wisdom, capital "W," Salvation, capital "S," whatever--in our presence to our suffering and longing, we may find ourselves dissolving into another way of seeing, of being.
At this point we may discover the miracle of ordinary mind, with no capital letters. Here we may discover each breath to be a new beginning. Here we may engage the world with freshness, humility and play. Here we may well cultivate the biggest of shrubs, that will indeed, let the birds of heaven shelter in its shade.
I think there are far too many people who venerate the instructions - the words of religion - rather than the results. They choose to live shallow lives, feeling all virtuous and tisk-tisking others for not being virtuous people, instead of seeing the hypocrisy of their actions. They look at ordinary life and see people who aren't religious, instead of seeing the spirituality of all things.
Religion is a means to an end - the acceptance of others and the finding of our own spituality. Once you are comfortable in your own spirituality, the religion, the instructions, aren't really all that necessary, unless you forget something and have to go back and refer to them.
The words of all religions can be quite beautiful and inspiring. But that is what they are meant to do - inspire us to become better people, not to use as a club to beat others into submission. When religion is misused for that purpose, it becomes tainted. Religion needs to be about how to live an ordinary life and a spiritual one - at the same time, not just on Sunday mornings.
Posted by donna at 06:42 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 14, 2005
Time
The river, surging course,
Uninterrupted current.
Headwater, channel, mouth.
Can they be divided?
Each day, we all face a peculiar problem. We must validate our past, face our present, plan for the future.
Those who believe that life was better in the "old days" sometimes are blind to the reality of the present; those who live only for the present frequently have little regard for either precedent or consequence; and those who live only for some deferred reward often strain themselves with too much denial. Thinking of past, present, and future is a useful conceptual technique, but ultimately they must be appropriately balanced and joined.
We must understand how the past affects us, we should keep the present full of rich and satisfying experiences, and we should devote some energy each day to building for the future. Just as a river can be said to have parts that cannot be clearly divided, so too should we consider the whole of our time when deciding how to spend our lives.
Deng Ming-Dao, 365 Tao
The way that I understand time, all we really have is the Now. The past is in memories, the future can't be touched yet, so the only moment that can really be affected is the Now. It is what one decides to do in the present moment that determines the future moments.
That said, there is certainly a lot to be learned from the lessons of the past, and much to be gained in planning for the future. I don't think I have many days at all when I don't do some of both. I think where I differentiate is that I don't worry about the future or regret the past - I enjoy my memories and I anticipate the future. I've learned that regrets are futile (but not learning the lessons of the past is foolish). And worry is just stressful - it's far better to take effective action if you are concerned about something.
Time can be thought of as both discrete and continuous - there are places where each type of thought is useful. But to be stuck in thinking only about then, or now, or the future is indeed, well, a waste of time. Better to be aware of all, and alive in the present moment. Too many people seem to walk through their lives in a daze, not aware of what is going on around them at all, lost in their concerns over what has happened or will happen. We all need to be awake and aware to the possibilites of the Now - and the consequences to the future of lacking that awareness.
Posted by donna at 11:07 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Great idea - bikestations
Treehugger: Bikestaions: Commuting Facility of the Future
Bikestaions: Commuting Facility of the Future
January 14, 2005
Seattle-based firm Place Architecture has come up with a concept for venues called Bikestations that could change the way we think about our commutes—and maybe even getting around in general. Already popular in Europe and Japan, bike stations are facilities where people can park their bikes, stow their riding clothes, clean up, and emerge ready for work, all in a city that will have cleaner air and easier mobility due to them. Place’s Bikestations would also be social spaces, where people could take a coffee, pick up a newspaper, or get a new inner tube. To be built along the existing commuter rail lines, the stations would provide services from simple covered parking to full multi-modal transit hubs that would eventually integrate a variety of clean transport options, giving commuters the opportunity to connect with electric vehicles, FlexCars, and rental bikes...
The designs for the stations are themselves ecologically friendly: Taking full advantage of government programs that encourage the use of recycled and sustainable materials, the structures will be simple to construct (possibly using recycled bike components), easy to maintain and inexpensive to operate. This is the commuter station of the future alright, but Place knows that some things, like front-and-center parking spots, will always remain valuable. In their world, those desirable spots still exist, but will be reserved for environmentally friendly vehicles only, of course. Thanks Michele! ::Place Architects [by MO]
Posted by donna at 10:49 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
PAC for Change
Go. Sign. Contribute!
PAC for a Change
1/13/2005
On Tuesday, January 18th and Wednesday, January 19th, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice will appear before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in a confirmation hearing for her appointment as Secretary of State.
Dr. Rice's confirmation hearing must not be a rubber stamp of President Bush's appointment. The Senate must take its "advice and consent" role seriously.
That's why, as a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, I intend to stand up and ask Condoleezza Rice the tough questions that Americans deserve to have answered. Questions like:
* Why did the United States go to war in Iraq based on misleading -- if not false and fraudulent -- evidence?
* Why did we divert valuable resources and intelligence personnel to Iraq, taking them away from Afghanistan and the pursuit of Osama bin Laden?
