What Is Buddhism?: A Proper Introduction

Although it is called the fourth largest religion in the world, at its core Buddhism really isn't a religion; practitioners are not called to worship any deities (no, the Buddha is not portrayed as or considered a god). Arguably, perhaps, it would be more appropriate to call Buddhism a discipline or practice, or even a philosophy, than a religion. I say this because the primary aim of Buddhism, from the first instruction 2500 years ago to this present moment, is to alleviate suffering. When the newly enlightened Gautama Buddha began to teach his new practical approach to an awakened life in the various villages he passed through, he would invariably be asked, "So, what do you teach, exactly?" His standard reply was, "I teach only suffering and the end of suffering."
Buddhism is nothing more than a practical approach to living an awakened life free of suffering. When the Buddha (which simply means "awakened one") began to share his insight with others, the first thing he taught was the Four Noble Truths, sometimes translated as the Four Ennobling Truths, which would become the cornerstone of his teachings. These Ennobling Truths are:

1. There is suffering in life- By virtue of having a body and a mind one will inevitably encounter suffering. The tot bumps his head, the toddler skins her knee. The child discovers intense wanting-- for treats, toys, etc.-- and aversion-- not wanting bumped heads and skinned knees-- and this cycle of desire/aversion only tends to gain in intensity and complexity as we age. This leads us to the second Noble Truth...
2. Our own desire/aversion is the cause of our suffering- This might not seem so obvious (or even true) to us, at first. After all, bad things do happen to us through no apparent fault of our own: we're laid off from work, diagnosed with a debilitating or fatal disease, a loved one dies, and so on. These things are all legitimately painful, and unavoidable. But pain is not the same as suffering. Pain happens when our circumstances change-- a pristine knee becomes a skinned one, our good health becomes ill health, our living loved one passes away; suffering happens when we are unable to accept this change, to accept what is. In other words, it is our desire for things to be other than as they are that creates our suffering.
   
3. It is possible to no longer suffer- At this point the Buddha is making a positive statement of great conviction. All your worrying, your grief, your emptiness, anxiety, depression, loneliness, worthlessness, your demons, regrets, resentments, all of it, can be abated, even relieved entirely. To me, the third Noble Truth is offered as a toe-hold for the lost seeker, a point of faith for those of us struggling through life looking for a better way. The Buddha is telling us in no uncertain terms that even an ordinary person like you can learn to live a peaceful, compassionate, loving, and serene life.
   
4. The end of suffering can be realized through the Noble Eightfold Path- Lest we thought the Buddha was getting all esoteric and supernatural on us with the third Noble Truth's article of faith, he drops an eminently practical path on us. To the degree that we can cultivate certain qualities through mindful and diligent practice we will relieve our suffering. There is no appeal to magic or imaginary beings. Instead we are asked to pay close attention to our thoughts, words, and actions, and to work hard on ourselves to cultivate loving-kindness, or "mettha" in the original Pali dialect. Elsewhere, the Buddha and later masters would elaborate on this idea, stating that changing the world for the better-- to increase net joy and relieve net suffering-- begins with our own ability to transform our suffering into loving-kindness. Again, this transformation is achieved through the Eightfold Path, often symbolized by an eight-spoked wheel, which is itself a list of qualities one is entreated to nurture.

To expound on the Noble (or Ennobling) Eightfold Path will require another post, I think, but I would not want to leave it here without at least naming these qualities that the Buddha has asserted will lead to the end of suffering. They are usually translated with the word "Right" as in "correct," as opposed to "wrong," and for that reason I prefer the less commonly used "Appropriate." Each of these can be expanded on extensively, and have been, but I will give only a brief sketch for now. So here we are:

1. Appropriate View (or "Right" View, and sometimes "View" is given as "Understanding") Essentially, seeing things as they are, rather than as we are. With appropriate view we understand that the bully is actually in great pain, for example.
   
2. Appropriate Intention (sometimes "Thought"). Especially in the early stages of our practice, our thoughts run wild and are often inappropriate and undermine our serenity. Meditation teaches us to master our thinking, and being vigilant in our mindfulness of our sincere intention to free ourselves and others of suffering is paramount.
   
