Dan Pallotta

Friday, January 16, 2004

"All cravings are the mind seeking salvation or fulfillment in external things and in the future as a substitute for the joy of Being. As long as I am my mind, I am those cravings, those needs, wants, attachments, and aversions, and apart from them there is no "I" except as a mere possibility, an unfulfilled potential, a seed that has not yet sprouted. In that state, even my desire to become free or enlightened is just another craving for fulfillment or completion in the future. So don't seek to become free of desire or 'achieve' enlightenment. Become present. Be there as an observer of the mind. Instead of quoting the Buddha, be the Buddha, be the 'awakened one,' which is what the word buddha means." - Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now.

_____

"When the Tao is present in the universe,
The horses haul manure.
When the Tao is absent from the universe,
War horses are bred outside the city.

There is no greater sin than desire,
No greater curse than discontent,
No greater misfortune than wanting something for oneself.
Therefore he who knows that enough is enough will always
have enough."

- Lao Tsu, Tao Te Ching

Lessons I keep forgetting, but am grateful are there for me to remember.

Thursday, January 15, 2004

There is now a raging debate on whether we should spend an extra $1 billion over the next five years to investigate the dream of returning to the moon. Pity there is no raging debate on the day each year when the $400 billion military budget is approved. The media culture loves self-indulgent academic and philosophical debate. It loves to hear itself talk. It loves to engage the public in controversies that don't matter. Pity that it does not seek to engage the public in action on the great issues of our time. "Do you think we should be spending $1 billion in space when there are problems at home? Call in to our on-line poll now. Results later in the broadcast."

Who the **** cares. I'd like to see some different questions on the nightly polls. Some real questions. "Do you think we should spend $400 billion on weapons each year while 3,000 people die every day of AIDS, many of them children, nearly all of them poor?" "Would you rather die of HIV-related Carposi's Sarcoma or of diarrhea from malnutrition and contaminated water? Results later in the broadcast." "Would you rather be incinerated in a tank by a smart bomb or shot in the head with an automatic weapon? Stay tuned for results." "Would you rather be mentally disabled and sleeping in your own fecies on skid row or in prison under the three strikes law for stealing a loaf of bread? Results at 11."

But we don't want to face reality.

Wednesday, January 14, 2004

There was a story on the news this morning about three soldiers the army discharged for kicking, hitting, and otherwise abusing Iraqi prisoners. It is so interesting how human beings want to have this honorable image of themselves by prohibiting minor violence and at the same time maintain the right to kill. No one is being discharged from any army anywhere for killing the enemy. But somehow it speaks to our humanity that we don't kick people once we've captured them. We can blow their brains apart with smart bombs and rip their guts out with automatic weapons and incinerate them with fire throwers but we can't kick them.

You cannot be a barbarian and humanitarian society at the same time. It is the denial of this simple fact that stands in the way of our own elightenment. We are unwilling to let go of our humanitarian image. We resist the idea that we are barbarians. We deny it and defend against it, and so we become more and more barbarian. If we could really confront the horror of our own behavior we could move beyond it. There could be a reconciliation of all humanity. We don't allow our soldiers to kick defenseless soldiers because it is too real. An enemy hit by a smart bomb is an abstraction. A human being, kicked in the face with your own boot is another matter altogether. In priding ourselves on prohibiting that we open the door for inhumanities on a much more massive scale.

Tuesday, January 13, 2004

I visited by high school debate coach in the hospital a few weeks back. He asked if I would recite a poem he had in his drawer about the young soldiers whose futures were lost in the Second World War. I enjoyed reading it to him and sharing that moment with him, and was glad that he asked. What a beautiful thing it is for two grown adults to share a piece of poetry together. To appreciate beauty together. We live in an age of such gracelessness, where no one ever asks to share a moment like that with us, and we never ask anyone ourselves. It never occurs to us. If it did we would be too embarrassed. We share small talk. We ask cliches and we answer cliches. This is why life seems dull, lifeless. We are frightened to death of anything real, because we have grown so accustomed to one another's' facades.

We can learn to change. We can learn to be graceful. We can insist on it. Maybe we start by just being quiet when there is the urge to fill the space with meaningless small talk just because we fear any silence. Isn't it amazing how frightening silence can be? Maybe our great challenges should not be mounting assaults on Mount Everest, but on gathering the courage to be silent with another human being. And from there one day perhaps we will gather the courage to read poetry to one another. From there, maybe we won't need to.

Monday, January 12, 2004

I wrote what I thought was a good piece today about being in the moment, but it went into blog outer space somewhere, so, it being late, I'm afraid we're blogless today. What did Tenessee? The same thing Arkansas. Never let it be said I have no sense of humor. :) That'll have to do for tonight.