* Why did you mislead the American people into thinking there was a connection between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaida before September 11th?
We must hold Condoleezza Rice accountable for her misleading statements leading up to the Iraq war and beyond before we can even consider promoting her to Secretary of State.
So I ask you to join with me: Lend your voice to the chorus of millions of Americans across our great land who are demanding that Condoleezza Rice tell the truth about Iraq, weapons of mass destruction, the search for Osama bin Laden, the fight against Al Qaida, and the war on terrorism.
I urge you to sign my petition, so I can take your voice with me to the committee room and the floor of the Senate in the pursuit of the truth from Condoleezza Rice.
Sincerely,
Barbara Boxer
Posted by donna at 07:21 PM | TrackBack
A Bloody Mess
American Prospect Online - ViewWeb
A Bloody Mess
From our February 2005 issue: How has Britain’s privatization scheme worked out? Well, today, they’re looking enviably upon Social Security.
By Norma Cohen
Web Exclusive: 01.11.05
Print Friendly | Email Article
A conservative government sweeps to power for a second term. It views its victory as a mandate to slash the role of the state. In its first term, this policy objective was met by cutting taxes for the wealthy. Its top priority for its second term is tackling what it views as an enduring vestige of socialism: its system of social insurance for the elderly. Declaring the current program unaffordable in 50 years’ time, the administration proposes the privatization of a portion of old-age benefits. In exchange for giving up some future benefits, workers would get a tax rebate to put into an investment account to save for their own retirement.
George W. Bush’s America in 2005? Think again. The year was 1984, the nation was Britain, the government was that of Margaret Thatcher -- and the results have been a disaster that America is about to emulate....
Posted by donna at 12:44 PM | TrackBack
Positioning
Heron stands in the blue estuary,
Solitary, white, unmoving for hours.
A fish! Quick avian darting;
The prey is captured.
People always ask how to follow Tao. It is as easy and natural as the heron standing in the water. The bird moves when it must; it does not move when stillness is appropriate.
The secret of its serenity is a type of vigilance, a contemplative state. The heron is not in mere dumbness or sleep. It knows a lucid stillness. It stands unmoving in the flow of the water. It gazes unperturbed and is aware. When Tao brings it something that it needs, it seizes the opportunity without hesitation or deliberation. Then it goes back to its quiescence without disturbing itself or its surroundings. Unless it found the right position in the water's flow and remained patient, it would not have succeeded.
Actions in life can be reduced to two factors: positioning and timing. If we are not in the right place at the right time, we cannot possibly take advantage of what life has to offer us. Almost anything is appropriate if an action is in accord with the time and the place. But we must be vigilant and prepared. Even if the time and the place are right, we can still miss our chance if we do not notice the moment, if we act inadequately, or if we hamper ourselves with doubts and second thoughts. When life presents an opportunity, we must be ready to seize it without hesitation or inhibition. Position is useless without awareness. If we have both, we make no mistakes.
Deng Ming-Dao, 365 Tao
I've been thinking a lot about this one. One of the comments my yoga teacher often makes is that yoga is about creating "steadyness of mind". I think this is what this passage means. We have to steady and quiet our minds, creating awareness. Then, when opportunities are presented to us, we can easily know what needs to be done and take action.When your mind is confused or distracted with conflicting ideas or feelings, it can be impossible to know what to do. But Tao trains us in quieting and steadying the mind, just as yoga does. The two are very effective together.
I think I would like to learn other techniques for this as well. I know the medications I take have a great effect on steadying and quieting my mind and my thoughts, which is very helpful. My gardening becomes like this for me as well, as I get into an almost zen-like state of seeing what needs to be done and doing it, without doing so much that the overall effect is ruined. Not that I have a zen garden, it's far more of a cottage garden. I don't care for the over-manicured look of most meditative gardens, really. I prefer a natural look.
People often remark these days on how calm I am; how so little seems to upset me. Oh, sure, I can get upset when it matters. But little things don't bother me. I am learning to trust Tao to work things out, and start to look for what comes to me when my plans are upset.
Often I'll find just what I'm looking for when things seem to have gone awry. So I've learned that sometimes Tao is telling me that what I need may be different from what I have planned, and learn to be less upset.
I suppose a lot of people would say their belief in their God is like this, but it's different for me. I don't look to a god, unless you could consider everything in life some part of god. For me, it is all a connected whole. I don't see myself as separate from god, or other people as any better or worse for what they believe in. Perhaps I'm more Hindu in that, just accepting all gods as part of the pantheon. But I go further in accepting all spirituality as basically the same. What I don't accept in religion is the imposing of one's beliefs on others.
So, I guess I am learning to stand more quietly in the stream, hoping to catch more fish. Hey, last night I caught a pretty great salmon, all nice and cooked and brought to my table in a tasty sauce. The fishing doesn't get much better than that.
Posted by donna at 12:26 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 13, 2005
Absorption
Crimson light through pine shadows.
Setting sun settling in the ocean.