3. Appropriate Speech- Knowing that even our words have consequences (and positive effects that ripple out in ways beyond our awareness), the Buddhist abstains from lying speech, divisive speech, abusive speech, and gossip. Don Miguel Ruiz, in his book, "The Four Agreements," calls this "[being]... impeccable with your Word."
   
4. Appropriate Action- Similar idea; if our words have positive and negative effects, how much more so do our deeds? In the larger sense this is an admonition to abstain from killing, stealing, and engaging in "sexual misconduct" (rape, of course, and obsessive or addictive sexual behavior), and in the refined sense it is being mindful of our every action and striving to always act in a way that is in harmony with our appropriate view, intentions, and speech.
   
5. Appropriate Livelihood- One should not earn one's living from any venture that increases suffering in the world. Meat-packing, bar tending, soldiering, are some fairly obvious ones, but others could easily be oil company geologist (or any oil-related position), certain lawyers, bankers, corporate executives, and more. The more awake we become, the more difficult it becomes to continue buying our bread with money made from or contributing to the suffering of others.
   
6. Appropriate Effort- The sort of change that will transform suffering and reveal enlightenment does not come easily. It is a simple path, but not an easy one. The Buddhist strives to maintain her enthusiasm and effort through the periods of discomfort and doubt.
   
7. Appropriate Mindfulness- a.k.a. Right Attention, is about honing your awareness to the point of being alert to anything that effects you physically, mentally, and emotionally. Be aware, for example, of the craving you have for something harmful, e.g. a cigarette, alcohol, a cheesecake, sex with a stranger, and observe the dynamic that plays out in your thoughts. Be mindful of your intentions, words, and actions. Watch how your effort declines. What has happened?
   
8. Appropriate Concentration- Particularly applicable to a meditation practice, the quality being cultivated is mastery of the mind. The state of "One-ness" as described in deep states of meditative awareness reminds me of the the Judeo-Christian saying, "Be still and know that I am God." In more Eastern terms, if I can be aware of my being aware, who is this "I" that I refer to?
   

There is so much more to go into, but it's late and "I" am tired.

Namaste

I Am A Racist And, Hopefully, So Are You

When I say I'm a racist, what I mean is that I have come to the conclusion that our culture perpetuates certain myths about race-- black, white, and others-- that leave almost imperceptible biases deeply embedded in our psyches. I happen to be white, for the record. For example, I was not raised in an overtly racist home, and my parents were registered Democrats with very socially liberal views, and I knew, intellectually, from a very young age that people really are basically the same all over. But in my early twenties I noticed that I got a very uncomfortable feeling whenever I was around a "successful" black man. It was something visceral, below the level of conscious thought. I hadn't noticed it before, but I realized that it probably had always been there. This was very troubling, because if I could have given a voice to this feeling, it would have said something like, "How did he rise to this level? Who in the hell does this uppity n_____ think he is?" It wasn't a conscious choice, and those words didn't actually come to mind. It was more instinctual. It was just a wordless (thoughtless, actually) feeling of unease.

It was a shocking realization. I was, and remain, a staunch social liberal. I'm for equal rights, gay rights, women's rights, the ACLU, and so on. I'm intimately aware of the implications of Darwinian evolution and the prevailing "Out of Africa" theory on our species [hint: all living people can trace their lineage back to not only a common ancestor, but to a common African ancestor]. Yet here I was with this sickening and deeply flawed sense of my own racial superiority, and the converse, black inferiority. I couldn't deny it once I had allowed myself to see it. I was disgusted with myself.

But then I had a crazy thought. Maybe this is how a post-racial world begins. Maybe it's not about white people donating to black causes, buying hip-hop albums, and counting black people as among "some of their closest friends." Maybe it's about questioning our own assumptions, re-evaluating some of our own conclusions, rooting out the old baggage that we really don't want to carry anymore, and reconditioning some of our conditioned responses. Maybe it's about acknowledging, if only to ourselves (but especially to ourselves), any and all intolerant thoughts and feelings, and then having the courage to challenge them and ask ourselves, "Is this in alignment with my values? Is this how I would choose to see the world? Is this what I would teach my children? Is this how I would wish to be seen and remembered?" This is why I say I am a racist. I'm not proud of the intolerant thoughts, but I am extremely proud of my awareness of them and of my willingness to change. I'm happy to report that it does help, this vigilance, and change does happen. Try to remember that I started from a position that most would consider progressive, liberal, and tolerant. I think I was and am those things-- but I also had/have some of those nagging thoughts and feelings. I wonder where they come from.