Night follows the setting sun.
Day follows the fleeing moon.
All too often, we tend to think of absorption as a static thing: Water is absorbed into a sponge, and there it stays. But true absorption is a total involvement in the evolution of life without hesitation or contradiction. In nature there is no alienation. Everything belongs.
Only human beings hold ourselves aloof from this process. We have our civilizations, our personal plans, our own petty emotions. We divorce ourselves from process, even as we yearn for love, companionship, understanding, and communion. We constantly defeat ourselves by questioning, asserting ourselves at the wrong times, or letting hatred and pride cloud our perceptions. Our alienation is self-generated.
In the meantime, all of nature continues its constant flow. We need to let ourselves go, enter freely into the process of nature, and become absorbed in it. If we integrate ourselves with that process, we will find success. Then the sequence of things will be as evident as the coming of the sun and the moon, and everything will be as it should be.
I think humans fail to be absorbed in Tao because they are usually so self-absorbed. For me this was wanting for other people to see my viewpoint, instead of recognizing that theirs was just as valid. I tend to step outside myself more now, and see my viewpoint as if watching someone else, or a character in a story. Then I can see both sides of an issue, and the issue itself, and that it does not have "sides" at all, but is merely part of something larger, perhaps a part of shifting positions that have been in play for years or even decades.
It took me a long time to realize that everything is really about process. I was a software developer for years, and always had a process, and then watched as that process deteriorated and people stopped being trained as engineers. They would just hack things together instead of follwing the process of development. I went back into software QA and process management, trying to rebuild that process where I could. Now, I work on the process of my own life for a while and watch it in nature, in people, in all of life around me. I am fascinated watching the process of political change that is taking place in this country, one most people are unaware of. And so it brings me to Tao, because Tao is about process, and how things happen and how they change.
So, time to stop being alienated, and become absorbed. Not self-absorbed, but absorbed in nature and Tao. No need to feel alienated when you know you belong.
Posted by donna at 08:53 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 12, 2005
Tangled Bank
Science And Politics: Tangled Bank #19
The latest Tangled Bank is up - 31 entries, wow. Tangled Bank is a collection of postings on science and such. Good stuff!
Posted by donna at 10:11 AM | TrackBack
Shaping
Potter at the wheel.
From centering to finished pot,
Form increases as options decrease;
Softness goes to hardness.
When a potter begins to throw a pot, she picks up a lump of clay, shapes it into a rough sphere, and throws it onto the spinning potter's wheel. It may land off-center, and she must carefully begin to shape it until it is a smooth cylinder. Then she works the clay, stretching and compressing it as it turns. First it is a tower, then it is like a squat mushroom. Only after bringing it up and down several times does she slowly squeeze the revolving clay until its walls rise from the wheel. She cannot go on too long, for the clay will begin to "tire" and then sag. She gives it the form she imagines, then sets it aside.
The next day, the clay will be leather hard, and she can turn it over to shape the foot. Some decoration may be scratched into the surface. Eventually, the bowl will be fired, and then the only options are the colors applied to it; its shape cannot be changed.
This is how we shape all the situations in our lives. We must give them rough shape and then throw them down into the center of our lives. We must stretch and compress, testing the nature of things. As we shape the situation, we must be aware of what form we want things to take. The closer something comes to completion, the harder and more definite it becomes. Our options become fewer, until the full impact of our creation is all that there is. Beauty or ugliness, utility or failure, comes from the process of shaping.
Deng Ming-Dao, 365 Tao
Then if you drop it on the floor, it cracks into a bunch of pieces.
I don't know that most people really think much about shaping their lives. They more or less allow their lives to happen. We might plan something like going to college or getting married, but really, most things just sort of happen in our lives. And there are more than a few of us who certainly look like sagged pots. Lots of us forget about securing our footings, too, so we tend to tip over or wobble around a lot.
I guess I just don't see my life as this whole pottery thing, except for the few terms that would apply, like "crackpot". I see life as a far more evolving thing, and certainly we can reshape our lives time after time, they aren't hardened into fired clay after all.
Maybe more appropriate is to think about how we would like to reshape our lives, how to become centered again, and shape our lives the way we would like them to be. Then I think the potter's analogy applies. First, try to center yourself - think about what you want as the center of your life. For me, I guess that's principles and family. Those are the things I come back to time after time. Then, how you want your life to look, what shape you want it to take. I tend to think of myself as a pitcher, for carrying things and pouring them out where they are needed. I like having lots of empty space that can be filled with all kinds of stuff.
I've had enough firings in my life to be pretty well hardened and very colorful. And I think my footings are pretty solid. But really, I think I'm more like that metal pitcher that sits on my cabinet now rather than the pottery one, as pretty as it is - if you dropped me, I certainly wouldn't shatter. Not again. I might dent, but I don't break anymore.
Posted by donna at 08:54 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 11, 2005
Support the Hungry
Shop to Benefit The Hunger Site
Take a message of peace to the streets! Simply slap our Peace Ribbon Car Magnet on your car or truck for instant on-the-go inspirations of peace and goodwill. Also great for mailboxes, garage doors and refrigerators!
Our custom design shows The Hunger Site's web address twice; once on the bottom of one ribbon end, and again inside the ribbon's loop above a flying dove, the internationally-recognized symbol of peace. A simple reminder that a daily click can build bridges around the world.
Blue and white ribbon magnets measure approximately 8" T x 4" W (20 cm x 10.2 cm). Each is made of premium materials and heavy duty vinyl. UV protected, so it will not fade in the sun. Flexible material attaches to metallic surfaces. Made in the U.S.A.
Posted by donna at 11:15 AM | TrackBack
Healing
Fire cools.
Water seeks its own level.
No matter how extreme a situation is, it will change. It cannot continue forever. Thus, a great forest fire is always destined to burn itself out; a turbulent sea will become calmer. Natural events balance themselves out by seeking their opposites, and this process of balance is at the heart of all healing.
The process takes time. If an event is not great, the balancing required is slight. If it is momentous, then it may take days, years, even lifetimes for things to return to an even keel. Actually, without these slight imbalances, there could be no movement in life. It is being off balance that keeps life changing. Total centering, total balance would only be stasis. All life is continual destruction and healing, over and over again.
That is why, even in the midst of an extreme situation, the wise are patient. Whether the situation is illness, calamity, or their own anger, they know that healing will follow upheaval.
Deng Ming-Dao, 365 Tao
Well, what do you know. Just caught the first glimpse of sunshine after days and days of rain here in usually sunny San Diego, and as grouchy as I feel this morning, I actually did smile. The rain in the last few days has been impressive - I couldn't keep up with measuring it here, the rain gauge kept filling too quickly. So I guess I am more than ready for a break in the winter storm action.
Yes, situations do eventually change and we get a chance to heal again, usually. That doesn't mean things return to what they were, it means we move on to a different state of mind or a new situation. Tao is about balance, but also about change - moving towards balance, but also moving away from it again.
A little more sun, another smile.
Posted by donna at 09:53 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 09, 2005
Disaster
Mute black night,
Sudden fire.
Destruction.
Disaster strikes at its own time. It is so overwhelming that we can do nothing other than accept it. It alters the course of our day, our work, our very thinking. Although it is tempting to resent disaster, there is not much use in doing so. We cannot say that a disaster had malice toward us, though it might have been deadly, and it's hard to say that it has "wrecked" our plans: In one stroke it changes the very basis of the day.
Disaster is natural. It is not the curse of the gods, it is not punishment. Disaster results from the interplay of forces; the earthquake from pressures in the earth, the hurricane from wind and rain, even the accidental fire from a spark. We rush to ask "Why?" in the wake of a great disaster, but we should not let superstition interfere with dispassionate acceptance. There is no god visiting down destruction.
Disasters may we change us deeply, but they will pass. We must keep to our deeper convictions and remember our goals. Whether we remain ash or become the phoenix is up to us.
Deng Ming-Dao, 365 Tao
Of course the tsunami comes to mind most recently when I think about this topic. I shook my head at those wingers who were calling it "the will of God" or "punishment" since so many of the victims were muslims. I hope that we will work to help the victims recover without blaming them or God or anything other than natural forces.
I also think of my own personal "disasters" - my parents' deaths, loss of friends, the things that have at times driven me crazy. But these are really just natural progressions of life. Of course I've had to mourn the losses, even go a little crazy to deal with things. But perhaps that was a more natural reaction than those of people who try to be in control of their feelings and emotions. I think I experience life at a deep level, and am not as afraid of dark emotions and feelings as others may be. But I think I am more balanced now, more able to deal with life, because of having experienced and survived those things I've gone through.
So much of what we all really need is balance. When a disaster happens, it throws many things out of balance. The work needs to be in restoring balance, in alleviating the imbalance of those who have suffered. That is why we give to disaster relief - not to make ourselves feel better, but to restore in whatever way we can some of that balance. We can't restore the balance to those who have lost their lives or loved ones so easily - but we can help them understand that no god is punishing them, that what happened simply happened. They don't have to feel guilty for surviving, or punished, wondering what they did wrong that somehow made some god angry.
Let us work to help someone who survives a disaster become a phoenix, and not let them fall into ashes.
Posted by donna at 06:58 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
The Tao of forgiveness
One day, the sage gave the disciple an empty sack and a basket of potatoes. "Think of all the people who have done or said something against you in the recent past, especially those you cannot forgive. For each of them, inscribe the name on a potato and put it in the sack."
The disciple came up quite a few names, and soon his sack was heavy with potatoes.
"Carry the sack with you wherever you go for a week," said the sage. "We'll talk after that."
At first, the disciple thought nothing of it. Carrying the sack was not particularly difficult. But after a while, it became more of a burden. It sometimes got in the way, and it seemed to require more effort to carry as time went on, even though its weight remained the same.
After a few days, the sack began to smell. The carved potatoes gave off a ripe odor. Not only were they increasingly inconvenient to carry around, they were also becoming rather unpleasant.