Last night I caught Tom Burrell, African-American advertising mogul and author of "Brainwashed: Challenging the Myth of Black Inferiority" on the Tavis Smiley show (check your local PBS listings). Fantastic show, as usual, and a fantastic guest. The man really connected the dots for me in his brief interview promoting the book. He says that although the black community can and should challenge black fathers to stick around and work at being good fathers and husbands, they should remember that until just a few generations ago it was illegal for black men to be fathers and husbands. They were studs meant for siring property. Their mates and offspring could be sold and shipped off at any time, and usually were. White slave-masters actively discouraged familial bonding among their slaves because such relationships made them seem too much like real people, to both the whites and the slaves, themselves. Better for slave and slave-master alike to view them as property; better for the institution of slavery, that is.

Another gem he shared in that vein was that it was necessary to dehumanize the African slaves in the infancy of our nation, more so than in other places and times, precisely because the United States of America had bravely entered into the Great Experiment of genuine democracy. Genuine democracy and state sponsored abject slavery are contradictory concepts. They call it cognitive dissonance when the mind attempts to hold two mutually exclusive ideas simultaneously. You can not write and embrace the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution and support the enslavement of your fellow man. Slavery must either be abolished or justified. Since it was already a two-hundred year old practice in Europe and the colonies by the time of the American Revolution, the founders chose to justify it. It was imperative that the African slaves be less than human. Unlike the Jews and others who have been enslaved, historically, yet were able to maintain a cohesive sense of identity, the Africans who came to America against their will were stripped of their religions, their cultures, their languages, their families, and even their hopes of ever having families. They had no identity. They were just property; truly just things, in the eyes of their white masters, and in their own eyes, as well. I can not even begin to imagine what that must be like. And I don't want to.

It was that whole Democracy vs. Slavery angle that really kind of showed me a slightly different way of looking at race in America and helped me to get just a glimpse of what it must be like to be a black man in America. We all have deep psychic wounds from this abhorrent past. It is no wonder that misconceptions and mistrust persist. It is no wonder that the black community (for lack of a better term) suffers to this day. It is no wonder that an otherwise sensitive, intelligent, and compassionate young white man can have such distasteful and demonstrably false thoughts arise from seemingly out of nowhere. We should, all of us Americans, take a step back and a deep breath, and reflect on where we've been, where we are, and where we'd like to go. And then we should try to be a little gentler with ourselves and each other.

Anyway, the book is not all doom and gloom. Mr. Burrell points out that when you start to see your own conditioning, or brainwashing, you start to "flip the script." In fact, it is only by seeing your own false programming that you can hope to overcome it. It sounds like a fabulous read and I can't wait to get my hands on a copy.

This Obamanation Will Be The Death of Everyone You Love!

Did you know that Obama is a Kenyan Muslim Communist Nazi whose administration is even now manoeuvring to release thousands of Al-Qaeda terrorists upon your city to abduct your children so that he may personally anally violate them, cut their heads off, and dance a Satanic jig down Main street drenched in their blood? Yes, jig. This is reliable information given to us from an unnamed source who claims to be close to someone who knows an Obama administration insider's blood relative; so you know it's true.
What happened to the America we all knew so well from "Leave It To Beaver" and "The Andy Griffith Show" reruns? Are we going to just idly sit by while these Socialists strip away our rights, one at a time? Are we going to just bend over and take it when they force homosexuality down our throats? Just as God doesn't hate gays, neither do we. We just recognize that the Bible clearly says that gays are an abomination and should be put to death. That's all. We can (and should) exterminate them compassionately if they can not be cured of their mental defect.
Are we going to allow them to continue to erode our Christian values? You all saw those bleeding-heart liberals fight desperately to provide affordable healthcare to working-class American families who previously couldn't afford insurance while we true Christians shouted them down to support those poor insurance companies who were just trying to make an honest buck. That's free enterprise! That's American capitalism! WWJD?
Those Obamunists are going to take our guns, open our borders to Muslim terrorists and homos, and worse, to Muslim homo terrorists. And without our guns, they'll catch us with our pants down. This is the end of days, folks. He is the anti-Christ. We will not condone or solicit violence, but you know what to do.