Finally, the week was over. The sage summoned the disciple. "Any thoughts about all this?"
"Yes, Master," the disciple replied. "When we are unable to forgive others, we carry negative feelings with us everywhere, much like these potatoes. That negativity becomes a burden to us and, after a while, it festers."
"Yes, that is exactly what happens when one holds a grudge. So, how can we lighten the load?"
"We must strive to forgive."
"Forgiving someone is the equivalent of removing the corresponding potato from the sack. How many of your transgressors are you able to forgive?"
"I've thought about it quite a bit, Master," the disciple said. "It required much effort, but I have decided to forgive all of them."
"Very well, we can remove all the potatoes. Were there any more people who transgressed against you this last week?"
The disciple thought for a while and admitted there were. Then he felt panic when he realized his empty sack was about to get filled up again.
"Master," he asked, "if we continue like this, wouldn't there always be potatoes in the sack week after week?"
"Yes, as long as people speak or act against you in some way, you will always have potatoes."
"But Master, we can never control what others do. So what good is the Tao in this case?"
"We're not at the realm of the Tao yet. Everything we have talked about so far is the conventional approach to forgiveness. It is the same thing that many philosophies and most religions preach – we must constantly strive to forgive, for it is an important virtue. This is not the Tao because there is no striving in the Tao."
"Then what is the Tao, Master?"
"You can figure it out. If the potatoes are negative feelings, then what is the sack?"
"The sack is... that which allows me to hold on to the negativity. It is something within us that makes us dwell on feeling offended.... Ah, it is my inflated sense of self-importance."
"And what will happen if you let go of it?"
"Then... the things that people do or say against me no longer seem like such a major issue."
"In that case, you won't have any names to inscribe on potatoes. That means no more weight to carry around, and no more bad smells. The Tao of forgiveness is the conscious decision to not just to remove some potatoes... but to relinquish the entire sack."
Posted by donna at 06:43 PM | TrackBack
Taoist computer humor
The novice was growing impatient on the road to enlightenment. "Master, as a follower of the Tao, I am taking regular backups of all my files. I am archiving them securely offsite, and testing them using Veracity. Surely, master, I am enlightened now?"
The backup master said only: "You will not achieve enlightenment until you control the integrity of your data, for a copy is useless if the original is corrupt. What use is a mirror if we cannot see? What use is an echo if we cannot hear?" But the novice did not understand.
Later the novice returned. "Master," he said, "a cracker on the Internet penetrated my network six months ago and has been corrupting random files ever since. These hundreds of corrupted files have been flowing through my backup system. Now I do not know which files are clean and which are not. I do not know which backups hold the latest clean copy of each file. What should I do?"
But the master was silent.
On the other side of the world, the cracker laughed. ...
Posted by donna at 06:36 PM | TrackBack
January 08, 2005
Optimism
Clearing blue sky,
A promise in bare branches.
In winter, there are sunny days.
In adulthood, childhood can return.
In winter, all things appear dead or dormant. The rain and snow seem incessant, the nights long. Then one day, the sky clears to a brilliant blue. The air warms. A mist rises from the earth and the perfume of water, clay and moss drifts through the air. Gardeners are seen preparing new stock, though they are only bare branches and a gray root ball. The people are optimistic: They know that there will be an end to the cold.
In adulthood, we often see responsibilities as something dreadful. Why should we dig the ground when the weather is disagreeable? We see activities only as obligations, and we strain against our fate. But there is a joy to working in harmony with the proper time. When we do things at just the right occasion and those efforts bear fruit later, the gratification is tremendous.
There was an old man who began an orchard upon his retirement. Everyone laughed at him. Why plant trees? They told him that he would never live to see a mature crop. Undaunted, he planted anyway, and he has seen them blossom and has eaten their fruit. We all need that type of optimism. That is the innocence and hope of childhood.
I find it more difficult to be optimistic these days, with the current state of affairs in this country. But I find a lot of hope in the kids, the garden, and even the rains - there will be a beautiful spring ahead, with so many blooms and so much growth. I guess I hope for the same for the country as a whole.
It's difficult to live through times when there is so much happening that you don't agree with. You wonder if people will ever become sane again. We seem so taken in by the charlatans and liars, so quick to accept the excuses of an incompetent leadership that cannot be trusted. But where are the alternatives? So we wait for new leaders, great leaders to emerge once again.
But I sense a sea change coming underneath it all. There are more people speaking out, more people working to try and change the course of events. And so many of us are begininning to find each other, to work together, to create new ways of building a better world and work with each other to bring about positive change. So, I am optimistic, even when things seem so dark at times.
So we labor, and plant our seeds, and wait for spring. The bulbs starts to emerge, the dark starts to reced, the air becomes warmer and the skies clearer. There will be an end to the cold, dark season of this country's heart.
Posted by donna at 09:25 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 07, 2005
work
The woodcutter
Works in all seasons.
Splitting wood is both
Action and inaction.
Even when it is snowy, the woodcutter must split wood. Unless he does, he and his family will not stay warm, and those who depend upon him will not survive. But the woodcutter does not work simply on a piecemeal basis. He labors in concert with the seasons. He worked hard to store wood prior to the first cold so that he would have the luxury of merely splitting kindling for now. His work seems slight in one season, because he was industrious in the previous one.
When he splits wood, he must place the log on the block and raise his axe. But he must strike the wood with the grain, and he must let the axe fall with its own weight. If he tries to chop across the grain, his effort would be wasted. If he tries to add strength to the swing of the axe, there would be no gain.
Like the woodcutter, we can all benefit from working according to seasonal circumstances. Whether it is the time or the method, true labor is half initiative and half knowing how to let things proceed on their own.
Deng Ming-Dao, 365 Tao
I guess I'm sort of in a winter mood these days - lots of kindling splitting, but not any real wood gathering or cutting across the grain lately. I haven't worked full-time in quite a while. Thanks to what my mom left us, I haven't needed to, and it is nice to have money and not have to worry about it. I suppose eventually my funds will wind down and I will want to be working again.
The other half of that is not really knowing what to do right now. I enjoy working in software quality, but really want to focus more on people rather than process. I've debated going back to school in Organizational Psychology or something, but haven't pushed myself to get back to school. Mebbee with time and money available, I will consider that a bit further. The other thought was to open a store, but haven't progressed with that idea either. I enjoy blogging and reading blogs so much it soaks up most of my day right now, not sure why. Perhaps it's just my enjoyment of this new phenomena, perhaps it is the way I feel most connected to what is going on in the world. In everyday life, most people don't want to discuss the political climate or the changes that are happening in the world, or that need to happen. The blogs and sites I read reflect most of the changes I see needing to happen.
I guess my Tao postings are a part of that. For me, I need a way of looking at the world that fits in with how I view nature, people, and politics, and Tao seems to do that for me. I find comfort in it often, but more than that, real wisdom -- how to deal with situations, how to take a long-tem view of the world, how to relax and enjoy life, yet not be afraid of making changes when needed. Tao teaches balance, and keeping things in perspective, and not to take most things too seriously - but when you do, to know the principles behind the positions you take and hold.
"The work will come again, but childhood won't". Those were the words that convinced me to stay at home when my kids were small. Perhaps now, it's "The work will come again, when it is needed." ANd that is where I seem to be - waiting to be needed again....
Posted by donna at 08:39 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Intermediate Technology Development Group
About ITDG
Is small still beautiful? We think it is. In an increasingly divided and fragile world, ITDG – the Intermediate Technology Development Group – aims to demonstrate and advocate the sustainable use of technology to reduce poverty in developing countries.
It was founded in 1966 by the radical economist Dr EF Schumacher to prove that his philosophy of ‘Small is Beautiful’ could bring real and sustainable improvements to people’s lives.
With our commitment to poverty reduction, environmental conservation and technology choice we think ITDG is uniquely placed to contribute to a world free of poverty.
ITDG has a unique approach to development – we don't start with technology, but with people. The tools may be simple or sophisticated – but to provide long-term, appropriate and practical answers, they must be firmly in the hands of local people: people who shape technology and control it for themselves.
Posted by donna at 06:36 PM | TrackBack
January 06, 2005
Forbearance
Arctic breath coils the mountain,
Rattling the forests' bones.
Raindrops cling to branches;
Jewelled adornment flung to earth.
Trees in winter lose their leaves. Some trees may even fall during storms, but most stand patiently and bear their fortune.
They endure rain, snow, wind, and cold. They bear the adornment of glycerin raindrops, glimmering icicles, or crowns of snow without care. They are not concerned when such lustrous spender is dashed to the ground. They stand, and they wait, the power of their growth apparently dormant. But inside, a burgeoning is building imperceptibly.
Theirs is the forbearance of being true to their inner natures. It is with this power that they withstand both the vicissitudes and adornments of life, for neither bad fortune nor good fortune will alter what they are. We should be the same way. We may have great fortune or bad, but we should patiently bear both. No matter what, we must always be true to our inner selves.
Deng Ming-Dao, 365 Tao
I guess this is what I need to remember when I am being "apparently dormant". Perhaps there is a burgeoning building in me these days. I do find I slow down a lot in winter, but in the year since my mom's death, I've been pretty dormant. I haven't found a lot of need for activity lately. But I think I am true to my inner self - at least I try to be.
Posted by donna at 07:39 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Indonesian organization needs tsunami relief help
WALHI - Indonesian Forum for Environment
2nd Donation Appeal for Indonesian Tsunami Victims
Approximately 200 volunteers in Banda Aceh (including ours) have gotten more organised and divided themselves into medical, emergency kitchen, sanitation, and general affairs teams. The medical teams are divided into an on-center team and a mobile team that go around to provide assistance in other refugee spots and centers. Latest information confirmed that they have reached 26 refugee spots in Banda Aceh and surrounding areas, some of them including those which have not received any aid.