Yay, Greedy Insurance Companies Get Millions More Customers!

I realize that I get more and more interested in politics the older I get, so I may have missed a few legislative wars in my forty-some years, but I can not recall a more protracted and nasty political fight as this was. Yes, Bill Clinton fought more or less the same battle and lost, but apparently he didn't have the full support of Democrats like President Obama does. Or maybe I just wasn't paying attention. In any case, good news! In just four years things will be slightly better for a few Americans, and insurance companies can continue raping their customers with abandon. Sure, it'll be a somewhat tamer form of rape, like date rape, where you go out with a guy a couple times and maybe you were thinking about sleeping with him soon anyway, but then he must have slipped you a roofie because you wake up hours later with your clothes half off, tender genitals, and the faint smells of latex, lubricant and spermicide linger in the air. As opposed to their current method akin to Richard "The Night Stalker" Ramirez's brand of terror-rape-murder, the details of which need not be enumerated. I hope this bill is a step in the right direction.
But it has become very clear with the two biggest crises affecting this country, banking/economic reform and healthcare reform, that the 1% with all the money really are calling the shots. This healthcare bill is anemic and does not even come close to the single-payer plan that Ted Kennedy and other liberals endorsed, and Senator Dodd's Wall Street reform bill is similarly watered-down crap. It's all just smoke they're blowing up our asses. They call it reform but there are no significant regulations. They have not reinstated the Glass-Steagall Act from the Depression era which was repealed in 1999 by the Republican majority in Congress. There is no public option in this healthcare bill. It's really business as usual.
Let's move to France!

May The Lion's Roar Echo

I've wept several times during televised coverage of the late senator's wake and funeral, I'm not ashamed to admit. He was a force of nature, and a powerful example to us all. Not aside from or in spite of his faults, but for how he remained dignified and focused in the aftermath of them. And not because of the personal tragedies he endured, but for how he managed to persevere, even thrive, through it all. For beyond the tales of drunkenness and womanizing, beyond the many family ordeals he faced, he was a man of strong principles and fierce convictions. This man, born into wealth and power, assumed that "the wealthy and powerful are able to look after their own interests," and so dedicated his life to service to the less fortunate among us.

What a remarkable job he did, too. What a tremendous debt all Americans owe this fine man, even the Republicans. He was a proud liberal who never shied away from the label even when the term and even its political philosophies were unfashionable. Today I read that Democrats are debating whether his legacy is that of pragmatic compromiser or dogged liberal champion. In other words, should they take whatever political ground the Republicans give them and be grateful, or should they charge and seize whatever ground they can overtake? It's not an either-or proposition, however. As an advocate for the people, Kennedy would take whatever he could get. Knowing how to compromise assures that you get something out of almost any deal. But it also means not giving up any more than you have to. To me, this is the difference between Ted Kennedy and most of the other Democrats on the hill.

Of the last forty years or so, a Democrat sat in the oval office for only twelve of those years. Democrats have been in the minority in Congress for much of that time, as well. They've learned to accept the scraps that the Republicans would mete out, and consider themselves lucky. All the while the Republicans have stood by their convictions, looking the American people in the eye and calling for lower taxes (for the rich), deregulation of communications, energy, trade, and banking industries, among others, all benefitting wealthy investors, corporate executives and boards of directors. And most Americans bought it! That is literally like selling ice to an Eskimo. You've got to hand it to the conservatives. And now they've got nearly half of all Americans believing that it's a bad thing to provide healthcare coverage to all Americans. Let the Democrats stand by their convictions. Most liberals truly believe, as I do, that theirs is the more compassionate, efficient, fair and superior political philosophy. So now that they have the ability to do almost whatever they want, legislatively, let them stand up now and slam healthcare reform through. Their opponents can choke on it. We all know it's the right thing to do. And even the Republican lemmings out there shouting down the debate in town hall meetings will be thankful, in a few years, that the Dems got it through. Of course, they'll claim it was John McCain and Orrin Hatch and Mitch McConnell and John Boehner who brought healthcare coverage to the people, and by the way, keep government out of it!

"Junior" Dem Senator Arlen Specter Uses Proxy Bale To Question Sotomayor

The former Republican 5-term senator from Pennsylvania and once-chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee is now the junior Democratic senator after switching sides recently in a bid to win re-election in 2010. But the old dog still acts like king of the roost, having worked in his office all morning on day one of judge Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearing (knowing he wouldn't get to speak until mid-afternoon), and most recently, employing an obscure senate rule, using a proxy to ask the tough questions that a Democrat seeking reelection should probably not utter aloud. Enter one Christian Bale, thespian and, by most accounts, abrasive, egotistical asshole.

"I know Mr. Bale will serve admirably in my stead,"

assured Sen. Specter, adding "though I might not be entirely responsible for anything he says, depending on what that might be."

Day Three of the Senate Judiciary Committee Sotomayor Confirmation Hearings:

Committee Chairman, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) acknowledges the highly unusual use of a proxy yet introduces the megalomaniacal űber-sphincter to the floor. "Thank you, senator. Now, Ms. Sotomayor, I see you were appointed to the federal bench as a U.S. District Court judge in 1991 by President George H.W. Bush, and to the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in 1997 by President Clinton. Is that right?" queried the smarmy Welshman.

"It is, sir, yes," answered the judge.

"Ohhhh welllll goooood for YOOOUU, you fucking ASSHOLE!!!!!" ejaculated the prima donna to a startled but not surprised audience. "That's just FUCKING GREAT, isn't it!!??? You just wander in here with your FUCKING ATTITUDE and your wise Latina FUCKING BULLSHIT remarks, totally oblivious to the work we're trying to do here!!!!!!!!!" shouted a visibly irritated Bale. "How would you like it," continued the once-A-list star, "if I wandered into your courtroom and accidently broke your gavel?!! Huh?!!"

A strafed Sotomayor began to respond, "I don't think this language or tone is very produ..."

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!" interjected the sociopathic, self-important fuck. "I'm gonna come down there and KICK YOUR FUCKIN' ASS!!!" screamed the Batman star. After three minutes and forty-seven seconds, police did manage to drag the actor from the committee chambers as he screamed "YOU'RE FUCKIN' AMATEUR, MAN!!!!"

The Reason for the Season

This 4th of July, it occurs to me that most of us who set off whizzers and blossoms, Roman candles, sparklers, pinwheels, bottle-rockets, and M-80s, have little thought of the import and magnitude of the date we collectively celebrate. Unlike Christmas, during which many of us are wrongly accused of "missing the point," i.e. Jesus's alleged birthday, at Independence Day many of us truly are missing the point. It was a very big deal the day our colonial ancestors drew a line in the sand and publicly declared our independence from the British Crown. Technically, that day was July 2, 1776, but it took a couple of days back then to make such a declaration public. John Adams suggested that "July 2nd will forever be a day of celebration" for Americans in years to come. But we didn't have Tweeter or the internets then. Just print media.
The significance is more than shrugging off the yoke of imperialism. The big deal is our Founders taking that opportunity to create, from scratch, an entirely new and novel form of government. From the beginning they felt that it was not only possible, but necessary, that a just government be composed of the people, by the people, for the people. This is a powerful and elegant idea. One that would shape the future. It's an idea that we are still trying to reconcile with current events.
We are a nation of laws. Not might. Not Majority rule. Laws. That is what allows us to claim any superiority over other nations still stuck in totalitarian or other subversive forms of government. Nothing else.
As for Christmas, is Jesus the reason for the season? I really don't think so. If he lived at all, he probably was born in July or August, not December. This is from extrapolating data from the New Testament. There is much further evidence showing that the Roman Church co-opted many of the popular pagan holidays to make the mandatory transition to Christianity more palatable. Christmas is the main one. Our continued use of the Christmas tree is persistent evidence of this.

Be well.