So far, the Indonesian Civil Society Coalition for the Victims of Earthquake and Tsunami has received donations amounting to USD$ 10,900. We have spent approx. USD$ 10,364. We have LESS THAN USD$ 650 LEFT !!
HELP US GET MORE MEDICAL SUPPLIES, LOGISTICS, TRANSPORTATION, AND COMMUNICATION EQUIPMENTS !
Posted by donna at 04:16 PM | TrackBack
January 05, 2005
Sound
Wind in the cave:
Movement in stillness.
Power in silence.
In a cave, all outer sounds are smothered by rock and earth, but this makes the sounds of one's own heartbeat and breath audible. In the same way, contemplative stillness turns us away from everyday clamor but allows us to hear the subtle in our own lives.
When listening not with the ear but with the spirit, we enter into supreme purity. This is why so many religious traditions pray, sing, or chant as a prelude to silence. They understand that the repetition and absorption of sound leads to sacredness itself.
The deepest sound is silence. This may seem paradoxical only if we regard silence as an absence of life and vibration. But for a meditator, silence is sound unified with all of its opposites. It is both sound and soundlessness, and it is in this confluence that the power of meditation emerges.
I've always enjoyed quiet and silence. I thiink for a lot of people, silence is uncomfortable, but for me, it's always been pleasant. I like being able to hear my own thoughts, and sometimes just to sit and enjoy stillness and quiet. I love to cross country ski, to get out where nobody else is and just enjoy the stillness of the forest. Downhill is cool for the momentum and ease of movement, but cross country gets you to where the world is a peaceful, still place.
I like the beach and ocean, just hearing the sound of the waves. Sleeping on the beach is a great pleasure, even though I've only done it a few times.
But shavasana
is still the hardest yoga pose for me. Just to lay still, not moving, listening to silence and trying to still the mind can be a real challenge. We are a busy busy culture, and stopping to relax and be still for a few moments is going against the American way of movement and busy-ness and achievement. But real stillness is in itself an achievement. Realizing that the sounds around you everyday are artificial, that there is no real reason for many of them to exist, and learning to hear the real sounds, the natural sounds of breath and heart, are important lessons.
Posted by donna at 10:43 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 04, 2005
Ending Poverty
WorldChanging: Another World Is Here: Ending Poverty
What if we could end global poverty?
What if we could do it on a comparative shoestring?
The idea of ending poverty as a planetary goal of primary importance is gaining real traction. No one believes that we will ever end all inequality -- in that sense, the poor are always with us. But an increasing number of people believe that we can eradicate absolute poverty: that we can raise every person on the planet above the basic thresholds of the Millennium Development Goals, that we can ensure than every man, woman and child on this planet has enough to eat and clean water to crink, some shelter, access to medical care, access to basic education and the basics of sustainable livelihood.
What would ending poverty do for us? Everything.
Ending poverty would provide rich soil in which development, even leapfrogging could take root. It would reduce global tensions, helping to fight terrorism and minimize conflict. It would take pressure off the environment, helping us respond better to biodiversity loss and climate change. In every imaginable way, progress will be made easier if more than a billion of us are not struggling for survival.
There are signs that the popular will is there: Make Poverty History, for instance, has launched a mass-movement complete with celebrities to advocate for fair trade, debt reductions and more aid; Sarah McLachlan's World on Fire video, Bono's efforts, projects like The Rough Guide to a Better World, even the outpouring of concern around last week's tragic tsunamis... all seem to point to a larger trend.
But can we actually do it? More and more people seem to think the answer is yes....
Posted by donna at 05:53 PM | TrackBack
Reflection
Moon above water.
Sit in solitude.
If waters are placid, the moon will be mirrored perfectly. If we still ourselves, we can mirror the divine perfectly. But if we engage solely in the frenetic activities of our daily involvements, if we seek to impose our own schemes on the natural order, and if we allow ourselves to become absorbed in self-centered views, the surface of our waters becomes turbulent. Then we cannot be receptive to Tao.
There is no effort that we can make to still ourselves. True stillness comes naturally from moments of solitude where we allow our minds to settle. Just as water seeks its own level, the mind will gravitate toward the holy. Muddy water will become clear if allowed to stand undisturbed, and so too will the mind become clear if it is allowed to be still.
Neither the water nor the moon make any effort to achieve a reflection. In the same way, meditation will be natural and immediate.
I'm always a bit amused by people who tell me they don't have time to meditate. It's like saying you don't have time to be yourself, but I think that probably is the case for a lot of people these days. It's kind of strange that I seem to survive perfectly well doing nothing in particular, even while watching people drive themselves crazy trying to accomplish some goal or another they have decided is more important than being themselves.
I've given up on most frenetic activity in life. I find myself much happier just letting things come to me, and usually find that if I just wait, the things I'm finding I desire will show up. I had been feeling cold in the chilly winter mornings, and suddenly my husband decides to get a heater. I didn't ask for it, he just decided we needed one. OK, that works. I guess at some point I'll find someone who needs it more and give it away, who knows?
Reflection. I reflect a lot on life, sometimes I think too much. I don't know that I have ever perfectly mirrored Tao, probably not, since I am rarely that still. I guess that's one I might get to eventually.
Posted by donna at 11:22 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 03, 2005
Devotion
Make the crooked straight,
Make the straight to flow.
Gather water, fire, and light.
Bring the world to a single point.
If we have devotion -- total faith and commitment to our spiritual path -- our determination will naturally build momentum. Fewer and fewer obstructions will come before us. Our path becomes like a crooked one made straight. No matter what tries to keep us from our purpose, we will not be deterred.
Proper devotion lies not simply in a headlong course. It also requires fortitude. Our bodies, our hearts, and our spirits must be totally concentrated upon what we want. Only by uniting all our inner elements can we have full devotion.
If we see our path clearly and our personalities are completely unified, then there is no distinction between the outer world and the inner one. Nothing is faraway anymore, nothing is not open to use. That is why it is said that the world is like a single point: So strong is devotion that there is nothing that is not a part of it.
Devotion is a hard topic for me in some ways. There doesn't at first glance seem to be a lot I'm devoted to. I guess I would say I'm devoted to my kids, my husband, my pets, my garden, and such.
But in a larger way, I think I'm devoted to life itself. I enjoy life in ways I don't think most people do - simply appreciating the day, it's weather and mood, the people and things that cross my path, few as they sometimes are. I'm a bit of a recluse lately, lots of internet time but not much else really. I keep track of world events and how people are doing that I care about, but don't really interact all that much lately.
Maybe I have gotten to that point where there is little difference for me between the inner and outer worlds. I am as content in myself as I ever was being out in the world. There are places I would like to go and things I want to do, of course, but the day to day affairs of the world, the work that others seem to believe is so important, really don't matter much to me anymore.
Yet I would have to say that nothing truly seems faraway to me anymore. I can't observe an event like the earthquake and tsunami and not feel moved to do something and contribute something. I see all world affairs as connected, and wonder at those who want to insulate themselves in their America without absolutely knowing the world will find a way into their world. To me the conservatives seem to suffer this grand illusion that they can remake the world as they wish, but it simply won't happen the way they would like.
So perhaps there is nothing that isn't a part of my devotion after all. I can view the world as a whole and all of us as a part of it, I can envision the universe as a whole and all of us just a part of the great cosmos. Or, I can go look at a flower or a rock and feel awed. It's all pretty much the same thing, really.
Posted by donna at 12:50 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 01, 2005
Beginning
This is the moment of embarking.
All auspicious signs are in place.
In the beginning, all things are hopeful. We prepare ourselves to start anew. Though we may be intent on the magnificent journey ahead, all things are contained in this first moment of our optimism, our faith, our resolution, our innocence.
In order to start, we must make a decision. This decision is a commitment to daily self-cultivation. We must make a strong connection to our inner selves. Outside matters are superfluous. Alone, and naked, we negotiate all of our live's travails. Therefore, we alone must make something of ourselves, transforming ourselves into the instruments for experiencing the deepest spiritual essence of life.
Once we make our decision, all things will come to us. Auspicious signs are not a superstition, but a confirmation. They are a response. It is said that if one chooses to pray to a rock with enough devotion, even that rock will come alive. In the same way, once we choose to commit ourselves to spiritual practice, even the mountains and valleys will reverberate to the sound of our purpose.
Sometimes I think praying to rocks would make about as much sense as most people's practice of religion. For me, there's always been a kind of separation between religious practice and spirituality. I found spiritual moments in some of the aspects of religion, particularly for me in singing and the music. Those were probably my most deeply spiritual moments in religion.
I've never found much that is spiritual in being preached at. Talked with, discussion, question asking, yes, but not when someone is preaching at you. Especially if they want you to accept some literal meaning of whatever they are preaching, instead of taking from it your own spiritual lessons. Religion is meaningless without personal interpretation and relevance to your own life. There are beautiful, wonderful, spiritual concepts in all religions, and then they are twisted up into this package that one must accept in whole instead of taking from it the parts that matter to you.
I guess that's why I like the idea of Taoism. Here is a thought, an idea, a focus for meditation. Take it and see what it means to you. See how it applies to your life, to the world around you. Observe. And then, when you integrate that idea into your life, here's another. And you can always cycle back to the previous ideas and refocus again. See the spiritual in everything, in the ordinary, even in a rock. And then the world does reverberate for you. One of the definitions of reverberate is "to have a long or continuing effect". I think that is what most of us actually long for that is lacking in our lives. We don't always feel that we can have a long or continuing effect. But Tao teaches that everything in life has an effect. The goal is to focus it so that you achieve the results you want. But if you are in Tao, then the only results that can matter are the ones inside yourself, since the inside reflects the outside and vice versa. So how you interpret what happens is as important as what happens, and that is what can make the difference in your life. There are lessons to be learned in all that happens. How we respond makes the difference.
I hope to respond with optimism, and faith, and resolution, and innocence. All moments are new beginnings.
Posted by donna at 10:37 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack