Clown Hidden's Pondering Impermenance

The Triumph of Ignorance: How Morons Succeed in U.S. Politics

Obama has a lot to offer, but until our education system is fixed or religious fundamentalism withers, anti-intellectuals will flaunt their ignorance.

How was it allowed to happen? How did politics in the United States come to be dominated by people who make a virtue out of ignorance? Was it charity that has permitted mankind's closest living relative to spend two terms as president? How did Sarah Palin, Dan Quayle and other such gibbering numbskulls get to where they are? How could Republican rallies in 2008 be drowned out by screaming ignoramuses insisting that Barack Obama is a Muslim and a terrorist?

Like most people on this side of the Atlantic, I have spent my adult life mystified by American politics. The United States has the world's best universities and attracts the world's finest minds. It dominates discoveries in science and medicine. Its wealth and power depend on the application of knowledge. Yet, uniquely among the developed nations (with the possible exception of Australia), learning is a grave political disadvantage.

There have been exceptions over the past century: Franklin Roosevelt, Kennedy and Clinton tempered their intellectualism with the common touch and survived; but Adlai Stevenson, Al Gore and John Kerry were successfully tarred by their opponents as members of a cerebral elite (as if this were not a qualification for the presidency). Perhaps the defining moment in the collapse of intelligent politics was Ronald Reagan's response to Jimmy Carter during the 1980 presidential debate. Carter -- stumbling a little, using long words -- carefully enumerated the benefits of national health insurance. Reagan smiled and said, "There you go again." His own health program would have appalled most Americans, had he explained it as carefully as Carter had done, but he had found a formula for avoiding tough political issues and making his opponents look like wonks.

It wasn't always like this. The founding fathers of the republic -- men like Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John Adams and Alexander Hamilton -- were among the greatest thinkers of their age. They felt no need to make a secret of it. How did the project they launched degenerate into George W. Bush and Sarah Palin?

On one level, this is easy to answer: Ignorant politicians are elected by ignorant people. U.S. education, like the U.S. health system, is notorious for its failures. In the most powerful nation on Earth, 1 adult in 5 believes the sun revolves around the Earth; only 26 percent accept that evolution takes place by means of natural selection; two-thirds of young adults are unable to find Iraq on a map; two-thirds of U.S. voters cannot name the three branches of government; and the math skills of 15-year-olds in the United States are ranked 24th out of the 29 countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

But this merely extends the mystery: How did so many U.S. citizens become so dumb and so suspicious of intelligence? Susan Jacoby's book The Age of American Unreason provides the fullest explanation I have read so far. She shows that the degradation of U.S. politics results from a series of interlocking tragedies.

One theme is both familiar and clear: Religion -- in particular fundamentalist religion -- makes you stupid. The United States is the only rich country in which Christian fundamentalism is vast and growing.

Jacoby shows that there was once a certain logic to its anti-rationalism. During the first few decades after the publication of Origin of Species, for example, Americans had good reason to reject the theory of natural selection and to treat public intellectuals with suspicion. From the beginning, Darwin's theory was mixed up in the United States with the brutal philosophy -- now known as Social Darwinism -- of the British writer Herbert Spencer. Spencer's doctrine, promoted in the popular press with the help of funding from Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller and Thomas Edison, suggested that millionaires stood at the top of a scala natura established by evolution. By preventing unfit people from being weeded out, government intervention weakened the nation, according to the doctrine; gross economic inequalities were both justifiable and necessary.

Darwinism, in other words, became indistinguishable to the public from the most bestial form of laissez-faire economics. Many Christians responded with revulsion. It is profoundly ironic that the doctrine rejected a century ago by such prominent fundamentalists as William Jennings Bryan is now central to the economic thinking of the Christian Right. Modern fundamentalists reject the science of Darwinian evolution and accept the pseudoscience of Social Darwinism.

But there were other, more powerful reasons for the intellectual isolation of the fundamentalists. The United States is peculiar in devolving the control of education to local authorities. Teaching in the Southern states was dominated by the views of an ignorant aristocracy of planters, and a great educational gulf opened up. "In the South," Jacoby writes, "what can only be described as an intellectual blockade was imposed in order to keep out any ideas that might threaten the social order."

The Southern Baptist Convention, now the biggest Protestant denomination in the United States, was to slavery and segregation what the Dutch Reformed Church was to apartheid in South Africa. It has done more than any other force to keep the South stupid. In the 1960s it tried to stave off desegregation by establishing a system of private Christian schools and universities. A student can now progress from kindergarten to a higher degree without any exposure to secular teaching. Southern Baptist beliefs pass intact through the public school system as well. A survey by researchers at the University of Texas in 1998 found that 1 in 4 of the state's public school biology teachers believed that humans and dinosaurs lived on Earth at the same time.

This tragedy has been assisted by the American fetishization of self-education. Though he greatly regretted his lack of formal teaching, Abraham Lincoln's career is repeatedly cited as evidence that good education, provided by the state, is unnecessary; all that is required to succeed is determination and rugged individualism. This might have served people well when genuine self-education movements, like the one built around the Little Blue Books in the first half of the 20th century, were in vogue. In the age of infotainment, it is a recipe for confusion.

Besides fundamentalist religion, perhaps the most potent reason why intellectuals struggle in elections is that intellectualism has been equated with subversion. The brief flirtation of some thinkers with communism a long time ago has been used to create an impression in the public mind that all intellectuals are communists. Almost every day, men like Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly rage against the "liberal elites" destroying America.

The specter of pointy-headed alien subversives was crucial to the elections of Reagan and Bush. A genuine intellectual elite -- like the neocons (some of them former communists) surrounding Bush -- has managed to pitch the political conflict as a battle between ordinary Americans and an overeducated pinko establishment. Any attempt to challenge the ideas of the right-wing elite has been successfully branded as elitism.

Obama has a good deal to offer America, but none of this will come to an end if he wins. Until the great failures of the U.S. education system are reversed or religious fundamentalism withers, there will be political opportunities for people, like Bush and Palin, who flaunt their ignorance.

George Monbiot is the author of Heat: How to Stop the Planet from Burning. Read more of his writings at Monbiot.com. This article originally appeared in the Guardian.

Pema Chodron on Maitri

Metta (Pali) or Maitri (Sanskrit) means unconditional and unattached loving kindness. It is one of the ten paramitas of the Theravada school of Buddhism, and the first of the four Brahmaviharas. The metta bhavana (cultivation of metta) is a popular form of meditation in Buddhism.

The object of metta meditation is to cultivate loving kindness (love without attachment, non-exclusive love) towards all sentient beings. The practice usually begins with the meditator cultivating loving kindness towards themselves (though this is not specifically recommended by the Buddha himself in the relevant suttas/sutras), then their loved ones, friends, teachers, strangers and finally their enemies. It is a good way to calm down a distraught mind because it is an antidote to anger.

Someone who has cultivated metta will not be easily angered and can quickly subdue anger that arises. They will be more caring, more loving, and more likely to love unconditionally.

Buddhists believe that those who cultivate metta will be at ease because they see no need to harbor ill will or hostility. Buddhist teachers may even recommend meditation on metta as an antidote to insomnia and nightmares. It is generally felt that those around a metta-ful person will feel more comfortable and happy too.

Radiating metta is thought to contribute to a world of love, peace and happiness.

Contemporary metta practice is often based on a method traditionally associated with the 5th c. CE Pali exegetical text, the Visuddhimagga. The six stages of mettā bhāvanā meditation which are most commonly found involve cultivating loving-kindness towards:

1.Yourself
2.A good friend
3.A 'neutral' person
4.A difficult person
5.All four
6.and then gradually the entire universe

For #2 avoid choosing someone to whom you feel sexually attracted, or that is much younger or much older than yourself, or who is dead. For #3 choose someone that you might come in contact with every day, but who does not give rise to strong positive nor strong negative emotions. For #4 traditionally choose "an enemy", but avoid choosing a person who has just wrecked your life, unless you are very well grounded in awareness. For #5 treat them as equals, equally deserving of loving-kindness.

Pema Chodron on Maitri

Pema Chodron is a leading exponent of teachings on meditation and how they apply to everyday life.

She is widely known for her charming and down-to-earth interpretation of Tibetan Buddhism for Western audiences.

Pema is the resident teacher at Gampo Abbey, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, the first Tibetan monastery for Westerners and has authored several books, including:
Always Maintain a Joyful Mind (lojong teachings)
Practicing Peace in Times of War
No Time to Lose
The Pema Chodron Collection (audio)
Getting Unstuck:Breaking Your Habitual
Patterns & Encountering Naked Reality (audio)
The Places that Scare You
When Things Fall Apart
Start Where You Are

The sum total of all minds is One

ZEN MASTER in the garden. MONK approaches, bows.

ZEN MASTER: Well? Have you found the Great One who makes the grass green?

MONK (with blissful certitude): Iam!

ZEN MASTER: And who is that "I"?

MONK: There is only one "I".

The sum total of all minds is One.
-Schrödinger

What is reality? Is reality subjective? Does it exist outside of me? Or is reality within me or projected from me? Robert Anton Wilson says simply and literally there is no reality beyond the perceptions or beliefs we each have about reality. Summarized it as follows, “Perception is reality” or “Life is how you perceive reality” or “reality is what you can get away with”.

Man Bites Dogma

Quantum Psychology

On the Terms of the PowerfulTranslating Propaganda and Thinking the Unthinkable

On the Terms of the PowerfulTranslating Propaganda and Thinking the Unthinkable By Max Kantar
Propaganda in the US rests mostly in what is not said, but rather assumed. Such a system of indoctrination is extremely powerful as it serves the purpose of making certain thoughts not so much undesirable, but unthinkable, strikingly reminiscent of Orwell's depiction of totalitarian control and manipulation of the English language in his novel, 1984.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21052.htm

On the Terms of the Powerful Translating Propaganda and Thinking the Unthinkable
By Max KantarOctober 20, 2008

When you go to a foreign country, it is common to bring a translation dictionary to help curb the confusion that comes with trying to understand a foreign language. Likewise, in American politics, we also need a translation guide to understand mainstream discussion given the universal double standards, egotistical national chauvinism, and internalized elite values. Propaganda in the US rests mostly in what is not said, but rather assumed. Such a system of indoctrination is extremely powerful as it serves the purpose of making certain thoughts not so much undesirable, but unthinkable, strikingly reminiscent of Orwell's depiction of totalitarian control and manipulation of the English language in his novel, 1984. The language of US propaganda is indeed a foreign tongue to anyone who takes seriously the factual historical record, the nature of powerful institutions, and fundamental human decency with respect for human rights.Included here is a list of commonly used terminology in American politics and the mainstream media. The definitions provided are the unspoken, assumed meanings of the terms, which are in fact quite different, sometimes diametrically opposed to their dictionary definitions. For any serious social and political discussion to materialize, it is imperative that we understand the vocabulary put forth by our cultural managers in order to dismantle the prevailing system of thought control and indoctrination.

US Foreign Policy, Israel, and International relations

Peace Process: Whatever the US is doing at the time [1]

Department of Defense: Department of aggression and acceptable terrorism

Terrorism: 1) Legitimate resistance to the terror/aggression of the US and its clients, or 2) Terrorism committed by those out of favor with Washington

Counter-Terrorism: Terrorism and aggression carried out by the US and its client states

War on Terrorism: Any violence the US or its client states use to advance the US agenda of global dominance by stifling independent nationalism, assuring control over natural resources, squashing 'good examples' of independent economic development, and creating conditions to benefit foreign (US) investors instead of the populations at hand. Basically the ideological twin and subsequent replacement of the rabid anti-communism of the Cold War.
Terrorist: 1) Anybody that the US fights against, 2) People who defend themselves from US attack, and 3) Perpetrators of terrorism whose terror doesn't serve US power

Privately Contracted Security Forces: Mercenaries or paid killers unaccountable to the public "Protecting our way of life": A justification for US-based violence and economic exploitation that is driven by a desire to 'protect' private concentrated wealth of the richest 1% ('our') of the country.

"Failed policy": Usually refers to an unlawful war policy which has come to cost too much money. It reinforces yet again, the imperial rights of the US to use violence at will in violation of human rights, the public will, and international law.

Blunders, Mismanagement, Mistakes, etc: Terms used to describe US foreign policy when large sectors of business power and the population turn against [the respective policy]...the implication being clear that US initiatives are by definition, rooted in morality and altruism, despite natural human errors of strategy, not of motives, meaning that US foreign policy "means well."

To "Spread Democracy": To extend US control over a foreign country, usually in an attempt to undermine popular democratic efforts that threaten US political, business, and ideological interests.

"Support the Troops": Support our policy of unlawful aggression

"The Surge worked": The perceived success of the US escalation of the illegal occupation of Iraq renders our initial/continued illegal aggression legitimate according to this proclamation. Nevertheless, this catchphrase also ignores the actual reasons for the decrease in violence including the non-related cease fire maintained by the Shia resistance, increased segregation through extensive ethnic cleansing, and most importantly, significantly less people to kill as half the country is dead, exiled, displaced, mangled, or in prison. [2]

Democracy: Refers to a foreign government that favors the interests of elite foreign (US) investors instead of the respective population

Moderate:a foreign leader who follows orders from Washington [1]

Extremist: a foreign leader who pursues a course independent from Washington's orders [1]

Human Rights: Things that the US supports and that our enemies violate

Weapons of Mass Destruction: Weapons (sometimes nonexistent ones) that are held by states out of favor with Washington. Notice that the US and its clients by definition do not possess anything or pursue anything that would cause "mass destruction." Therefore the definition of WMD's is purely ideological, void of physical facts.

Free/Fair Trade: Trade policies that favor the ultra wealthy and trample labor rights, ignore environmental regulations, and prevent independent development for the poor nations involved and prevent meaningful democracy for the populations of both the rich country and the poor country in any given case.

Communist, Marxist, Socialist (concerning foreign political parties or governments): Governments that pursue independent economic development without concern for foreign investor interests or the neoliberal development model.

Unilaterally: A term used to describe the final measure taken by the US resort to lawless violence. In other words, when the Clinton administration noted they would act "unilaterally" if they "must," they meant that the US will act in violation of the UN and international law if international law and the UN don't support and conform to US military actions and US will.

Anti-American (concerning various international opinion): 1) Those who oppose US crimes and exploitative economic policies, and 2) Open supporters of applying the standards of international law universally.

Anti-Semitism:An accusation usually used to deflect criticism of Israel's ongoing war crimes as cited uncontroversially by the UN, Israeli/Jewish human rights groups, and Amnesty International, all in accordance with the Geneva Conventions on human rights.

Israel's "Right to Exist": Israel's right to continue outwardly racist policies against its Palestinian-Arab citizens within its borders and Israel's right to maintain a racist apartheid civil/military system in the Palestinian West Bank, a genocidal siege on the heavily populated Gaza Strip, and an illegal military occupation of both the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Hamas 'Militants' or 'Terrorists':Anybody Israel kills in the occupied territories

Nuclear weapons:Benevolent instruments of peace for US and client states, tyrannical instruments of genocide when held by everyone else.

Arab/Muslim: Terrorist, usually inherently irrational, violent, and deceitful. A hater of freedom, democracy, Christians, and Jews. Well, who is NOT an Arab then?: According to the honorable McCain, "decent, family men" who we may or may not have "disagreements" with. By implication, an Arab then cannot be "decent" or family orientated. For further elaboration, see the above definition.

Domestic Politics: Economic policy and Authority

Wall Street Bailout:Well, this means exactly what it sounds like, which is why the public was opposed to the whole thing. Publicly funded (we pay) bailouts for wall street, and polite condolences for workers, children, the poor, and the sick.

Socialism, Communism, Marxism (concerning public policy and advocacy): Policies where the public's tax money is spent on the public welfare, as opposed to transferring public funds to the ultra wealthy.

Market Based Solutions: "Solutions" to social problems that put profit as the driving force, rather than human need by eliminating the public role in decision making, transferring additional and un-calculated costs to the public and forcing working families and the poor to bare most of the burden of market forces.

Business Community:The richest of the rich, the elite millionaire/billionaire corporations, investors, and banks—the ones who own the country and are unaccountable to the public. Not a "community" in the friendly sense that we understand it to be. (Does not include small business owners like your local friendly family-run restaurant.)

Labor Flexibility: Due to a significant level of desperation and sizable unemployment in the labor force, conditions are ripe for business managers and owners to slash living wages, cut benefits, disregard reasonable working condition standards, and destroy workers' unions in order to increase their power and profits.

Entitlement:The use of this word in referring to social programs for the public is chosen specifically to imply that those receiving the much needed social benefits are "freeloaders" and "sponging off of the government." Refers exclusively to the poor, working class, and middle class. Entitlements for the wealthy, such as tax breaks and other gifts, are not included in this categorization.

Welfare: Huge sums of money stolen from the pockets of taxpayers received mostly by rich blacks who cheat the government and are too lazy to work.

Corporate Welfare/Subsidies: What? There's no such thing! And if there was, it would never be exponentially larger than social welfare...

Personal Responsibility: Social Darwinism or the 'law of the jungle' for the working class, poor, uninsured, and disenfranchised. Note that "personal responsibility" doesn't apply to the elite, who enjoy government protection and public safety nets.

Economic Freedom: Unrestricted free reign for multinational corporations, billionaire investors, and massive banking institutions to run the country in their interests at the expense of the general population whose role is to work, go into debt, and supply the funds (taxes) to erect barriers to market forces for big business. Also commonly known as "liberty".

Small Government: A massive government designed in the interests of military dominance and in the interests of the rich, while making sure public dollars cannot be spent on public interests and much needed social programs. Simply put, big government for sectors of power, small government for the needy.

Free Enterprise, Free Market: An economic system of "public subsidy and private profit," where the government intervenes in the market regularly to protect elite business interests from market forces. [1]

Privatization:The removal of economic institutions from the public sphere into private, unaccountable hands. By definition, a radical reduction of democracy.

'Hope or Change':Change of face and rhetoric, maintenance of the status quo

Democracy, Democratic Process: Elections every few years between two factions of business representatives, public ratifications of concentrated power.

Balanced Media Coverage: A lively debate between a "liberal" and a "conservative" within a narrow framework of assumptions that serve the interests of power.

Crime:Refers exclusively to small criminals from the lower classes like drug dealers, petty thieves, some violent behavior. Does not include the massive crime and corruption on Wall Street, or the much bigger and more serious war crimes (which have kill millions of people) committed by presidents and congress.

War on Drugs:a one-trillion-dollar-and-climbing policy of insanity (by Albert Einstein's definition) which shamefully and disproportionally targets Blacks and Latinos...a policy which is no more a "war" on drug use than the t.v. show "Cheaters" is a "war" on infidelity.

Full Investigation: a term used by government officials to calm down an angry population in light of police brutality, political corruption, government misconduct, etc. The "investigation" either produces no results or simply sacrifices a scapegoat for PR reasons, while neglecting to address the deeply rooted institutional problems. [3]

Getting public unrest "under control": Subjugating, often using violence, those who attempt to participate in decision making outside the ballot box.

Anti-American (in the case that the accused is an American): 1) Those who love their country and aspire to improve it by challenging their government, and/or, 2) Americans who do not identify themselves or their moral values with the Washington-Wall Street power structure.

National Security: An all purpose catch phrase used to justify US military aggression and restriction of civil rights.

National Interest: Corporate interests [1]

and lastly,
Universities: Fronts for socializing the cost of Research and Development for corporations and the military. They also serve the invaluable function of making sure that the educated community understands the right version of history, world affairs, and of course, the proper meaning of relevant terminology and the rules of polite discussion.

Notes
1 Chomsky, Noam, What Uncle Sam Really Wants, Odonian Press, Berkeley, CA, December 2002.
2 Blum, William, "When is a holocaust not a holocaust?" Counterpunch, October 2008
3 Abu-Jamal, Mumia, All Things Censored, Seven Stories Press, New York, July 2003.

Let's put an end to war / Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence

“Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind. War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today.” -JFK

The following speech was given to a gathering in Portland, Maine, on Nov. 11. This year Veterans for Peace spearheaded a successful campaign to have city officials sanction more than one Veterans Day ceremony.

First of all, let me thank the city of Portland on behalf of Veterans for Peace for their City Council’s commitment to making this year’s Veterans Day ceremonies inclusive of all veterans, regardless of the political positions on the war in Iraq. I’d especially like to thank several city employees for helping us offer the citizens of this fine community a richer perspective on the meaning of war.

We are Veterans for Peace. We are 21 years old. We have 135 chapters across the nation, and we are 5,000 members strong nationwide and growing. There are 150 members right here in Maine, in Chapter 001, the founding chapter of this fine organization.

We have one overriding commitment: to abolish war. And we have one means to do so: through nonviolence.

Today, we are honored and proud to stand alongside our sisters and brothers who represent Women in Black, Military Families Speak Out, Iraq Veterans Against the War, and the Department of Peace.

We of Veterans for Peace stand here today fully recognizing the spirit and intent of this moment as outlined in the 1918 national dedication of this date to “the cause of world peace.” We also remember President Eisenhower’s national reaffirmation in 1954 to “re-consecrate ourselves to the task of promoting an enduring peace.”

We are not here, as some of our detractors claim, to show disrespect for America. Indeed, we are here today to reclaim the American flag from those who would wrap themselves in it to oppress and vandalize, to conquer and steal. We have come in the name of decency and humanity.

We are here today to call for a National Day of Compassion — compassion for the veterans who have fought in past wars, compassion for the active service men or women fighting in our present-day wars, and compassion for the civilian victims of wars: the children, the parents and the grandparents caught up in the crossfire.

We have joined this parade and we stand here on this particular Veterans Day with the deepest humility. We are not here to glorify war nor to celebrate its many mythical heroes, but to share in the pain and agony of a nation caught up in an immoral war.

Let us not go home today with the notion that war is a worthy endeavor peopled by heroes and marked by glorious victories or, worse yet, that war is an inevitable consequence of a nation determined to fulfill some God-given mission.

Let us leave here today with the understanding that war itself is evil, that the true costs of war can be found not just in our national cemeteries or veterans hospitals, but in the homes of Baghdad and Fallujah, in the morgues of Iraq and Afghanistan, and in the hearts and souls of all men, women and children who have felt the awful terror of war.

And with that understanding — with the perspective that can arise from the ashes of war that we Veterans for Peace have earned — we must not allow ourselves to descend into self-pity or to wallow in self-righteousness, but must commit ourselves to compassionate action.

In that spirit we say to our fellow veterans: join us. Join us in working for the rededication of funds and political commitment to veterans’ services. Join us in resisting this government’s plans to renege on its promises to our nation’s soldiers. Join us in our call to cut the funding for the war. We in Veterans for Peace not only say “Bring the troops home now,” but we also say, “Take care of them when they come home.”

We say to the men and women currently deployed in Iraq, we recognize that you are serving in Pharaoh’s army, that you are foot soldiers of an occupying army, and that you are trapped in a deadly civil war that will test the very core of your being.

We in Veterans for Peace say to you: Hold on to your humanity. You have been forced into service that has essentially defiled the sacred contract you have signed with the American people to safeguard our Constitution and to protect our shores. While serving in Iraq, you are not in the service of your country, but in thrall to the narrow interests of a misguided few who are fast losing their death grip on our government.

We say to you: Do what you must do to survive and protect your fellow soldiers without sacrificing your humanity and your compassion for the Iraqi people. Work with us and others whenever and wherever you can to end this immoral war.

Join us by signing an appeal for redress from the war in Iraq that will be delivered to Congress in mid-January. It reads: “As a patriotic American proud to serve the nation in uniform, I respectfully urge my political leaders in Congress to support the prompt withdrawal of all American military forces and bases from Iraq. Staying in Iraq will not work and is not worth the price. It is time for U.S. troops to come home.”

By joining us in this appeal for a complete withdrawal of all American troops from Iraq, you are showing compassion for your fellow soldiers and for the Iraqi women, children and men who have suffered long enough under the yoke of American occupation.

On this day, Veterans Day, join us as we declare, “No more war.” Join us as we stand shoulder-to-shoulder with President Eisenhower and all like-minded military veterans who have come before us — and all who have suffered through the inferno of war — and who have come to the same realization that war itself is the enemy. Join us as we turn our backs on the fear-mongers and rededicate ourselves to serving our country by rejecting militarism.

Join us as we re-sanctify this day as a day of hope by rededicating our commitment to fighting for peace by abolishing war.

Douglas Rawlings is a veteran of the Vietnam War. He is currently on the staff at the University of Maine at Farmington. For more information about Veterans for Peace, visit www.veteransforpeace.org.

Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence
By Rev. Martin Luther King
4 April 1967
Speech delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on April 4, 1967, at a meeting of Clergy and Laity Concerned at Riverside Church in New York City

http://www.ssc.msu.edu/~sw/mlk/brkslnc.htm

I come to this magnificent house of worship tonight because my conscience leaves me no other choice. I join with you in this meeting because I am in deepest agreement with the aims and work of the organization which has brought us together: Clergy and Laymen Concerned about Vietnam. The recent statement of your executive committee are the sentiments of my own heart and I found myself in full accord when I read its opening lines: "A time comes when silence is betrayal." That time has come for us in relation to Vietnam.

The truth of these words is beyond doubt but the mission to which they call us is a most difficult one. Even when pressed by the demands of inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing their government's policy, especially in time of war. Nor does the human spirit move without great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought within one's own bosom and in the surrounding world. Moreover when the issues at hand seem as perplexed as they often do in the case of this dreadful conflict we are always on the verge of being mesmerized by uncertainty; but we must move on.

Some of us who have already begun to break the silence of the night have found that the calling to speak is often a vocation of agony, but we must speak. We must speak with all the humility that is appropriate to our limited vision, but we must speak. And we must rejoice as well, for surely this is the first time in our nation's history that a significant number of its religious leaders have chosen to move beyond the prophesying of smooth patriotism to the high grounds of a firm dissent based upon the mandates of conscience and the reading of history. Perhaps a new spirit is rising among us. If it is, let us trace its movement well and pray that our own inner being may be sensitive to its guidance, for we are deeply in need of a new way beyond the darkness that seems so close around us.

Over the past two years, as I have moved to break the betrayal of my own silences and to speak from the burnings of my own heart, as I have called for radical departures from the destruction of Vietnam, many persons have questioned me about the wisdom of my path. At the heart of their concerns this query has often loomed large and loud: Why are you speaking about war, Dr. King? Why are you joining the voices of dissent? Peace and civil rights don't mix, they say. Aren't you hurting the cause of your people, they ask? And when I hear them, though I often understand the source of their concern, I am nevertheless greatly saddened, for such questions mean that the inquirers have not really known me, my commitment or my calling. Indeed, their questions suggest that they do not know the world in which they live.

In the light of such tragic misunderstandings, I deem it of signal importance to try to state clearly, and I trust concisely, why I believe that the path from Dexter Avenue Baptist Church -- the church in Montgomery, Alabama, where I began my pastorate -- leads clearly to this sanctuary tonight.

I come to this platform tonight to make a passionate plea to my beloved nation. This speech is not addressed to Hanoi or to the National Liberation Front. It is not addressed to China or to Russia.

Nor is it an attempt to overlook the ambiguity of the total situation and the need for a collective solution to the tragedy of Vietnam. Neither is it an attempt to make North Vietnam or the National Liberation Front paragons of virtue, nor to overlook the role they can play in a successful resolution of the problem. While they both may have justifiable reason to be suspicious of the good faith of the United States, life and history give eloquent testimony to the fact that conflicts are never resolved without trustful give and take on both sides.

Tonight, however, I wish not to speak with Hanoi and the NLF, but rather to my fellow Americans, who, with me, bear the greatest responsibility in ending a conflict that has exacted a heavy price on both continents.

The Importance of Vietnam
Since I am a preacher by trade, I suppose it is not surprising that I have seven major reasons for bringing Vietnam into the field of my moral vision. There is at the outset a very obvious and almost facile connection between the war in Vietnam and the struggle I, and others, have been waging in America. A few years ago there was a shining moment in that struggle. It seemed as if there was a real promise of hope for the poor -- both black and white -- through the poverty program. There were experiments, hopes, new beginnings. Then came the buildup in Vietnam and I watched the program broken and eviscerated as if it were some idle political plaything of a society gone mad on war, and I knew that America would never invest the necessary funds or energies in rehabilitation of its poor so long as adventures like Vietnam continued to draw men and skills and money like some demonic destructive suction tube. So I was increasingly compelled to see the war as an enemy of the poor and to attack it as such.

Perhaps the more tragic recognition of reality took place when it became clear to me that the war was doing far more than devastating the hopes of the poor at home. It was sending their sons and their brothers and their husbands to fight and to die in extraordinarily high proportions relative to the rest of the population. We were taking the black young men who had been crippled by our society and sending them eight thousand miles away to guarantee liberties in Southeast Asia which they had not found in southwest Georgia and East Harlem. So we have been repeatedly faced with the cruel irony of watching Negro and white boys on TV screens as they kill and die together for a nation that has been unable to seat them together in the same schools. So we watch them in brutal solidarity burning the huts of a poor village, but we realize that they would never live on the same block in Detroit. I could not be silent in the face of such cruel manipulation of the poor.

My third reason moves to an even deeper level of awareness, for it grows out of my experience in the ghettoes of the North over the last three years -- especially the last three summers. As I have walked among the desperate, rejected and angry young men I have told them that Molotov cocktails and rifles would not solve their problems. I have tried to offer them my deepest compassion while maintaining my conviction that social change comes most meaningfully through nonviolent action. But they asked -- and rightly so -- what about Vietnam? They asked if our own nation wasn't using massive doses of violence to solve its problems, to bring about the changes it wanted. Their questions hit home, and I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today -- my own government. For the sake of those boys, for the sake of this government, for the sake of hundreds of thousands trembling under our violence, I cannot be silent.

For those who ask the question, "Aren't you a civil rights leader?" and thereby mean to exclude me from the movement for peace, I have this further answer. In 1957 when a group of us formed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, we chose as our motto: "To save the soul of America." We were convinced that we could not limit our vision to certain rights for black people, but instead affirmed the conviction that America would never be free or saved from itself unless the descendants of its slaves were loosed completely from the shackles they still wear. In a way we were agreeing with Langston Hughes, that black bard of Harlem, who had written earlier:

O, yes,
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath--
America will be!

Now, it should be incandescently clear that no one who has any concern for the integrity and life of America today can ignore the present war. If America's soul becomes totally poisoned, part of the autopsy must read Vietnam. It can never be saved so long as it destroys the deepest hopes of men the world over. So it is that those of us who are yet determined that America will be are led down the path of protest and dissent, working for the health of our land.

As if the weight of such a commitment to the life and health of America were not enough, another burden of responsibility was placed upon me in 1964; and I cannot forget that the Nobel Prize for Peace was also a commission -- a commission to work harder than I had ever worked before for "the brotherhood of man." This is a calling that takes me beyond national allegiances, but even if it were not present I would yet have to live with the meaning of my commitment to the ministry of Jesus Christ. To me the relationship of this ministry to the making of peace is so obvious that I sometimes marvel at those who ask me why I am speaking against the war. Could it be that they do not know that the good news was meant for all men -- for Communist and capitalist, for their children and ours, for black and for white, for revolutionary and conservative? Have they forgotten that my ministry is in obedience to the one who loved his enemies so fully that he died for them? What then can I say to the "Vietcong" or to Castro or to Mao as a faithful minister of this one? Can I threaten them with death or must I not share with them my life?

Finally, as I try to delineate for you and for myself the road that leads from Montgomery to this place I would have offered all that was most valid if I simply said that I must be true to my conviction that I share with all men the calling to be a son of the living God. Beyond the calling of race or nation or creed is this vocation of sonship and brotherhood, and because I believe that the Father is deeply concerned especially for his suffering and helpless and outcast children, I come tonight to speak for them.

This I believe to be the privilege and the burden of all of us who deem ourselves bound by allegiances and loyalties which are broader and deeper than nationalism and which go beyond our nation's self-defined goals and positions. We are called to speak for the weak, for the voiceless, for victims of our nation and for those it calls enemy, for no document from human hands can make these humans any less our brothers.

Strange Liberators
And as I ponder the madness of Vietnam and search within myself for ways to understand and respond to compassion my mind goes constantly to the people of that peninsula. I speak now not of the soldiers of each side, not of the junta in Saigon, but simply of the people who have been living under the curse of war for almost three continuous decades now. I think of them too because it is clear to me that there will be no meaningful solution there until some attempt is made to know them and hear their broken cries.

They must see Americans as strange liberators. The Vietnamese people proclaimed their own independence in 1945 after a combined French and Japanese occupation, and before the Communist revolution in China. They were led by Ho Chi Minh. Even though they quoted the American Declaration of Independence in their own document of freedom, we refused to recognize them. Instead, we decided to support France in its reconquest of her former colony.

Our government felt then that the Vietnamese people were not "ready" for independence, and we again fell victim to the deadly Western arrogance that has poisoned the international atmosphere for so long. With that tragic decision we rejected a revolutionary government seeking self-determination, and a government that had been established not by China (for whom the Vietnamese have no great love) but by clearly indigenous forces that included some Communists. For the peasants this new government meant real land reform, one of the most important needs in their lives.

For nine years following 1945 we denied the people of Vietnam the right of independence. For nine years we vigorously supported the French in their abortive effort to recolonize Vietnam.

Before the end of the war we were meeting eighty percent of the French war costs. Even before the French were defeated at Dien Bien Phu, they began to despair of the reckless action, but we did not. We encouraged them with our huge financial and military supplies to continue the war even after they had lost the will. Soon we would be paying almost the full costs of this tragic attempt at recolonization.

After the French were defeated it looked as if independence and land reform would come again through the Geneva agreements. But instead there came the United States, determined that Ho should not unify the temporarily divided nation, and the peasants watched again as we supported one of the most vicious modern dictators -- our chosen man, Premier Diem. The peasants watched and cringed as Diem ruthlessly routed out all opposition, supported their extortionist landlords and refused even to discuss reunification with the north. The peasants watched as all this was presided over by U.S. influence and then by increasing numbers of U.S. troops who came to help quell the insurgency that Diem's methods had aroused. When Diem was overthrown they may have been happy, but the long line of military dictatorships seemed to offer no real change -- especially in terms of their need for land and peace.

The only change came from America as we increased our troop commitments in support of governments which were singularly corrupt, inept and without popular support. All the while the people read our leaflets and received regular promises of peace and democracy -- and land reform. Now they languish under our bombs and consider us -- not their fellow Vietnamese --the real enemy. They move sadly and apathetically as we herd them off the land of their fathers into concentration camps where minimal social needs are rarely met. They know they must move or be destroyed by our bombs. So they go -- primarily women and children and the aged.

They watch as we poison their water, as we kill a million acres of their crops. They must weep as the bulldozers roar through their areas preparing to destroy the precious trees. They wander into the hospitals, with at least twenty casualties from American firepower for one "Vietcong"-inflicted injury. So far we may have killed a million of them -- mostly children. They wander into the towns and see thousands of the children, homeless, without clothes, running in packs on the streets like animals. They see the children, degraded by our soldiers as they beg for food. They see the children selling their sisters to our soldiers, soliciting for their mothers.

What do the peasants think as we ally ourselves with the landlords and as we refuse to put any action into our many words concerning land reform? What do they think as we test our latest weapons on them, just as the Germans tested out new medicine and new tortures in the concentration camps of Europe? Where are the roots of the independent Vietnam we claim to be building? Is it among these voiceless ones?

We have destroyed their two most cherished institutions: the family and the village. We have destroyed their land and their crops. We have cooperated in the crushing of the nation's only non-Communist revolutionary political force -- the unified Buddhist church. We have supported the enemies of the peasants of Saigon. We have corrupted their women and children and killed their men. What liberators?

Now there is little left to build on -- save bitterness. Soon the only solid physical foundations remaining will be found at our military bases and in the concrete of the concentration camps we call fortified hamlets. The peasants may well wonder if we plan to build our new Vietnam on such grounds as these? Could we blame them for such thoughts? We must speak for them and raise the questions they cannot raise. These too are our brothers.

Perhaps the more difficult but no less necessary task is to speak for those who have been designated as our enemies. What of the National Liberation Front -- that strangely anonymous group we call VC or Communists? What must they think of us in America when they realize that we permitted the repression and cruelty of Diem which helped to bring them into being as a resistance group in the south? What do they think of our condoning the violence which led to their own taking up of arms? How can they believe in our integrity when now we speak of "aggression from the north" as if there were nothing more essential to the war? How can they trust us when now we charge them with violence after the murderous reign of Diem and charge them with violence while we pour every new weapon of death into their land? Surely we must understand their feelings even if we do not condone their actions. Surely we must see that the men we supported pressed them to their violence. Surely we must see that our own computerized plans of destruction simply dwarf their greatest acts.

How do they judge us when our officials know that their membership is less than twenty-five percent Communist and yet insist on giving them the blanket name? What must they be thinking when they know that we are aware of their control of major sections of Vietnam and yet we appear ready to allow national elections in which this highly organized political parallel government will have no part? They ask how we can speak of free elections when the Saigon press is censored and controlled by the military junta. And they are surely right to wonder what kind of new government we plan to help form without them -- the only party in real touch with the peasants. They question our political goals and they deny the reality of a peace settlement from which they will be excluded. Their questions are frighteningly relevant. Is our nation planning to build on political myth again and then shore it up with the power of new violence?

Here is the true meaning and value of compassion and nonviolence when it helps us to see the enemy's point of view, to hear his questions, to know his assessment of ourselves. For from his view we may indeed see the basic weaknesses of our own condition, and if we are mature, we may learn and grow and profit from the wisdom of the brothers who are called the opposition.

So, too, with Hanoi. In the north, where our bombs now pummel the land, and our mines endanger the waterways, we are met by a deep but understandable mistrust. To speak for them is to explain this lack of confidence in Western words, and especially their distrust of American intentions now. In Hanoi are the men who led the nation to independence against the Japanese and the French, the men who sought membership in the French commonwealth and were betrayed by the weakness of Paris and the willfulness of the colonial armies. It was they who led a second struggle against French domination at tremendous costs, and then were persuaded to give up the land they controlled between the thirteenth and seventeenth parallel as a temporary measure at Geneva. After 1954 they watched us conspire with Diem to prevent elections which would have surely brought Ho Chi Minh to power over a united Vietnam, and they realized they had been betrayed again.

When we ask why they do not leap to negotiate, these things must be remembered. Also it must be clear that the leaders of Hanoi considered the presence of American troops in support of the Diem regime to have been the initial military breach of the Geneva agreements concerning foreign troops, and they remind us that they did not begin to send in any large number of supplies or men until American forces had moved into the tens of thousands.

Hanoi remembers how our leaders refused to tell us the truth about the earlier North Vietnamese overtures for peace, how the president claimed that none existed when they had clearly been made. Ho Chi Minh has watched as America has spoken of peace and built up its forces, and now he has surely heard of the increasing international rumors of American plans for an invasion of the north. He knows the bombing and shelling and mining we are doing are part of traditional pre-invasion strategy. Perhaps only his sense of humor and of irony can save him when he hears the most powerful nation of the world speaking of aggression as it drops thousands of bombs on a poor weak nation more than eight thousand miles away from its shores.

At this point I should make it clear that while I have tried in these last few minutes to give a voice to the voiceless on Vietnam and to understand the arguments of those who are called enemy, I am as deeply concerned about our troops there as anything else. For it occurs to me that what we are submitting them to in Vietnam is not simply the brutalizing process that goes on in any war where armies face each other and seek to destroy. We are adding cynicism to the process of death, for they must know after a short period there that none of the things we claim to be fighting for are really involved. Before long they must know that their government has sent them into a struggle among Vietnamese, and the more sophisticated surely realize that we are on the side of the wealthy and the secure while we create hell for the poor.

This Madness Must Cease
Somehow this madness must cease. We must stop now. I speak as a child of God and brother to the suffering poor of Vietnam. I speak for those whose land is being laid waste, whose homes are being destroyed, whose culture is being subverted. I speak for the poor of America who are paying the double price of smashed hopes at home and death and corruption in Vietnam. I speak as a citizen of the world, for the world as it stands aghast at the path we have taken. I speak as an American to the leaders of my own nation. The great initiative in this war is ours. The initiative to stop it must be ours.

This is the message of the great Buddhist leaders of Vietnam. Recently one of them wrote these words:

"Each day the war goes on the hatred increases in the heart of the Vietnamese and in the hearts of those of humanitarian instinct. The Americans are forcing even their friends into becoming their enemies. It is curious that the Americans, who calculate so carefully on the possibilities of military victory, do not realize that in the process they are incurring deep psychological and political defeat. The image of America will never again be the image of revolution, freedom and democracy, but the image of violence and militarism."

If we continue, there will be no doubt in my mind and in the mind of the world that we have no honorable intentions in Vietnam. It will become clear that our minimal expectation is to occupy it as an American colony and men will not refrain from thinking that our maximum hope is to goad China into a war so that we may bomb her nuclear installations. If we do not stop our war against the people of Vietnam immediately the world will be left with no other alternative than to see this as some horribly clumsy and deadly game we have decided to play.

The world now demands a maturity of America that we may not be able to achieve. It demands that we admit that we have been wrong from the beginning of our adventure in Vietnam, that we have been detrimental to the life of the Vietnamese people. The situation is one in which we must be ready to turn sharply from our present ways.

In order to atone for our sins and errors in Vietnam, we should take the initiative in bringing a halt to this tragic war. I would like to suggest five concrete things that our government should do immediately to begin the long and difficult process of extricating ourselves from this nightmarish conflict:

End all bombing in North and South Vietnam.
Declare a unilateral cease-fire in the hope that such action will create the atmosphere for negotiation.
Take immediate steps to prevent other battlegrounds in Southeast Asia by curtailing our military buildup in Thailand and our interference in Laos.
Realistically accept the fact that the National Liberation Front has substantial support in South Vietnam and must thereby play a role in any meaningful negotiations and in any future Vietnam government.
Set a date that we will remove all foreign troops from Vietnam in accordance with the 1954 Geneva agreement.

Part of our ongoing commitment might well express itself in an offer to grant asylum to any Vietnamese who fears for his life under a new regime which included the Liberation Front. Then we must make what reparations we can for the damage we have done. We most provide the medical aid that is badly needed, making it available in this country if necessary.

Protesting The War
Meanwhile we in the churches and synagogues have a continuing task while we urge our government to disengage itself from a disgraceful commitment. We must continue to raise our voices if our nation persists in its perverse ways in Vietnam. We must be prepared to match actions with words by seeking out every creative means of protest possible.

As we counsel young men concerning military service we must clarify for them our nation's role in Vietnam and challenge them with the alternative of conscientious objection. I am pleased to say that this is the path now being chosen by more than seventy students at my own alma mater, Morehouse College, and I recommend it to all who find the American course in Vietnam a dishonorable and unjust one. Moreover I would encourage all ministers of draft age to give up their ministerial exemptions and seek status as conscientious objectors. These are the times for real choices and not false ones. We are at the moment when our lives must be placed on the line if our nation is to survive its own folly. Every man of humane convictions must decide on the protest that best suits his convictions, but we must all protest.

There is something seductively tempting about stopping there and sending us all off on what in some circles has become a popular crusade against the war in Vietnam. I say we must enter the struggle, but I wish to go on now to say something even more disturbing. The war in Vietnam is but a symptom of a far deeper malady within the American spirit, and if we ignore this sobering reality we will find ourselves organizing clergy- and laymen-concerned committees for the next generation. They will be concerned about Guatemala and Peru. They will be concerned about Thailand and Cambodia. They will be concerned about Mozambique and South Africa. We will be marching for these and a dozen other names and attending rallies without end unless there is a significant and profound change in American life and policy. Such thoughts take us beyond Vietnam, but not beyond our calling as sons of the living God.

In 1957 a sensitive American official overseas said that it seemed to him that our nation was on the wrong side of a world revolution. During the past ten years we have seen emerge a pattern of suppression which now has justified the presence of U.S. military "advisors" in Venezuela. This need to maintain social stability for our investments accounts for the counter-revolutionary action of American forces in Guatemala. It tells why American helicopters are being used against guerrillas in Colombia and why American napalm and green beret forces have already been active against rebels in Peru. It is with such activity in mind that the words of the late John F. Kennedy come back to haunt us. Five years ago he said, "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."

Increasingly, by choice or by accident, this is the role our nation has taken -- the role of those who make peaceful revolution impossible by refusing to give up the privileges and the pleasures that come from the immense profits of overseas investment.

I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a "thing-oriented" society to a "person-oriented" society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.

A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. n the one hand we are called to play the good Samaritan on life's roadside; but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life's highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth. With righteous indignation, it will look across the seas and see individual capitalists of the West investing huge sums of money in Asia, Africa and South America, only to take the profits out with no concern for the social betterment of the countries, and say: "This is not just." It will look at our alliance with the landed gentry of Latin America and say: "This is not just." The Western arrogance of feeling that it has everything to teach others and nothing to learn from them is not just. A true revolution of values will lay hands on the world order and say of war: "This way of settling differences is not just." This business of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation's homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into veins of people normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice and love. A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.

America, the richest and most powerful nation in the world, can well lead the way in this revolution of values. There is nothing, except a tragic death wish, to prevent us from reordering our priorities, so that the pursuit of peace will take precedence over the pursuit of war. There is nothing to keep us from molding a recalcitrant status quo with bruised hands until we have fashioned it into a brotherhood.

This kind of positive revolution of values is our best defense against communism. War is not the answer. Communism will never be defeated by the use of atomic bombs or nuclear weapons. Let us not join those who shout war and through their misguided passions urge the United States to relinquish its participation in the United Nations. These are days which demand wise restraint and calm reasonableness. We must not call everyone a Communist or an appeaser who advocates the seating of Red China in the United Nations and who recognizes that hate and hysteria are not the final answers to the problem of these turbulent days. We must not engage in a negative anti-communism, but rather in a positive thrust for democracy, realizing that our greatest defense against communism is to take offensive action in behalf of justice. We must with positive action seek to remove thosse conditions of poverty, insecurity and injustice which are the fertile soil in which the seed of communism grows and develops.

The People Are Important
These are revolutionary times. All over the globe men are revolting against old systems of exploitation and oppression and out of the wombs of a frail world new systems of justice and equality are being born. The shirtless and barefoot people of the land are rising up as never before. "The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light." We in the West must support these revolutions. It is a sad fact that, because of comfort, complacency, a morbid fear of communism, and our proneness to adjust to injustice, the Western nations that initiated so much of the revolutionary spirit of the modern world have now become the arch anti-revolutionaries. This has driven many to feel that only Marxism has the revolutionary spirit. Therefore, communism is a judgement against our failure to make democracy real and follow through on the revolutions we initiated. Our only hope today lies in our ability to recapture the revolutionary spirit and go out into a sometimes hostile world declaring eternal hostility to poverty, racism, and militarism. With this powerful commitment we shall boldly challenge the status quo and unjust mores and thereby speed the day when "every valley shall be exalted, and every moutain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight and the rough places plain."

A genuine revolution of values means in the final analysis that our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. Every nation must now develop an overriding loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to preserve the best in their individual societies.

This call for a world-wide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond one's tribe, race, class and nation is in reality a call for an all-embracing and unconditional love for all men. This oft misunderstood and misinterpreted concept -- so readily dismissed by the Nietzsches of the world as a weak and cowardly force -- has now become an absolute necessity for the survival of man. When I speak of love I am not speaking of some sentimental and weak response. I am speaking of that force which all of the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life. Love is somehow the key that unlocks the door which leads to ultimate reality. This Hindu-Moslem-Christian-Jewish-Buddhist belief about ultimate reality is beautifully summed up in the first epistle of Saint John:

Let us love one another; for love is God and everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. If we love one another God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.

Let us hope that this spirit will become the order of the day. We can no longer afford to worship the god of hate or bow before the altar of retaliation. The oceans of history are made turbulent by the ever-rising tides of hate. History is cluttered with the wreckage of nations and individuals that pursued this self-defeating path of hate. As Arnold Toynbee says : "Love is the ultimate force that makes for the saving choice of life and good against the damning choice of death and evil. Therefore the first hope in our inventory must be the hope that love is going to have the last word."

We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history there is such a thing as being too late. Procrastination is still the thief of time. Life often leaves us standing bare, naked and dejected with a lost opportunity. The "tide in the affairs of men" does not remain at the flood; it ebbs. We may cry out deperately for time to pause in her passage, but time is deaf to every plea and rushes on. Over the bleached bones and jumbled residue of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words: "Too late." There is an invisible book of life that faithfully records our vigilance or our neglect. "The moving finger writes, and having writ moves on..." We still have a choice today; nonviolent coexistence or violent co-annihilation.

We must move past indecision to action. We must find new ways to speak for peace in Vietnam and justice throughout the developing world -- a world that borders on our doors. If we do not act we shall surely be dragged down the long dark and shameful corridors of time reserved for those who possess power without compassion, might without morality, and strength without sight.

Now let us begin. Now let us rededicate ourselves to the long and bitter -- but beautiful -- struggle for a new world. This is the callling of the sons of God, and our brothers wait eagerly for our response. Shall we say the odds are too great? Shall we tell them the struggle is too hard? Will our message be that the forces of American life militate against their arrival as full men, and we send our deepest regrets? Or will there be another message, of longing, of hope, of solidarity with their yearnings, of commitment to their cause, whatever the cost? The choice is ours, and though we might prefer it otherwise we must choose in this crucial moment of human history.

As that noble bard of yesterday, James Russell Lowell, eloquently stated:

Once to every man and nation
Comes the moment to decide,
In the strife of truth and falsehood,
For the good or evil side;
Some great cause, God's new Messiah,
Off'ring each the bloom or blight,
And the choice goes by forever
Twixt that darkness and that light.

Though the cause of evil prosper,
Yet 'tis truth alone is strong;
Though her portion be the scaffold,
And upon the throne be wrong:
Yet that scaffold sways the future,
And behind the dim unknown,
Standeth God within the shadow
Keeping watch above his own.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Let us believe we can put an end to war and let's see what we can do.

Michael Franti - Bomb The World
Please tell me the reason
Behind the colors that you fly
Love just one nation
And the whole world we divide
You say you're "sorry"
Say, "there is no other choice"
But god bless the people them
Who cannot raise their voice

(chorus)

We can chase down all our enemies
Bring them to their knees
We can bomb the world to pieces
But we can't bomb it into peace
Whoa we may even find a solution
To hunger and disease
We can bomb the world to pieces
But we can't bomb it into peace

Violence brings one thing
More more of the same
Military madness
The smell of flesh and burning pain
So i sing out to the masses
Stand up if you're still sane!
To all of us gone crazy
I sing this one refrain

(chorus)

And i sing power to the peaceful
Love to the people y'all
Power to the peaceful
Love to the people y'all

Bomb the world (armageddon version)

I don't understand the whole reason why
You tellin' us all that we need to unify
Rally round the flag
And beat the drums of war
Sing the same old songs
Ya know we heard 'em all before
You tellin' me it's unpatriotic
But i call it what i see it
When i see it's idiotic
The tears of one mother
Are the same as any other
Drop food on the kids
While you're murderin' their fathers
But don't bother to show it on cnn
Brothers and sisters don't believe them
It's not a war against evil
It's really just revenge
Engaged on the poorest by the same rich men
Fight terrorists wherever they be found
But why you not bombing tim mcveigh's hometown
You can say what you want propaganda television
But all bombing is terrorism

(chorus)

We can chase down all our enemies
Bring them to their knees
We can bomb the world to pieces
But we can't bomb it into peace
Whoa we may even find a solution
To hunger and disease
We can bomb the world to pieces
But we can't bomb it into peace

911
Fire in the skies
Many people died
And no one even really knows why
They tellin' lies of division and fear
We yelled and cried
No one listened for years
But like, "who put us here?"
And who's responsible?
Well, there's no debatin'
Cause if they ask me i say
It's big corporations
World trade organization
Tri-lateral action
International sanctions, satan
Seems like it'll be an endless price tag
Of wars tremendous
And most disturbingly
The death toll is so horrendous
So i send this to those
Who say they defend us
Send us into harm's way
We should all make a rememberence that
This is bigger than terrorism
Blood is blood is blood and um
Love is true vision
Who will listen?
How many songs it takes for you to see
You can bomb the world to pieces
You can't bomb it into peace

(chorus)
Power to the peaceful
And i say, love to the people y'all
Power to the peaceful
And i say, love to the people y'all

(chorus)

Happy Halloween

A cabbie picks up a Nun. She gets into the cab, and notices that the VERY handsome cab driver won't stop staring at her.

She asks him why he is staring. He replies: 'I have a question to ask, but I don't want to offend you.'

She answers, ' My son, you cannot offend me. When you're as old as I am and have been a nun as long as I have, you get a chance to see and hear just about everything. I'm sure that there's nothing you could say or ask that I would find offensive.'

'Well, I've always had a fantasy to have a nun kiss me.'

She responds, 'Well, let's see what we can do about that: #1, you have to be single and #2, you must be Catholic.'

The cab driver is very excited and says, 'Yes, I'm single and Catholic!'

'OK' the nun says. 'Pull into the next alley.'

The nun fulfills his fantasy with a kiss that would make a hooker blush.

But when they get back on the road, the cab driver starts crying.

'My dear child,' said the nun, 'Why are you crying?'

'Forgive me but I've sinned. I lied and I must confess; I'm married and I'm Jewish.'

The nun says, 'That's OK. My name is Kevin and I'm going to a Halloween party.'

Getting the Message by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

"The Buddha is famous for having refused to take a position on many of
the controversial issues of his day, such as whether the cosmos is
finite or infinite, eternal or not. In fact, many people — both in his
time and in ours — have assumed that he didn't take a firm position on
any issue at all. Based on this assumption, some people have been
exasperated with the Buddha, accusing him of being wishy-washy and
indecisive, while others have been pleased, praising him for being
tolerant and refreshingly free from ideas of right and wrong.

Both reactions, however, are misinformed. The early texts report that
a group of wanderers, in a discussion with one of the Buddha's lay
disciples, once accused the Buddha of not taking a position on any
issue, and the disciple replied that they were mistaken. There was one
issue on which the Buddha's position was very clear: what kind of
behavior is skillful, and what kind of behavior is not. When the
disciple later reported the conversation to the Buddha, the Buddha
approved of what he had said. The distinction between skillful and
unskillful behavior lies at the basis of everything the Buddha taught.

In making this distinction, the Buddha drew some very sharp lines:

"What is unskillful? Taking life is unskillful, taking what is not
given... sexual misconduct.. . lying... abusive speech... divisive
tale-bearing. .. idle chatter is unskillful. Covetousness. .. ill
will... wrong views are unskillful. These things are called unskillful.. .

"And what is skillful? Abstaining from taking life is skillful,
abstaining from taking what is not given... from sexual misconduct.. .
from lying... from abusive speech... from divisive tale-bearing. ..
abstaining from idle chatter is skillful. Lack of covetousness. .. lack
of ill will... right views are skillful. These things are called
skillful."
— MN 9

Killing is never skillful. Stealing, lying, and everything else in the
first list are never skillful. When asked if there was anything whose
killing he approved of, the Buddha answered that there was only one
thing: anger. In no recorded instance did he approve of killing any
living being at all. When one of his monks went to an executioner and
told the man to kill his victims compassionately, with one blow,
rather than torturing them, the Buddha expelled the monk from the
Sangha, on the grounds that even the recommendation to kill
compassionately is still a recommendation to kill — something he would
never condone. If a monk was physically attacked, the Buddha allowed
him to strike back in self-defense, but never with the intention to
kill. As he told the monks,

"Even if bandits were to carve you up savagely, limb by limb, with a
two-handled saw, he among you who let his heart get angered even at
that would not be doing my bidding. Even then you should train
yourselves: 'Our minds will be unaffected and we will say no evil
words. We will remain sympathetic, with a mind of good will, and with
no inner hate. We will keep pervading these people with an awareness
imbued with good will and, beginning with them, we will keep pervading
the all-encompassing world with an awareness imbued with good will —
abundant, expansive, immeasurable, free from hostility, free from ill
will.' That's how you should train yourselves."
— MN 21

When formulating lay precepts based on his distinction between
skillful and unskillful, the Buddha never made any allowances for ifs,
ands, or buts. When you promise yourself to abstain from killing or
stealing, the power of the promise lies in its universality. You won't
break your promise to yourself under any conditions at all. This is
because this sort of unconditional promise is a powerful gift. Take,
for instance, the first precept, against killing:

"There is the case where a disciple of the noble ones, abandoning the
taking of life, abstains from taking life. In doing so, he gives
freedom from danger, freedom from animosity, freedom from oppression
to limitless numbers of beings. In giving freedom from danger, freedom
from animosity, freedom from oppression to limitless numbers of
beings, he gains a share in limitless freedom from danger, freedom
from animosity, and freedom from oppression. This is the first gift,
the first great gift — original, long-standing, traditional, ancient,
unadulterated, unadulterated from the beginning — that is not open to
suspicion, will never be open to suspicion, and is unfaulted by
knowledgeable contemplatives & brahmans."
— AN 8.39

If you make exceptions in your promise to yourself — trying to
justify killing in cases where you feel endangered or inconvenienced
by another being's existence — your gift of freedom is limited, and
you lose your share in limitless freedom. Thus the gift of freedom, to
be fully effective, has to be unconditional, with no room for
exceptions, no matter how noble they may sound, of any kind.

The dynamic of this kind of gift, of course, depends on an important
principle, the teaching of karma and rebirth: If you act on unskillful
motivations, the act will result in your suffering, now or in lives to
come; if you act on skillful intentions, the act will result in your
pleasure now or in lives to come. If you don't kill anyone, you are
not creating the circumstances where anyone or anything will cut short
your life span. Your past karma may still leave an opening for your
murder or accidental death — you can't go back and undo what you've
already done — but once you make and follow through with the promise
not to kill again, you are creating no new openings for having your
life cut short. As the Dhammapada says,

If there's no wound on the hand,
that hand can hold poison.
Poison won't penetrate
where there's no wound.
There's no evil
for those who don't do it.
— Dhp 124

This is why the Buddha listed virtue as one of a person's greatest
treasures. Kings and thieves can steal your material belongings and
even take your life, but they can't take your virtue. If it's
uncompromising, your virtue protects you from any true danger from now
until you reach nirvana.

Even if you're not ready to accept the teaching on karma and rebirth,
the Buddha still recommended an absolute standard of virtue. As he
told the Kalamas, if you decide to act skillfully at all times,
harming no one, then even if it turned out that there was no life
after death, you'd still come out ahead, for you would have been able
to live and die with a clear conscience — something that no amount of
money or political influence can buy.

So the Buddha's position on the precepts was uncompromising and clear.
If you want to follow his teachings, there's absolutely no room for
killing, stealing, or lying, period. However, in our current climate
of terrorism and counter-terrorism — where governments have claimed
that it's their moral duty to lie, kill, and torture in order to
prevent others from lying, killing, and torturing — a number of
Buddhist teachers have joined in the effort, trying to find evidence
that there were some occasions, at least, where the Buddha would
condone killing or offer a rationale for a just war. Exactly why they
would want to do this is up to them to say, but there's a need to
examine their arguments in order to set the record straight. The
Buddha never taught a theory of just war; no decision to wage war can
legitimately be traced to his teachings; no war veteran has ever had
to agonize over memories of the people he killed because the Buddha
said that war was okay. These facts are among the glories of the
Buddhist tradition, and it's important for the human race that they
not be muddied in an effort to recast the Buddha in our own less than
glorious image.

Because the Pali Canon is such an unpromising place to look for the
justification of killing, most of the arguments for a Buddhist theory
of just war look elsewhere for their evidence, citing the words and
behavior of people they take as surrogates for the Buddha. These
arguments are obviously on shaky ground, and can be easily dismissed
even by people who know nothing of the Canon. For example, it has been
argued that because Asian governments claiming to be Buddhist have
engaged in war and torture, the Buddha's teachings must condone such
behavior. However, we've had enough exposure to people claiming to be
Christian whose behavior is very un-Christian to realize that the same
thing can probably happen in the Buddhist world as well. To take
killers and torturers as your guide to the Buddha's teaching is hardly
a sign of good judgment.

On a somewhat higher note, one writer has noted that his meditation
teacher has told soldiers and policemen that if their duty is to kill,
they must perform their duty, albeit compassionately and with
mindfulness. The writer then goes on to argue that because his teacher
is the direct recipient of an oral tradition dating back to the
Buddha, we must take this as evidence that the Buddha would give
similar advice as well. This statement, of course, tells us more about
the writer's faith in his teacher than about the Buddha; and when we
reflect that the Buddha expelled from the Sangha a monk who gave
advice of this sort to an executioner, it casts serious doubts on his
argument.

There are, however, writers who try to find evidence in the Pali Canon
for a Buddhist theory of just war, not in what the Buddha said, but in
what he didn't. The arguments go like this: When talking with kings,
the Buddha never told them not to engage in war or capital punishment.
This was his tacit admission that the king had a justifiable duty to
engage in these activities, and the kings would have understood his
silence as such. Because these arguments cite the Pali Canon and claim
a historian's knowledge of how silence was interpreted in the Buddha's
day, they seem to carry more authority than the others. But when we
actually look at the Pali record of the Buddha's conversations with
kings, we find that the arguments are bogus. The Buddha was able to
communicate the message to kings that they shouldn't kill, but because
kings in general were not the most promising students of the Dhamma,
he had to bring them to this message in an indirect way.

It's true that in the Pali Canon silence is sometimes interpreted as
acquiescence, but this principle holds only in response to a request.
If someone invited the Buddha to his house for a meal and the Buddha
remained silent, that was a sign of consent. However, there were many
instances in which the Buddha's silence was a sign, not of
acquiescence, but of tact. A professional soldier once went to the
Buddha and said that his teachers had taught the existence of a heaven
awaiting soldiers who die in battle. What did the Buddha have to say
about that? At first the Buddha declined to answer, but when the
soldier showed the sincerity of his question by pressing him three
times for a response, he finally replied:

"When a warrior strives & exerts himself in battle, his mind is
already seized, debased, & misdirected by the thought: 'May these
beings be struck down or slaughtered or annihilated or destroyed. May
they not exist': If others then strike him down & slay him while he is
thus striving & exerting himself in battle, then with the breakup of
the body, after death, he is reborn in the hell called the realm of
those slain in battle. But if he holds such a view as this: 'When a
warrior strives & exerts himself in battle, if others then strike him
down & slay him while he is striving & exerting himself in battle,
then with the breakup of the body, after death, he is reborn in the
company of devas slain in battle,' that is his wrong view. Now, there
are two destinations for a person with wrong view, I tell you: either
hell or the animal womb."
— SN 42.3

The soldier then broke down and cried — not because he felt that the
Buddha's words were cruel, but because he believed their truth and was
upset at his earlier teachers for having lied to him. In this case,
the Buddha's reticence and tact helped to make his teaching effective.
A similar set of events happened when an actor asked the Buddha if
there is a special heaven reserved for actors. The Buddha's reticence
and tact in informing the actor of a hell for actors who incite their
audiences to greed, anger, and delusion inspired the actor to respond
in the same way as the soldier.

If the pride of soldiers and actors required special handling, even
more care was required in the handling of kings, for their pride was
often coupled with an unrestrained sense of power. A remarkable
feature of the Pali Canon is that even though the Buddha was a member
of the noble warrior caste, the discourses generally show a low regard
for the spiritual standing of kings. In many passages, kings are
mentioned in the same breath with thieves: They confiscate property
and show little regard for the rule of law. The Canon does recognize
exceptions — King Bimbisara of Magadha achieves stream-entry the first
time he hears the Dhamma, and he never engages in war — but for the
most part, kings are depicted as spiritually stunted. King Ajatasattu,
on first seeing the Buddha sitting surrounded by monks, can't tell
which person in the assembly is the Buddha, a sign of his spiritual
blindness; this blindness is later proven by his asking the Buddha's
advice on how to defeat his innocent neighbors in war. As one of the
discourses suggests, this sort of blindness is an occupational hazard
for rulers, in that the unfair exercise of power can make a person
unfit for learning the truth.

"Because of having wrongly inflicted suffering on another person
through beating or imprisonment or confiscation or placing blame or
banishment, [with the thought,] 'I have power. I want power,' when
told what is factual, he denies it and doesn't acknowledge it. When
told what is unfactual, he doesn't make an ardent effort to untangle
it [to see], 'This is unfactual. This is baseless.'"
— AN 3.69

Even King Pasenadi of Kosala, the king most closely associated with
the Buddha, comes across as well-meaning but somewhat dense. An entire
discourse, MN 90, is a satire of how his royal position has thwarted
his ability to learn the Dhamma. He can't phrase his questions
properly, has trouble following a discussion for more than a few
sentences, and is unable to come to any certain conclusions about the
truth. Still, in other discourses he has his occasional moments of
spiritual clarity, and the Buddha uses those moments as opportunities
to teach the Dhamma. The Buddha's approach here is twofold: to try to
expand the king's perspective on life at times when the king is
willing to be frank; and to encourage the king when the latter gains
insights on his own.

For example, there's the famous discourse (SN 3.25) where Pasenadi
comes to visit the Buddha in the middle of the day. The Buddha asks
him what he's been doing, and the king replies — in a moment of rare
and wonderful frankness — that he's been involved in the sort of
activities typical of a king intoxicated with his power. The Buddha
takes this moment of frankness as an opportunity to teach the Dhamma.
Suppose, he says, that four mountains were rolling in inexorably from
the four directions, crushing all life in their path. Given that the
human birth is so rare and hard to achieve, what should be done? The
king's reply: What else should be done but living in line with the
Dhamma? The Buddha then draws the lesson: Aging and death are rolling
in inexorably. Given that the human birth is so rare and hard to
achieve, what should be done? The king draws the obvious conclusion
that, again, the only thing to be done is to live in line with the
Dhamma. He then goes on to make the observation that when aging and
death are rolling in inexorably, there is no role for armies, wars,
clever advisors, or great wealth to prevent their rolling in. The only
thing to do is to live in line with the Dhamma.

In another discourse, Pasenadi comes to the Buddha and reports his own
independent observation:

"Those who engage in bodily misconduct, verbal misconduct, & mental
misconduct leave themselves unprotected. Even though a squadron of
elephant troops might protect them, a squadron of cavalry troops, a
squadron of chariot troops, a squadron of infantry troops might
protect them, still they leave themselves unprotected. Why is that?
Because that's an external protection, not an internal one. Therefore
they leave themselves unprotected. But those who engage in good bodily
conduct, good verbal conduct, & good mental conduct have themselves
protected. Even though neither a squadron of elephant troops, a
squadron of cavalry troops, a squadron of chariot troops, nor a
squadron of infantry troops might protect them, still they have
themselves protected. Why is that? Because that's an internal
protection, not an external one. Therefore they have themselves
protected."
— SN 3.5

It's highly unlikely that Pasenadi would have come to this conclusion
if he hadn't spent time in conversation with the Buddha. From that
conversation, he would have learned the meaning of good bodily,
verbal, and mental conduct: the ten forms of skillful action. As a
tactful teacher, the Buddha simply concurred with the king's insight.
The discourses suggest that this strategy encouraged the king to spend
time in reflection of this sort, for in other discourses the king
reports many similar insights for the Buddha to confirm.

We learn that the king did not always follow through with his
insights, but that's not because the Buddha encouraged him to view
killing as his duty. In fact, there is one striking example where
these insights had at least a partial effect. Ajatasattu once attacked
Pasenadi's kingdom, and Pasenadi responded by raising an army to fight
him off. After an initial setback, Pasenadi was able to capture
Ajatasattu. He could have killed him in revenge, for that was
allowable under the rules of engagement during his time. But he chose
not to, and it's hard not to see the Buddha's impact on this decision.
When told of the battle, the Buddha said:

A man may plunder
as long as it serves his ends,
but when others are plundered,
he who has plundered
gets plundered in turn.

A fool thinks,
'Now's my chance,'
as long as his evil
has yet to ripen.
But when it ripens,
the fool
falls
into pain.

Killing, you gain
your killer.
Conquering, you gain one
who will conquer you;
insulting, insult;
harassing, harassment.

And so, through the cycle of action,
he who has plundered
gets plundered in turn.
— SN 3.15

Benighted as he was, Pasenadi still got the message. The question is,
why can't we?"

http://www.accessto insight.org/ lib/authors/ thanissaro/ gettingmessage. html

"It's Just a ride"

".... I had a vision of a way we could have no enemies ever again, if you're interested in this. Anybody interested in hearing this? It's kind of an interesting theory, and all we have to do is make one decisive act and we can rid the world of all our enemies at once. Here's what we do. You know all that money we spend on nuclear weapons and defense every year? Trillions of dollars.

Instead, if we spent that money feeding and clothing the poor of the world, which it would pay for many times over, not one human being excluded... not one ... we could as one race explore outer space together in peace, for ever.

- Bill Hicks

The world is like a ride at an amusement park, and when you choose to go on it, you think it's real, because that's how powerful our minds are. And the ride goes up and down and round and round and it has thrills and chills and it's very brightly colored and it's very loud. And it's fun, for a while.

Some people have been on the ride for a long time, and they begin to question: 'Is this real? Or is this just a ride?' And other people have remembered, and they come back to us and they say 'Hey! Don't worry, don't be afraid - ever - because... this is just a ride.' And we kill those people.

'Shut him up! We have a lot invested in this ride! Shut him up! Look at my furrows of worry; look at my big bank account, and my family. This has to be real.'

It's just a ride. But we always kill those good guys who try and tell us that - ever notice that? - and we let the demons run amok. But it doesn't matter, because... it's just a ride, and we can change it any time we want. It's only a choice. No effort. No worry. No job. No savings and money. Just a choice, right now, between fear and love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your door, buy bigger guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love, instead, see all of us as one.

Here's what we can do to change the world, right now, into a better ride. Take all that money we spend on weapons and defense each year and, instead, spend it feeding, clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would do many times over - not one human being excluded - and we can explore space together, both inner and outer, forever. In peace.
-Bill Hicks

http://www.billhicks.com/

People come up to me and say, "What's wrong?" "Nothing." "Well, it takes more energy to frown than it does to smile." "Yeah, you know it takes more energy to point that out than it does to leave me alone?"

"I'm so sick of arming the world, then sending troops over to destroy the fucking arms, you know what I mean? We keep arming these little countries, then we go and blow the shit out of them. We're like the bullies of the world, y'know. We're like Jack Palance in the movie Shane, throwing the pistol at the sheepherder's feet.

"Pick it up."

"I don't wanna pick it up, Mister, you'll shoot me."

"Pick up the gun."

"Mister, I don't want no trouble. I just came downtown here to get some hard rock candy for my kids, some gingham for my wife. I don't even know what gingham is, but she goes through about ten rolls a week of that stuff. I ain't looking for no trouble, Mister."

"Pick up the gun."

(He picks it up. Three shots ring out.)

"You all saw him - he had a gun."

You know we armed Iraq. I wondered about that too, you know. During the Persian Gulf war, those intelligence reports would come out: "Iraq: incredible weapons — incredible weapons." "How do you know that?" "Uh, well... we looked at the receipts."

People say "Iraq had the fourth largest army in the world". Yeah, maybe, but you know what, after the first 3 largest armies, there's a REAL big fucking drop-off. The Hare Krishnas are the 5th largest army in the world, and they've already got all our airports.

"God put [dinosaur fossils] here to test our faith!"... I think God put you here to test my faith, dude.

"You ever notice that everyone who believes in creationism looks really unevolved? Eyes real close together, big furry hands and feet. "I believe God created me in one day." Yeah, it looks like he rushed it."

We gotta come to some new ideas about life folks ok? I'm not being blase about abortion, it might be a real issue, it might not, doesn't matter to me. What matters is that if you believe in the sanctity of life then you believe it for life of all ages. That's what I hate about this child-worship syndrome going on. "Save the children! They're killing children! How many children were at Waco? They're killing children!" What does that mean? They reach a certain age and they're off your fucking love-list? Fuck your children, if that's the way you think then fuck you too. You either love all people of all ages or you shut the fuck up.

Why is pot against the law? It wouldn't be because anyone can grow it, and therefore you can't make a profit off it, would it?

They lie about marijuana. Tell you pot-smoking makes you unmotivated. Lie! When you're high, you can do everything you normally do just as well — you just realize that it's not worth the fucking effort. There is a difference.

I love talking about the Kennedy assasination. The reason I do is because I'm fascinated by it. I'm fascinated that our government could lie to us so blatantly, so obviously for so long, and we do absolutely nothing about it. I think that's interesting in what is ostensibly a democracy. Sarcasm - come on in. People say "Bill, quit talking about Kennedy man. It was a long time ago, just let it go, alright? It's a long time ago, just forget it." I'm like, alright, then don't bring up Jesus to me. As long as we're talking shelf life here...

Go back to bed, America. Your government has figured out how it all transpired. Go back to bed, America. Your government is in control again. Here. Here's American Gladiators. Watch this, shut up. Go back to bed, America. Here is American Gladiators. Here is 56 channels of it! Watch these pituitary retards bang their fucking skulls together and congratulate you on living in the land of freedom. Here you go, America! You are free to do what we tell you! You are free to do what we tell you!

Wouldn't you like to see a positive LSD story on the news? To hear what it's all about, perhaps? Wouldn't that be interesting? Just for once?
"Today, a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration — that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively. There's no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we're the imagination of ourselves. Here's Tom with the weather."

You see, I think drugs have done some good things for us. I really do. And if you don't believe drugs have done good things for us, do me a favor. Go home tonight. Take all your albums, all your tapes and all your CDs and burn them. 'Cause you know what, the musicians that made all that great music that's enhanced your lives throughout the years — rrreal fucking high on drugs. The Beatles were so fucking high they let Ringo sing a few tunes.

The musicians today who don't do drugs and in fact speak out against it? "Rock Against Drugs?" BOY do they suck.

bill hicks
by Wes Moore (alephegeis@disinfo.net) - February 20, 2002

"Thank you. How you doing folks? Me too. You gotta bear with me, I'm very tired, very tired of traveling, and very tired of doing comedy, and very tired of staring out at your vacant faces looking back at me, wanting me to fill your empty lives with humor you couldn't possibly think of yourselves. Good evening."

Bill Hicks: the Nietzsche of comedy, the most legitimate social critic of the 1990s: a renegade messiah who tried to make people laugh, but usually ended up pissing them off, or drawing blank stares.

Born in 1961, Hicks died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 32, just as his career was peaking. He left in his wake a legacy of biting criticisms against American society: no inadequacy or hypocrisy ed in was immune to his scathing satires, but don't take my word for it. For Christ sakes, if anyone demands our undivided attention, it's Bill Hicks . . .

The War on Drugs:

"George Bush says 'we are losing the war on drugs'. Well you know what that implies? There's a war going on, and people on drugs are winning it! Well what does that tell you about drugs? Some smart, creative motherfuckers on that side."

Television Commercials:

"Supreme Court says pornography is anything without artistic merit that causes sexual thoughts. No artistic merit, causes sexual thoughts. Hmmm . . . sounds like every commercial on TV doesn't it?"

The Kennedy Assassination:

"People come up to me: 'Bill, quit talking about Kennedy man . . . It was a long time ago . . .' And I'm like alright, then don't bring up Jesus to me. As long as we're talking about shelf life here."

Annoying Non-Smokers:

"The worst kind of non-smokers are the ones that come up to you and cough. That's pretty fucking cruel isn't it? Do you go up to cripples and dance too?"

Pornography:

"One of my big fears in life is that I'm going to die and my parents are going to have to clear out my apartment and find the porno wing I've been adding to for years. There'll be two funerals that day."

Christianity:

"A lot of Christians wear crosses around their necks. Do you think when Jesus comes back he ever wants to look at a fucking cross? It's kinda like going up to Jackie Onassis with a rifle pendant on."

The Gulf War:

"They said the Iraqis had the fourth largest army in the world. Well, the Hare Krishnas are the fifth largest and they've already got our airports."

Advertisers:

"By the way, if anyone here is in advertising or marketing, kill yourself. No, this is not a joke: kill yourself . . . I know what the marketing people are thinking now too: 'Oh. He's going for that anti-marketing dollar. That's a good market.' Oh man, I am not doing that, you fucking evil scumbags."

Waco:

"If the FBI's motivating factor for busting down the Koresh compound was child abuse, how come we never see Bradley tanks smashing into Catholic churches?"

The Pope:

"I love the Pope, I love seeing him in his Pope-Mobile, his three feet of bullet proof plexi-glass. That's faith in action folks! You know he's got God on his side."

The Military:

"Gays in the military . . . here's how I feel about it, alright? Anyone . . . DUMB enough . . . to want to be in the military, should be allowed in. End of fucking story. That should be the only requirement."

In addition to his libertarian political philosophy, Bill was a deeply spiritual man. He advocated meditation, floatation tanks, and Terence McKenna's "heroic dose" of psilocybic mushrooms to "squeegee the third eye". He stressed that we are all one consciousness, so it doesn't make sense to hurt or lie to one another.

Bill never became popular, mainly because he didn't exactly endear himself to corporate sponsors ("advertisers: kill yourselves"). He did appear on the Late Show with David Letterman a dozen times, but his final performance (just months before his death) was cut because of "inappropriate material." The tiff was over one of Bill's jokes about pro-lifers:

"If you're so pro-life, do me a favor: don't block arms and block medical clinics. If you're so pro-life, lock arms and block cemeteries."

It was later revealed that one of the Late Show's most generous sponsors was a pro-life group whose commercial aired during the program Hicks was supposed to appear in. Hicks explains:

"See we just had a misunderstanding. I thought we lived in the U.S. of A., the United States of America. But actually we live in the U.S. of A., the United States of Advertising. Freedom of expression is guaranteed… if you've got the money!"

Hicks released two albums (1990's Dangerous and 1992's Relentless) and two videos (Sane Man and Revelations) in his lifetime. After his death, two more albums were released, both in 1997. One of these, Rant in E-Minor, is widely considered to be his defining work, by critics and fans alike. The other, Arizona Bay, was his most conceptual offering. Arizona Bay was described by Hicks as "'The Dark Side of the Moon' of comedy albums," and features musical interludes with Hicks on guitar. It was Bill's metaphor for American society, using Los Angeles (Hell-A) as a microcosm of mainstream culture.

Arizona Bay was the inspiration for Tool's album AEnima, and if you listen to the song "Third Eye" you will hear a clip of Bill (think: "rrrrrreal fuckin' high on drugs"). Radiohead's album The Bends was also dedicated to Hicks.

A fifth album, with material recorded around the same time as Rant In E-Minor, is in the works and should be released soon. Cynthia True and Janeane Garofalo's biography American Scream: The Bill Hicks Story (New York: Harper Entertainment, 2002) is definately worth checking out. Let's hope Bill Hicks continues to inspire and enlighten us all.
------
I believe there will be a movie biography coming out in 2009.

Ceremonies

Ceremonies reinforce belief. The ceremonies are really nothing more than nice gestures. The beliefs are what is important.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceremony

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03538b.htm

Poem of a Buddhist nun:
Only within burns the fire I kindle.
My heart the altar.
My heart the altar.

Sun Bear:
When humans participate in ceremony, they enter a sacred space. Everything outside of that space shrivels in importance. Time takes on a different dimension. Emotions flow more freely. The bodies of participants become filled with the energy of life, and this energy reaches out and blesses the creation around them. All is made new; everything becomes sacred.

T.S. Eliot:
Any religion...is for ever in danger of petrifaction into mere ritual and habit, though ritual and habit be essential to religion.
Selected Essays, 1927

Thomas Love Peacock:
Names are changed more readily than doctrines, and doctrines more readily than ceremonies.

With the Cheyenne the sweat bath is one of the most essential religious observances. Through its agency their purified minds and bodies are brought in accord with the supernatural powers. Even when it is employed in healing disease the thought is that the power of the spirits, not the steam, will expel the sickness.
Certain medicine men have the right to build sweat lodges and conduct the ceremony, and they can impart the prerogative to others. In this way alone can a man obtain the sweat lodge medicine, that is, the right to have a sweat lodge built and then to preside at the ceremony
The following is a typical prayer: "Spirits hear me; think especially of me, miserable man. Those that enter my sweat lodge for safety, going out may they leave behind all that is bad. Take thought of them; that good may come to them take thought. Let horses of different colors come to them. Ye spirits, my different wives I have given to you, that I might be permitted to speak to you. My wives from you I make no attempt to hide, that I might be permitted to speak to you. In your sweat lodge the search has been renewed. Stones of different colors they have heated, woods of different colors they have erected. Your pipe is filled; come and smoke. When they go out of my sweat lodge may some good go with them. To the places whence they came, may they all take good luck. May all their relatives receive good; their children let them embrace with joy. Let their way lie along the good road. Especially remember me, poor as I am; help me. That our patients may arise with ease, take thought of them; let them once more walk about with joy. Everywhere in divers manners I have tortured myself; may the spirits pity me. Who are ye that taught this custom? I do not claim to know anything; I am poor; I am far from knowing anything. Old men taught me this way, and if I make a mistake, turn it into good. Especially remember poor me. Everything I ask of you, grant me. Henahi!"
At the close of the invocation the men shake their rattles four times; then the singing begins, the master of the sudatory beginning and all the others joining. Eight songs are given; but these may be one song rendered eight times, or two songs each rendered four times, or four songs each rendered twice. Prayers sometimes intervene.
Near the end of the singing the woman throws water on the stones. The first period ended, the cover is raised front and back for a few minutes, the woman takes a drink of water and passes a cupful to each man, the cover is lowered again, and there follows a second series of songs, equal to the first in number of its parts and of their repetition. Thus the four divisions of the entire set of songs are used. One such set comprising eight songs (the eighth being a repetition of one of the others) is here presented. Two of these songs, each repeated four times, are given in each interval of sweating.
For the last time the cover is dropped, the remaining water is dashed on the stones, and after an interval without singing, all come out, some to plunge into the water, others to squat about the fire and smoke the pipe that has been leaning against the buffalo skull.
excerpted from "The Cheyenne Sweat Lodge" from The North American Indian by Edward S. Curtis

Art of the Aztecs, an American Indian people who moved south into the valley of Mexico in the AD 1100s, building their capital Tenochtitlán (now Mexico City) from 1325. In the 15th century they created a short-lived empire that was destroyed soon after the Spanish invasion of 1519. The Aztec way of life was dominated by a harsh religion that included ceremonial human sacrifice, and much of their surviving art refers to their belief system. Aztec architecture was particularly impressive, featuring enormous temples set upon high pyramids. They also produced jewellery in gold, jade, and turquoise, as well ceramics and textiles displaying the Aztecs' characteristic angular, linear, and geometric patterns. However, they were most accomplished in their sculpture, producing expressive and sometimes disturbing works that were often as brutal as their religion; one notable example is a sculpture of the Aztec birth-goddess whose face is contorted in agony as she gives birth to a child.

The Aztecs used difficult materials with surprising artfulness and detail in their sculpture. Stone and wood were fashioned with stone tools that were often made from obsidian, a volcanic glass. Metalworking was confined to copper and gold, which were either shaped by hammering when cold, or melted and cast in clay moulds.

The Aztecs used a complex calendar that combined a sacred period of 260 days with the solar year of 365 days. When the two calendars coincided, which happened every 52 years, great rites to pacify the gods were performed, including mass human sacrifice and the rebuilding of temples. The Aztecs had numerous gods, but their most important were Huitzilopochtli (‘hummingbird wizard’) and the feathered serpent Quetzalcoatl. Aztec writing combined hieroglyphs and pictographs. Despite the destruction of Aztec society and culture, some forms of the original Aztec language Nahuatl are still spoken by some Mexicans.

THERE IS A FRIEND OF TERRORISTS WHO WANTS TO BE PRESIDENT

"Thurs. Feb. 4 [1982]: Day was filled with meetings, N.S.C. etc. We have problems with El Salvador -- the rebels seem to be winning. Guatemala could go any day & of course Nicaragua is another Cuba. Lots of options but no decisions. Mid afternoon I could hardly keep my eyes open -- in fact I didn't. -- Tonight early to bed."

I saw an article today,Fact Check: Camps highlight foes' old associates

While this was the funny part:

Rick Davis: McCain's campaign manager had financial ties to mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac almost up to the time the government took them over last month and the nation's financial system went into a tailspin.

Meanwhile, McCain repeatedly has accused Obama of taking advice from former executives of Fannie and Freddie and failing to see that they were heading for a meltdown.

Davis or his lobbying firm have taken more than $2 million directly or indirectly from the mortgage companies dating to 2000. In 2005, the lobbying firm began getting $15,000 a month from Freddie Mac, although sources told The New York Times the firm did little work for the money.

and then there was the part about U.S. Council for World Freedom which the article doesn't make much of

McCain tied to U.S. Council for World Freedom: Nazi collaborators and death squads in Central America.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081007/ap_on_el_pr/mccain_iran_contra;_ylt=AqgM9KUOi.rRzUrNzF_bi6ph24cA

GOP presidential nominee John McCain has past connections to a private group that supplied aid to guerrillas seeking to overthrow the leftist government of Nicaragua in the Iran-Contra affair.

The U.S. Council for World Freedom was part of an international organization linked to former Nazi collaborators and ultra-right-wing death squads in Central America. The group was dedicated to stamping out communism around the globe.

The council's founder, retired Army Maj. Gen. John Singlaub, said McCain became associated with the organization in the early 1980s as McCain was launching his political career in Arizona. Singlaub said McCain was a supporter but not an active member in the group.

Dems hope Singlaub is McCain’s Ayers
By: Kenneth P. Vogel and Cecile Dehesdin
October 7, 2008 11:58 AM EST

Since the mid-1980s, there’s been almost no attention paid to John McCain’s long-ago association with a controversial group implicated in a secretive plot to supply arms to Nicaraguan militia groups during the Iran-Contra affair.

But now, with the Republican presidential candidate stepping up his negative blitz against Democratic opponent Barack Obama, some Democrats are hoping that the group — the U.S. Council for World Freedom, and its founder, John Singlaub — will become for McCain what Bill Ayers has become for Obama: a fleeting past association used as ammunition for political broadsides.

Over the past few days, a handful of Obama allies — none directly associated with his campaign — have called attention to McCain’s ties to the council to rebut the McCain campaign’s increasing focus on Obama’s ties to Ayers, a founder of the 1960s radical Weather Underground.

“This guilt by association path is going to be trouble ultimately for the McCain campaign,” Democratic strategist Paul Begala said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “John McCain sat on the board of a very right-wing organization; it was the U.S. Council for World Freedom. It was chaired by a guy named John Singlaub, who wound up involved in the Iran-Contra scandal. It was an ultraconservative, right-wing group.”

Since Begala made his comments, in which he mentioned the Anti-Defamation League’s 1981 condemnation of the council’s parent group as anti-Semitic, a growing group of bloggers have referenced Begala’s self-described “shot across the bow” and have tried to flesh out McCain’s ties to the council and to Singlaub, a decorated retired Army major general with a background in special operations and intelligence.

Some lefty bloggers urged Obama’s campaign, which on Monday unveiled an ad highlighting McCain’s involvement in the “Keating Five” savings-and-loan scandal, to expand its attacks to include the U.S. Council for World Freedom.

Singlaub founded the council in Phoenix in November 1981, as the U.S. branch of the World Anti-Communist League, which he also helped run for a time. The league billed itself as a supporter of “pro-Democratic resistance movements fighting communist totalitarianism.” But the Anti-Defamation League in 1981 alleged that the anti-communist league also had “increasingly become a gathering place, a forum, a point of contact, for extremists, racists and anti-Semites.”

Singlaub eventually won some praise from the anti-defamation group for working to purge those elements from the league.

The U.S. Council recruited McCain soon after it set up shop in Phoenix, where McCain was starting to lay down roots as he eyed his first run for elected office, a 1982 U.S. House race that he won.

An aide to McCain’s presidential campaign, who did not want to be identified discussing an episode the aide had no firsthand knowledge of, said McCain would never have gotten involved with the council if it had continuing ties to extremists, racists and anti-Semites.

“McCain has a long and consistent and strong record on issues involving Israel, and he would never be associated with anything that was anti-Semitic in any way,” the aide said.

In October 1986, McCain told Phoenix’s New Times alternative weekly newspaper that he agreed to join the group’s advisory board because “they’re for freedom and they’ve got some good people involved,” but he also asserted he only attended one meeting.

The New Times article — and a handful of stories in other local papers — appeared in the days after the Reagan administration fingered the council for operating a plane that was shot down that month while flying supplies to Nicaraguan Contra rebels.

Singlaub, who did not respond to Politico’s telephone and e-mail messages seeking comment, at the time denied the council was involved with the plane. But he later acknowledged during congressional hearings on the Iran-Contra affair that he was part of a secret program carried out with the knowledge of U.S. military officials that used former intelligence operatives to arm the anti-communist Contras, circumventing a ban on U.S. military assistance to the rebels.

At the time of the crash, McCain was running for Senate, and his campaign aides told the local press that he had resigned from the council’s board in 1984.

“John had heard at the time that they were supplying arms to the Contras,” Torie Clarke, then McCain’s Senate campaign spokeswoman, told the Phoenix Gazette. She told the Tucson Citizen that McCain “vehemently opposes any activity that would violate the neutrality act.” But she said McCain did not alert authorities to what she called the council’s “many questionable activities.” She also stressed to the Citizen that “there weren’t any real specific incidents. There was a general theme with which John was not aligned.”

According to New Times, though, McCain’s 1984 letter of resignation attributed his decision to part with the group to his lack of time, but praised the group’s “dedication to our country.” McCain remained on the group’s letterhead through March 1985, and he attended the group’s October 1985 “Freedom Fighter of the Year” award ceremony in Washington.

Brian Rogers, a spokesman for McCain’s presidential campaign, issued a statement to Politico asserting that McCain “disassociated himself” from the group “when questions were raised about its activities, but that in no way diminishes his leadership role in ensuring that the forces of democracy and freedom prevailed in Central America.”

Rogers said McCain “fought long, hard and proud in opposition to communist influence in Central America throughout the 1980s at a time when many, including Sen. Obama’s running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, tried to cut off money for anti-communist forces in El Salvador and Nicaragua.”

Begala told Politico that he raised McCain’s connection to the U.S. Council because he wanted to prove that “it’s really unwise for the McCain campaign to begin a campaign of guilt by association. And I was trying to demonstrate the way I think that Democrats ought to run their campaign. I could have just gone on and said, ‘Democrats need to counterattack.’ Instead, I thought: 'Why don’t I just do it?'”

Existence and non-existennce are the same. -Buddha

IDENTITY AND NON-IDENTITY

Existence & Nonexistence

The Theory of Mind-Only and The Real State of Things

"THEY ARE NOT LONG"

"They are not long, the weeping and the laughter,
Love and desire and hate:
I think they have no portion in us after
We pass the gate.
They are not long, the days of wine and roses:
Out of a misty dream
Our path emerges for awhile, then closes
Within a dream."

By Ernest Dowson (1867-1900).

Buddist Cosmology

Buddhist Cosmology

Zhaozhou’s Buddha

Buddhist Cosmology

The so-called three-world system is a prominent one in Buddhist thought. The ancient Theravāda Buddhist (see Theravāda Buddhism) tradition saw a flat world with Heaven above and Hell below. Later, a ten-thousand world vision emerged, and still later Buddha fields, where true wisdom is taught. Such a field is the “Pure Land” of Pure Land Buddhism (see Pure Land Buddhism). The Buddhist cosmology also contains the ideal of nirvāna (see Nirvāna), which, like the Pure Land, is a state of being rather than a particular place.

Buddhist cosmology is the description of the shape and evolution of the universe according to the canonical Buddhist scriptures and commentaries.

Introduction
The self-consistent Buddhist cosmology which is presented in commentaries and works of Abhidharma in both Theravāda and Mahāyāna traditions, is the end-product of an analysis and reconciliation of cosmological comments found in the Buddhist sūtra and vinaya traditions. No single sūtra sets out the entire structure of the universe. However, in several sūtras the Buddha describes other worlds and states of being, and other sūtras describe the origin and destruction of the universe. The synthesis of these data into a single comprehensive system must have taken place early in the history of Buddhism, as the system described in the Pāli Vibhajyavāda tradition (represented by today's Theravādins) agrees, despite some trivial inconsistencies of nomenclature, with the Sarvāstivāda tradition which is preserved by Mahāyāna Buddhists.

The picture of the world presented in Buddhist cosmological descriptions cannot be taken as a literal description of the shape of the universe. It is inconsistent, and cannot be made consistent, with astronomical data that were already known in ancient India. However, it is not intended to be a description of how ordinary humans perceive their world; rather, it is the universe as seen through the divyacakṣus (Pāli: dibbacakkhu), the "divine eye" by which a Buddha or an arhat who has cultivated this faculty can perceive all of the other worlds and the beings arising (being born) and passing away (dying) within them, and can tell from what state they have been reborn and into what state they will be reborn. The cosmology has also been interpreted in a symbolical or allegorical sense (see Ten spiritual realms).

Buddhist cosmology can be divided into two related kinds: spatial cosmology, which describes the arrangement of the various worlds within the universe, and temporal cosmology, which describes how those worlds come into existence, and how they pass away.

Spatial cosmology
Spatial cosmology can also be divided into two branches. The vertical (or cakravāḍa) cosmology describes the arrangement of worlds in a vertical pattern, some being higher and some lower. By contrast, the horizontal (sahasra) cosmology describes the grouping of these vertical worlds into sets of thousands, millions or billions.

Vertical cosmology
In the vertical cosmology, the universe exists of many worlds (lokāḥ) – one might say "planes" – stacked one upon the next in layers. Each world corresponds to a mental state or a state of being. A world is not, however, a location so much as it is the beings which compose it; it is sustained by their karma and if the beings in a world all die or disappear, the world disappears too. Likewise, a world comes into existence when the first being is born into it. The physical separation is not so important as the difference in mental state; humans and animals, though they partially share the same physical environments, still belong to different worlds because their minds perceive and react to those environments differently.

The vertical cosmology is divided into thirty-one planes of existence and the planes into three realms, or dhātus, each corresponding to a different type of mentality. These three (Tridhātu) are the Ārūpyadhātu, the Rūpadhātu, and the Kāmadhātu. This technical division does not correspond to the more informal categorization of the "six realms". In the latter scheme, all of the beings born in the Ārūpyadhātu and the Rūpadhātu may be classified as "gods" or "deities" (devāḥ), as can a considerable fraction of the beings born in the Kāmadhātu, even though the deities of the Kāmadhātu differ more from those of the Ārūpyadhātu than they do from humans. It is to be understood that deva is an imprecise term referring to any being living in a longer-lived and generally more blissful state than humans. Most of them are not "gods" in the common sense of the term, having little or no concern with the human world and rarely if ever interacting with it; only the lowest deities of the Kāmadhātu correspond to the gods described in many polytheistic religions.

The term "brahmā" is used both as a name and as a generic term for one of the higher devas. In its broadest sense, it can refer to any of the inhabitants of the Ārūpyadhātu and the Rūpadhātu. In more restricted senses, it can refer to an inhabitant of one of the nine lower worlds of the Rūpadhātu, or in its narrowest sense, to the three lowest worlds of the Rūpadhātu. A large number of devas use the name "Brahmā", e.g. Brahmā Sahampati, Brahmā Sanatkumāra, Baka Brahmā, etc. It is not always clear which world they belong to, although it must always be one of the worlds of the Rūpadhātu below the Śuddhāvāsa worlds.

Ārūpyadhātu
The Ārūpyadhātu (Sanskrit) or Arūpaloka (Pāli) (Tib: gzugs.med.pa'i khams) or "Formless realm" would have no place in a purely physical cosmology, as none of the beings inhabiting it has either shape or location; and correspondingly, the realm has no location either. This realm belongs to those devas who attained and remained in the Four Formless Absorptions (catuḥ-samāpatti) of the arūpadhyānas in a previous life, and now enjoys the fruits (vipāka) of the good karma of that accomplishment. Bodhisattvas, however, are never born in the Ārūpyadhātu even when they have attained the arūpadhyānas.

There are four types of Ārūpyadhātu devas, corresponding to the four types of arūpadhyānas:

Naivasaṃjñānāsaṃjñāyatana or Nevasaññānāsaññāyatana (Tib: 'du.shes.med 'du.shes.med.min) "Sphere of neither perception nor non-perception". In this sphere the formless beings have gone beyond a mere negation of perception and have attained a liminal state where they do not engage in "perception" (saṃjñā, recognition of particulars by their marks) but are not wholly unconscious. This was the sphere reached by Udraka Rāmaputra (Pāli: Uddaka Rāmaputta), the second of the Buddha's two teachers, who considered it equivalent to enlightenment.
Ākiṃcanyāyatana or Ākiñcaññāyatana (Tib: ci.yang.med) "Sphere of Nothingness" (literally "lacking anything"). In this sphere formless beings dwell contemplating upon the thought that "there is no thing". This is considered a form of perception, though a very subtle one. This was the sphere reached by Ārāḍa Kālāma (Pāli: Āḷāra Kālāma), the first of the Buddha's two teachers; he considered it to be equivalent to enlightenment.
Vijñānānantyāyatana or Viññāṇānañcāyatana or more commonly the contracted form Viññāṇañcāyatana (Tib: rnam.shes mtha'.yas) "Sphere of Infinite Consciousness". In this sphere formless beings dwell meditating on their consciousness (vijñāna) as infinitely pervasive.
Ākāśānantyāyatana or Ākāsānañcāyatana (Tib: nam.mkha' mtha'.yas) "Sphere of Infinite Space". In this sphere formless beings dwell meditating upon space or extension (ākāśa) as infinitely pervasive.

Rūpadhātu
The Rūpadhātu (Pāli: Rūpaloka; Tib: gzugs.kyi khams) or "Form realm" is, as the name implies, the first of the physical realms; its inhabitants all have a location and bodies of a sort, though those bodies are composed of a subtle substance which is of itself invisible to the inhabitants of the Kāmadhātu. According to the Janavasabha Sutta, when a brahma (a being from the Brahma-world of the Rūpadhātu) wishes to visit a deva of the Trāyastriṃśa heaven (in the Kāmadhātu), he has to assume a "grosser form" in order to be visible to them.

The beings of the Form realm are not subject to the extremes of pleasure and pain, or governed by desires for things pleasing to the senses, as the beings of the Kāmadhātu are. The bodies of Form realm beings do not have sexual distinctions.

Like the beings of the Ārūpyadhātu, the dwellers in the Rūpadhātu have minds corresponding to the dhyānas (Pāli: jhānas). In their case it is the four lower dhyānas or rūpadhyānas. However, although the beings of the Rūpadhātu can be divided into four broad grades corresponding to these four dhyānas, each of them is subdivided into further grades, three for each of the four dhyānas and five for the Śuddhāvāsa devas, for a total of seventeen grades (the Theravāda tradition counts one less grade in the highest dhyāna for a total of sixteen).

Physically, the Rūpadhātu consists of a series of planes stacked on top of each other, each one in a series of steps half the size of the previous one as one descends. In part, this reflects the fact that the devas are also thought of as physically larger on the higher planes. The highest planes are also broader in extent than the ones lower down, as discussed in the section on Sahasra cosmology. The height of these planes is expressed in yojanas, a measurement of very uncertain length, but sometimes taken to be about 4,000 times the height of a man, and so approximately 4.54 miles or 7.32 kilometers.

Śuddhāvāsa worlds
The Śuddhāvāsa (Pāli: Suddhāvāsa; Tib: gnas gtsang.ma) worlds, or "Pure Abodes", are distinct from the other worlds of the Rūpadhātu in that they do not house beings who have been born there through ordinary merit or meditative attainments, but only those Anāgāmins ("Non-returners") who are already on the path to Arhat-hood and who will attain enlightenment directly from the Śuddhāvāsa worlds without being reborn in a lower plane (Anāgāmins can also be born on lower planes). Every Śuddhāvāsa deva is therefore a protector of Buddhism. Because a Śuddhāvāsa deva will never be reborn outside the Śuddhāvāsa worlds, no Bodhisattva is ever born in these worlds, as a Bodhisattva must ultimately be reborn as a human being.

Since these devas rise from lower planes only due to the teaching of a Buddha, they can remain empty for very long periods if no Buddha arises. However, unlike the lower worlds, the Śuddhāvāsa worlds are never destroyed by natural catastrophe. The Śuddhāvāsa devas predict the coming of a Buddha and, taking the guise of brahmins, reveal to human beings the signs by which a Buddha can be recognized. They also ensure that a Bodhisattva in his last life will see the four signs that will lead to his renunciation.

The five Śuddhāvāsa worlds are:

Akaniṣṭha or Akaniṭṭha – World of devas "equal in rank" (literally: having no one as the youngest). The highest of all the Rūpadhātu worlds, it is often used to refer to the highest extreme of the universe. The current Śakra will eventually be born there. The duration of life in Akaniṣṭha is 16,000 kalpas (Vibhajyavāda tradition). The height of this world is 167,772,160 yojanas above the Earth.
Sudarśana or Sudassī – The "clear-seeing" devas live in a world similar to and friendly with the Akaniṣṭha world. The height of this world is 83,886,080 yojanas above the Earth.
Sudṛśa or Sudassa – The world of the "beautiful" devas are said to be the place of rebirth for five kinds of anāgāmins. The height of this world is 41,943,040 yojanas above the Earth.
Atapa or Atappa – The world of the "untroubled" devas, whose company those of lower realms wish for. The height of this world is 20,971,520 yojanas above the Earth.
Avṛha or Aviha – The world of the "not falling" devas, perhaps the most common destination for reborn Anāgāmins. Many achieve arhatship directly in this world, but some pass away and are reborn in sequentially higher worlds of the Pure Abodes until they are at last reborn in the Akaniṣṭha world. These are called in Pāli uddhaṃsotas, "those whose stream goes upward". The duration of life in Avṛha is 1,000 kalpas (Vibhajyavāda tradition). The height of this world is 10,485,760 yojanas above the Earth.

Bṛhatphala worlds
The mental state of the devas of the Bṛhatphala worlds corresponds to the fourth dhyāna, and is characterized by equanimity (upekṣā). The Bṛhatphala worlds form the upper limit to the destruction of the universe by wind at the end of a mahākalpa (see Temporal cosmology below), that is, they are spared such destruction.

Asaññasatta (Sanskrit: Asaṃjñasattva) (Vibhajyavāda tradition only) – "Unconscious beings", devas who have attained a high dhyāna (similar to that of the Formless Realm), and, wishing to avoid the perils of perception, have achieved a state of non-perception in which they endure for a time. After a while, however, perception arises again and they fall into a lower state.
Bṛhatphala or Vehapphala (Tib: 'bras.bu che) – Devas "having great fruit". Their lifespan is 500 mahākalpas. (Vibhajyavāda tradition). Some Anāgāmins are reborn here. The height of this world is 5,242,880 yojanas above the Earth.
Puṇyaprasava (Sarvāstivāda tradition only; Tib: bsod.nams skyes) – The world of the devas who are the "offspring of merit". The height of this world is 2,621,440 yojanas above the Earth.
Anabhraka (Sarvāstivāda tradition only; Tib: sprin.med) – The world of the "cloudless" devas. The height of this world is 1,310,720 yojanas above the Earth.

Śubhakṛtsna worlds
The mental state of the devas of the Śubhakṛtsna worlds corresponds to the third dhyāna, and is characterized by a quiet joy (sukha). These devas have bodies that radiate a steady light. The Śubhakṛtsna worlds form the upper limit to the destruction of the universe by water at the end of a mahākalpa (see Temporal cosmology below), that is, the flood of water does not rise high enough to reach them.

Śubhakṛtsna or Subhakiṇṇa / Subhakiṇha (Tib: dge.rgyas) – The world of devas of "total beauty". Their lifespan is 64 mahākalpas (some sources: 4 mahākalpas) according to the Vibhajyavāda tradition. 64 mahākalpas is the interval between destructions of the universe by wind, including the Śubhakṛtsna worlds. The height of this world is 655,360 yojanas above the Earth.
Apramāṇaśubha or Appamāṇasubha (Tib: tshad.med dge) – The world of devas of "limitless beauty". Their lifespan is 32 mahākalpas (Vibhajyavāda tradition). They possess "faith, virtue, learning, munificence and wisdom". The height of this world is 327,680 yojanas above the Earth.
Parīttaśubha or Parittasubha (Tib: dge.chung) – The world of devas of "limited beauty". Their lifespan is 16 mahākalpas. The height of this world is 163,840 yojanas above the Earth.

Ābhāsvara worlds
The mental state of the devas of the Ābhāsvara worlds corresponds to the second dhyāna, and is characterized by delight (prīti) as well as joy (sukha); the Ābhāsvara devas are said to shout aloud in their joy, crying aho sukham! ("Oh joy!"). These devas have bodies that emit flashing rays of light like lightning. They are said to have similar bodies (to each other) but diverse perceptions.

The Ābhāsvara worlds form the upper limit to the destruction of the universe by fire at the end of a mahākalpa (see Temporal cosmology below), that is, the column of fire does not rise high enough to reach them. After the destruction of the world, at the beginning of the vivartakalpa, the worlds are first populated by beings reborn from the Ābhāsvara worlds.

Ābhāsvara or Ābhassara (Tib: 'od.gsal) – The world of devas "possessing splendor". The lifespan of the Ābhāsvara devas is 8 mahākalpas (others: 2 mahākalpas). Eight mahākalpas is the interval between destructions of the universal by water, which includes the Ābhāsvara worlds. The height of this world is 81,920 yojanas above the Earth.
Apramāṇābha or Appamāṇābha (Tib: tshad.med 'od) – The world of devas of "limitless light", a concept on which they meditate. Their lifespan is 4 mahākalpas. The height of this world is 40,960 yojanas above the Earth.
Parīttābha or Parittābha (Tib: 'od chung) – The world of devas of "limited light". Their lifespan is 2 mahākalpas. The height of this world is 20,480 yojanas above the Earth.

Brahmā worlds
Main article: Brahma (Buddhism)
The mental state of the devas of the Brahmā worlds corresponds to the first dhyāna, and is characterized by observation (vitarka) and reflection (vicāra) as well as delight (prīti) and joy (sukha). The Brahmā worlds, together with the other lower worlds of the universe, are destroyed by fire at the end of a mahākalpa (see Temporal cosmology below).

Mahābrahmā (Tib: tshangs.pa chen.po) – the world of "Great Brahmā", believed by many to be the creator of the world, and having as his titles "Brahmā, Great Brahmā, the Conqueror, the Unconquered, the All-Seeing, All-Powerful, the Lord, the Maker and Creator, the Ruler, Appointer and Orderer, Father of All That Have Been and Shall Be." According to the Brahmajāla Sutta (DN.1), a Mahābrahmā is a being from the Ābhāsvara worlds who falls into a lower world through exhaustion of his merits and is reborn alone in the Brahma-world; forgetting his former existence, he imagines himself to have come into existence without cause. Note that even such a high-ranking deity has no intrinsic knowledge of the worlds above his own. Mahābrahmā is 1 1⁄2 yojanas tall. His lifespan variously said to be 1 kalpa (Vibhajyavāda tradition) or 1 1⁄2 kalpas long (Sarvāstivāda tradition), although it would seem that it could be no longer than 3⁄4 of a mahākalpa, i.e., all of the mahākalpa except for the Saṃvartasthāyikalpa, because that is the total length of time between the rebuilding of the lower world and its destruction. It is unclear what period of time "kalpa" refers to in this case. The height of this world is 10,240 yojanas above the Earth.
Brahmapurohita (Tib: tshangs.'khor) – the "Ministers of Brahmā" are beings, also originally from the Ābhāsvara worlds, that are born as companions to Mahābrahmā after he has spent some time alone. Since they arise subsequent to his thought of a desire for companions, he believes himself to be their creator, and they likewise believe him to be their creator and lord. They are 1 yojana in height and their lifespan is variously said to be 1⁄2 of a kalpa (Vibhajyavāda tradition) or a whole kalpa (Sarvāstivāda tradition). If they are later reborn in a lower world, and come to recall some part of their last existence, they teach the doctrine of Brahmā as creator as a revealed truth. The height of this world is 5,120 yojanas above the Earth.
Brahmapāriṣadya or Brahmapārisajja (Tib: tshangs.ris) – the "Councilors of Brahmā" or the devas "belonging to the assembly of Brahmā". They are also called Brahmakāyika, but this name can be used for any of the inhabitants of the Brahma-worlds. They are half a yojana in height and their lifespan is variously said to be 1⁄3 of a kalpa (Vibhajyavāda tradition) or 1⁄2 of a kalpa (Sarvāstivāda tradition). The height of this world is 2,560 yojanas above the Earth.

Kāmadhātu
The beings born in the Kāmadhātu (Pāli: Kāmaloka; Tib: 'dod.pa'i khams) differ in degree of happiness, but they are all, other than arhats and Buddhas, under the domination of Māra and are bound by sensual desire, which causes them suffering.

Heavens
The following four worlds are bounded planes. each 80,000 yojanas square, which float in the air above the top of Mount Sumeru. Although all of the worlds inhabited by devas (that is, all the worlds down to the Cāturmahārājikakāyika world and sometimes including the Asuras) are sometimes called "heavens", in the western sense of the word the term best applies to the four worlds listed below:

Parinirmita-vaśavartin or Paranimmita-vasavatti (Tib: gzhan.'phrul dbang.byed) – The heaven of devas "with power over (others') creations". These devas do not create pleasing forms that they desire for themselves, but their desires are fulfilled by the acts of other devas who wish for their favor. The ruler of this world is called Vaśavartin (Pāli: Vasavatti), who has longer life, greater beauty, more power and happiness and more delightful sense-objects than the other devas of his world. This world is also the home of the devaputra (being of divine race) called Māra, who endeavors to keep all beings of the Kāmadhātu in the grip of sensual pleasures. Māra is also sometimes called Vaśavartin, but in general these two dwellers in this world are kept distinct. The beings of this world are 4,500 feet tall and live for 9,216,000,000 years (Sarvāstivāda tradition). The height of this world is 1,280 yojanas above the Earth.
Nirmāṇarati or Nimmānaratī (Tib: 'phrul.dga' )– The world of devas "delighting in their creations". The devas of this world are capable of making any appearance to please themselves. The lord of this world is called Sunirmita (Pāli Sunimmita); his wife is the rebirth of Visākhā, formerly the chief of the upāsikās (female lay devotees) of the Buddha. The beings of this world are 3,750 feet tall and live for 2,304,000,000 years (Sarvāstivāda tradition). The height of this world is 640 yojanas above the Earth.
Tuṣita or Tusita (Tib: dga'.ldan) – The world of the "joyful" devas. This world is best known for being the world in which a Bodhisattva lives before being reborn in the world of humans. Until a few thousand years ago, the Bodhisattva of this world was Śvetaketu (Pāli: Setaketu), who was reborn as Siddhārtha, who would become the Buddha Śākyamuni; since then the Bodhisattva has been Nātha (or Nāthadeva) who will be reborn as Ajita and will become the Buddha Maitreya (Pāli Metteyya). While this Bodhisattva is the foremost of the dwellers in Tuṣita, the ruler of this world is another deva called Santuṣita (Pāli: Santusita). The beings of this world are 3,000 feet tall and live for 576,000,000 years (Sarvāstivāda tradition). The height of this world is 320 yojanas above the Earth.
Yāma (Tib: 'thab.bral) – Sometimes called the "heaven without fighting", because it is the lowest of the heavens to be physically separated from the tumults of the earthly world. These devas live in the air, free of all difficulties. Its ruler is the deva Suyāma; according to some, his wife is the rebirth of Sirimā, a courtesan of Rājagṛha in the Buddha's time who was generous to the monks. The beings of this world are 2,250 feet tall and live for 144,000,000 years (Sarvāstivāda tradition). The height of this world is 160 yojanas above the Earth.

Worlds of Sumeru
Main article: Sumeru
The world-mountain of Sumeru is an immense, strangely shaped peak which arises in the center of the world, and around which the Sun and Moon revolve. Its base rests in a vast ocean, and it is surrounded by several rings of lesser mountain ranges and oceans. The three worlds listed below are all located on or around Sumeru: the Trāyastriṃśa devas live on its peak, the Cāturmahārājikakāyika devas live on its slopes, and the Asuras live in the ocean at its base. Sumeru and its surrounding oceans and mountains are the home not just of these deities, but also vast assemblies of beings of popular mythology who only rarely intrude on the human world.

Trāyastriṃśa or Tāvatiṃsa (Tib: sum.cu.rtsa.gsum.pa) – The world "of the Thirty-three (devas)" is a wide flat space on the top of Mount Sumeru, filled with the gardens and palaces of the devas. Its ruler is Śakra devānām indra, "lord of the devas". Besides the eponymous Thirty-three devas, many other devas and supernatural beings dwell here, including the attendants of the devas and many apsarases (nymphs). The beings of this world are 1,500 feet tall and live for 36,000,000 years (Sarvāstivāda tradition) or 3/4 of a yojana tall and live for 30,000,000 years (Vibhajyavāda tradition). The height of this world is 80 yojanas above the Earth.
Cāturmahārājikakāyika or Cātummahārājika (Tib: rgyal.chen bzhi) – The world "of the Four Great Kings" is found on the lower slopes of Mount Sumeru, though some of its inhabitants live in the air around the mountain. Its rulers are the four Great Kings of the name, Virūḍhaka, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Virūpākṣa, and their leader Vaiśravaṇa. The devas who guide the Sun and Moon are also considered part of this world, as are the retinues of the four kings, composed of Kumbhāṇḍas (dwarfs), Gandharvas (fairies), Nāgas (dragons) and Yakṣas (goblins). The beings of this world are 750 feet tall and live for 9,000,000 years (Sarvāstivāda tradition) or 90,000 years (Vibhajyavāda tradition). The height of this world is from sea level up to 40 yojanas above the Earth.
Asura (Tib: lha.ma.yin) – The world of the Asuras is the space at the foot of Mount Sumeru, much of which is a deep ocean. It is not the Asuras' original home, but the place they found themselves after they were hurled, drunken, from Trāyastriṃśa where they had formerly lived. The Asuras are always fighting to regain their lost kingdom on the top of Mount Sumeru, but are unable to break the guard of the Four Great Kings. The Asuras are divided into many groups, and have no single ruler, but among their leaders are Vemacitrin (Pāli: Vepacitti) and Rāhu.

Earthly realms
Manuṣyaloka (Tib: mi) – This is the world of humans and human-like beings who live on the surface of the earth. The mountain-rings that engird Sumeru are surrounded by a vast ocean, which fills most of the world. The ocean is in turn surrounded by a circular mountain wall called Cakravāḍa (Pāli: Cakkavāḷa) which marks the horizontal limit of the world. In this ocean there are four continents which are, relatively speaking, small islands in it. Because of the immenseness of the ocean, they cannot be reached from each other by ordinary sailing vessels, although in the past, when the cakravartin kings ruled, communication between the continents was possible by means of the treasure called the cakraratna (Pāli cakkaratana), which a cakravartin and his retinue could use to fly through the air between the continents. The four continents are:

Jambudvīpa or Jambudīpa is located in the south and is the dwelling of ordinary human beings. It is said to be shaped "like a cart", or rather a blunt-nosed triangle with the point facing south. (This description probably echoes the shape of the coastline of southern India.) It is 10,000 yojanas in extent (Vibhajyavāda tradition) or has a perimeter of 6,000 yojanas (Sarvāstivāda tradition) to which can be added the southern coast of only 3 1⁄2 yojanas' length. The continent takes its name from a giant Jambu tree (Syzygium cumini), 100 yojanas tall, which grows in the middle of the continent. Every continent has one of these giant trees. All Buddhas appear in Jambudvīpa. The people here are five to six feet tall and their length of life varies between 80,000 and 10 years.

Pūrvavideha or Pubbavideha is located in the east, and is shaped like a semicircle with the flat side pointing westward (i.e., towards Sumeru). It is 7,000 yojanas in extent (Vibhajyavāda tradition) or has a perimeter of 6,350 yojanas of which the flat side is 2,000 yojanas long (Sarvāstivāda tradition). Its tree is the acacia. The people here are about 12 feet tall and they live for 250 years.

Aparagodānīya or Aparagoyāna is located in the west, and is shaped like a circle with a circumference of about 7,500 yojanas (Sarvāstivāda tradition). The tree of this continent is a giant Kadambu tree. The human inhabitants of this continent do not live in houses but sleep on the ground. They are about 24 feet tall and they live for 500 years.

Uttarakuru is located in the north, and is shaped like a square. It has a perimter of 8,000 yojanas, being 2,000 yojanas on each side. This continent's tree is called a kalpavṛkṣa (Pāli: kapparukkha) or kalpa-tree, because it lasts for the entire kalpa. The inhabitants of Uttarakuru are said to be extraordinarily wealthy. They do not need to labor for a living, as their food grows by itself, and they have no private property. They have cities built in the air. They are about 48 feet tall and live for 1,000 years, and they are under the protection of Vaiśravaṇa.
Tiryagyoni-loka or Tiracchāna-yoni (Tib: dud.'gro) – This world comprises all members of the animal kingdom that are capable of feeling suffering, from the smallest insect to the elephant.
Pretaloka or Petaloka (Tib: yi.dvags) – The pretas, or "hungry ghosts", are mostly dwellers on earth, though due to their mental state they perceive it very differently from humans. They live for the most part in desert and waste places.

Narakas
Main article: Naraka (Buddhism)
Naraka or Niraya (Tib: dmyal.ba) is the name given to one of the worlds of greatest suffering, usually translated into English as "hell" or "purgatory". As with the other realms, a being is born into one of these worlds as a result of his karma, and resides there for a finite length of time until his karma has achieved its full result, after which he will be reborn in one of the higher worlds as the result of an earlier karma that had not yet ripened. The mentality of a being in the hells corresponds to states of extreme fear and helpless anguish in humans.

Physically, Naraka is thought of as a series of layers extending below Jambudvīpa into the earth. There are several schemes for counting these Narakas and enumerating their torments. One of the more common is that of the Eight Cold Narakas and Eight Hot Narakas.

Cold Narakas
Arbuda – the "blister" Naraka
Nirarbuda – the "burst blister" Naraka
Aṭaṭa – the Naraka of shivering
Hahava – the Naraka of lamentation
Huhuva – the Naraka of chattering teeth
Utpala – the "blue lotus" Naraka
Padma – the "lotus" Naraka
Mahāpadma – the "great lotus" Naraka
Each lifetime in these Narakas is twenty times the length of the one before it.

Hot Narakas
Sañjīva – the "reviving" Naraka. Life in this Naraka is 162*1010 years long.
Kālasūtra – the "black thread" Naraka. Life in this Naraka is 1296*1010 years long.
Saṃghāta – the "crushing" Naraka. Life in this Naraka is 10,368*1010 years long.
Raurava – the "screaming" Naraka. Life in this Naraka is 82,944*1010 years long.
Mahāraurava – the "great screaming" Naraka. Life in this Naraka is 663,552*1010 years long.
Tapana – the "heating" Naraka. Life in this Naraka is 5,308,416*1010 years long.
Pratāpana – the "great heating" Naraka. Life in this Naraka is 42,467,328*1010 years long.
Avīci – the "uninterrupted" Naraka. Life in this Naraka is 339,738,624*1010 years long.

The foundations of the earth
All of the structures of the earth, Sumeru and the rest, extend downward to a depth of 80,000 yojanas below sea level – the same as the height of Sumeru above sea level. Below this is a layer of "golden earth", a substance compact and firm enough to support the weight of Sumeru. It is 320,000 yojanas in depth and so extends to 400,000 yojanas below sea level. The layer of golden earth in turn rests upon a layer of water, which is 8,000,000 yojanas in depth, going down to 8,400,000 yojanas below sea level. Below the layer of water is a "circle of wind", which is 16,000,000 yojanas in depth and also much broader in extent, supporting 1,000 different worlds upon it.

Sahasra cosmology
While the vertical cosmology describes the arrangement of the worlds vertically, the sahasra (Sanskrit: "thousand") cosmology describes how they are grouped horizontally. The four heavens of the Kāmadhātu, as mentioned, occupy a limited space no bigger than the top of Mount Sumeru. The three Brahmā-worlds, however, stretch out as far as the mountain-wall of Cakravāḍa, filling the entire sky. This whole group of worlds, from Mahābrahmā down to the foundations of water, constitutes a single world-system. It corresponds to the extent of the universe that is destroyed by fire at the end of one mahākalpa.

Above Mahābrahmā are the Ābhāsvara worlds. These are not only higher but also wider in extent; they cover 1,000 separate world-systems, each with its own Sumeru, Cakravāḍa, Sun, Moon, and four continents. This system of 1,000 worlds is called a sāhasra-cūḍika-lokadhātu, or "small chiliocosm". It corresponds to the extent of the universe that is destroyed by water at the end of 8 mahākalpas.

Above the Ābhāsvara worlds are the Śubhakṛtsna worlds, which cover 1,000 chiliocosms, or 1,000,000 world-systems. This larger system is called a dvisāhasra-madhyama-lokadhātu, or "medium dichiliocosm". It corresponds to the extent of the universe that is destroyed by wind at the end of 64 mahākalpas.

Likewise, above the Śubhakṛtsna worlds, the Śuddhāvāsa and Bṛhatphala worlds cover 1,000 dichiliocosms, or 1,000,000,000 world-systems. This largest grouping is called a trisāhasra-mahāsāhasra-lokadhātu or "great trichiliocosm".

Temporal cosmology
Buddhist temporal cosmology describes how the universe comes into being and is dissolved. Like other Indian cosmologies, it assumes an infinite span of time and is cyclical. This does not mean that the same events occur in identical form with each cycle, but merely that, as with the cycles of day and night or summer and winter, certain natural events occur over and over to give some structure to time.

The basic unit of time measurement is the mahākalpa or "Great Eon". The exact length of this time in human years is never defined exactly, but it is meant to be very long, to be measured in billions of years if not longer.

A mahākalpa is divided into four kalpas or "eons", each distinguished from the others by the stage of evolution of the universe during that kalpa. The four kalpas are:

Vivartakalpa "Eon of evolution" – during this kalpa the universe comes into existence.
Vivartasthāyikalpa "Eon of evolution-duration" – during this kalpa the universe remains in existence in a steady state.
Saṃvartakalpa "Eon of dissolution" – during this kalpa the universe dissolves.
Saṃvartasthāyikalpa "Eon of dissolution-duration" – during this kalpa the universe remains in a state of emptiness.
Each one of these kalpas is divided into twenty antarakalpas (Pāli antarakappa, "inside eons") each of about the same length. For the Saṃvartasthāyikalpa this division is merely nominal, as nothing changes from one antarakalpa to the next; but for the other three kalpas it marks an interior cycle within the kalpa.

Vivartakalpa
The Vivartakalpa begins with the arising of the primordial wind, which begins the process of building up the structures of the universe that had been destroyed at the end of the last mahākalpa. As the extent of the destruction can vary, the nature of this evolution can vary as well, but it always takes the form of beings from a higher world being born into a lower world. The example of a Mahābrahmā being the rebirth of a deceased Ābhāsvara deva is just one instance of this, which continues throughout the Vivartakalpa until all the worlds are filled from the Brahmaloka down to Naraka. During the Vivartakalpa the first humans appear; they are not like present-day humans, but are beings shining in their own light, capable of moving through the air without mechanical aid, living for a very long time, and not requiring sustenance; they are more like a type of lower deity than present-day humans are.

Over time, they acquire a taste for physical nutriment, and as they consume it, their bodies become heavier and more like human bodies; they lose their ability to shine, and begin to acquire differences in their appearance, and their length of life decreases. They differentiate into two sexes and begin to become sexually active. Then greed, theft and violence arise among them, and they establish social distinctions and government and elect a king to rule them, called Mahāsammata, "the great appointed one". Some of them begin to hunt and eat the flesh of animals, which have by now come into existence. These developments are described in the Aggañña Sutta (DN.27).

Vivartasthāyikalpa

First antarakalpa
The Vivartasthāyikalpa begins when the first being is born into Naraka, thus filling the entire universe with beings. During the first antarakalpa of this eon, human lives are declining from a vast but unspecified number of years (but at least several tens of thousands of years) toward the modern lifespan of less than 100 years. At the beginning of the antarakalpa, people are still generally happy. They live under the rule of a universal monarch or "wheel-turning king" (cakravartin), who conquer. The Mahāsudassana-sutta (DN.17) tells of the life of a cakravartin king, Mahāsudassana (Sanskrit: Mahāsudarśana) who lived for 336,000 years. The Cakkavatti-sīhanāda-sutta (DN.26) tells of a later dynasty of cakravartins, Daḷhanemi (Sanskrit: Dṛḍhanemi) and five of his descendants, who had a lifespan of over 80,000 years. The seventh of this line of cakravartins broke with the traditions of his forefathers, refusing to abdicate his position at a certain age , pass the throne on to his son, and enter the life of a śramaṇa. As a result of his subsequent misrule, poverty increased; as a result of poverty, theft began; as a result of theft, capital punishment was instituted; and as a result of this contempt for life, murders and other crimes became rampant.

The human lifespan now quickly decreased from 80,000 to 100 years, apparently decreasing by about half with each generation (this is perhaps not to be taken literally), while with each generation other crimes and evils increased: lying, adultery, evil speech, greed and hatred, wrong views, incest and other sorts of sexual abnormalities, disrespect for parents and elders. During this period, according to the Mahāpadāna-sutta (DN.14) three of the four Buddhas of this antarakalpa lived: Krakucchanda Buddha (Pāli: Kakusandha), at the time when the lifespan was 40,000 years; Kanakamuni Buddha (Pāli: Konāgamana) when the lifespan was 30,000 years; and Kāśyapa Buddha (Pāli: Kassapa) when the lifespan was 20,000 years.

Our present time is taken to be toward the end of the first antarakalpa of this Vivartasthāyikalpa, when the lifespan is less than 100 years, after the life of Śākyamuni Buddha (Pāli: Sakyamuni), who lived to the age of 80.

The remainder of the antarakalpa is prophesied to be miserable: lifespans will continue to decrease, and all the evil tendencies of the past will reach their ultimate in destructiveness. People will live no longer than ten years, and will marry at five; foods will be poor and tasteless; no form of morality will be acknowledged. The most contemptuous and hateful people will become the rulers. Incest will be rampant. Hatred between people, even members of the same family, will grow until people think of each other as hunters do of their prey.

Eventually a great war will ensue, in which the most hostile and aggressive will arm themselves and go out to kill each other. The less aggressive will hide in forests and other secret places while the war rages. This war marks the end of the first antarakalpa.

Second antarakalpa
At the end of the war, the survivors will emerge from their hiding places and repent their evil habits. As they begin to do good, their lifespan increases, and the health and welfare of the human race will also increase with it. After a long time, the descendants of those with a 10-year lifespan will live for 80,000 years, and at that time there will be a cakravartin king named Saṅkha. During his reign, the current bodhisattva in the Tuṣita heaven will descend and be reborn under the name of Ajita. He will enter the life of a śramaṇa and will gain perfect enlightenment as a Buddha; and he will then be known by the name of Maitreya (Pāli: Metteyya).

After Maitreya's time, the world will again worsen, and the lifespan will gradually decrease from 80,000 years to 10 years again, each antarakalpa being separated from the next by devastating war, with peaks of high civilization and morality in the middle. After the 19th antarakalpa, the lifespan will increase to 80,000 and then not decrease, because the Vivartasthāyikalpa will have come to an end.

Saṃvartakalpa
The Saṃvartakalpa begins when beings cease to be born in Naraka. This cessation of birth then proceeds in reverse order up the vertical cosmology, i.e., pretas then cease to be born, then animals, then humans, and so on up to the realms of the deities.

When these worlds as far as the Brahmaloka are devoid of inhabitants, a great fire consumes the entire physical structure of the world. It burns all the worlds below the Ābhāsvara worlds. When they are destroyed, the Saṃvartasthāyikalpa begins.

Saṃvartasthāyikalpa
There is nothing to say about the Saṃvartasthāyikalpa, since nothing happens in it below the Ābhāsvara worlds. It ends when the primordial wind begins to blow and build the structure of the worlds up again.

Other destructions
The destruction by fire is the normal type of destruction that occurs at the end of the Saṃvartakalpa. But every eighth mahākalpa, after seven destructions by fire, there is a destruction by water. This is more devastating, as it eliminates not just the Brahma worlds but also the Ābhāsvara worlds.

Every sixty-fourth mahākalpa, after 56 destructions by fire and 7 destructions by water, there is a destruction by wind. This is the most devastating of all, as it also destroys the Śubhakṛtsna worlds. The higher worlds are never destroyed.

The phrase fourteen unanswerable questions, in Buddhism, refers to fourteen common philosophical questions that Buddha refused to answer.

Fourteen questions
Questions referring to the world: concerning the existence of the world in time

Is the world eternal?
or not?
or both?
or neither?
Questions referring to the world: concerning the existence of the world in space

Is the world finite?
or not?
or both?
or neither?
Questions referring to what is beyond the world

Does the Tathagata exist after death?
or not?
or both?
or neither?
Questions referring to personal experience

Is the self identical with the body?
or is it different from the body?

Buddha's answer to the questions
The Buddha remained silent when asked these fourteen questions. He described them as a net and refused to be drawn into such a net of theories, speculations, and dogmas. He said that it was because he was free of bondage to all theories and dogmas that he had attained liberation. Such speculations, he said, are attended by fever, unease, bewilderment, and suffering, and it is by freeing oneself of them that one achieves liberation.

Implications
The fourteen questions imply two basic attitudes toward the world. The Buddha spoke of these two attitudes in his dialogue with Mahakashyapa, when he said that there are two basic views, the view of existence and the view of nonexistence. He said that people are accustomed to think in these terms, and that as long as they remain entangled in these two views they will not attain liberation.

The propositions that the world is eternal, that the world is infinite, that the Tathagatha exists after death, and that the self is independent of the body reflect the view of existence. The propositions that the world is not eternal, that the world is finite, that the Tathagata does not exist after death, and that the self is identical with the body reflect the view of nonexistence. These two views were professed by teachers of other schools during the time of the Buddha. The view of existence is generally the view of the Brahmins; that of nonexistence is generally the view of the materialists and hedonists.

When the Buddha refused to be drawn into the net of these dogmatic views of existence and nonexistence, he had two things in mind: the ethical consequences of these two views, and the fact that the views of absolute existence and nonexistence do not correspond to the way things really are. The eternalists view this self as permanent and unchanging. When the body dies, this self will not die because the self is by nature unchanging. If that is the case, it does not matter what this body does: actions of the body will not affect the destiny of the self. This view is incompatible with moral responsibility because if the self is eternal and unchanging, it will not be affected by wholesome and unwholesome actions. Similarly, if the self were identical with the body and the self dies along with the body, then it does not matter what the body does. If you believe that existence ends at death, there will be no constraint upon action. But in a situation where things exist through interdependent origination, absolute existence and nonexistence are impossible.

Another example drawn from the fourteen unanswerable questions also shows that the propositions do not correspond to the way things really are. Take the example of the world. According to Buddhist teaching, the world does not exist absolutely or does not exist absolutely in time. The world exists dependent on causes and conditions--ignorance, craving, and clinging. When ignorance, craving, and clinging are present, the world exists; when they are not present, the world ceases to exist. Hence the question of the absolute existence or nonexistence of the world is unanswerable. Existence and nonexistence, taken as absolute ideas, do not apply to things as they really are. This is why the Buddha refused to agree to absolute statements about the nature of things. He saw that the absolute categories of metaphysics do not apply to things as they really are.

Human Religion and Peace

Gautama Buddha: Human Religion and Peace
Dr. Ravindra Kumar - 9/16/2007

A consideration has been continuing since utmost early stage of human life. The consideration is regarding controlling others. A person wants to keep him or herself in a higher position in comparison to others. This factor has been responsible for disintegration of society. Many nations faced degradation on this accord. A person forgets that he cannot be master of others. He is master of self only. Sooner or later, we shall have to admit and adopt the concept of equality and it indicates friendliness. Lord Gautama Buddha preached this in times past:

“Attahi Attano Natho Ko Dwinatho Parosiya
Attana Va Sudanten Natham Labhati Dhullabham”

That is: Man is himself his master. No other one can be his master. Hard earned mastership is gained only after sublimating oneself adequately.
Lord Buddha was in favor of equality amongst all human beings. ‘Man’ or ‘woman’, all were equal for him. There was no caste or class in his vocabulary. He was not only deadly against the words - master and slave; he struggled during whole of his life to eliminate them. It was during this struggle that he established human religion based on equality in order to ensure that all may tread path of peace. He wished that no one should exploit any other. All must control themselves. We must give up desire to become masters: such a desire is false and should be given up heartily.

There has been a tendency in human society to control others or to keep others as slaves. This tendency has been there since quite long. The tendency has been at all levels: personal, social and national. It was on this account that not only human blood was shed in personal, social or national struggles but societies were also disintegrated. The existence of humanity was challenged and its peace was disturbed.

Lord Gautama Buddha induced human-beings to know his reality. He did not permit concealment of innumerable evils that emerge from policy of non-equality. He stressed perpetual need of equality based on affection and friendliness. This was propounded by him as Human Religion. It is a remedy to all problems. He initiated a non-violent movement-cum-revolution against mastership spirit of human beings. A particular class had been keeping its all-out hold on society. This class had been prescribing false and selfish rules again and again. Human society was being made fearful of God in order to achieve selfish goals. Lord Buddha alerted this class and stated:

“These persons believe in one God. We can be up to that God only through them. The Human Beings can enter ‘Pawana Pawananam’ only after their permission.”
It was, as such, made mandatory for people to offer them things in form of Dakshina. They were required to worship them and to be on the way shown by them. They were as a way asked to give all of theirs to them.

“This tendency of such persons in World-history is like that of a beastly thirsty and hungry lion. This is actually the nature of people who consider themselves born to exploit others. These persons prescribe and manage thousands of regulations.”

He said: “They are motivated to establish their hold on society. They want control on the people in any deliberate manner. They describe simple regulations in a complex way so as to keep their position intact. They produce stories before people for this very purpose. The stories are enframed in a way so as to get their doctrines confirmed. Thereafter, they combine these stories with human service pertaining to others so that people may remain obedient out of fear. How sweet the dream shown by them is - they say - in case a person wants to flourish in his life and wishes to be in heaven after death, he can expect so only through them. The people shall have to perform various rituals and rites etc. in accordance with the path shown by them. They have made life so unreal and complex. They have made mind so perplexed that life cannot go on adequately - this can be straightforwardly stated. A man can learn nothing except dissatisfaction. This is like reducing a man in a state of idiotness after intoxicating him very gravely.”

Gautama Buddha came forward to save human society from these rites and false rituals etc. He said.... A man shall get welfare in proportion to his being away from these vices..... Lord Buddha accorded such a warning against the class that was arbitrary. Distressed people at large at once comprehended that. They put their attention to what he said. Lord Buddha continued struggle against the class dominating since centuries in a broad perspective - this class was exploiting human society arbitrarily. He achieved victory ultimately. Human religion based on equality could spread itself and the concept of peace could find its way.

That class in Buddhist era was in favor of policy of inequality in humanity through false rituals or regulations etc. The people belonging to this class were not in favor of equality to all. A spirit of fear was forced unto people’s mind through attractive things like God, or Heaven. These things were done by the so called higher class. A particular class was not permitted to exercise rites, activities pertaining to education or to perform rituals. Behaviour towards them was worse than that towards animals. The people belonging to this class were called Shudras.

All know that it was prescribed.... no Shudra should get even a word of Vedas in to his ears. If so happens in any eventuality molten lead must be poured into his ears. This class could not reside with other classes. The persons belonging to this class were refused to eat with, keep company or sit with persons of other classes. This class was without rights. The position of this class in society was next to animals. Lives belonging to this class were dedicated to one aim: this aim was to remain subordinate to the will of other classes and to do whatever people of other classes would want. A person belonging to Shudra class could only breathe as per their indications.
Ultimately, Gautama Buddha could not tolerate this all. He perused ghastly sin in this policy of inequality. He had acquired intellect and energy. His heart was as open as the open sky. He observed the extent of unjustness in those who were leading the people. He could also realize a feeling of glory in them along with their unjust power. Afterwards, Lord Buddha opened his mouth fiercely and cleared the way to human society through compassion and affection. Gautama did not want to force any right on anyone.

He intended to break spiritual and mental obstructions pertaining to humanity. It was for this reason that open hearted Buddha suggested ways and means to salvation and liberty to those persons who were downtrodden and devoid of rights. He suggested simple ways and means through his exquisite intellect.
Lord Buddha could know the real reasons that aggrieve us. He searched a way to put an end to agonies. He collected the treasure of all solutions in his great mind and thereafter opened that way equally for all without any distinction. He was a master. He inspired all to gain “Sambodhi” peace. Such a person, Lord Buddha, was-an inspirator who was peaceful, one who sermoned human religion and who could accord liberation. He said:

“Jachcha Na Baslo Hoti, Jachcha Na Hoti Brahmno,
Kammana Baslo Hoti, Kammana Hoti Brahmno”

It means - No one is Brahmin by birth. No one is low. A man is Brahmin or low as per his deeds.

Mahatma Buddha, who accepted the doctrine of “Karma Shreshtha”, achieved a victory by stipulating human beings as equal in struggle between priests or saints and then Lord Buddha paved an easy way that was for emancipation of humanity. It has been described in Lord Christ’s ‘Sermons on the Mount’ as well as in the Gita. The priestly or saintly class had negated it. This class had adopted the diction pertaining to “great by birth and position by fate”. They had expressed that no truth could be known by simple or straightforward way. These people used to talk about 2000 hells and heavens and public in general was dreadful of them. These people used to suggest that salvation of public was possible only through the ways prescribed by them. Only then they will get entry in to heaven or shall have to suffer hell.

Innumerable persons of society were in want of knowledge vividly. The sphere of Vedas had been made limited and mysterious. The human society was chained to misbeliefs and deceptions. Lord Buddha gave the message to human society of leading life through non-violence, compassion, affection and intellectual ingredients. Non-violence, compassion and affection are true and fundamental assumptions. These assumptions are sacred and non-complex. They are mighty basis of human religion. Lord Buddha adopted these basic assumptions in his sermons. His sermons were grasped by people in general very soon.
Behavior of Lord Buddha was simple but that of equality. His language was that of a common man. His tongue became sacred on this account for all: educated & non-educated or rich and poor. Undoubtedly, Lord Buddha raised the voice of perpetual compassion and peace on this earth which was suffering and was under duress. He visualized agony and its cause. He clarified sacrifice and saintliness of high order. He gave truthfulness of indifferent order, welfare of others and sublimity to human character. These were means to liberation. He made people understand the factors behind disasters and cause of agonies. He stated that whenever there is some grief or disaster, we must clearly understand that there is certainly some evil within ourselves. As such, we must know both “Samvrattik” and “Pramarthik” truths.

Lord Gautama Buddha advised people to ponder over their shortcomings and said:
“We very easily see a defect in others. It is difficult to see any shortcomings unto self”. A man spreads shortcomings of his neighbors like straw whereas he tends to hide any shortcomings unto self. The truthfulness of life lies in the fact that a man should examine his own shortcomings and causes of agony.
Lord Buddha dedicated himself to eradicate many evils including that of finding faults with others. He also conveyed a message about absolute integrity through non-struggle device. He stressed upon understanding the reality of this life without any discrimination. His message was for all. Human equality was not only a message of his religion: it was also an all-sided basis.

Morality is integrally connected with humanity. In case it is separated from humanity, it shall be a social irony. It so happened in the time of Lord Buddha; morality was out of scene. Free inspiration regarding development was under deep pressure. The class which was required to be a source of inspiration became instigator of darkness in society as per their deeds. The people of this class began to accord unfair claims on power and privileges. A person from this class could even murder someone and was not liable to be punished. Anyone born in a home belonging to this class automatically controlled other persons. A person of this class was worthy of reverence even if he was characterless. Such were the dictums. A person belonging to that class could commit a sinful act and even then he was patron of religion along with being representative of God. A Shudra was not authorized to worship freely unto Almighty even if he carried out sublime activities. Such were the moral circumstances. Lord Buddha said on this very account:

“Those cannot be learned who cannot control themselves. They cannot be full of wisdom, who do not make themselves fit according to their education. Those cannot be learned people who cannot engage themselves in sublime activities.”
In his own words:

“Attana Evam Pathamam Pathirupe Nivesayam,
Athamjamanusayeyaya Na Kilissepya Pandito”

It means - first of all, we should engage ourselves at adequate actions and it is only after that we may accord sermons to others. The learned man can be without disaster only by doing so. He also said:

“Attanache Tatha Kapira Yathanjmanusasati,
Sudantovata Dammetha Attahi Kiraduthdhamo”

It means that we should upkeep our conduct in accordance with the sermons which we are scheduled to pass over to others. We must first control ourselves and only then we should say to others. It is very difficult to control own self. This is a reality. This was a simple but real message of Gautama Buddha. This was amazing and sadly that the regulations framed by a specific class were symbolical of injustice. They were only to sub dice the Shudras. These rules had no need or utility. Truth is ubiquity to us. Why can we not approach a truth straightforwardly? In case God is true, the way to Him should be straightforward. Why God and man cannot meet each other in a direct manner?

Persons indulging themselves in evil deeds hide themselves from God under the pretext of religion and its epitaphs. The nature of truthful God cannot be such that someone should be meddling between Him and a human being. When God is real, such distinctions cannot be spiritual and cannot constitute a religion. Only a class cannot be worthy of truthfulness. Why should not people in general be capable of that? All these questions were before Lord Buddha. He announced these queries and said:

“In case it is so, Man does not need such deliberate truth, religion or spirituality, He should refuse such a false conduct.”

Lord Buddha negated the unreality of rituals and he held that a society must have clean and developed moral standards because if the moral position of society is inferior [as it was then in human society], any force shall lead only to disaster. Resultantly, political situation shall also be degrading. All evils including causing grief, misutilization, corruption and arbitrariness that can break society shall flourish. In such a situation, the politics shall also be such that will fully turmoil human values. In contradiction, the mental plane of people shall be selfless in case there is adequate moral force in society. The life shall be based on equality and it shall be simple. It will be real and peaceful. Political situation shall also be accessible. It shall be leading to progress. Lord Buddha found society ‘devoid of moral values’. He also found monarchy to be center of misdeeds. Even then he did not attack any religious dogma. He permitted others also to equally march forward.

Subsequently, he took upon himself those people in general who were exploited and did not possess rights. He took society towards a simple, practical and real objective.

Lord Buddha did not wish to gain power. He did not need to prescribe complex regulations. He had no reason to impart education of might to his followers. He was well acquainted with the amazing weaknesses of so called priests. He knew that it was essential in this world to take a human being to a right path. He did this all as a brave warrior and a person of the era who was really mighty. He stressed on human religious establishments and said:
“A hungry person cannot have religion and action. We shall have to fulfill his want in order to get religion and action unto him. As such we cannot control anger also in someone by making him without a want.”

He emphasized that it is the religion of a human being to understand first the reality of life. This is the religion of a good order. One who cannot foresee and adopt good religion lives uselessly a life of 100 years. A life of a day is good in case it is full of knowledge of good religion. It means that a person has become familiar with reality of life. In his own words:

“Yo Cha Vassatatam Jeeve Apassam Dhamma Muttam,
Ekamha Jivitam Seyoo Passato Dhamma Muttam”

Why after all there is agony in our life. Mahatma Buddha considered it. He deliberated and said: “Because we are full of selfishness; we are narrow-minded in our thoughts. We work in selfishness. We aspire for personal pleasures and amenities.”

He also said: “We forget humanity while doing so. Result of all these things is bound to be agony. Then what to do? Should we give up soul? Should we consider that there is no rule of God and this deceiving world is at rule? We observe only this world directly. There is no element like soul after the cycle of Birth and Death. It is all a notion. A science subsequently follows other. Every science gets existence within a moment. That very moment that one becomes out of scene. A significant thing is that there is no scientist of science. As such, there is no soul. Body undergoes changes every time. Consciousness and intellect also change in the same manner. As such, soul is dubious dogma which we cherish. Selfishness occurs when we try to remain attached to this dubious spirit of soul. This is the truth. As such, we can be gay if we realize the truth that there is no soul.”

Not only that, we shall render happiness unto others. This was Lord Buddha’s logical sermon. He himself spent his life in accordance with this sermon.
Lord Buddha stressed on compassion towards every living being and not only towards man. He questioned: “In case it is good to sacrifice an animal as per slaying, it shall be better to utilize a person in this regard.”

He offered himself for such a sacrifice. He considered animal - sacrifice to be very disastrous belief which was irrational. Lord Buddha said all this emphatically. He prescribed that all are slaves equally to deed and result. What shall be the justification of creation of Universe in case we do not stick to the rule of result as per deed? He refused that ruler is there in some heaven. That ruler may rule as per his wish and may leave us here to suffer agonies.

According to him: “It is all a lie. Our whole life is perpetual disaster. There is no use of exercising false rituals and different rites etc.”

Lord Buddha prescribed that there is only one ideal in the World. All religious-rites are false. We have to discard attachment. After that, only truth shall be in balance. Sun will shine when clouds shall not be there. Do not work towards any misbelief and adopt this principle in total. Sacrifice in real spirit even for the lowest creature. Do not work to please someone or to have an award. Work in order to get salvation through demise of soul. He also said:
“Do not accord regards and worship someone about whom you are ignorant.”
Really, Lord Buddha opposed the regulations that were framed for selfish ends on the ground of deceptions and misendeavorers. Inhumanity, beastliness, poverty and exploitation were the forces of these regulations. These regulations had combined Soul and God. Humanity was destroyed. As such, he undertook real deliberations and explained agony, its cause, its remedy and the ways that were required for this purpose. This explanation grasps the basic tenets of humanity. He called upon to remove the obstacles in the practical aspect of these doctrines through eight middle ways. Middle way i.e., to come out of extreme harshness and simpleness that is not possible.
Eight ways are:

• Samyak Drishti;
• Samyak Vaak;
• Samyak Sankalpa;
• Samyak Vyayaama;
• Samyak Karmanta;
• Samyak Aajivika;
• Samyak Smriti; and
• Samyak Samadhi

Mahatma Buddha is a champion of equality. As such, his religion is human-religion. This is directly connected with humanity. Non-violence, Compassion, Sacrifice, alliance, that is friendliness and peace are integrally associated with it.

These are all fundamental and best grounds of human-equality. Above mentioned ingredients must be practiced as far as possible. This will lead to establishment of a human society based on equality. Our way to peace shall be in broader sight.

Lord Buddha considered behavior to be the foremost. He was one who equated a principle with practice. He was a preacher of a clan in which preachers make a truth, a perfect truth. He presented a burning example while investigating Truth. We shall have to be aware of prime reason behind the calamities that render sufferings unto whole of human-world today. We have ourselves nourished all disasters as per selfishness unto us.
Our old ailment is that of human-distinction. This will have to be finished at all planes: personal, national and international. Spirit of inequality at all levels is basic reason behind evil and turmoil.

The way shown by Lord Buddha is clear. He does not at all compromise with so called priests. He has no attachment with those with might or with rulers. He does not cherish a man to be a means to misconduct. Lord Buddha did not cherish that a human-being should stop before traditions based on the misbeliefs: to whatever extent old they might be. He did not want that a person should adopt rituals that have been continuing since very long in case they happen to be the means of exploitation. He only wants equal welfare of every human-being. This is also predominantly significant and contextual today. We shall make our lives meaningless if we follow the policy of human-exploitation being guided by and having within ourselves spirit of inequality. This is the sermon of Lord Buddha. This is the essence of his peace-oriented human religion.

Dr. Ravindra Kumar is a universally renowned Gandhian scholar, Indologist and writer. He is the Former Vice-Chancellor of University of Meerut.

Lust for life

Here comes Johnny Yen again
With the liquor and drugs
And the flesh machine
He's gonna do another strip tease.
Hey man, where'd ya get that lotion?
I've been hurting since I've bought the gimmick
about something called love
Yeah, something called love.
Well, that's like hypnotizing chickens.
Well, I'm just a modern guy
Of course, I've had it in the ear before.
I have a lust for life
'Cause of a lust for life.
I'm worth a million in prizes
With my torture film
Drive a GTO
Wear a uniform all on a government loan.
I'm worth a million in prizes
Yeah, I'm through with sleeping on the sidewalk
No more beating my brains
No more beating my brains
With liquor and drugs
With liquor and drugs.
Well, I'm just a modern guy
Of course, I've had it in my ear before
Well, I've a lust for life (lust for life)
'Cause of a lust for life (lust for life, oooo)
I got a lust for life (oooo)
Got a lust for life (oooo)
Oh, a lust for life (oooo)
Oh, a lust for life (oooo)
A lust for life (oooo)
I got a lust for life (oooo)
Got a lust for life.
Well, I'm just a modern guy Of course,
I've had it in my ear before
Well, I've a lust for life
'Cause I've a lust for life.
Here comes Johnny Yen again
With the liquor and drugs
And the flesh machine I know He's gonna do another strip tease.
Hey man, where'd ya get that lotion?
Your skin starts itching once you buy the gimmick about something called love
Love, love, love
Well, that's like hypnotizing chickens.
Well, I'm just a modern guy
Of course, I've had it in the ear before
And I've a lust for life (lust for life)
'Cause I've a lust for life (lust for life)
Got a lust for life Yeah,
a lust for life
I got a lust for life
A lust for life
Got a lust for life
Yeah a lust for life
I got a lust for life
Lust for life
Lust for life
Lust for life
Lust for life
Lust for life

Vin Scelsa's Idiot's Delight

There are three essential Commandments:
Respect The Elders.
Embrace The New.
Encourage The Impractical and Improbable,
Without Bias.
- David Fricke

Vin Scelsa's Idiot's Delight
WFUV

http://www.wfuv.org/audio/stream.html

Vin Scelsa Yitzhak-Rabin Nov4th 1995 WXRK N.Y

Kind Woman/For What It's Worth

Buffalo Springfield

What is the Value of a Human Life?

What is the true worth of a human life

Whose Planet Is It Anyway

Life is often heavy only because we attempt to carry it

“Jacob, where do you find the strength to carry on in life?”

“Life is often heavy only because we attempt to carry it,” said Jacob. “But I do find a strength in the ashes.”

“In the ashes?” asked Mr. Gold.

“Yes,” said Jacob, with a confirmation that seemed to have traveled a great distance.

“You see, Mr. Gold, each of us is alone. Each of us is in the great darkness of our ignorance. And, each of us is on a journey.

“In the process of our journey, we must bend to build a fire for light, and warmth, and food.

“But when our fingers tear at the ground, hoping to find the coals of another’s fire, what we often find is the ashes.

“And, in those ashes, which will not give us light or warmth, there may be sadness, but there is also testimony.

“Because these ashes tell is that somebody else has been in the night, somebody else has bent to build a fire, and somebody else has carried on.

“And that can be enough, sometimes.”

~Noah benShea

Entrusting in the Vow of the Buddha,,
-Calling out the Buddha-name,
I shall pass through the journey of life with strength and joy.

Revering the Light of Buddha,,
-Reflecting upon my imperfect self,
I shall proceed to live a life of gratitude.

Following the Teachings of Buddha,,
-Listening to the Right Path,
I shall share the True Dharma with all.

Rejoicing in the compassion of Buddha,,
-Respecting and aiding all sentient beings,
I shall work towards the welfare of society and the world.

NAMU MYOHO RENGE KYO

Humane Revolution

Just remember no one will do it for you.

The revolution will be do-it-yourself
The revolution will be your personal decision
The revolution will be bottom-up
The revolution will be demanded by the grassroots and forced upon big business
The revolution will challenge the status quo.
But no one will sell it to you, brother.
It will not be brought to you by ExxonMobil
It will not add 20 points to your IQ, six years to your life, or three inches to your unit
It will not clear up your skin, remove your wrinkles, or cure your psoriasis
It will not make you the most popular person in the office
Or the envy of the block.

Energy and Capital

You will not be able to stay home, brother.
You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out.
You will not be able to lose yourself on skag and skip,
Skip out for beer during commercials,
Because the revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be televised.
The revolution will not be brought to you by Xerox
In 4 parts without commercial interruptions.
The revolution will not show you pictures of Nixon
blowing a bugle and leading a charge by John
Mitchell, General Abrams and Spiro Agnew to eat
hog maws confiscated from a Harlem sanctuary.
The revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be brought to you by the
Schaefer Award Theatre and will not star Natalie
Woods and Steve McQueen or Bullwinkle and Julia.
The revolution will not give your mouth sex appeal.
The revolution will not get rid of the nubs.
The revolution will not make you look five pounds
thinner, because the revolution will not be televised, Brother.

There will be no pictures of you and Willie May
pushing that shopping cart down the block on the dead run,
or trying to slide that color television into a stolen ambulance.
NBC will not be able predict the winner at 8:32
or report from 29 districts.
The revolution will not be televised.

There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down
brothers in the instant replay.
There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down
brothers in the instant replay.
There will be no pictures of Whitney Young being
run out of Harlem on a rail with a brand new process.
There will be no slow motion or still life of Roy
Wilkens strolling through Watts in a Red, Black and
Green liberation jumpsuit that he had been saving
For just the proper occasion.

Green Acres, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Hooterville
Junction will no longer be so damned relevant, and
women will not care if Dick finally gets down with
Jane on Search for Tomorrow because Black people
will be in the street looking for a brighter day.
The revolution will not be televised.

There will be no highlights on the eleven o'clock
news and no pictures of hairy armed women
liberationists and Jackie Onassis blowing her nose.
The theme song will not be written by Jim Webb,
Francis Scott Key, nor sung by Glen Campbell, Tom
Jones, Johnny Cash, Englebert Humperdink, or the Rare Earth.
The revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be right back after a message
bbout a white tornado, white lightning, or white people.
You will not have to worry about a dove in your
bedroom, a tiger in your tank, or the giant in your toilet bowl.
The revolution will not go better with Coke.
The revolution will not fight the germs that may cause bad breath.
The revolution will put you in the driver's seat.

The revolution will not be televised, will not be televised,
will not be televised, will not be televised.
The revolution will be no re-run brothers;
The revolution will be live.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Revolution_Will_Not_Be_Televised

to a better world

John McCain would like everybody to know he's not George Bush. Barak Obama says he is change you can believe in. Ask yourself whether you agree with "extrodinary renditions","black site" prisons, "enhanced interrogations", and a massive spying operation conducted against U.S. citizens. And then ask yourself which candidate is more likely to be a move away from these civil and human rights violations.

THE MAGNUM OPIATE OF MALACLYPSE THE YOUNGER

Wherein Is Explained Absolutely Everything Worth Knowing About Absolutely Anything

If you can master nonsense as well as you have already learned to

master sense, then each will expose the other for what it is:

absurdity. From that moment of illumination, a man begins to be

free regardless of his surroundings. He becomes free to play order

games and change them at will. He becomes free to play disorder

games just for the hell of it. He becomes free to play neither or

both. And as the master of his own games, he plays without fear,

and therefore without frustration, and therefore with good will in

his soul and love in his being.

WHAT THE PRINCIPIA TEACHES US

All things are true, even false things.

Every statement is true in some sense, false in some sense,meaningless in some sense, true and false in some sense, true and meaningless in some sense, false and meaningless in some sense, and true, false, and meaningless in some sense.

DISCORDIAN CATMAS
Think For Yourself.
Convictions Cause Convicts.
The Conclusion You Jump To May Be Your Own.
The Pun is Mightier then the Sword.
Truth: If its not one thing its another.
Reality: It all depends on how you look at it.
The Enlightened take things Lightly.
No Two Equals are the Same.
Tis an ill wind that blows no minds.
Is the thought of a Unicorn a Real Thought?
Curb Your Dogma.

"When dogma enters the brain, all intellectual activity ceases" -- Robert Anton Wilson

How to be a Cultist
Pick one faith and stay with it. Dilettantism is the mark of the amateur.
Avoid needless embarassment. Practice the correct pronunciation of your god's name in the privacy of your room before chanting it in public. Flash cards are often helpful.
Never invoke anything bigger than your head.
Avoid all cabalistic jewelry over 10 pounds in weight, you're just asking for trouble.
Citronella candles may *not* be used in rituals. I cannot stress this enough. Pastel-coloured candles in the shape of cute animals are like beacons to the Dark Lords.
Always keep your kit with you: candles, chalk, incense, silver knife, thuggee knife, service revolver, garlic, Yellow Sign, cabfare, condoms, and change.
*Never* be the cultist that goes to rough up the investigator. Ransacking hotel rooms is probably safe, but going 'round to beat up the good guys is a sure route to the bottom of the Thames.
When the Black Mass goes awry, stay away from the cult leader. Enraged demons always go for the pompous.
Don't gloat.
If you do gloat, never reveal your plans.
If you gloat and reveal your plans, never leave the investigators to die slowly. They don't.
If you gloat, reveal your plans, and leave the investigators to die slowly, don't have the audacity to look surprised when thy show up to foil you.
Investigators always show up at the last moment to foil you. Start a half- hour early, they hate that.
Select ceremonial robes that are easy to run in while still affording ample concealment.
Never fuck with anything whose genetic structure you do not feel absolutely comfortable about.
Never admit to having fucked anything whose genetic structure you didn't feel absolutely comfortable about.
When a religious artifact begins emitting light, CLOSE YOUR EYES. Thousands of cultists could be saved every year if they'd just remember this simple safety tip.
When mutilating cattle, avoid the ones with testicles.
During ritual sacrificing, taking bits home for later is now generally considered bad form.
Blood tests are now required of all sacrificial victims before the ritual. The effects of HIV+ offerings on the average malefic deity have never been witnessed by anyone living, or even intact.
Contrary to historical belief, drugs and invocations do not mix. When the shit comes down it is vitally necessary to be able to discern between the gibbering monstrosity to throw the holy water on and the gibbering monstrosity that will go away after a few hours, some B-complex, and a good hot bath.
Never play strip Tarot.
Piety and belief are powerful things, and few forces in nature can stand against one who is true to his faith, his god, and his soul. However, it is also true that God is on the side of the heaviest artillery, so be prepared to change sides at the drop of a hat.
For those situations where a fresh, living sacrifice is just not feasible or even possible, the lower ranks of demons can be fooled by microwaving a previously frozen chunk of ex-victim and cleverly jiggling it. However, a mock-victim sculpted from Spam will be all right too.
Written by: Chris Bridges (From The Unspeakable Oath, issue 8/9, Winter 1993).

The Attack of the Discordian Universalists

THE SELF LIBERATOR'S DIGEST VOLUME ONE

PRIMER FOR ERISIAN EVANGELISTS
by Lord Omar Khayyam Ravenhurst
The SOCRATIC APPROACH is most successful when confronting the ignorant. The "socratic approach" is what you call starting an argument by asking questions. You approach the innocent and simple ask "Did you know that God's name is ERIS, and that he is a girl?" If he should answer "YES." then he is probably a fellow Erisian and so you can forget it. If he says "NO." then quickly proceed to: THE BLIND ASSERTION and say "Well, He IS a girl, and His name is "ERIS!" Shrewdly observe if the subject is convinced. If he is, swear him into the Legion of Dynamic Discord before he changes his mind. If he does not appear convinced, then proceed to: THE FAITH BIT: "But you must have Faith! All is lost without Faith! I sure feel sorry for you if you don't have Faith." and then add: THE ARGUMENT BY FEAR and in an ominous voice ask "Do you know what happens to those who deny Goddess?" If he hesitates, don't tell him that he will surely be reincarned as a precious Mao Button and distributed to the poor in the Region of Thud (which would be a mean thing to say), just shake your head sadly and, while wiping a tear from your eye, go to: THE FIRST CLAUSE PLOY wherein you point to all of the discord and confusion in the world and exclaim "Well who the hell do you think did all of this, wise guy?" If he says, "Nobody, just impersonal forces." then quickly respond with: THE ARGUMENT BY SEMANTICAL GYMNASTICS and say that he is absolutely right, and those impersonal forces are female and that her name is ERIS. If he, wonder of wonders, still remains obstinate, then finally resort to: THE FIGURATIVE SYMBOLIC DODGE and confide that sophisticated people like himself recognize that Eris is a Figurative Symbol for an Ineffable Metaphysical Reality and that the Erisian Movement is really more like a poem than a science and that he is liable to be turned into a Precious Mao Button and Distributed to The Poor in The Region of Thud if he does not get hip. Then put him on your mailing list.
excerpt from Principia Discordia

Is This a Case of Mistaken Identity?

http://www.whatamireally.com/

Are all my problems based on the assumption
that there’s a sep’rate independent entity,
that has power of its own that can stand on its own
that has an independent nature of its own?
Is there a sep’rate independent entity,
or is everything happening spontaneously?
Are all my problems based on the assumption
that there’s a sep’rate independent entity,
that has power of its own that can stand on its own
that has an independent nature of its own?
Is there a sep’rate independent entity,
or is everything happening spontaneously
Is there a separate person in here,
that everything is now happening to?
Is there anyone, inside here?
Is there anyone, inside there?
Is awareness, happening now?
Are sensations appearing now?
Are there assumptions about what is here now?
Is my true nature this awareness now?

Is this a case of mistaken identity?

To whom is everything coming and going, appearing and disappearing, arising and passing away? Is there still identification with the untrue thought, the erroneous concept, the wrong idea, the false assumption, the fallacious, invalid, misleading, deceiving, delusory belief, the fictitious story, the running commentary, the memory, the fantasy, the, imaginary, fictional, illusory, empty, unreal image of being a separate independent I me entity, individual, person with the power to create, change, choose, control, achieve, attain, get, gain, grasp, want, need, require, desire, own, do, be or become something, anything, as who I am, as what I am? Is this a case of mistaken identity?

Who is aware of everything coming and going, appearing and disappearing, arising and passing away? To whom does everything appear? What is actually here? What is here before, during and after all sensations, all appearances, all transient things? What is always here? Is my true, essential, real nature, non-dual, one without a second, non-conceptual awareness always here? Is what I already and always am, before, during and after all thoughts, words, labels, names, symbols, translations in language, concepts, ideas, assumptions, beliefs, stories, commentary, memories, fantasies, images, sensations, appearances, transient things? Is my true, essential, real identity, non-dual, one without a second, non-conceptual awareness?

Does the investigation, exploration, inquiry, questioning, challenging, seeking, examining, close looking, deep looking into this apparent separate independent I me entity, individual, person, reveal, expose, prove that there is no one the I me refers to, but only the awareness that the I me thought is appearing within? As awareness, am I here before, during and after all thoughts, words, labels, names, symbols, translations in language, concepts, ideas, assumptions, beliefs, stories, commentary, memories, fantasies, images, imagination, sensations, appearances, transient things? Am I that which is before, during and after all sensations, all appearances, all transient things?

Am I the clear opening, the cognizing emptiness, the wide open space, the aware no-thing-ness, the spaciousness, the formless, yet potentiality and capacity for all forms, the absolute, actual, real, true, non-dual, one without a second being awareness, existence awareness, presence awareness, non-conceptual, undeniable, space-like awareness?

Right here right now, am I suffering?

Right here right now, am I suffering? What is this I that is suffering or not suffering? Are all personal issues, personal problems, personal suffering based on untrue thoughts, erroneous concepts, wrong ideas, fallacious, invalid, misleading, deceiving, delusory beliefs, fictitious stories, a running commentary, memories, fantasies, fictional, imaginary, empty, unreal images of a separate independent I me entity, individual, person? Is it true that as a separate independent entity, individual, person, I have no actual existence at all?

To whom do these appearances arise? To whom does anything matter? Who suffers? Who’s concerned? Is there no one? Is there no one to create, change, choose, control, achieve, attain, get, gain, grasp, want, need, require, desire, own, do, be or become something, anything? Is there no one at all?

How is it that there is no one, no separate independent I me entity, individual, person, and yet I am, I exist? In the investigation, exploration, inquiry, questioning, challenging, seeking, examining, close looking, deep looking, do I exist as a separate independent I me entity, individual, person, or is there no one to be found? Is there only a clear opening, spaciousness, cognizing emptiness, aware no-thing-ness, formless potentiality and capacity for all forms, a wide open space, non-dual, one without a second, being awareness, existence awareness, presence awareness, non-conceptual, space-like awareness, because of which, everything is appearing, in which, everything is appearing, and as which, everything is appearing?

Is it true?
Who is suffering? What’s aware of the suffering? To whom is suffering happening? What is the nature of suffering? What exactly is happening when suffering is happening? Is there self-centered thought, self-centered thinking every time suffering is happening? Are there thoughts, concepts, ideas, assumptions, beliefs, stories, images, imagination about the separate independent I me entity, individual, person every time suffering is happening? Who is bound by suffering? Is it possible to eliminate suffering, to be free of suffering?

Am I suffering? What exactly is this I that is suffering? Is the root cause of suffering the untrue thought, the erroneous concept, the wrong idea, the false assumption, the fallacious, invalid, misleading, deceiving, delusory belief, the fictitious story, the running commentary, the memory, the fantasy, the imaginary, fictional, illusory, empty, unreal image that I am a separate independent entity, individual, person apart from the absolute, the ultimate, the actuality, the factuality, the reality, this clear opening, this spaciousness, this cognizing emptiness, this aware no-thing-ness, this formless potentiality and capacity for all forms, this wide open space, this non-dual, one without a second, being awareness, existence awareness, presence awareness, non-conceptual, space-like awareness?
Do I still believe and take myself to be a separate independent entity, individual, person apart from the absolute, the ultimate, the actuality, the factuality, the reality, this clear opening, this spaciousness, this cognizing emptiness, this aware no-thing-ness, this formless potentiality and capacity for all forms, this wide open space, this non-dual, one without a second, being awareness, existence awareness, presence awareness, non-conceptual, space-like awareness? Is it true?

Do I still take the thought, concept, idea, assumption, belief, story, image of being a separate independent entity individual, person to be real, and do I identify it as who I am, what I am? Is the thought, concept, idea, assumption, belief, story, image investigated, explored, questioned, challenged, examined, am I really a separate independent entity, individual, person or, is it just an untrue thought, an erroneous concept, a wrong idea, a false assumption, a fallacious, misleading, deceiving, delusory belief, a fictitious story, a running commentary, a memory, a fantasy, a memory, a fantasy, an imaginary, fictional, illusory, empty, unreal image appearing presently, immediately, naturally, effortlessly, uncontrollably, randomly, spontaneously, automatically, mysteriously in this clear opening, in this spaciousness, in this cognizing emptiness, in this aware no-thing-ness, in this formless potentiality and capacity for all forms, in this wide open space, in this non-dual, one without a second, being awareness, existence awareness, presence awareness, non-conceptual, space-like awareness?

G.O.P.

REPUBLICANS INHABIT LOWER REALMS OF DARKNESS AND IGNORANCE
For a long time now it has seemed that the Republicans put themselves forward as the Real Americans. I of course have never believed this but now only the most ignorant of fools can. It has become blatantly obvious that Republicans are stupid greedy hate mongers. Now I realize that some of you may be Republicans. I suggest as soon as possible after the election you change your party affiliation. Or you can continue to be the opposite of a bodhisattva for the rest of your life. After all it's still a free country, but who knows for how long. Changing your affiliation would be an outward sign of your inner redemption. Some of you may be closet Republicans who are registered as something else but vote Republican, you will spend thousands of kotis of aeons in hell. Sorry. I suggest when you finally rise to the level of human life, register Green if you want to avoid going through all that again. And of course those who defend torture of detainees will be considered icchantika who will probably remain unenlightened for eternity.

Justice Department Targets ACORN But Ignores GOP Voter Suppression

Palin Tells Dobson That 'Prayer Warriors' Should Ask God to Intervene in U.S. Election for GOP
Does this mean that Sarah Palin believes that without God's intervention the McCain-Palin ticket will lose?
In an interview posted online Wednesday, Sarah Palin told Dr. James Dobson of "Focus on the Family" that she is confident God will do "the right thing for America" on Nov. 4.

She also thanked her supporters -- including Dobson, who said he and his wife were asking "for God’s intervention" on election day -- for their prayers of support.

"It is that intercession that is so needed," she said. "And so greatly appreciated. And I can feel it too, Dr. Dobson. I can feel the power of prayer, and that strength that is provided through our prayer warriors across this nation. And I so appreciate it."

From this we can deduce that:
Sarah Palin believes God personally chooses our Presidents and Vice Presidents.
Sarah Palin believes that God should choose her as Vice President.
Sarah Palin believes that without God's intervention she will lose.

The 11 Dumbest Things Sarah Palin Has Said So Far

Presenting a roundup of Sarah Palin's most hilarious, shocking and scary statements since she was added to the McCain ticket.

When Sarah Palin was first added to the Republican ticket, the McCain campaign went to almost comical extremes to guard her from press scrutiny. The Alaska governor was hustled through photo opportunities, kept from doing interviews and hidden from reporters at several events. Palin did prove adept at reading from a teleprompter in front of conservative supporters, though, so the campaign mostly had her do that.

When Palin finally made her teleprompter-free debut in an interview with Charlie Gibson, it became clear why McCain had effectively kept his running mate in quarantine: Palin was uninformed and inarticulate; she said embarrassingly stupid things; and she looked at Gibson as though he were pointing a loaded crossbow at her.

Since then, the Alaska governor has done little to dispel concerns that she can't articulate thoughts that aren't preprogrammed talking points. More than once, Palin has slipped into George W. Bush territory with statements so absurdly inane they seem closer to Dada art than standard political speech.

We've assembled the 11 strangest, dumbest, most alarming and most harmful statements to come courtesy of Palin since she joined the McCain ticket. Here is Gov. Sarah Palin, in her own words.

1. The News Makes Me Sad ... So I Don't Watch It

Sarah Palin at a North Carolina fundraiser:

At those times on the campaign trail when sometimes it's easy to get a little bit discouraged, when, you know, when you happen to turn on the news when your campaign staffers will let you turn on the news ... Usually they're like "Oh my gosh, don't watch. You're going to, you know, you're going to get depressed."

Maybe her handlers could put on a puppet show instead -- something fun that allows Palin to maintain her cheery optimism in the face of overwhelming evidence that the McCain campaign has imploded. There was once another politician similarly unconcerned with current events and the news: George W. Bush. That went well.

2. The People Don't Elect U.S. Presidents, God Does

Upon being asked by James Dobson if the McCain ticket's precipitous slide in the polls gets her down:

... [it] strengthens my faith, because I'm going to know, at the end of the day, putting this in God's hands, that the right thing for America will be done at the end of the day on Nov. 4. So I'm not discouraged at all.

... and I can feel it too, Dr. Dobson. I can feel the power of prayer, and that strength that is provided through our prayer warriors across this nation.

Ah yes, the always helpful "prayer warriors," whose appeals to the Almighty actually count for more than the average American citizen's vote. Apparently the next president of the United States will be handpicked by God.

3. Palin Believes in "Divided" States of America

At a fundraiser:

We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hardworking, very patriotic, um, very, um, pro-America areas of this great nation.

Palin later apologized for the statement. But her backpedaling shouldn't get her off the hook for putting forth a deeply divisive vision of America. How would conservatives have reacted if, in an attempt to pander to yuppie liberals, Obama said "I love visiting the parts of the country where people aren't close-minded assholes"? Probably not well.

4. The Vice President Is Supreme Boss of the Senate

Here's what Palin said when Brandon, an elementary school student, asked: "What does the vice president do?"

That's something that Piper would ask me! ... They're in charge of the U.S. Senate so if they want to they can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes that will make life better for Brandon and his family and his classroom.

To be fair, Palin had no idea what the VP does the last time the issue came up, so this is almost an improvement. Except that saying the vice president is in charge of the U.S. Senate reveals an embarrassing ignorance of our government's system of checks and balances. Also, it's a bit disconcerting to hear someone running for VP endow that office with God-like powers over a separate branch of government.

5. Delusional Response to Troopergate

"Well, I'm very, very pleased to be cleared of any legal wrongdoing ... any hint of any kind of unethical activity there," said Sarah Palin last Sunday, soon after she was found to have engaged in wrongdoing and unethical activity in the "Troopergate" investigation. Again, a propensity for denial and lies, a deep aversion to reality -- not the best ways to signal your commitment to "change" from "politics as usual."

6. Vicious Attack on Obama

The following quote needs little introduction. It's famous now, not only for its inaccuracy but also for how much this line of attack has fallen flat with voters and backfired on the McCain campaign:

Our opponent though, is someone who sees America it seems as being so imperfect that he's palling around with terrorists who would target their own country.

Outright deception is probably not something the American voters are looking to put in the White House; pretty sure they've had enough of that in the past eight years.

7. The Lord is a Pollster

While speaking in North Carolina, Palin decided to take a moment to thank God for a very small bump she and McCain experienced in their otherwise sliding poll numbers.

We even saw today, thank the Lord, we saw some movement.

People often thank God for things that appear to be outside the realm of divine intervention. An incredibly small bump in the polls though? Seems excessive. Not to mention, Obama now has the widest lead he has ever had in the polls. Should God be given credit for that too?

8. America's Teachers' Rewards Are in Heaven (but Nowhere to Be Found on Earth)

In the vice presidential debate, Palin had this to say about Sen. Joe Biden's wife's career in education:

You mentioned education, and I'm glad that you did. I know education you are passionate about with your wife being a teacher for 30 years, and God bless her. Her reward is in heaven, right?

Governor, America's teachers should not have to wait until heaven; they should be praised and rewarded right here on Earth. Possibly with living-wage salaries.

9. I Read ... All the Publications

When Katie Couric asked Palin the complex trick question of where she gets her news, the two women had the following exchange:

Couric: And when it comes to establishing your world view, I was curious, what newspapers and magazines did you regularly read before you were tapped for this -- to stay informed and to understand the world?

Palin: I've read most of them again with a great appreciation for the press, for the media --

Couric: But what ones specifically? I'm curious.

Palin: Um, all of them, any of them that have been in front of me over all these years.

Couric: Can you name any of them?

Palin: I have a vast variety of sources where we get our news.

With all of the intensive reading Palin has done over the years, it's a wonder she's had time to do other important things, like govern Alaska and learn to play the flute.

10. Some of my best friends are gay, but ...

From the same interview with Couric:

One of my absolute best friends for the last 30 years happens to be gay and I love her dearly, and she is not my "gay" friend, she is one of my best friends, who happens to have made a choice that isn't a choice that I have made, but ... I'm not gonna judge people.

Stating in no uncertain terms that being gay is a choice is an odd thing to do on mainstream, national television when medical and psychological associations have contended for years that sexual orientation is biologically determined. Then, she slimily criticizes that so-called "choice" by saying it is not one she would make. But hey, some of her best friends are gay ...

11. A Little Wet Behind the Ears ...

During the vice presidential debate, when Palin was asked which policy plans proposed by the McCain-Palin ticket would have to suffer due to the current economic crisis, Palin gave a pretty dubious response: none. When pressed on the issue, Palin decided that an easy out would be to fall back on her inexperience:

And how long have I been at this, like five weeks?

Uh ... wow, that actually wasn't dumb at all. In that case, she was absolutely right.

SUTRA OF THE PAST VOWS OF EARTH STORE BODHISATTVA/SUTRA ON THE BUDDHA'S BEQUEATHED TEACHING

Earth Store Bodhisattva, the Bodhisattva who was sent to Hell
Earth Store Bodhisattva is a literal translation from the name – Ksitigarbha, and in the Buddhist world, he remains one of the most popular bodhisattvas.

Shortly after he took the vows of the Bodhisattva’s, he began contemplating the karmic conditions of living beings and he was called to an unusual service in that he began taking mystical journeys into the various hells. In his experiences, he found that there were many hells which corresponded to the various sins, again very much like the doctrine of purgatory in Catholicism or the cosmogony taught by Hermes Mercurius Trismegistus in The Divine Pymander of Egyptian Religion. But in his unique experiences, it was his job to liberate souls from the hells.

“The Great Iron Ring Mountain is one of the mountains outside Mount Sumeru, and beyond it is hell. Hell exists and is not merely a human fiction. The only ways to reach hell are through spiritual penetrations and virtuous conduct or by committing offenses.” The Sutra of the Past Vows of Earth Store Bodhisattva

(The Buddha is Speaking to Universally Expansive)
Moreover, Universally Expansive, on the first, eighth, fourteenth,
fifteenth, eighteenth, twenty-third, twenty-fourth, twenty-eighth,
twenty-ninth, and thirtieth days of the lunar month, the offenses of
beings are tabulated and their gravity assessed. Every single
movement or stirring of thought on the part of beings of Jambudvipa
creates karma and offenses. How much more is that the case when
they blatantly indulge in killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false
speech and hundreds of thousands of other kinds of obvious
offenses. If they are able to recite this Sutra once on those ten
vegetarian days, before the images of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, or
worthy one and sages, then there will be no disasters for within a
radius of one hundred yojanas. The relatives of those who recite, both
old and young, now and in the future, will be apart from the evil paths
throughout hundreds of thousands of years. If they can recite this
sutra once on each of these ten vegetarian days, then there will be no
accidents or illnesses in the family, and there will be food and clothing
in abundance.
Universally Expansive, you should know of the beneficial deeds done
by Earth Store Bodhisattva as he makes use of his indescribably
many billions of great awesome spiritual powers. The beings of
Jambudvipa have strong affinities with this Bodhisattva. If they hear
the Bodhisattva's name, see the Bodhisattva's image, or hear but a
few words, a verse, or sentence of this Sutra, then they will enjoy
particularly wonderful peace and happiness in this present life.
Through hundreds of thousands of ten thousands of future lives, they
will always be handsome or beautiful, and they will be born into
honorable and wealthy families.
Having heard the Buddha, Thus Come One, praise Earth Store
Bodhisattva in that way, Universally Expansive Bodhisattva knelt,
placed his palms together, and again addressed the Buddha, saying,
World Honored One, I have long known that this Bodhisattva has
both inconceivable spiritual powers and mighty vows. I have
questioned the Thus Come One so that beings in the future will know
of these benefits. I receive this answer most respectfully. World
Honored One, how should this sutra be titled and how should we
propagate it?
The Buddha said to Universally Expansive, This Sutra has three
titles: the first is The Past Vows of Earth Store Bodhisattva; it is also
called Earth Store's Past Conduct; and it is called Sutra of the Power
of Earth Store's Past Vows. Because this Bodhisattva repeatedly
makes such great and mighty vows throughout long eons to benefit
beings, you should all propagate this Sutra in accord with his vows.”
After Universally Expansive had heard that, he placed his palms
together respectfully, made obeisance, and withdrew.

At that time Earth Store Bodhisattva Mahasattva said to the Buddha,
World Honored One, I see that every single movement or stirring of
thought on the part of beings of Jambudvipa is an offense. Beings
tend to use up the wholesome benefits they gain; many of them end
up retreating from their initial resolve. If they encounter evil
conditions, they augment them with every thought. They are like
people trying to carry heavy rocks while walking through mud. Each
step becomes more difficult and the rocks more cumbersome as their
feet sink deeper. If they meet a mentor, he may be strong enough to
lighten or even totally remove their burdens. Helping them thus, the
mentor will urge them to step on solid ground, pointing out that once
they reach a level place they should remain aware of that bad path
and never traverse it again.
World Honored One, the bad habits of beings range from minor to
major. Since all beings have such habits, their parents or relatives
should create blessings for them when they are on the verge of dying
in order to assist them on the road ahead. That may be done by
hanging banners and canopies; lighting oil lamps; reciting the sacred
Sutras; making offerings before the images of Buddhas or sages.
Another way to assist them is by reciting the names of Buddhas,
Bodhisattvas, and Pratyekabuddhas so that the recitation of each
name passes by the ear of the dying one and is heard in his
fundamental consciousness.
Suppose the evil karma created by beings were such that they
should fall into the bad destinies. If their relatives cultivate wholesome
causes on their behalf when they are close to death, then their
manifold offenses can be dissolved. If relatives can further do many
good deeds during the first forty-nine days after the death of such
beings, then the deceased can leave the evil destinies forever, be
born as humans or gods, and receive supremely wonderful bliss. The
surviving relatives will also receive limitless benefits.
Therefore, before the Buddhas, World Honored Ones, as well as
before the gods, dragons, and the rest of the eightfold division,
humans and non-humans, I now exhort beings of Jambudvipa to be
careful to avoid harming, killing, and doing other unwholesome
deeds; to refrain from worshipping ghosts and spirits or making
sacrifices to them; and to never call on mountain sprites on the day of
death. Why is that? Killing, harming, and making sacrifices are not the
least bit helpful to the deceased. Such acts only bind up the
conditions of offenses so that they grow ever more deep and heavy.
The deceased might have been due to increase his potential for
sagehood or gain birth among humans or gods in his next life or in the
future. But when his family commits offenses in his name, his good
rebirth will be delayed. How much more would that be the case for
people on the verge of death who during their lives had planted few
good roots. Each offender has to undergo the bad destinies according
to his own karma. How could anyone bear to have relatives add to
that karma? That would be like having a neighbor add a few more
things to a load of over a hundred pounds being carried by someone
who had already traveled a long distance and who had not eaten for
three days. By adding that extra weight, that person's burden would
become even more unbearable.
World Honored One, I see that beings of Jambudvipa will themselves
receive the benefit of any good deeds they are able to do within the
Buddha's teaching. That holds true even when the deeds are as small
as a strand of hair, a drop of water, a grain of sand, or a mote of dust.
After that had been said, an elder named Great Eloquence arose in
the assembly. He had long since been certified to non-production and
was only appearing in the body of an elder to teach and transform
those in the ten directions. Placing his palms together respectfully, he
asked Earth Store Bodhisattva, Great Lord, after people in
Jambudvipa die and their close and distant relatives generate merit
by making meal offerings and doing other such good deeds, will the
deceased obtain merit and virtue significant enough to bring about
their liberation?
Earth Store replied, Elder, based on the awesome power of the
Buddhas, I will now proclaim this principle for the sake of beings of the
present and future. Elder, if beings of the present and future when on
the verge of dying hear the name of one Buddha, one Bodhisattva, or
one Pratyekabuddha, they will attain liberation whether they have
offenses or not.
When men or women laden with offenses who failed to plant good
causes die, even they can receive one seventh of any merit dedicated
to them by relatives who do good deeds on their behalves. The other
six sevenths of the merit will return to the living relatives who did the
good deeds. It follows that men and women of the present and future
who cultivate while they are strong and healthy will receive all portions
of the benefit derived.
The arrival of the great ghost of impermanence is so unexpected
that the deceased ones’ consciousnesses first roam in darkness and
obscurity, unaware of offenses and blessings. For forty-nine days
they are as if deluded or deaf, or as if in courts where their karmic
retributions are being decided. Once judgement is fixed, rebirths are
undergone according to their karma. In the time before rebirths are
determined, the deceased suffer thousands of ten thousands of
concerns. How much more is that the case for those who are to fall
into the bad destinies.
Throughout forty-nine days those whose lives have ended and who
have not yet been reborn will be hoping every moment that their
immediate relatives will earn blessings powerful enough to rescue
them. At the end of that time the deceased will undergo retribution
according to their karma. If someone is an offender, he may pass
through hundreds of thousands of years without even a day's
liberation. If someone's offenses deserve Fivefold Uninterrupted
retribution, he will fall into the great hells and undergo incessant
suffering throughout hundreds of thousands of eons.
Moreover, Elder, when beings who have committed karmic offenses
die, their relatives may prepare vegetarian offerings to aid them on
their karmic paths. In the process of preparing the vegetarian meal
and before it has been eaten, rice-washing water and vegetable
leaves should not be thrown on the ground. Before the food is offered
to the Buddhas and Sangha no one should eat it. .If there is laxness or
transgression in this matter, then the deceased will receive no
strength from it. If purity is vigorously maintained in making the
offering to the Buddhas and Sangha, the deceased will receive one
seventh of the merit. Therefore, Elder, by performing vegetarian
offerings on behalf of deceased fathers, mothers, and other relatives
while making earnest supplication on their behalves, beings of
Jambudvipa benefit both the living and the dead.”
After that was said, hundreds of thousands of millions of nayutas of
ghosts and spirits of Jambudvipa who were in the palace of the
Trayastrimsha Heaven, made the unlimited resolve to attain Bodhi.
The elder Great Eloquence made obeisance and withdrew.
-from the 6th and 7th chapters of
SUTRA OF THE PAST VOWS OF EARTH STORE BODHISATTVA

SUTRA PREFACE

When Shakyamuni Buddha first turned the Wheel of Dharma, he crossed
over the Venerable Ajnatakaundinya. The very last time he spoke the
Dharma, he crossed over the Venerable Subhadhra. All of those whom
he should have crossed over had already been crossed over. He lay
between the Twin Sala trees and was about to enter Nirvana. At this
time, in the middle period of the night, all was quiet,without any
sound. Then for the sake of all of his disciples he spoke on the
essentials of the Dharma.

UPHOLDING THE PRECEPTS

All of you Bhikshus, after my Nirvana, you should reverence and
honor the Pratimoksha. It is like finding a light in darkness, or
like a poor person obtaining a treasure. You should know that it is
your great teacher, and is not different from my actual presence in
the world. Those of you who uphold the pure precepts should not buy,
sell or trade. You should not covet fields or buildings, or keep
servants or raise animals. You should stay far away from all kinds
of agriculture and wealth as you would avoid a pit of fire. You
should not cut down grass or trees, plow fields or dig the earth.
Nor may you compound medicines, prophesize good and evil, observe
the constellations, cast horoscopes by the waxing and waning of the
moon, or compute astrological fortunes. All of these activities are
improper.

Regulate yourselves by eating at the appropriate time and by living
in purity. You should not participate in worldly affairs or act as
an envoy, nor should you become involved with magical spells and
elixiers of immortality, or with making connections with high
ranking people, being affectionate towards them and condescending
towards the lowly.

With an upright mind and proper mindfulness you should seek to cross
over. Do not conceal your faults or put on a special appearance to
delude the multitudes. Know the limits and be content with the four
kinds of offerings. When you receive offerings, do not store them up.
This is a general explanation of the characteristics of upholding
the precepts. The precepts are the root of proper freedom; therefore
they are called the Pratimoksha (lit. the root of freedom). By
relying on these precepts, you will give rise to all dhyana
concentrations, and reach the wisdom of the cessation of suffering.
For this reason, Bhikshus, you should uphold the pure precepts and
not allow them to be broken. If a person is able to uphold the pure
precepts, he will, as a result, be able to have good dharmas. If one
is without the pure precepts no good merit and virtue can arise.
Therefore you should know that the precepts are the dwelling place
for the foremost and secure merit and virtue.

RESTRAINING THE MIND

All of you Bhikshus, if you are already able to abide by the
precepts, you should restrain the five sense organs, not allowing
them to enter the five desires as they please. It is like a person
tending cattle who carries a staff while watching them, not allowing
them to run loose and trample others sprouting grains. If you let
your five sense organs run loose, not only will the five desires
become boundless, they will be uncontrollable. They are like a
violent horse unrestrained by reins who drags a person along so that
he falls into a pit. If you are robbed or injured you will suffer
for a single life, but the injury from the plundering done by the
five sense organs brings misfortunes which extend for many lives.
Because their harm is extremely heavy, it is impermissable to be
careless.

For this reason wise people restrain the five sense organs and do
not go along with them. They restrain them like thieves who are not
allowed to run loose. If you let them run loose for a while, before
long you will observe their destruction. Since the five sense organs
have the mind as their ruler, you should restrain the mind well.
Your mind is as dangerous as an extreme- ly poisonous snake, a
savage beast or a hateful robber. A great fire rushing upon you is
still not a satisfactory analogy for it. It is like a person
carrying a container of honey who, as he moves along in haste, only
pays attention to the honey, and does not notice a deep pit. It is
like a mad elephant without a barb, or a monkey in a tree jumping
about, which are both difficult to restrain. You should hasten to
control it and not allow it to run loose. Those who allow their
minds to wander freely loose the good situation of being a human
being. By restraining it in one place there is no affair which
cannot be completed. For this reason, Bhikshus, you should
vigorously subdue your mind.

MODERATION IN EATING

All of you Bhikshus, you should receive various kinds of food and
drink as if you were taking medicine. Whether they be good or bad,
do not take more or less of them, but use them to cure hunger and
thirst and to maintain the body. Bhikshus should be the same way as
bees gathering from flowers, only taking the pollen without harming
their form or scent; receive peoples' offerings to put an end to
distress, but do not seek to obtain too much and spoil their good
hearts. Be like a wise man, who having estimated the load that suits
the strength of his ox, does not exceed that amount and exhaust its
strength.

AVOIDING SLEEP

All of you Bhikshus, during the day, with a vigorous mind, cultivate
the Dharma and don't allow the opportunity to be lost. In the first
and last periods of the night also do not be lax, and during the
middle period of the night, chant Sutras to make yourself well
informed. Do not let the causes and conditions of sleep cause your
single life to pass in vain, so that you don't obtain anything at
all. You should be mindful of the fire of impermanence which burns
up all the world. Seek to cross yourself over and do not sleep.
The robber afflictions are always about to kill you even more than
your enemies. How can you sleep? How can you not rouse yourself to
awaken? With the hook of the precepts you should quickly remove the
poisonous snake afflictions that are sleeping in your heart. When
the sleeping snake is gone, then you can sleep at ease. Those who
sleep even though it hasn't yet gone, are without shame. The
clothing of shame, among all adornments, is the very best. Shame can
be compared to an iron barb which can restrain people from doing
evil. Therefore you should always have a sense of shame, and not be
without it even for a moment, for if you have no sense of shame you
will lose all of your merit and virtue. Those who have shame have
good dharmas; one without it is no different from the birds and
beasts.

AVOIDING ANGER

All of you Bhikshus, if a person dismembered you piece by piece your
mind should be self-contained. Do not allow yourself to become
angry. Moreover, you should guard your mouth and not give rise to
evil speech. If you allow yourself to have thoughts of anger, you
will hinder your own Way, and lose the merit and virtue you have
gained. Patience is a virtue which neither upholding the precepts
nor the ascetic practises are able to compare with. One who is able
to practise patience can be called a great person who has strength;
if you are unable to happily and patiently undergo the poison of
malicious abuse, as if drinking sweet dew, you cannot be called a
wise person who has entered the Way. Why is this? The harm from
anger ruins all good dharmas and destroys one's good reputation.
People of the present and of the future will not even wish to see
this person. You should know that a heart of anger is worse than a
fierce fire. You should always guard against it, and not allow it to
enter you, for of the thieves which rob one's merit and virtue, none
surpasses anger. Anger may be excusable in lay people who indulge in
desires, and in people who do not cultivate the Way, who are without
the means to restrain themselves, but for people who have left the
home-life, who cultivate the Way and are without desires, harboring
anger is impermissable. Within a clear, cool cloud, there should not
be a sudden blazing clash of thunder.

AVOIDING ARROGANCE

All of you Bhikshus, you should rub your heads for you have
relinguished fine adornments, you wear the garments of a Buddhist
monk, and you carry the alms bowl to use in begging for your
livelihood; look at yourself in this way. If thoughts of arrogance
arise you should quickly destroy them, because the increase of
arrogance is not appropriate even among the customs of lay people,
how much the less for a person who has left the home-life and
entered the Way. For the sake of liberation, you should humble
yourself and practice begging for food.

AVOIDING FLATTERY

All of you Bhikshus, a mind of flattery is contradictory to the Way.
Therefore you should have a straightforward disposition of mind. You
should know that flattery is only deceit, so for people who have
entered the Way, it has no use. For this reason, all of you should
have an upright mind, and take a straightforward disposition as
your basis.

REDUCING DESIRES

All of you Bhikshus, you should know that people with many desires,
because they have much seeking for advantage, have much suffering.
People who reduce their desires, who are without seeking or longing
are without this trouble. Straight-away reduce your desires and in
addition cultivate appropriately. One who reduces his desires is
more able to produce all merit and virtue. People who reduce their
desires, do not flatter in order to get what they want from others.
Moreover they are not dragged along by their sense organs. People
who reduce their desires have, as a consequence, a mind which is
peaceful, without worry or fear. In meeting with situations they are
always satisfied and never discontent. One who reduces his desires
has Nirvana. This is known as reducing desires.

CONTENTMENT

All of you Bhikshus, if you wish to be free from all suffering and
difficulty, you should be content. The dharma of contentment is the
dwelling of blessings, happiness, and peace. People who are content,
although they might sleep on the ground are peaceful and happy.
Those who are not content, although they might abide in the heavens,
are still dissatisfied. Those who are not content, even if they are
rich, they are poor. Those who are content, although they might be
poor, they are rich. Those who are discontent are always dragged
along by their five sense organs, and are pitied by those who are
content. This is known as contentment.

SECLUSION

All of you Bhikshus, seek quietude, the Unconditioned peace, and
happiness. You should be apart from confusion and disturbances, and
dwell alone in seclusion. People who dwell in quietude are
reverenced by the heavenly ruler Shakra and all the gods. For this
reason you should renounce your own group and other groups, and
dwell alone in seclusion in order to contemplate the basis for the
cessation of suffering. If you delight in crowds, you will undergo a
lot of affliction. It is like when a flock of birds gathers in a
great tree, it is in danger of withering and collapsing. One who is
bound and attached to the world drowns in a multitude of suffering,
like an old elephant sunk in mud, who is unable to get himself out.
This is known as seclusion.

VIGOR

All of you Bhikshus, if you are vigorous no affair will be difficult
for you; for this reason all of you should be vigorous. It is like
a small stream flowing for a long time which is able to bore through
stone. If, on the other hand, the mind of one who cultivates
frequently becomes lax, it is like trying to make a fire by friction
but resting before there is any heat; though one wants to make a
fire, the fire is difficult to obtain. This is known as vigor.

MINDFULNESS

All of you Bhikshus, seeking for a Good and Wise Advisor, or for a
wholesome benefactor, does not compare with mindfulness. If you do
not neglect mindfulness, none of the thieves of the afflictions can
enter you. For this reason all of you should constantly collect the
thoughts in your mind. If you lose mindfulness you will lose all
merit and virtue. If your power of mindfulness is firm and strong,
though you enter among the thieves of the five desires, they cannot
harm you. It is like entering a battle wearing armour, thus there is
nothing to fear. This is known as mindfulness.

DHYANA CONCENTRATION

All of you Bhikshus, if you collect your mind, it will be
concentrated. Because the mind is concentrated, the production and
destruction of the appearances of dharmas in the world can be known.
For this reason, all of you should constantly and vigorously
cultivate concentration. If you attain concentration your mind will
not be scattered. It is like a household that uses its water
sparingly and is able to regulate its irrigation ditches. One who
cultivates concentration is also the same way; for the sake of the
water of wisdom he well cultivates dhyana concentration so it
doesn't leak away. This is known as concentration.

WISDOM

All of you Bhikshus, if you have wisdom, you will be without greed
or attachment. Always examine yourselves, and do not allow
yourselves to have faults, for it is in this way that you will be
able to obtain liberation within my Dharma. If one is not like this,
since he is neither a person of the Way, nor a layperson, there is
no name for him. One with wisdom has a secure boat for crossing over
the ocean of birth, old age, sickness, and death. Wisdom is also
like a great bright lamp in the darkness of ignorance, a good
medicine for those who are sick, and a sharp axe for cutting down
the tree of afflictions. For this reason all of you should
increasingly benefit yourselves by learning, considering, and
cultivating wisdom. Even though a person only has flesh eyes, if he
has illuminating wisdom, he has clear understanding. This is known
as wisdom.

NOT HAVING IDLE DISCUSSIONS

All of you Bhikshus, if you have all sorts of idle discussions,
your mind will be scattered, and even though you have left the
home-life, you will not attain liberation. For this reason,
Bhikshus, you should quickly renounce a scattered mind and idle
discussions. If you wish to be one who attains the happiness of
still tranquillity, you only need to be good and eliminate the evil
of idle discussions. This is known as not having idle discussions.

SELF-EXERTION

All of you Bhikshus, with respect to all merit and virtue, you
should always have a single purpose. Relinguish all laziness as you
would leave a hateful thief. That which the greatly compassionate
World Honored One has explained for your benefit is already
finished; all of you need only to practice it diligently. Whether
you are in the mountains, in a desolate marsh, beneath a tree, or in
an empty and quiet dwelling, be mindful of the Dharma you have
received and do not allow it to be forgotten. You should always
exert yourselves and practise it vigorously. You don't want to reach
the time of death and be filled with remorse because of a life spent
in vain. I am like a good doctor who understands illnesses and
prescribes medicine. Whether it is taken or not is not the
responsibility of the doctor. Moreover I am like a virtuous guide
who points out a good path. If those who hear of it do not walk down
it, it is not the guide's fault.

CLEARING UP ALL DOUBTS

All of you Bhikshus, if you have doubts about suffering and the
other Four Truths, you may quickly ask about them now. Do not
harbour doubts and fail to clear them up.

At that time the World Honored One repeated this three times, yet no
one asked him a question. And why was this? Because the assembly did
not harbour any doubts.

At that time Venerable Aniruddha contemplated the minds of the
assembly and said to the Buddha, "World Honored One, the moon can
become hot and the sun can become cold, but the Four Truths
proclaimed by the Buddha cannot be otherwise. The Truth of Suffering
taught by the Buddha is actually suffering, and cannot become
happiness. Accumulation is truly the cause of it, besides which
there is no other cause. If one is to destroy suffering, the cause
of suffering must be destroyed, because if the cause is destroyed
then the result is destroyed. The path leading to the destruction of
suffering is truly the real path, besides which there is no other
path. World Honored One, all of these Bhikshus are certain and have
no doubts about the Four Truths."

LIVING BEINGS WHO WILL CROSS OVER

"When those in this assembly who have not yet done what should be
done see the Buddha cross over to Nirvana they will certainly feel
sorrow. Those who have newly entered the Dharma and heard what the
Buddha taught, will all cross over. They have seen the Way, like a
flash of lightning in the night. But those who have already done
what was to be done who have already crossed over the ocean of
suffering, will only have this thought: 'Why has the World Honored
One crossed over to Nirvana so soon?'

Aniruddha spoke these words. Everyone in the assembly had penetrated
the meaning of the Four Holy Truths. The World Honored One wished
all in that great assembly to be firm, so with a mind of great
compassion he spoke again for their sake.

"All of you Bhikshus do not be grieved or distressed. If I were to
live in the world for a kalpa, my association with you would still
come to an end. A meeting without a seperation can never be. The
Dharma for benefitting oneself and others is complete. If I were to
live longer it would be of no further benefit. All of those who
could be crossed over, whether in the heavens above or among humans,
have already crossed over, and all of those who have not yet crossed
over have already created the causes and conditions for crossing
over.

THE DHARMA BODY IS ALWAYS PRESENT

From now on all of my disciples must continuously practise. Then the
Thus Come One's Dharma body will always be present and
indestructible. You should know therefore, that everything in the
world is impermanent. Meetings necessarily have seperations, so do
not harbour grief. Every appearance in the world is like this, so
you should be vigorous and seek for an early liberation. Destroy the
darkness of delusion with the brightness of wisdom. The world is
truly dangerous and unstable, without any durability.

My present attainment of Nirvana is like being rid of a malignant
sickness. The body is a false name, drowning in the great ocean of
birth, sickness, old age and death. How can one who is wise not be
happy when he gets rid of it, like killing a hateful thief?

CONCLUSION

All of you Bhikshus, you should always singlemindedly and diligently
seek the way out of all the moving and unmoving dharmas of the
world, for they are all destructible, unfixed appearances. All of
you, stop; there is nothing more to say. Time is passing away, and
I wish to cross over to Nirvana. These are my very last instructions.

THE END

SUTRA ON THE BUDDHA'S BEQUEATHED TEACHING

Translated from Sanskrit by
Yau Chin Tripitaka Dharma Master Kumarjiva

Translated from Chinese by: The Buddhist Text Translation Society
Dharma Realm Buddhist University
Talmage, California, USA

"The big thieves hang the little ones."

Filial Paragon
Tsai Syun, Who saved the Mulberries to give to his mother.

In the time of the Eastern Han Dynasty, there lived a young, filial boy, whose surname was Tsai Dan, and whose personal name was Dzwo Syun.

When he was very young, his father died, leaving him and his mother alone to make ends meet.
Tsai Syun served his mother joyfully and was extremely filial, and so all the neighboring people were very fond of him. But this was a time of political upheaval. There were those who were plotting against the throne, hoping to make themselves Emperor. Because of that, thieves and bandits descended like a plague of locusts, setting fires and wreaking havoc. They were reckless and bold, and so the people lived in a constant state of anxiety. Moreover, famine continued from year to year, making the lives of the citizen worse each day. Because he wanted to serve his mother, Tsai Syun would go into the wilderness each day to pick mulberries fro their meal and then bring them back to give to his old mother. When Tsai Syun went berry picking, he would always bring along two baskets. He put the ripe, black berries into one basket and the sour, red ones into the other basket.

One day, just as Tsai Syun was out picking berries, there suddenly appeared a gang of red-browed bandits, whose name came from the red paint they smeared on their brows. They saw Tsai Syun picking mulberries, carefully separating them into two baskets, and they thought it very strange. So, very brashly and rudely they asked him, “Little brother, you haven’t picked very many mulberries. Why do you need two baskets? Wouldn’t one be more than enough?”
Tsai Syun replied, “Because the black mulberries are ripe, they have a sweet taste and these I give to my mother to eat. The red mulberries are not ripe yet and so they are sour. Those I eat myself. For this reason, I divide them into two different baskets.”

When the red-browed bandits heard Tsai Syun’s explanation, they were very much impressed. In their hearts they compared themselves to this very young boy who was already so filial, and they felt very ashamed. “We have deserted our parents to become thieves. We don’t even measure up to a chilled,” they thought to themselves.
Then, those red-browed bandits suddenly grew kind and offered Tsai Syun three bags of rice to take home to this mother. But Tsai Syun said, “Mama told me that I shouldn’t want things that belong to others. Since these things you want to give me have been stolen from other people, I am even les able to take them.”

When the thieves heard this, they were moved to shame, and each one said, “Thank you, little brother, for your precious, good words. Originally we, too, were good sons and brothers, but we came under the influence of the times. We wish to return to our families, take care of our parents, and no longer be bad.”

There is a saying that “When the heart is sincere, even metal and stone can be penetrated.” If one has completely true, devoted, and filial mind, one can move even a hard-hearted thief. Tsai Shyun’s filial devotion not only impressed the bandits, but the story of his filial conduct changed the entire village he lived in to a place of propriety.

In order to praise his virtue, this verse was composed:
The black mulberries he gave to his mother,
Thought he himself wept
Tears of hunger and sorrow.
The red-browed recognized his filial devotion,
And offered him a present of rice.

YOU ARE ALL THAT YOU NEED

Not sure where you're going
You feel lost and unassured
And There's no way of knowing
A truth that is so obscured

But I'll say it to you
The things I know are true
I'm planting the seed
You are all that you need

You are all that you need
You are all that you need

When you're falling into darkness
Frantic at the state you're in
The world around you's filled with unrest
You don't know where to begin

But I'll say it to you
The things I know are true
I'm planting the seed
You are all that you need

You are all that you need
You are all that you need

Feeling bent up beat down and broken
Sucked dry of even your soul
Hear no condolences spoken
A shadow in a burnt out world

But I'll say it to you
The things I know are true
I'm planting the seed
You are all that you need

You are all that you need
You are all that you need

Some other things my friend said

Rightwingnuts like Limbaugh and Coulter spread hate and look what we get - Unitarian church-goers getting massacred, Democratic chairmans (in the same state, no less) being assassinated and now, an actress/newscaster beaten almost to death because she had a minor role in a movie critical of Bush. Hear their words: "I tell people don't kill all the liberals. Leave enough so we can have two on every campus -- living fossils -- so we will never forget what these people stood for." (Rush Limbaugh) "My only regret with Timothy McVeigh is he did not go to the New York Times building." (Ann Coulter) "I'll tell you who should be tortured and killed at Guantanamo -- every filthy Democrat in the U.S. Congress." (Sean Hannity) "To fight only the al-Qaeda scum is to miss the terrorist network operating within our own borders ... Who are these traitors? Every rotten radical left-winger in this country, that's who." (Michael Savage) To spread such hate isn't just wrong, It's morally disgusting. It kills people just as shouting "Fire!" in a theater. Let these hate-mongers pay for their crimes. Let us get past the hate-filled Republican years that have tarnished our country.

"How America Fell"

Everything's Coming My Way

I'm feeling pretty good about this presidential election. I feel like I'm in a win-win situation. It may very well happen that Barak Obama will win the presidency. And I have been thinking how great it would be if he won but I've been also thinking he ran a great campaign even if he loses. Maybe he really will look after working people even with all the deficit now, and deficit to come cleaning up the mess of crap that Bush has as a legacy, securing Social Security and ushering in universal health coverage. On the other hand if McCain wins it will drive an even deeper wedge in american society ensuring an even bigger turning of the tide.

Spirit of the UN

For Kids!

The UN is 63 years old Friday, Oct 24th. And the Declaration of Human Rights, written by Eleanor Roosevelt, is 60 years old this year. The inner esoteric groups within the UN are working together to bring focus upon the spirituality and values of the UN through talks and meetings http://www.csvgc-ny.org/

United Nations Day, Oct. 24th;

World Disarmament Week, Oct. 24-30;

Sts. Simon & Jude's feast days along with the New Scorpio Moon, October 28th;

All Hallows Eve, or Halloween, October 31st where, with the expansive Jupiter ruled Sagittarius Moon "something sweet and wicked our ways comes"

other inner esotericism

Eclipses, Foreshadowing the Autumn Months
The last month of summer (August, 2008) brought us two eclipses, solar and lunar, at the Leo New and Full Moon festivals. Eclipses represent profound and penetrating changes are occurring (will occur), on inner and outer levels in the lives of humanity, all kingdoms, governments, nations, and ways of living and being. Following the eclipses is Mercury retrograde (September 24 - October 25) at 22 degrees Libra. Retrogrades are very useful. They are times when planning and strategies can be set in place. They are times of rest and recollection, reappraisals and reassessments. Our minds become tired and overloaded with information in the days between Mercury retrogrades (occurring three times a year, each three weeks); the last being May 26 - June 19th. There are behaviors to be avoided during Mercury retrograde times such as: making commitments or important plans; beginning a new job; filing legal matters; undertaking new and untried plans; getting married; buying a car and/or large expensive items.

The Eclipses & Three Signs of Crisis
Leo (location of eclipses) is one of three signs (Leo, Libra, Capricorn) of crisis and testing points for individual aspirants. Eclipses take their time to manifest the inner (solar) and outer (lunar) changes. For six months we live under their influencing shadow – three months prior and three after. The recent financial chaos (in the sign of the Mother or Virgo, symbolizing matter & form), the week of Sept. 15-19 is an example of ecliptic (things fall away & disappear) influences.

The test of Leo concerns the Crisis of Individualization as it manifests in two parts. First there is diffused inchoate power and then personality integration. The test of Libra is the Crisis of Balance where from chaos there emerges a sense of self-direction and equilibrium. The equilibrium is between Soul and form. In Libra there is choice based upon knowledge of duality (two choices) and our effort to balance the two. The test of Capricorn in the Crisis of Initiation in five stages and in this sign emerges the Christ or Soul life. Capricorn provides a higher synthesis (integration) and Soul control, which is, no longer individual consciousness, but group consciousness. Humanity learns at this time through suffering. When the personality (form and matter) is exhausted, it "reaches up" to a higher reality, calling in aid and assistance. This is when the Soul is able to emerge, becoming the director of the personality.

Triangle of the Father
These three signs of crises and testing constitute a triangle of the Father (Will, Ray 1) aspect. For humanity it is through meeting crisis that there is the possibility of attainment and triumphant achievement. Humanity is experiencing these tests and trials at this time, through our present day economic crisis (which will continue in the years to come). Humanity has a choice as to the outcome. We pray that the minds be illumined and that the world disciple (humanity) proceeds with enlightened activity. The New Group of World Servers is to play a part is humanity's choices. We are to invoke the Light of Illumination, and with our Spiritual Will (willingness) radiate the Light of God into the minds of humanity. Each level of each kingdom has its part to play. May we each do our part.

Mercury Retrograde - Backward & Inside Out
Travel during Mercury retrograde can be difficult with unusual and unexpected events occurring. All thoughts, outer activities and plans turn inward. It is as if everything suddenly became backward, turned inside out, and became instant Virgos. Thoughts turn to research and analysis. After Mercury retrograde turns direct (October 25th at 7 degrees Libra with Sun in Scorpio) there will remain the "shadow of the retrograde" until the end of October. This means that although Mercury is slowly moving forward it will not meet its original degree of retrograde (22 degrees Libra) until October 31st. Our minds and all life's events will be affected by this shadow.

Learning During Retrogrades
In classes during the autumn, an emphasis on review allows students to learn more efficiently. Mercury and Gemini rule the mind, learning, communication and everyone's minds will be both internal and in the past, unable to effectively learn new information easily.

Other Planets & Asteroids Retrograde
Prior to Mercury's retrograde two other planets will have completed their retrograde passages – Jupiter (rethinking philosophical challenges and seeking new goals) and Pluto (cleansing and purification in order to transform). While Mercury is retrograde we will have two other planets along with two asteroids also retrograde – Uranus (prepare for revolution), Neptune (prepare for dissolution in order to refine), asteroids Vesta (seeking the deepest importance in life) and Chiron (preparing to know and confront the wound).

Introspective Times
Autumn of 2008 will be a very introspective time due to the retrogrades. We will realize it's best to maintain reliable concepts and methods (Uranus retrograde), we will renew and review our spiritual and religious lives (Neptune retrograde) and we will prepare for Pluto's return to Capricorn as we watch the prevailing structures continue to topple, fail and move into chaos – eventually leading ustoward the beginning of the new culture and civilization (Aquarian
Age).

The Night Sky
October's night sky – Jupiter can be seen in the south just as nightfall begins. Venus returns as the Evening Star, rising higher and higher into the sky each night. In the last eighteen days of October, those rising about an hour before sunrise will be able to see Mercury in the morning sky. It will look like an apparition and each day reach higher degrees of magnitude until at the end of the month (27th) Mercury will have doubled in size and brilliance. One of the mornings Mercury will hover just left of the new crescent Moon.

The United States, now Pisces progressed Sun, whose cosmic and spiritual task is to "light the Way for all nations and humanity (Destiny of the Nations, A. Bailey), will continue to experience purification (fire, water). There will be continual shifts (toppling & falling) in the economic (Uranus, Libra, Capricorn) realm, food shortages and continued need for greater safety (Saturn in Virgo), excessive gas prices, loss of homes all due to excessive greed by the few and lack of government controls and regulations. Wall Street will affect Main Street. As the chaos continues new controls and structures will need to be set in place. Compassion and understanding are called for here.

Night Light News

Our leaders are insane or worse

Former Powell aide details debate over interrogations

WASHINGTON -- A top aide to former Secretary of State Colin Powell said yesterday that wrongheaded ideas for the handling of foreign detainees arose from White House and Pentagon officials who argued that ''the president of the United States is all-powerful“ and the Geneva Conventions are irrelevant.

In an interview, former Powell chief of staff Lawrence Wilkerson also said President Bush was ''too aloof, too distant from the details” of postwar planning. Underlings exploited Bush's detachment, Wilkerson said.

He blamed Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and like-minded aides. He said Cheney must have sincerely believed that Iraq could be a spawning ground for new terror assaults, because ''otherwise I have to declare him a moron, an idiot, or a nefarious bastard.“

....
Cheney's office and Rumsfeld aides argued ''that the president of the United States is all-powerful, that as commander in chief, the president of the United States can do anything he damn well pleases,” Wilkerson said.

Today at lunch a friend was telling me about the woman who played Ann Coulter in Oliver Stone's new picture "W." being attacked,
http://gawker.com/5066431/ann-coulter-doppelganger-mysteriously-attacked
he seemed to be convinced that Coulter and other Republicans had something to do with it. Contrary to what some might think I don't believe every conspiracy theory I hear. Yet he was convinced. He said,"It is as though the country was being run by the mafia."
I know a thing or two about the mafia having grown up in a neighborhood that was run by the Gambino family. I had to tell him that no, the mafia has more ethics than the people running the government. Sadly I believe that to be true.
Not that I ever admired any of the scumbags in the mafia. I never gave them any respect, and people were always trying to get me to shut my big mouth.

One time I was down on Rockaway Blvd. having a drink in a bar alone. John Gotti Jr. came in with his girlfriend and a half dozen guys. After awhile one of the guys came over to me and said,"John doesn't like the way you're looking at his girlfriend, he thinks you should leave."
So I got up and went over to him, stood about a foot away and leaned in so my nose was about three inches from his and looked him in the eye.
(A little background. John Gotti's neighbor one day was backing out of his driveway and ran over Gotti's son. The guy was never seen again. The story was he had been taken apart with a chainsaw.)
This is what I said to John Gotti Jr., "Look, I know who you are, but you don't know who I am. I don't like you. And I don't give a fuck for you or your father. I don't give a fuck about no kid, and I don't give a fuck about no chainsaw. Now you can all get the fuck out of here."
And they left.
I finished my drink and got the fuck out of there myself. I may be crazy but I'm not stupid.
Where I grew up a lot of guys wanted to be in the mafia and pretended that they were. I never had any respect for any of it.
I have to say compared to the people who run the country at least the Mafia had some ethics.

John Cleese: Michael Palin No Longer the Funniest Palin on Earth

Former Monty Python comedian John Cleese thinks Sarah Palin is like a parrot (from the Dead Parrot sketch, perhaps?)

for the way she's been able to memorize and regurgitate Republican talking points without fully understanding them. He cautions that there's virtually no one in Europe who thinks she's qualified for the White House -- a scary thought considering she's running with a "a 72-year-old cancer survivor."

Cleese laughs, "I mean, Monty Python could have written this!"

Palin's inexperience is all the more reason why McCain's medical records should be released. http://therealmccain.com/doctors/

Are All Lives Equal?

When Refusing to Kill Has a Higher Sentence Than Murder
Saturday 20 September 2008

From the beginning of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the United States military has come under intense criticism and scrutiny for the deaths of civilians. This week, the secretary of defense and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff made trips to Afghanistan and Pakistan to "acknowledge" the deaths of innocent civilians in attacks in those countries.

In the five and one-half years of the US occupation of Iraq, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians have been killed by US military personnel at checkpoints, during convoy movements and during operations to find the "enemy." In the half-decade of US military presence in Iraq, a very small number of US military personnel and an even smaller number of CIA and contractors have been charged with manslaughter or murder in these deaths. The deaths of most civilians are counted in the "costs of war." A few dozen military have been court-martialed on allegations of mistreatment, manslaughter and murder of Iraqi civilians. With a very few exceptions, most who were court-martialed have been acquitted. Those who were convicted have generally served light sentences.
This week we see again that punishment is less for murdering four Iraqis than for refusing to participate in a war that many citizens, and many in the military, see as a crime against the peace - a war crime.
On September 18, 2008, the US Army sentenced Specialist Belmor Ramos to seven months in prison, demotion to private and a dishonorable discharge for standing guard from a turret in a Humvee while three others in his unit, the First Infantry Division, bound, blindfolded, shot in the heads and dumped the bodies of four unidentified Iraqi men into a Baghdad canal in 2007 in retaliation for deaths in Ramos's unit. According to Associated Press reports, during the court-martial, Ramos admitted his guilt: "I wanted them dead. I had no legal justification or excuse to do this."
Ramos had been charged with conspiracy to commit murder, for which he could have received a life sentence. The military judge in Ramos's court-martial in Vilsek, Germany, would have sentenced him to 40 years in prison had the military prosecutor not agreed to a plea bargain for seven months to testify in the upcoming court-martials of the three non-commissioned officers - Sgt. John E. Hatley, Sgt. 1st Class Joseph P. Mayo and Sgt. Michael P. Leahy Jr. - who were charged on September 16, 2008, with premeditated murder, conspiracy to commit premeditated murder and obstruction of justice.
Longer Sentences for Resisting War Than for Murdering Civilians
Just one month ago, US Army Private Robin Long was sentenced to fifteen months in prison, reduced to private and given a dishonorable discharge for having been absent without leave from the Army rather than serving in a war he believed was unlawful. He had been deported from Canada where he had been speaking on his concerns about the legality of the war for three years and was handed over by Canadian immigration officials to the US military for prosecution. One month earlier, US Army Private First Class James Burmeister voluntarily returned from Canada and was sentenced in July 2008 to six months in prison for refusing to return to Iraq after two previous tours in which he was hit by three IEDs. In May 2008, Private First Class Robert Weiss was court-martialed in Vilseck, Germany, and sentenced to 7 months in jail for refusing to go to Iraq. Also in May 2008, Private First Class Ryan Jackson was also court-martialed and sentenced to 100 days in jail for refusing to go to Iraq.
In 2007, the court-martial of US Army First Lieutenant Ehren Watada, the first commissioned officer who refused to deploy to Iraq, ended in a mistrial. He is still on active duty with the Army. Also in 2007, US Army Sergeant Mark Wilkerson refused to return to Iraq and was sentenced to seven months in jail. The Army denied the conscientious objection application of US Army medic Specialist Agustin Aguayo; he refused to return to Iraq and was sentenced to eight months in jail. Also in 2007, Specialist Melanie McPherson, a US Army Minnesota Reservist, refused to go to Iraq in a job she was not trained for; she was court-martialed and sentenced to three months in jail.
In 2006, US Army Specialist Dale Bertell refused to return to Iraq and was sentenced to four months in jail. US Army Texas National Guard Specialist Katherine Jashniski refused to deploy to Afghanistan; she was sentenced to four months in jail. US Army Sergeant Ricky Clousing of the 82nd Airborne Division refused to return to Iraq and was sentenced to three months in jail. US Marine Corporal Ivan Brobeck voluntarily returned from 18 months in Canada and was court-martialed for refusing to return to Iraq; he was sentenced to eight months in jail.
In 2005, US Army Sergeant Kevin Benderman refused to return to Iraq and was sentenced to 15 months in jail; he served 13 months. US Army Specialist Blake LeMoine refused to return to Iraq and served seven months in jail. When the conscientious objection application of US Army Private Neil Quentin Lucas was denied, he refused to go to Iraq and served 13 months in jail.
In 2004, US Army Sergeant Camilo Mejia refused to return to Iraq and was sentenced to 12 months in jail. The highest-ranking non-commissioned officer to refuse orders to Iraq, US Army Sergeant First Class Abdullah Webster, was sentenced to 14 months in jail. He was within two years of retirement when he refused to deploy to Iraq. US Navy Petty Officer Third Class Pablo Paredes refused to deploy on a ship carrying Marines to a war he considered illegal. He was sentenced to three months confinement. The US Marines denied the conscientious objection application of Corporal Joel Klimkewixz and he was sentenced to seven months in jail.
In 2003, the US Marines denied the conscientious objection application of Marine Reservist Stephen Funk and sentenced him to six months in jail. All of the war resisters who have been court-martialed for refusing to go to Iraq or Afghanistan have been given either dishonorable or bad conduct discharges.
Thousands of other military service members who privately and silently oppose the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been given administrative discharges upon their voluntary return to the military after having been absent without leave.
Light Sentences for the Murders of Iraqis
Some of the more prominent cases where US military personnel have been court-martialed, but not necessarily convicted, for the murders of Iraqi civilians include:
On August 29, 2008, a civilian jury in Riverside, California, acquitted former US Marine Sergeant Jose Nazario Jr. on charges of voluntary manslaughter in the deaths of four unarmed Iraqi detainees during the siege of Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004.
In June, 2008, a U.S. military judge dismissed charges against Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Chessani, who had been accused of failing to investigate the November 2005 massacre of 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha. Of the eight Marines originally charged in the Haditha massacre, only one still faces prosecution. Criminal charges have been dismissed against six of the Marines and a seventh Marine was acquitted.
In 2007, seven Camp Pendleton Marines and a Navy corpsman were charged with murder and related offenses in the April 2006 kidnapping and killing of a 57-year-old retired Iraqi policeman in the village of Hamdania northwest of Baghdad. Only one of the men, squad leader Sergeant Lawrence Hutchins III, remains in jail, convicted of murder and sentenced by a Camp Pendleton military jury to 15 years. The other six either served out the terms they agreed to in plea deals or had their sentences commuted by Lieutenant General James Mattis, the Commanding General of Camp Pendleton. Mattis ordered the men below Hutchins's rank released after a military jury in July 2007 found Corporal Trent Thomas guilty for his role in the murders but limited his sentence to time already served. In releasing the others, General Mattis determined that Thomas's sentence created an unfair disparity for his fellow Marines who had been convicted with higher sentences.
In December 2007, US Marine Reservist Lance Corporal Delano Holmes was convicted of negligent homicide for the stabbing death of Iraqi Army Private Munther Jasem Muhammed Hassin, a man he shared guard duty with at Camp Fallujah, Iraq, on December 31, 2006. Holmes killed Hassin, stabbing him 17 times, slashing him another 26 times and nearly slicing his nose from his face. A military jury sentenced Holmes to time served, the second time in five months that a Camp Pendleton Marine military court jury allowed a defendant convicted in a homicide case to be sentenced to only time served. Holmes was reduced in rank from lance corporal to private and given a bad conduct discharge.
In August 2008, Article 32 hearings were held in Vilsek, Germany, to determine whether to proceed with criminal charges against Staff Sergeant Jess Cunningham and Sergeant Charles Quigley for the death of an Iraqi. The hearing officer has not yet decided whether the two will be court-martialed.
In only one murder case in Iraq have convicted US military personnel received substantial sentences. In August 2007, a military jury convicted US Army Private First Class Jesse Speilman of rape and four counts of felony murder for the rape and murder of Abeer Qassim al-Janabi, a 14-year-old Iraqi girl, and the murders of her parents and younger sister on March 12, 2006, in Mahmoudiya, a village about 20 miles south of Baghdad. Speilman was sentenced to 110 years in prison, but will be eligible for parole in ten years. During their court-martial, Specialist James P. Barker and Sergeant Paul Cortez testified they took turns raping Abeer while Private Steven Green shot and killed her mother, father and younger sister. They also testified that Green shot Abeer Qassin in the head after raping her. They then set her body on fire to destroy evidence. Cruz was sentenced to 100 years in prison under a plea agreement and will be eligible for parole in 10 years. Barker pleaded guilty at his court-martial and was sentenced to 90 years in a military prison, with the possibility of parole. Private Bryan Howard was sentenced to 27 months in prison under a plea agreement. Private Steven D. Green was discharged from the Army for anti-social behavior before the murders had been discovered. However, he was arrested and charged with rape and murder in the Western District Court of Kentucky. He will be tried in that court on April 29, 2009. His attorney has filed documents for an insanity defense.
Higher Punishment for Killing Fellow Servicemen Than Iraqis
Punishment for murder of other U.S. service members is dramatically higher than for murder of Iraqi and Afghan civilians.
In April 2003, US Army Sergeant Hasan Akbar, a member of the 101st Airborne Division, allegedly threw grenades into a tent at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait that killed two officers and wounded 14. Akbar was sentenced to death in April 2005.
In June 2005, US Army 42nd Infantry Division Staff Sergeant Alberto Martinez allegedly killed two superior officers with an anti-personnel mine and grenades inside one of Saddam Hussein's palaces, near Tikrit, Iraq. Martinez's court-martial is underway at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.
Earlier this week, on September 14, 2008, two US Army soldiers, assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division, were shot and killed, reportedly by another soldier at their base, near the town of Iskandariyah, about 30 miles south of Baghdad. The soldier who reportedly killed the two others is confined and will be brought before a military magistrate this week for pretrial procedural determinations.

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Ann Wright is a retired US Army Reserves colonel with 29 years of military service. She also was a US diplomat who served in Nicaragua, Grenada, Somalia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Sierra Leone, Micronesia and Mongolia. She was on the small team that reopened the US Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, in December 2001. She resigned from the US diplomatic corps in March 2003 in opposition to the Bush administration's decision to invade and occupy Iraq. She is the co-author of "Dissent: Voices of Conscience," profiles of government insiders who have spoken and acted on their concerns of their governments' policies.

Short History of Tendai Buddhism

The Tendai School of Buddhism is one of the most important sects of Japanese Buddhism, established in the 8th Century CE. Its origins are firmly rooted in both the Dharma taught by Shakyamuni Buddha - the historical Buddha - as well as the Mahayana school of Buddhism and China's T'ien-t'ai Buddhist doctrine. Named after the sacred mountain in southeast China and popularized by the philosopher, teacher and practitioner Chih-i (538-597) and the Japanese monk Saicho (767-822), the Tendai school gave rise to other important schools of Japanese Buddhism, including the Jodo (Pure Land), Jodo Shin-Shu (New Pure Land), Soto Zen, Rinzai Zen and Nichiren schools. The history of Tendai Buddhism thus encompasses the stories of both Mahayana Buddhism and Japanese Buddhism.

The Candle of the Latter Dharma
Saicho

He who conforms to the One Thusness while spreading his teaching is the Dharma king; he whose virtues permeate the four seas and transmit his influence among the people is the benevolent king. This being so, the Dharma king and the benevolent king work together to reveal each other's presence and enlighten all beings; the Absolute Truth and the secular truth rely on each other to spread the Buddhist teachings. It is for this reason that the profound writings of Buddhism fill the world and sage counsel overflows under heaven.
Now we foolish monks accept and obey the heavenly net of the nation's laws and respect and obey the emperor's severe decrees. There is no time for us to rest complacent.
There are three periods to the Dharma. There are also three types of people. Instructions concerning the teachings and precepts arise and disappear depending on the time, and words repudiating or praising the keeping of the precepts are employed or cast aside depending upon the audience. As for the fortunes of Fu Hsi, Wen Wang, and Confucius, the three ancient worthies of China, their rise and fall were not the same; as for the capacities of the beings of the five five-hundred year periods after the Buddha's decrease, their wisdom and enlightenment are also different. How can beings of different capacities be saved by identical means? How can all of the Buddha's teachings concerning the precepts be arranged under one principle?
For this reason, I shall detail the sucessive stages of the True, Imitative, and Latter Dharma and clarify the activities carried out by monks who break and keep the precepts during these respective periods. This work consists of the following three sections: (1) definitions of the True, Imitative, and Latter Dharma; (2) explanations of the behavior of monks who break and keep the precepts during the three Dharmas; (3) quotations from the Buddha's teachings and the comparison of them with the behavior of the monks of the present age.
First, the definitions of the True, Imitative, and Latter Dharmas. There are different theories concerning the length of the three periods. To begin with, one theory will be given. [K'uei-]chi of the Mahayana, quoting the Sutra of the Good Aeon, says:
"After the Buddha's nirvana, the True Dharma will last five hundred years and the Imitative Dharma will last one thousand years. After these fifteen hundred years, Sakyamuni's Dharma will perish completely."
The Latter Dharma is not mentioned here. According to another authority, since the nuns did not observe the eight rules of deference, and were lax and negligent, the True Dharma was not prolonged, Therefore we shall not rely on this theory.
Further, it is stated in the Nirvana Sutra:
"In the Latter Dharma there is a group of 120,000 great bodhisattvas who keep the Dharma, ensuring that it will not perish."
Since this refers to bodhisattvas of superior rank, it will not be used either.
Question: If so, what are the activities of the monks during these fifteen hundred years?
Answer: Looking at the Sutra of Maya, we find:
"In the first five hundred years after the Buddha's nirvana, the seven wise sages, such as Mahakasyapa, will successively uphold the True Dharma, ensuring that it will not perish. After five hundred years, the True Dharma will perish completely. After six hundred years, the ninety-five kinds of non-Buddhist teaching will thrive, and Asvaghosa will appear in the world to humble them. After seven hundred years, Nagarjuna will appear in the world and strike down the banners of erroneous views. After eight hundred years, the bhiksus (monks) will become self-indulgent and idle, and there will be only one or two people who attain enlightenment. After nine hundred years, menservants will become bhiksus and maidservants will become bhiksunis (nuns). After one thousand years, they will become wrathful when they hear of the Buddhist practice of contemplation of impurities and will not wish to practice it. After eleven hundred years, monks and nuns will marry and break and slander the precepts. After twelve hundred years, the monks and nuns will have children. After thirteen hundred years, they will wear the white robes of lay people. After fourteen hundred years, the four groups of disciples--monks, nuns, laymen and laywomen--will be like hunters and sell away the offerings presented to the Three Treasures. After fifteen hundred years, there will be two monks in the country of Kausambi who will quarrel with each other and eventually murder each other. Consequently the Buddhist teachings will be stored away in the dragon's palace."
These words are also found in roll eighteen of the Nirvana Sutra, as well as the Benevolent Kings Sutra, etc. According to these sutras' words, precepts, concentration, and wisdom will disappear after fifteen hundred years. For this reason, it is stated in roll fifty-one of the Great Collection Sutra (Mahasamnipata-sutra):
"After my nirvana, in the first five hundred years, the various bhiksus will abide within my True Dharma, and they will be steadfast in their liberation. ('Liberation' refers to the initial attainment of the fruits of the Holy Path.) In the next five hundred years, they will be steadfast in their contemplation. In the next five hundred years, they will be steadfast in listening to many teachings. In the next five hundred years, they will be steadfast in building temples. In the last five fundred years, they will be steadfast in quarreling with each other, and the pure Dharma will disappear completely. (And so forth.)"
This means that in the first three five-hundred year periods, they will be steadfast in practicing the three Dharmas of precepts, concentration, and wisdom. In other words, these periods correspond to the periods of the True Dharma of five hundred years and the Imitative Dharma of one thousand years quoted above. The two periods beginning with the period wherein temples are built belong to the Latter Dharma. For this reason, it is stated in [K'uei-]chi's Reconciling the Inconsistencies of the Diamond Wisdom Sutra:
"The True Dharma lasts five-hundred years, and the Imitative Dharma lasts one thousand years. After these fifteen hundred years, the True Dharma, which had been current, will perish completely."
Therefore we see that the two periods beginning with the period of the construction of temples belong to the Latter Dharma.
Question: If this is so, then in which period does the present world fall?
Answer: Although there are many theories concerning the chronology since the Buddha's nirvana, we shall consider [only] two theories here. First, the Dharma master Fa-shang and others, using the Record of Extraordinary Events in the Chou Dynasty, says that the Buddha entered nirvana in the water-monkey year of the fifty-third year of the reign of Mu Wang-man, the fifth lord of the Chou Dynasty (1122-1115 B.C.) According to this theory, from that monkey year until now, the metal-snake year of the twentieth year of Enryaku, it has been 1750 years.
Second, Fei Ch'ang-fang and others, using the Spring and Autumn Annals of the country of Lu, says the Buddha entered nirvana in the water-rat year of the fourth year of the reign of K'uang Wang-pan, the twenty-first lord of the Chou Dynasty. According to this theory, from that water-rat year until now, the metal-snake year of the twentieth year of Enryaku, it has been 1410 years.
Therefore we can see that the present time is at the extreme end of the Imitative Dharma. The activities of the monks of this age are already identical to those of the Latter Dharma. Within the Latter Dharma only the written teachings exist. Their is neither practice nor enlightenment. If precepts existed, then it would be possible to break the precepts. But since precepts no longer exist, what precepts are there to break? And since it is no longer possible to break the precepts, how much less can one keep the precepts? For this reason, the Great Collection Sutra states:
"After the Buddha's nirvana, monks without precepts will be found thoughout the province. (And so forth.)"
Question: Throughout the various sutras and vinayas, monks are admonished to refrain from breaking the precepts, and those who do so are not allowed in the Buddhist community. If monks who break the precepts are admonished in this way, then how much more so should the monks without precepts [be admonished]! However, here you argue repeatedly that there are no precepts to be kept in the Latter Dharma. Why should one without a wound hurt himself?
Answer: Your reasoning is not correct. The kinds of activities prevailing in the True, Imitative, and Latter Dharmas are disclosed in various sutras. Whether monk or layman, Buddhist or non-Buddhist, can there be anyone who opens the sutras without finding such passages? Why should I, while being attached to my evil way of life, conceal the True Dharma that maintains the country?
However, the point under discussion here concerns the fact that in the Latter Dharma, there are only nominal bhiksus. These nominal bhiksus are the True Treasures of the world. There are no other field of merit where one can plant merit. Furthermore, if someone were to keep the precepts in the Latter Dharma, this would be exceedingly strange indeed. It would be like a tiger in the marketplace. Who could believe it?
Question: I can see that the True, Imitative, and Latter Dharmas are described in many sutras. But in what scripture does the arguement that the nominal bhiksu of the Latter Dharma is the True Treasure of the world appear?
Answer: In roll nine of the Great Collection Sutra, it is stated:
"For example, pure gold is considered a priceless treasure. But if pure gold did not exist, then silver would be considered a priceless treasure. If silver did not exist, then brass, a false treasure, would be considered a priceless treasure. If a false treasure did not exist, then cuprite, nickel, iron, pewter, lead, or tin would be considered priceless treasures. Likewise, in the entire world, the Buddha Treasure is priceless. If the Buddha Treasure did not exist, then the pratyekabuddha would be considered supreme. If no pratyekabuddha existed, then the arhat would be considered supreme. If no arhat existed, then the remaining group of wise sages would be considered supreme. If the remaining group of wise sages did not exist, an ordinary man who had attained a state of concentration would be considered supreme. If no ordinary man who had attained a state of concentration existed, a pure keeper of the precepts would be considered supreme. If no pure keeper of the precepts existed, then a bhiksu who kept the precepts imperfectly would be considered supreme. If no bhiksu who kept the precepts existed, then a nominal bhiksu who shaved his hair and beard and donned Buddhist robes would be considered the Supreme Treasure. This is because he is preeminent when compared to the practitioners of the ninety-five kinds of non-Buddhist paths. He is worthy of accepting the veneration of the people of the world and becoming the field of merit of the populace. Why? Because he is feared by sentient beings. The person who protects, cares for, and worships him will quickly attain the rank of insight in the birthlessness of dharmas. (This ends the quotation from the sutra.)"
This passage enumerates eight levels of pricelessness: the Tathagata, the pratyekabuddha, the sravaka, as well as the practitioners who have attained a state of concentration, the one who keeps the precepts, the one who breaks the precepts, and the nominal monk without the precepts. In this order, they all become priceless treasures during the time of the True Imitative, and Latter Dharmas. The first four belong to the time of the True Dharma, the next three belong to the time of the Imitative Dharma, and the last one belongs to the time of the Latter Dharma. For this reason, we can clearly see that monks who break the precepts and monks who do not keep the precepts are both True Treasures.
Question: Looking respectfully at the statement above, it has become clear that even monks who break the precepts and nominal bhiksus are none other than True Treasures. Why, then do the Nirvana Sutra, the Great Collection Sutra and other works state, 'If kings and ministers vernerate a monk who breaks the precepts, the three calamities, those caused by famine, war, and pestilence, will arise in the country, and they will ultimately be born in hell?' Since this is so for bhiksus who break the precepts, how much more so for bhiksus who do not keep the precepts! This would mean that the Tathagata sometimes admonishes and sometimes praises monks who break the precepts. How can the words on one Sage have the error of inconsistency?
Answer: Your reasoning is not correct. To begin with, the Nirvana Sutra and other sutras prohibited the monks of the True Dharma from breaking the precepts, and not the bhiksus of the Imitative and Latter Dharmas. Although they are called by the same names, there is a difference in the times. To prohibit or permit according to the the time: this is the purport of the Great Sage. Therefore, there is no inconsistency in the World-honored One.
Question: If so, then how do we know that the Nirvana and other sutras only prohibit monks of the True Dharma from breaking the precepts, and not those of the Imitative and Latter Dharmas?
Answer: The exposition concerning the eight levels of True Treasures in the Great Collection Sutra quoted above is the proof. It is because all become priceless treasures in their time. Only during the time of the True Dharma do the bhiksus who break the precepts defile the pure Sangha. For this reason the Buddha firmly prohibited monks from breaking the precepts and did not allow those who did so to remain in the Sangha.
As to the reason why it is so, it is stated in roll three of the Nirvana Sutra:
The Tathagata has just now bestowed the unsurpassable True Dharma upon kings, ministers, councilors, monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen. These kings, the ministers, and the four kinds of Buddhists should encourage and inspire the students of the Way and enjoin them to attain the highest precepts, concentrations, and wisdom. If there should be a person who does not study these three kinds of things, is lax and negligent, breaks the precepts, and destroys the True Dharma, then the kings, the ministers, and the four kinds of Buddhists should chastise him. Such kings, ministers, etc., will gain immeasurable merit. If there is a good bhiksu who sees a person doing things that subvert the Dharma, but leaves him alone and does not scold, expel, or dispose of him, you should know that this person is an enemy of the Buddha-Dharma.
Also, it is stated in roll twenty-eight of the Great Collection Sutra:
"If there is a king of a country who forsakes and does not defend the Dharma when he sees it being subverted, then the merits accruing from the charity, precepts, and wisdom that he cultivated in innumerable past lives will all disappear. The three types of unlucky occurances will appear in his country... At the end of his life, he will be born in the great hell."
It is also stated in roll thirty-one of the same sutra:
"The Buddha said, "O great king! Protect the one single bhiksu who follows the Dharma, and do not protect the innumerable bhiksus who have committed the various evil acts. I now permit you to care for and protect only two kinds of people. One is the arhat who possesses the eightfold liberation. The second is the srotapanna."
We find a number of such prohibitions. All of them are prohibitions valid only for the time of the True Dharma and are not the teaching for the Imitative and Latter Dharmas. The reason why this is so is because in the closing years of the Imitative Dharma and in the Latter Dharma, the True Dharma is not practiced. Thus there is no Dharma that can be broken. What could be called the breaking of the Dharma? There are no precepts that can be broken. Who could be called the breaker of the precepts? Also, there exists no practice that the great king of that age can protect. How could the three calamities appear? How could he lose the merits accruing from his charity, precepts, and wisdom? Also, in the Imitative and Latter Dharmas, there is no one who has attained enlightenment. How could the king be told that he is permitted to protect the two kinds of sages? Therefore you should know that all the above explanations are made with reference to the world of the True Dharma, when, because there exists the keeping of the precepts, there also exists the breaking of the precepts.
Next, during the first five hundred years of the one thousand year Imitative Dharma, monks who keep the precepts gradually decrease, and monks who break the precepts gradually increase. Although the practice of keeping the precepts exists, there is no attainment of enlightenment.
For this reason, it is stated in roll seven of the Nirvana Sutra:
"Kasyapa Bodhisattva said to the Buddha, "World-honored One! The Buddha has explained that there are four kinds of demons. How can I distinguish between the teachings of the demons and the teachings of the Buddha? Various sentient beings will follow and pursue the practice of the demons. There will also be those who follow and obey what was preached by the Buddha. How can I recognize these people?" The Buddha said to Kasyapa, "Seven hundred years after my parinirvana, these demon papiyas will gradually come into being and obstruct and subvert my True Dharma. The demon-king papiyas are like hunters who wear monks' robes. They will create a figure of a bhiksu, a figure of a bhiksuni, a figure of a layman and a laywoman; they will also conjure up a body of a srotapanna...they will conjure up a body of a arhat, as well the material body of a Buddha. By means of these defiled forms, the demon-kings will create undefiled bodies and subvert my True Dharma. These demon papiyas, to subvert my True Dharma, will say thus: 'The Buddha was staying at Jetavana Vihara (Monastery) in Sravasti. He permitted the bhiksus to receive and accumulate menservants, maidservants, servants, cows, sheep, elephants, horses ... copper and iron kettles and cauldrons, large and small bronze basins, and other necessities; to till the fields and plant seeds; to buy, sell, and engage in business; and to accumulate rice and cereals. Because of his great compassion, the Buddha pities sentient beings and allowed all these things to be accumulated.' These sutras and vinayas are all the teachings of the demons."
It is stated above that after seven hundred years has passed since the Buddha's nirvana, the papiyas gradually come into being. For this reason, we know the bhiksus of that time gradually come to covet and accumulate the eight impure things. These deluded teachings are taught by the demons. Within these and other sutras, the age is clearly indicated and the activities of the period are described in detail. Certainly they must not be doubted. Here we have just given one quotation to illustrate the age. The rest should be understood following this example.
Next, in the latter half of the Imitative Dharma, monks who keep the precepts decreaseand there are innumerable monks who break the precepts. For this reason, it is stated in roll six of the Nirvana Sutra:
"The Buddha said the the bodhisattva, 'Good son! For example, suppose there is a kalaka grove with a great number of trees. In this grove, there is just one tree called the tinduka. The fruit of the kalaka and the tinduka look alike and cannot be distinguished. When the fruits had ripened, a woman picked them all. Only one tenth of them were fruits of the tinduka while nine tenths were fruits of the kalaka. This woman unwittingly brought them back to the marketplace and displayed them for sale. Ignorant people and small children, again not distinguishingbetween the fruits, bought the kalaka and died after eating them. A group of wise men heard of this and asked the woman, "You! Where did you get this fruit?" The woman then told them where. The people then said, "At that place there are many kalaka trees, and ther is only one tinduka." The people, once they found out, laughed and threw them away. Good son! The eight impure things within the great Sangha are also like this. Within the Sangha there are many who receive and use these eight impure things. He knows that many monks receive and accumulate these prohibitive things, but he stays with them and and doe snot shun or leave them. He is like the one tinduka tree in the grove.'"
Also it is stated in the Sutra of the Ten Wheels:
"If a person, taking refuge in my Dharma, renounces the world and commits evil deeds, even though such a person styles himself a sramana, he is not a sramana; even though he styles himself a performer of pure deeds, he is not performing good deeds. Such bhiksus open and indicate the hidden treasury of merit of the all-virtuous Dharma to every heavenly being, dragon, and yaksa and become good friends in the Dharma to sentient beings. Even though they are not the kind of people who crave little and are satisfied, they shave off their hair and beards and wear the robes of the Dharma. Because of the causal relationship, they will nourish the sentient beings' good roots leading to enlightenment and open and indicate the good Way for heavenly beings... The bhiksu who breaks the precepts, even though he is [spiritually] dead, due to the remaining vigor of the precepts is like the medicinal cow's gallstone. The cow is dead, but it is like the musk of the musk deer, which is useful after the deer's death. (And so forth.)"
It is stated above that in the kalaka grove, there is one tinduka tree. This is a parable that the fortune of the Imitative Dharma has already abated, that monks who break the precepts fill the world, and that there are no more that one or two bhiksus who keep the precepts. Also, it is stated that the bhiksus who break the precepts, even though they are dead, are like the musk deer's musk, which is useful though the musk deer is dead. To be useful though dead means that they become sentient beings' good friends in the Dharma. You should know clearly that this statement, that at this time monks who break the precepts are gradually tolerated and become the fields of merit of the people of the world, is identical to the statement of the Great Collection Sutra above.
Next, after the closing years of the Imitative Dharma, the precepts do not exist at all. The Buddha, with insight into the destiny of this age, praised the nominal monk as the field of merit of the people of the world in order to save the people of the Latter Dharma.
Also it is stated in roll fifty-two of the Great Collection Sutra:
"Suppose there is a nominal bhiksu in the Latter World to come who has, within my Dharma, shaved off his hari and bear and donned a robe. If there is a donor who gives donations to him in faith and venerates him, the donor will gain an immeasurable and limitless amount of merit."
Also, it is stated in the Sutra of the Wise and Foolish:
"Suppose there is a donor in the future Latter World when the Dharma is about to expire. He must treat with respect a Sangha of over four nominal bhiksus, just as if they were Sariputra, Mahamaudgalyayana, etc., even if the bhiksus keep wives and have children."
Also it is stated in the Great Collection Sutra:
"The crime of striking and reproaching a monk who wears a robe but breaks or does not keep the precepts is the same as causing a trillion Buddhas to shed blood. If there are sentient beings who, for my Dharma, shave off their hair and beards, and wear a robe, they are all already sanctioned by the seal of nirvana, even if they do not keep the precepts. These people indicate the way to nirvana to various people and heavenly beings. These people are already within the Three Treasure, have give rise to faith and respect in their minds, and surpass the ninety-five kinds of non-Buddhist path. These people will invariably enter nirvana quickly. They excel all laymen and secular people, with the exception of the householders who have attained endurance. For this reason, heavenly beings and humans should venerate them, even if they break the precepts"
Also, it is stated in the Great Compassion Sutra:
"The Buddha said to Ananda, 'In the Latter World to come, at the time when the Dharma is about to perish, there will be bhiksus and bhiksunis who, within my Dharma, after having entered the monkhood, will wander from one wine-shop to another, leading their children by the arm, and who, within my Dharma, will commit impure deeds. Such people, even if they are given to wine, will all attain parinirvana with the present Good Aeon. In this Good Aeon, a thousand Buddhas will appear in this world. I am the fourth. Next, after me, Maitreya will take my place. This goes on in this way until the final Rocana Tathagata. The order will be like this. You, Ananda, should know that even if there are, within my Dharma, people who are sramanas in their natures only, and who defile the practice of a sramana, calling themselves sramanas and looking like sramanas, they are the ones who actually wear the Buddhist robes. Within the Good Aeon, with Maitreya at the beginning and so forth on down to Rocana Tathagata, these various sramanas, in the presence of these Buddhas in the nirvana without residue, will gradually enter nirvana and will completely disappear without a trace. Why? Because for every one of these sramanas, if he even once calls out the Buddha's name and even once experiences faith, the merit created will ultimately not be in vain. This I declare becuase I, through my Buddha-wisdom, am well-versed in the Dharma-realm.'"
It is stated in the Vimalakirti Sutra:
"Among the ten titles of the Buddha, if the Buddha explains them extensively, the merits of hearing the first three would not be exhausted, even if an aeon were to elapse. (And so forth.)"
These sutras all specify the age and say that the nomial bhiksu of the future Latter World will become the mentor of the people of the world. If one regulates these nominal monks of the world of the Latter Dharma using the precepts of the time of the True Dharma, then the teachings and the [monks'] capacities will be opposed to each other; the Dharma and the people will be incompatible. For this reason, it is stated in the vinaya, "Regulations that regulate what is not to be regulated would negate the Buddha's predictions." How can there be any crimes?
With the above, quotations of passages from the sutras for the three Dharmas conclude.
Finally, the teachings of the Buddha will be quoted and compared with the behavior of the monks of the presetn age. In the age of the Latter Dharma, the Latter Dharma is reality, and the True Dharma is destroyed. The three actions, physical, vocal, and mental, and indeterminate, and the four deportments, the correct ways of walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, are not followed. As the Sutra Settling Doubts Concerning the Imitative Dharma says:
"If, furthermore, there are people who construct stupas and temples and venerate the Three Treasures but do not arouse a feeling of respect and honor toward them; who invite monks to reside in temples but do not offer them drink or food, clothing or medicine; who, furthermore, turn right around to beg these things from the monks, and eat the monks' food; who whether rich or poor, desire in all they do to work solely against the interest of the Sangha, impairing and causing distress in it, such people will fall into the three evil paths for a long time."
Right now, surveying the secular world, we find that such deeds are widespread. But this is simply the destiny of the age; it is not due to the people. Donors do not have the true intentions of donors to begin with. Who can censure monks for not practicing as monks?
Also it is stated in the Sutra of the Teachings Bequeathed by the Buddha, "To ride on a horse or cart for one day disqualifies a monk for receiving meals from a donor for five hundred days." How can the wrongs of the practitioners of the present age reveal the virtues of those properly receiving ritual meals?
Also it is stated in the Dharma Practice Sutra:
"Even if my disciple receives a special invitation, he should not step on the king's land or drink water from the king's ground. Once he does, five hundred great demons will constantly obstruct his path, and five thousand great demons will constantly follow and revile him, calling him a great traiter to the Buddha-Dharma."
It is stated in the Mrgaramatr Sutra:
Even if one gives a special invitation to five hundred arhats, they cannot be called fields of merit. If one gives alms to one evil bhiksu who resembles a true monk, one will gain immeasurable merit. Inasmuch as the followers of the Way in the present age are fond of special invitations, where can merits be planted? Why should people who keep the precepts be like this? They cannot step on the king's land, nor are they permitted to drink the king's water. Five thousand great demons must surely revile them as great traitor. Alas, why does not the Sangha of monks who keep the precepts reform their errors?
Also it is stated in the Benevolent Kings Sutra:
"If any of my disciples serves the government, he is not my disciple. When the offices of major and minor superintendents of monks are established, the government and the Sangha will be bound together. When that time comes, the Buddha-Dharma will be destroyed. It will be the cause of the destruction of the Buddha-Dharma and the destruction of the country. (And so forth.)"
Judging from the words of the Benevolent Kings Sutra, etc., to venerate the superintendant of monks is a profanity destroying the community of monks. In the Great Collection Sutra, etc., monks who do not keep the precepts are praised as the Treasure for the salvation of the people of the world. Alas, why should one let the locust that destroys the country remain while casting aside the Treasure that protects the country? These two groups of monks should not be distinguished from each other, and they should all partake of the meal of identical taste. Then the monks and nuns will not disappear, and the temple bell will not lose time. If things happen this way, it will be in accord with the teachings of the Latter Dharma, which are the way of sustaining the country.

1. Chih-i and the T'ien-T'ai School

The initial entry of Buddhism into China was facilitated by several generations of itinerant monks, traveling along the Silk Road into China. Through the efforts of Kumarajiva, a Madhyamaka monk who translated numerous Sanskrit and Pali texts into Chinese, Mahayana Buddhism was established in China by 210 CE. Over time the seeds of the Dharma planted by Kumarajiva and other forgotten monks and nuns, evolved into several schools of Chinese Mahayana Buddhism. Among these schools of Chinese Mahayana was the T'ien T'ai school, named after Mount T'ien T'ai in China, upon which its principal temple was located.

The T'ien T'ai school of Buddhism was initiated by the Chinese monk Zhi-yi, whose efforts to classify the growing body of Buddhist schools and scriptures into a single system of thought, placing it all in an understandable context, characterized the comprehensive nature of T'ien T'ai philosophy throughout its subsequent history. However, it was the work of the monk Chih-i, the third Patriarch of the T’ien T’ai school, which defined the particular T'ien T'ai school philosophy, thus establishing the first Chinese school of Buddhism and giving rise to the phrase Ekayana (“Round School”) teachings. Where Nagarjuna, the principal architect of Madhyamaka philosophy, had set forth the Two Truth's theory, (i.e. there are two levels of truth in the Dharma, the direct truth and the provisional truth), Chih-i set forth an additional new formulation of reality, the "Perfectly Harmonious Threefold Truth." Specifically:

All dharmas (phenomena) are empty because they are produced through causation and thus have no self-nature;
They do not have temporary existence either;
Therefore being both empty and temporary is the mean state of affairs for sentient beings.
This syncretic doctrine illustrates the encompassing spirit of T'ien T'ai Buddhism. Another example of this syncretic spirit was the T'ien T'ai affirmation of the value of a wide range of Buddhist Sutras. While affirming the Lotus Sutra as the principal text of the Mahayana school, T'ien T'ai scholars also studied other Sutras, especially the three "Pure Land" texts. Consequently, the T'ien T'ai school endorsed the value of a wide variety of Buddhist spiritual practices, such as meditation, chanting, and various kinds of devotional practices. In this fashion, T'ien T'ai Buddhism developed into a kind of matrix school of Chinese Mahayana thought and practices. It was this “Ekayana” school of Mahayana Buddhism which the Japanese monk known today as Dengyo Daishi, encountered when he visited China in 806 C.E.

2. Dengyo Daishi and the Tendai School

When Dengyo Daishi visited China in 804 CE, Buddhism had already existed in Japan for more than two hundred years. Traditions regarding when Buddhism was first introduced to Japan vary, with some saying it was in 538 CE and others in 552; but all sources agree that the first official Buddhist mission to Japan arrived from the Kingdom of Paekche (later known as Korea), and that the “Kuge” or aristocratic class of the Imperial Court adopted the new religion very quickly. Under the famous patronage of the Prince Shotoku, six of the principal schools of Chinese Buddhism were established in the Imperial city of Nara, Japan, each with their particular doctrines and practices. However, the practices of these “Nara Schools” was limited to their monasteries and Temples, and the court aristocracy who patronized them.

The monk known as Saicho to his contemporaries (posthumously named Dengyo Daishi) was born in 767 in the city of Omi-no-Kuni in ancient Omi province, now in Shiga Prefecture. The son of a pious Buddhist, and probably descended from Chinese immigrants, Saicho was ordained as a priest of the Kegon school in the famous Todai-ji Temple in Nara. However, just three months after being ordained, Saicho left crowded Nara and ascended lonely Mt. Hiei in his native Omi province, and there built a secluded mountain hermitage that, in time, developed into the greatest complex of Buddhist temples in all of Japan. By constant observance of the Dharma and perhaps by interaction with the famous mountain mystics known as the Yamabushi, Saicho consciously purified his sense-faculties in preparation for the work of spreading the Dharma. While on Mt. Hiei, Saicho began studying the works of Chih-i, which had a decisive effect upon his religious orientation. When he eventually began to preach a series of lectures on the meaning of the Lotus Sutra, Saicho attracted the following of the powerful Wake clan, through whom the young monk came to the favorable attention of the Imperial court. When the Imperial court sponsored several promising monks for travel to China for advanced Buddhist studies, Saicho was already the most prominent name among those selected.

It is significant that the convoy of four ships that left Japan in 804 CE for China, included both Saicho (Dengyo Daishi), and Kukai (Kobo Daishi), two of the most revered founders of Japanese Buddhism. Saicho was senior to Kukai in both age and rank, but the young Kukai, destined to become the father of the Shingon school, was more charismatic and thus probably more likeable than the serious Saicho. When a storm struck the convoy and two of the four ships were lost, it was the good fortune of humanity that these two men survived the storm, each reaching China separately, thus ensuring that they would go separate ways in their pursuit of the Dharma. Saicho made his way directly to Mt. T'ien T'ai, and there studied the doctrines and works of Sakyamuni, Nagarjuna and Chih-i, while Kukai went on to study the “esoteric” forms of Buddhism in the city of C’hang-an, eventually returning to Japan to establish the Shingon school of Buddhism.

On Mt. T’ien T’ai, Saicho received the Mahayana or Bodhisattva precepts from the sixth Patriarch of the T’ien T’ai school, as well as advanced Dharma instruction in the various chants, meditations and practices of the many schools of Chinese Buddhism. Carrying hundreds of sutras, treatises and commentaries with him, Saicho then set out to return to Japan. Along the road back, Saicho encountered the Chinese monk Shun-hsiao, a specialist in the esoteric forms of Buddhism, who duly initiated Saicho into the esoteric practices of mudras, mantras and mandalas. Thus, when Saicho finally returned to Japan, he carried with him the complete historical and philosophical legacy of the T’ien T’ai school, as well as knowledge of the esoteric rites of Buddhism, which henceforth became part of the Tendai legacy. It was this form of esoteric T’ien T’ai, for which the Imperial court authorized two new ordinands a year in 806 CE, thus officially marking the establishment of the Tendai school of Buddhism.

Central to Tendai thought as taught by Saicho, is the concept of Original Enlightenment (Hongaku shiso) - the idea that all beings are originally or inherently enlightened, and that liberation is immediately at hand if we can only awaken and cut through the delusions that keep us from seeing our true nature. The importance of this concept on the subsequent development of Japanese Buddhism cannot be overstated, as much of that history was largely in response to Hongaku shiso. This concept, rooted in the central Buddhist belief that everything is interconnected, and expressed in phrases such as “1000 worlds in each moment” (every person affecting everything and everybody at every moment), became seminal to the development of future Buddhism in Japan.

Saicho dedicated the rest of his life to the propagation of the Tendai school and Buddhism in general. Within a few decades, the Tendai school expanded far beyond the confines of Mt. Hiei, and Tendai temples were established as far away as the island of Kyushu in the south, and in the province of Shimotsuke in the north. After his death in 822 CE, Saicho was formally invested with the title of Dengyo Daishi or “Grand Master of the Propagation of the Doctrine.” Because the Tendai school later gave rise to all of the Kamakura-era schools of Japanese Buddhism, the effect of the life of Dengyo Daishi has been to propagate the Dharma in every part of the world where some form of Japanese Buddhism is practiced.

3. The Ascendancy of the Tendai school

The wide variety of teachings and practices of the Tendai-shu gave rise to the term Ekayana (“round school”) teachings. The school reached its greatest influence from the 9th through 12th centuries, under a series of successors to Saicho who expanded the teachings and practices of the Ekayana schoool.

The first Zasu or leader of the sect after Saicho, and Abbot of Hiei-zan Enryakuji (the chief temple of the order), was the monk Ennin. Born into the Mibu clan from the province of Shimotsuke, Ennin’s chief contribution to the development of the Tendai-shu came from a nine-year pilgrimage to China, where he both studied at Mt. T’ien T’ai, as well as received further esoteric teachings and instruction from the same schools where Kukai received the mikkyo rites of the Shingon school. Returning to Japan, Ennin developed Tendai esoteric ritual beyond the legacy received from Saicho, establishing the system of Tendai-specific esoteric rites known today as Taimitsu. Another significant practice which Ennin brought back from China was the chanting of the Nembutsu, the devotional repetition of the phrase, “Homage to Amida Buddha,” as a means of generating merit and ensuring rebirth in the “Western Paradise” of Amida Buddha, where conditions for the attainment of Enlightenment and Nirvana are optimal. The practice of both Taimitsu and Nembutsu thus became salient features of Tendai Buddhism in Japan.

Ennin’s successor was the monk Enchin, a member of the same Wake clan that had supported Saicho so early in his career, and the son of Kukai’s niece. Like Saicho and Ennin before him, Enchin also undertook a pilgrimage to China, again studying at both Mt. T’ien T’ai, as well as esoteric Buddhism in the city of Ch’ang-an. Returning to Japan, Enchin forged important alliances with the ruling Fujiwara clan, thus ensuring the ascendancy of the Tendai school during this period of Japanese history.

But it was under the able and inspired leadership of the monk Ryogen, the Zasu after Enchin’s successor Annen, that the Tendai school reached the apogee of its political and historical ascendancy. Ryogen proved to be a brilliant administrator, a talented scholar, and a successful politician. Under his administration, the temple facilities of Hiei-zan Enryakuji were massively expanded through Fujiwara patronage, and the Tendai school developed the tradition of brilliant Buddhist scholarship, for which it is still noted today. Many sons of the ruling Fujiwara clan became Tendai monks, and Tendai Buddhism became the de facto religion of the Imperial court.

However, power struggles eventually weakened the Tendai-shu. Over time, the Tendai-shu separated into two sub-schools, the so-called “River” school of Ennin’s followers, and the “Mountain” school of Enchin’s followers, each named after the part of Mt. Hiei where these respective schools resided. Also known as the “Sammon” and “Jimon” schools, these two camps eventually resorted to ruinous armed strife in their disputes, as well as in their relations with the court and aristocracy in Kyoto. As the Japanese nation descended into the lawless age that gave rise to the samurai governments of the Shoguns, all of the Japanese Buddhist sects began to maintain units of Sohei or warrior-monks to protect their temples and interests. Partly because of the civil disorder that followed, the Aristocratic and Buddhist elites became less effective at meeting the needs of the common people, thus creating the social conditions for the emergence of new forms of Buddhism

4. Tendai Teachers of the Muromachi & Kamakura Era

The history of the Tendai school in the Kamakura era, is principally the story of five Tendai monks, trained and ordained on Hieizan, who went on to establish their own schools of Buddhism. The earliest of these founders was the monk Honen (1133-1212 CE), who devoted his life to the chanting of the Nembutsu. Convinced that the world had entered the Age of Mappo, or the final Age of the Degenerate Dharma, Honen recognized that the profound doctrines and practices of the Tendai and Shingon schools (which he called, “The Gate of the Holy Path”), required a depth of knowledge and discipline that only a few people could attain. His response was the propagation of the Nembutsu as the sole, “easy” practice that could ease the suffering of the common people and give them hope for liberation in the current age. Honen’s profound faith and his relentless practice of the Nembutsu, did indeed prove attractive to the Heimin or peasant caste, from which the Jodo-shu (“Pure Land”) school emerged on the island of Honshu. However, because Honen had no lineage to the Chinese Pure Land school, the Jodo-shu was never regarded as distinct from the Tendai-shu. This is reflected by the fact that Honen never renounced his ordination as a Tendai monk.

However, such was not the case with Honen’s disciple, Shinran (1173-1262 CE), who carried the Pure Land movement into an open breach with the Tendai-shu. Shinran emphasized the superiority of absolute faith in the saving “Other Power” (Tariki) of Amida Buddha, reflected by the “exclusive practice” of the Nembutsu and the cosmic significance of Amida’s “Original Vow” to save all sentient beings, against an inferior and less satisfactory reliance on “Self Power” (Jiriki) to attain Awakening, characterized by the various traditional practices of the Tendai and Shingon schools. These radical assertions against established Buddhist thought, coupled with the renunciation of his ordination and his celibacy, led to his exile by the government. In exile, Shinran married two women, in part to prove that even people caught up in the bonds of death and rebirth could attain salvation through the Nembutsu and faith in Amida Buddha. Shinran’s Jodo Shin-shu (“True Pure Land School”), became widespread in the provinces of Echigo, Kaga, Echizen, and Hitachi, converting not only many peasants in those provinces, but also more than a few lower-ranking samurai as well.

Although Tendai Shikan (meditation) practices had long included both Shamatha and Vipashyana techniques, it was the monk Eisai (1141-1215 CE) who first affirmed the minimalist “southern style”“of Chinese Zen in Japan. The son of a Shinto priest from Bitchu, at the age of 28 Eisai took advantage of renewed contact with China to travel to Mt. T’ien T’ai. Upon arriving, he found that in the long interim between the time of Enchin until his arrival, the T’ien T’ai school had been supplanted by the growing Ch’an (Zen) movement of the Lin-chi school. By eliminating all traditional practices except shikan taza (“just sitting”) and the contemplation of mondo (insights into the nature of satori or awakening), Zen set forth a minimalist version of Buddhism which Eisai wholeheartedly adopted. Returning to Japan, Eisai argued for the reform of Tendai along Zen lines. Because the Tendai curriculum already included Zen meditation practices, the exclusive “Zen only” doctrine that Eisai now preached was clearly a departure from Ekayana philosophy. Eisai thus felt compelled to leave Kyoto for the city of Kamakura, where the rising power of the Shoguns and their samurai warriors provided all the patronage he needed to establish new Temples. Bolstered by the warrior caste, who found the Zen cultivation of mental detachment to be an especially useful practice, Eisai’s Temples prospered, eventually becoming the Rinzai school of Zen after his death. Although Eisai never renounced his Tendai ordination, through the ruling power of the samurai caste, his Rinzai school exercised enormous influence on Japanese thought, culture, and philosophy.

Eisai’s most accomplished disciple was Dogen (1200-1253 CE), an orphaned son of the noble Koga family who was raised on Hieizan from a young age. Troubled by the question why it was necessary to practice if one was already inherently enlightened, Dogen naturally gravitated to Eisai’s Rinzai teachings, whose philosophical perspectives he found congenial. Wishing to experience Zen more directly, Dogen traveled to China, where he encountered the austere Ts’ao-tung (Soto) school and became the direct disciple of master Chang-weng Ju-ching. Differing from the Lin-chi school by declining to employ any device such as a mondo, the Ts’ao-tung school was even more austere than the Lin-chi. Having received full transmission of this school of Zen, Dogen returned to Japan and began promulgating his new school. Dogen’s dismissal of established Buddhist practices ensured resistance to his new school, but he found success in exile. Patronized by the samurai class, Dogen’s Eihei-ji temple in Echizen province became the center of the new sect.

The last of the great Tendai founders of Japanese Buddhism, was also the most controversial. The Tendai monk Zeshobo, who later adopted the name Nichiren, was born in the province of Awa of a low-ranking samurai family, and received his ordination and principal education in Tendai Buddhism in a provincial temple, far from Hieizan Enryakuji. When as a young man he finally went up to Hieizan for advanced study, his provincial status ensured his quick alienation from the Tendai establishment. At first a devotee of the Pure Land practices of the Tendai shu, over time Nichiren grew increasingly attracted to the teachings of the Lotus Sutra; the “Lotus school” he founded, eventually devised a nembutsu-style mantra known as the Daimoku, “Namu myo-ho renge kyo,” or “Homage to the Wonderful Lotus Sutra.” Because the actual chanting of whole passages of the Lotus Sutra was an established Tendai practice, this mantric annotation proved to be a brilliant means of propagating the Dharma among the peasants and Chonin (merchant) classes, and thus the new sect grew fast.

Unfortunately, Nichiren also displayed an unmistakable tendency towards “Triumphalist” behavior and attitudes. Nichiren roundly and frequently denounced all other Buddhist schools and practices as the works of “demons,” especially (but not limited to) the followers of Honen’s Jodo-shu. The Nichiren-shu or Hokekyo-shu (“Lotus Flower School”), also encouraged its followers to criticize those who held Dharma practices other than the Daimoku, or who honored Sutras other than the Lotus Sutra. Not surprisingly, all of the other Buddhist schools, including the Tendai-shu, demanded that the government suppress the Nichiren sect; but when Jodo-shu and Nichiren followers came to blows in Awa in 1264, Nichiren fled for his life to Kamakura, after sustaining a head wound and a broken arm.

Dismayed at his self-fulfilled rejection by the established Buddhist schools, Nichiren prophesied doom upon the Japanese nation. When a letter soon arrived from Kublai Khan, the Mongol Emperor of China, demanding the surrender of Japan, Nichiren instantly was perceived by his followers as a seer and prophet. However, the Shogun’s government was now in no mood to tolerate subversive prophets of doom when the nation was at war, so in 1271 it finally acted against the Nichiren sect, arresting its principal leaders, including Nichiren, as enemies of the nation and disturbers of the peace. Nichiren was led through the streets of Kamakura bound and shackled, and barely escaped being beheaded.

Nichiren’s final years were spent on the island of Sado in exile, but his sect grew and continued to exhibit the spirit of zealous antagonism that Nichiren himself lived his life by. In the twentieth century, the Nichiren lay movement known as Soka Gakkai was denounced by the Nichiren school in a bitter dispute over the legitimacy of each group’s respective Gohonzon (an inscribed object of worship), thus mutually perpetuating the reputation of the Nichiren school for triumphalism, aggressive proselytizing, and conflict.

5. The Tendai School in the Tokugawa and Modern Era

Although the rising of new forms of Buddhism in Japan diluted the influence of the Tendai school, until the end of the Sengoku Jidai (Age of the Country at War), the Tendai school retained considerable secular power. During this time, the Tendai, Shingon and Jodo schools all maintained large formations of Sohei or warrior-monks at their temples in the central regions of Honshu, which were within the territory of the powerful Oda clan. The greatest of the Daimyo (“great names”) of this clan, was Oda Nobunaga, the first of the three great unifiers of medieval Japan. Oda Nobunaga believed that the political unification of the nation was impossible, so long as the Buddhist sects were independent centers of military and political power. In a series of brutal military campaigns, Oda Nobunaga crushed the political power of the Tendai and Shingon schools, by destroying their armies of warrior monks, burning their temples and facilities, and murdering many Tendai and Shingon clerics. Under Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the second of the great unifiers, the Tendai and Shingon schools were allowed to reconstitute themselves, but only under strict regulation by the Shogun.

After the final unification of Japan by Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1600, the Tendai school and all the other schools of Japanese Buddhism entered a long period of state-sponsorship that both enriched them, but also sapped their creative spirit. For more than 200 years, the military government of the Bakufu (a reference to the tent of an army commander), regulated almost every aspect of life in Japan, and Buddhism was no exception. The various Buddhist sects were obliged to adopt a parish system of governance, while the people of Japan were likewise obliged to affiliate their families with a parish of one of the Buddhist schools. In this fashion, the Bakufu was able to use parish rosters for the purposes of census and taxation, while compelling the parish monks (or priests) to both propagandize the Bakufu, as well as spy upon the populace and report on prohibited political movements or banned religions, such as Christianity. In return for this imposed arrangement, the Buddhist temples received financial support from the government. This combination of mandatory allegiance from the people, money from the government, and enforced civil service for the monks, meant that the various Buddhist schools began to take their true function as spiritual teachers for granted, and so the dynamic creativity of the Buddhist schools withered. It is no surprise that no major Japanese spiritual leaders arose during this period, while the religious function of several schools of Japanese Buddhism constricted into simple funerary societies to bury the dead.

This lethargic state of affairs within Japanese Buddhism lasted over 200 years, until the time of the Meiji Restoration. Because Buddhism had been closely associated with the government of the Bakufu (even if involuntarily), there was a conscious effort by the new Meiji government to undercut the institutional power of the Buddhist schools, and new punitive measures were enacted against them. The old law that required Shinto shrines to affiliate with a Tendai or Shingon Temple was abolished, and State-sponsored Shinto was now promoted as a more suitable vehicle for promoting loyalty to the State and Emperor. Although the Buddhist schools continued to retain the parish system for the laity, government sponsorship of the temples and parishes was abolished. Furthermore, the Buddhist practice of celibacy for monks was henceforth prohibited, and monks were obliged to take wives or surrender their ordination. By this, the government intended to discredit the Buddhist clergy among the people; but the measure backfired, as it was soon realized that married priests became more (not less) involved in the life of the laity, leading to the creation of several lay-believers associations within the established Buddhist sects.

With the exception of the Zen schools and the Nichiren sect, most of the Buddhist schools, including the Tendai shu, avoided being drawn into the excesses of Japanese nationalism during the war years. After the war, the rise of Buddhist lay believers associations helped revitalize Japanese Buddhism. The various schools of Japanese Buddhism began to expand overseas and, for the first time, accept non-Japanese members. Today the Tendai shu continues to maintain more than 2,500 temples and several thousand priests across Japan, and hundreds of thousands of lay Tendai Buddhists cultivate one of the diverse practices of the Tendai school. With the establishment of overseas Tendai Sangha (congregations) and missions, the teachings of the ancient masters Chih-i and Dengyo Daishi are now regularly studied and practiced by many non-Japanese people around the world. Tolerant of all forms of Buddhist practice, and conversant with all of them, the Tendai-shu is superbly equipped to serve as Dharma teacher to all nations, and ease human suffering by helping people find the right form of Buddhist practice for them, as Sakyamuni, Chih-i and Dengyo Daishi did so long ago.

Dear Friends of Recycling,

Dear Friends of Recycling,

The specific examples in the investment plan below are from a previous financial crisis. However, the principles remain sound.

INVESTMENT PLAN

If you had purchased $1000.00 of Nortel stock one year ago, it would now be worth $49.00.

With Enron, you would have $16.50 left of the original $1000.

With WorldCom, you would have less than $5.00 left.

If you had purchased $1000.00 of Delta Air Lines stock you would have $49.00 left.

If you had purchased United Airlines, you would have nothing left.

But, if you had purchased $1000.00 worth of beer one year ago, drank all the beer, then turned in the cans for recycling, you would have $214.00.

Based on the above, the best investment advice is to drink heavily and recycle.

p.s. If you are drinking that much, get someone else to drive to the recycling center.

SUDDEN OR GRADUAL ENLIGHTENMENT?

SUDDEN OR GRADUAL ENLIGHTENMENT?
by Rev.Vajra Karuna

The question arises "Which is Better: Gradual or Sudden Enlightenment?" Actually, in reality, neither is better than the other. This is because the two are based on very different metaphysical views of the world and human nature. As such they can not be ranked as superior vs. inferior. Also, here it should be made clear that although Sudden Enlightenment is associated with both the Soto (Ch. Tso-Tsung) and Rinzai (Ch. Lin-Chi) Zen (Ch. Ch'an) schools the following talk will focus only on the Rinzai attitude to Sudden Enlightenment, and what is said here does not necessarily apply to Soto.

Before comparing the Sudden and Gradual aspect of Enlightenment the following definition of a minimal Enlightenment experience: Kensho, and Satori is offered. As the two links will show, the definition presented here is not the only one possible and other definitions may challenge it, especially since it is very colored by the Rinzai tradition. The Enlightenment experience is a singularly intense experience which tells one his or her place in the scheme of things. This is a more often than not a once and for all experience which will cause the experiencer never again to doubt his or her relationship with or to the self, others, the world, and whatever one may believe is beyond the world. This experience is enormously validating or empowering, and is unlike any other experience one can have. An important aspect of this experience is that it is non-sectarian. This is to say that the experience can be found in Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Islamic and many other religious traditions. Each tradition may impose its own dogmatic interpretation on it, but the initial experience seems to be psychological cross-cultural. Moreover, this experience, while it can occur under many different circumstances, most often happens in response to some severe intellectual, emotional or physical crises. When you read about these Awakening experiences in the lives of the great and not so great spiritual seekers you will see that these crises may, but not always, manifest as a deep question about divine justice, as some life threatening illness, as a state of despair at the loss of a loved one, an attempted suicide, or as a Near Death Experience, ending in the Death of the Ego.

Note: The definition for Kensho or Satori does not say anything about the ability of the experiencer to teach others or in any way be of assistance to the spiritual needs of others. In this regard a clear distinction must be made between a person who has an Enlightenment-experience and an Enlightened Person. The latter category should be confined to those individuals who have the wisdom and moral character to rightfully influence others plus the charismatic abilities to do so in an entirely non-exploitive manner. This would define an Enlightened sage or holy person. Such a person may have had a Enlightenment-experience, sudden or gradual, OR may have a natural spiritual maturity which excludes the need for a Satoric-experience; although if we depend on historical records, a natural sage without an Awakening experience operating at or near the level of an Enlightened sage is far, far rarer than one having a similar or like natural spiritual maturity AND Enlightenment experience.

For the remainder of this talk, however, I will be focusing only on the Enlightenment experience itself without making any further distinctions between sages and non-sages. Having defined Enlightenment for the purpose of this talk it is now time to explain Sudden and Gradual in the context of Enlightenment.

In contrast to most other forms of Buddhism which are usually called Gradual Schools of Enlightenment, Zen (which from now on means Rinzai Zen), is called Sudden Enlightenment School. All Buddhist schools accept that the Enlightenment experience at the very moment it occurs is a sudden event, but this is not the only meaning of Sudden’ in the Sudden Enlightenment School context.

IN THE FIRST VIEW:
The world is considered a place of frustrating impermanence and dissatisfaction (dukkha), and human nature is the product of eons of karmic attachments to impure passions. In this view Enlightenment means the conquest and extinction of such impurities and a subsequent escape from life, the world and dukkha. To achieve such release requires adopting a homeless life and an ascetic practice of dissolving human wants and needs so as to transcend all ordinary human feelings and passions, be they positive or negative. Love, as much as hate, keeps one attached to the world. Only the person who can become indifferent to BOTH can qualify as being an Enlightened or passion free being (Arhat or Buddha). The Enlightenment process which goes along with this view requires a long and gradual process of ascetic discipline leading to gradated stages of Enlightenment. Each higher stage is characterized as a state of lesser attachment to the self and the world than the previous one. For the most part, Enlightenment in this view is not something achievable by an ordinary layperson. This gradation concept is completely justified if one holds to a pluralist understanding of reality which early Buddhism does.

IN THE SECOND VIEW:
Buddhism says that our dukkha is due to the deluded belief in a separate and autonomous self. Enlightenment in this case means a letting go of this unrealistic self concept or "self aggrandized I-ness" by Awakening to the fact that it is a delusion. The problem with the Gradual Enlightenment approach as far as this false ego view is, is that in the emphasizing of "I am working for Enlightenment," the sense of I-ness is actually being reinforced. Therefore, presumably the more one practices the deeper becomes one's delusion of a separate and autonomous self and the farther away from Enlightenment one moves. Mahayana Buddhism arose out of this idea of there being no real independent self, called Anatta, and extended this concept of no-self to include all reality. This meant abandoning a pluralist understanding of reality for a non-dual one. This is to say that every part of reality is so fully integrated that it can not under any circumstances be divided, especially into separate selves. Since all dualities are delusionary, there can not even be a duality between Samsaric, unenlightened or impure mind and Nirvanic, Enlightened or pure mind. Since non-dual reality can not be divided into incremental parts, it can not be grasped little by little as a Gradual Enlightenment approach implies. The non-dual must be realized all at once (Suddenly) as a whole or not at all.

When Buddhism went to China this inconsistency became problematic. This was due to the very non-Indian way the Chinese perceived the world and human nature. Unlike Indian thinking, which gave priority to the devine or the trans-human element of reality, Chinese thought gave priority to the human world. The traditional Chinese view was that people are born with an innate sense of goodness, purity and truth, and that the normal human passions are a part of this goodness and an Enlightened sage is someone who accepts this.

The earliest Buddhist view which saw Samsara as impure and Nirvana as pure could not be fully accepted by the Chinese without totally abandoning their own more optimistic Confucianist and Taoist traditions. However, the Mahayana teaching that Samsara and Nirvana were the same was easily integrated into the traditional Chinese view of life. If Samsaric passions were in Nirvana and vice versa then e Enlightenment requires no gradual dissolving away of ordinary human feelings, needs and wants. Enlightenment is merely becoming conscious that one is already in the unconditional state of Nirvana. Therefore, Enlightenment, rather than being a replacing of human nature with a trans-human-like passion free nature, as in standard Indian Buddhism, is instead just an adding on to ordinary human nature the non-dual awareness of one's innate nirvanic purity.

The Chinese, in accepting the non-dual Mahayana view, became fully cognizant of the inconsistency between non-duality and Gradual Enlightenment. This cognition was further heightened by the fact that Taoism, which also held to a non-dual view of reality, was more sympathetic to a Sudden Enlightenment approach. Hence, Sudden Enlightenment came to dominate Chinese thought, Buddhist and non-Buddhist. Because Sudden Enlightenment does not require a gradual monastic purification it can happen at any time and in any place within a monastic life or normal home life. This had great appeal to the non-ascetically oriented Chinese.

Thus, anyone, even the most attached to the world, can experience the Enlightened state. Of course, this possibility only make sense if Enlightenment is not dependent upon any kind of ascetic practices, not even the limited common moral restraints of the average person. Such Sudden Enlightenment must ultimately be attained outside of, or undeserving of, any own (ascetic or even meditational) effort. In fact, this effort would be appropriate only to Gradual Enlightenment. Sudden Enlightenment, not being dependent on practice, therefore, must be more or less accidental. The difference between the Gradual and the Sudden view effects the way each tradition perceives not only Enlightenment, but also the Buddha. Gradualism values Enlightenment as something which makes us far better persons, and it regards the Buddha as superior to all other beings. In Suddenism, being Enlightened does not make one superior or more valuable than the unenlightened. Since both have the same Buddha Nature or Nirvana within, they are both innately of equal worth or goodness. Not needing Enlightenment to make us better means that the Buddha is simply the first among equals according to Suddenism.

But, if we’re "already Enlightened" by our very buddha-nature, why does one "need" to practice—frequently for years a la Dogen Zenji for example? Or why did the Fifth Patriarch Hung-jen insist on the Stanza Competition that confirmed Hui-neng as the Sixth Patriarch rather than just set the robe and bowl symbolizing Patriarchship in the middle of the courtyard for any monk to pick up?

Dogen struggled with the problem of Original Awakening, that is, an awakening fundemental or innate in everyone, and Acquired Awakening, an awakening attained or acquired through practice. Dogen rejected both, breaking through the relativity of original and acquired, opening up a deeper ground. He wrote: "The principle of the Buddha-nature is that it is not endowed prior to Enlightenment...the Buddha-nature is unquestionably realized simultaneously with Enlightenment." The Shobogenzo eloaborates quite lucidly his concerns with the matter, written by him in an Enlightened state following his own Realization under the guidance of Chinese Zen Master Ju-ching (1163-1228).

Dogen does not maintain that there is any ultimate difference between cultivation (shu) and authentication (sho) or between Original and Acquired Enlightenment. Hence, Dogen would not want to say that he is describing "Zen consciousness" or "Enlightened consciousness" to the exclusion of "ordinary consciousness." Fundamentally, our experience as experienced is not different from the Zen master's. Where we differ is that we place a particular kind of conceptual overlay onto that experience and then proceed to make an emotional investment in that overlay, taking it to be "real" in and of itself rather than to be an "expression" (dotoku) of the "occasion" (jisetsu) in which we think or talk about the given experience. In a sense, we have a double layered description. First, there is the prereflective, not yet conceptualized, experience--what we all share, Zen master and the rest of us alike. Second, there is the expression or characterization of any experience within a particular situation or occasion. If the speaker brings no personal, egotistic delusions into this expression, the occasion speaks for itself, the total situation alone determines what is said or done. Thus, in the case of the Zen master, what-is-said is simply what-is. In the case of the deluded person, however, the "what-is" includes his excess conceptual baggage with its affective components, the deluded ideas about the nature of "self," "thing," "time," and so on that constitute the person's own particular distortion of what actually is. (source)

THE KEY:
In fact, this Sudden view of Buddhahood says that our dukkha, or fearful attachment to life and death, is because we doubt our present absolutely unconditioned worth (Buddha Nature). Enlightenment is a total letting go of this doubt to intuitively realize our equality with the Buddha. There comes a moment when there has to be realizied an overcoming of the Fear of Enlightenment. Being liberated from our dukkha, we become content with ourselves and others just as we are.

In Suddenism a simple intellectual realization of the above forces one to let go of pride in one's own effort to seize Enlightenment. This lack of pride, or humility, in the face of the characteristic accidental nature of Sudden Enlightenment is a form of letting go of self as a source of dukkha and thus, actually a kind of pre-enlightenment Enlightenment. Actually, just this alone is for some people sufficient Enlightenment, while for others this preliminary kind of Enlightenment means a greater chance for a breakthrough to something more. This is especially true with a preparatory practice in place. Preparatory practice must be clearly distinguished from the practice that involves Gradual Enlightenment. While no form of pre-enlightenment practice is a requirement for Sudden Enlightenment, and can certainly not cause or ensure such Enlightenment, it nonetheless has an important function.

Sudden Enlightenment may come to one, but unless he or she is prepared to recognize it, and even more importantly to integrate it into his or her everyday psychological being, it will almost certainly come only to slip away.

We can use the analogy of rain here. Rain, like Sudden Enlightenment, cannot be forced into coming; it arrives on its own. Moreover, when it falls, it does so equally on fertile and infertile ground. If it falls on the former, there is luxurious growth; if on the latter, there is nothing but wet soil. To develop a pre-enlightenment practice is to ensure fertile soil when the rain of Sudden Enlightenment falls. To have no practice is to almost surely end up losing what one hoped to gain. This preparatory practice is not to be viewed as any kind of gradual coming closer and closer to the Enlightenment experience because there are no stages to it.

In other words, unlike a Gradual Enlightenment oriented practice, in which you can usually see progress occurring, such as a greater and greater sense of detachment from the world; no such progress is evidenced in a sudden practice. Moreover, whereas in a gradual oriented practice it is usually assumed that the practice will involve a considerable span of time, a few too many years before clear results occur; this is not assumed in a non-gradual practice. Since Sudden Enlightenment does not depend on practice of any kind, and can come with or without it, Enlightenment may break through after a single day, or on the other hand, not for many years. For this reason, a non-gradual oriented practice may be far more frustrating than a practice which demonstrates clear progress towards the goal.

The advantage however, to a non-gradual practice, and in fact one of the reasons for its development, is that it is as practicable outside of a monastic environment as it is in such an setting. This is especially true of such a specific non-gradual practice technique as the classical Chinese Kung-an...but not necessarily the Japanese Koan.

Of course, the paradox of any pre-enlightenment practice for Sudden Enlightenment is that, for those who pursue it, this means nothing short of going through the frustrating experience of seeking for what one already has, namely unconditional Buddha worthiness. This means that one is constantly asking one's self why am I doing this? Why can't my mind just let me experience my true nature? Maybe this whole thing is a lie. Maybe I'm just wasting time and energy, further deceiving myself. This doubt is a natural part of preparation for Sudden Enlightenment and it requires a faith equal to the doubt to keep the practice going. This is where a teacher and a spiritual community come in, for the teacher who has gone through the struggle can give hope and the community of like-seekers can function in a supportive capacity.

Neither the Gradualist nor the Suddenist approach can guarantee Enlightenment, but each in their own way can give one a chance at gaining it. For the person who can commit him or herself to a fully monastic life the Gradual way may offer more hope than the Sudden way. For those who can not make such a dramatic commitment it may be the Sudden way that offers the hope. Like all religious and philosophical views various rational arguments can be made to support either a Gradualist or Suddenist approach, but the bottom line is that neither can be logically proven nor disproven. Both, in the final analysis, depend largely upon faith. Indeed, all schools of Buddhism, if not all religious traditions, require a strong faith component before any real Spiritual Awakening can occur.

As for the Sudden Enlightenment school of thought the event could be like the First Death Experience that swept out of nowhere encompassing the the very being of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi, an event backed-up years later by the Bhagavan's little known but most excruciating Second Death Experience. Sudden Enlightenment could be triggered by a spiritual desperation on the part of the seeker. It could be a combination of factors, including some intuitive awareness beyond expression. For whatever the reason, it is often the coming together of the results of inner and outside forces, some within one's control, some without --- usually incorporating some form or the other of one's mind being ripe.

APPENDIX
In medieval China and Japan there developed a form of Buddhist school called Pure-Land (Ch. Ching-t'u; J. Jodo). This school taught that due to the corruption of the world and mankind's overwhelming amount of bad karma, no degree of human effort would be great enough to allow an individual to liberate him or herself. However, because of a vow to save all beings made millenniums ago by the celestial Buddha Amitabha (Ch. O-mi-to; J. Amida) any and all persons, be they good or evil, who in sincere faith called upon this Buddha for liberation would receive it. In traditional Pure-Land beliefs this liberation takes the form of the consciousness upon death being reborn into the heavenly paradise of Amitabha. This absolute dependency on the divine power of another to gain liberation was called the "other power path" (tariki in Japanese).

Because Zen taught no such faith in the grace of an external other power to liberate oneself, it was called an "own power path" (Joriki in Japanese) BY the Pure-Land school. This designation was repeated so often through the centuries that it finally stuck, so that today even the Zen school often uses it when differentiating itself from the Pure-Land school. However, this is very misleading. Own power’ implies that the individual is in full control of the liberation process. This is more true of the non-Zen Gradual Enlightenment schools. In those schools the individual, solely through his or her own effort, purifies the self and works towards the goal. But to the degree that Zen Sudden Enlightenment is accidental, there should not be talk of own effort or own power. Rather, the accidental aspect of Sudden Enlightenment should be called an Other Than Own Power influence. Calling Zen an own power’ school hides the accidental aspect of its Sudden Enlightenment. Another way of saying this is to give a second definition of Sudden Enlightenment. It is the interruption of the other into the ordinary. It is the radical discontinuity in the flow of everyday life.

Fundamentally, our experience as experienced is not different from the Zen master's. Where
we differ is that we place a fog, a particular kind of conceptual overlay onto that experience
and then make an emotional investment in that overlay, taking it to be "real" in and of itself.

http://www.buddhagate.org/teaching_cultivation.html

http://www.nywellnessguide.com/spirit/060311-Enlightment.asp

http://www.urbandharma.org/ibmc/ibmc2/sudden.html

http://www.purifymind.com/GradualSudden.htm

http://www.tphta.ws/TPH_SAGA.HTM

http://www.ymba.org/TaChu/tachu0.htm

http://www.purifymind.com/ParadiseEnlighten.htm

Trading Candy For Gold - Renunciation as a Skill

Renunciation of sensual attachment
by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

"There are two levels to Right View, focusing (1) on the results of
our actions in the narrative of our lives and (2) on the issues of
stress and its cessation within the mind. The first level points out
the drawbacks of sensual passion: sensual pleasures are fleeting,
unstable, and stressful; passion for them lies at the root of many of
the ills of life, ranging from the hardships of gaining and
maintaining wealth, to quarrels within families and wars between
nations. This level of Right View prepares us to see the indulgence of
sensual passion as a problem. The second level — viewing things in
terms of the four noble truths — shows us how to solve this problem in
our approach to the present moment. It points out that the root of the
problem lies not in the pleasures but in the passion, for passion
involves attachment, and any attachment for pleasures based on
conditions leads inevitably to stress and suffering, in that all
conditioned phenomena are subject to change. In fact, our attachment
to sensual passion tends to be stronger and more constant than our
attachments to particular pleasures. This attachment is what has to be
renounced.

How is this done? By bringing it out into the open. Both sides of
sensual attachment (indulgence and repression) — as habitual patterns
from the past and our willingness to give into them again in the
present — are based on misunderstanding and fear. As the Buddha
pointed out, sensual passion depends on aberrant perceptions: we
project notions of constancy, ease, beauty, and self onto things that
are actually inconstant, stressful, unattractive, and not-self. These
misperceptions apply both to our passions and to their objects. We
perceive the expression of our sensuality as something appealing, a
deep expression of our self-identity offering lasting pleasure; we see
the objects of our passion as enduring and alluring enough, as lying
enough under our control, to provide us with a satisfaction that won't
turn into its opposite. Actually, none of this is the case, and yet we
blindly believe our projections because the power of our passionate
attachments has us too intimidated to look them straight in the eye.
Their special effects thus keep us dazzled and deceived. As long as we
deal only in indulgence and repression, attachment can continue
operating freely in the dark of the sub-conscious. But when we
consciously resist it, it has to come to the surface, articulating its
threats, demands, and rationalizations. So even though sensual
pleasures aren't evil, we have to systematically forego them as a way
of drawing the agendas of attachment out into the open. This is how
skillful renunciation serves as a learning tool, unearthing latent
agendas that both indulgence and repression tend to keep underground. "
http://www.accessto insight.org/ lib/authors/ thanissaro/ candy.html
From: Trading Candy for Gold
Renunciation as a Skill
By Thanissaro Bhikkhu
For Free Distribution, as a gift of Dhamma, from Access to Insight and
Thanissaro Bhikkhu

Trading Candy For Gold - Renunciation as a Skill

Buddhism takes a familiar American principle -- the pursuit of happiness -- and inserts two important qualifiers. The happiness it aims at is true: ultimate, unchanging, and undeceitful. Its pursuit of that happiness is serious, not in a grim sense, but dedicated, disciplined, and willing to make intelligent sacrifices.

What sort of sacrifices are intelligent? The Buddhist answer to this question resonates with another American principle: an intelligent sacrifice is any in which you gain a greater happiness by letting go of a lesser one, in the same way you'd give up a bag of candy if offered a pound of gold in exchange. In other words, an intelligent sacrifice is like a profitable trade. This analogy is an ancient one in the Buddhist tradition. "I'll make a trade," one of the Buddha's disciples once said, "aging for the Ageless, burning for the Unbound: the highest peace, the unexcelled safety from bondage."

There's something in all of us that would rather not give things up. We'd prefer to keep the candy and get the gold. But maturity teaches us that we can't have everything, that to indulge in one pleasure often involves denying ourselves another, perhaps better, one. Thus we need to establish clear priorities for investing our limited time and energies where they'll give the most lasting returns.

That means giving top priority to the mind. Material things and social relationships are unstable and easily affected by forces beyond our control, so the happiness they offer is fleeting and undependable. But the well-being of a well-trained mind can survive even aging, illness, and death. To train the mind, though, requires time and energy. This is one reason why the pursuit of true happiness demands that we sacrifice some of our external pleasures.

Sacrificing external pleasures also frees us of the mental burdens that holding onto them often entails. A famous story in the Canon tells of a former king who, after becoming a monk, sat down at the foot of a tree and exclaimed, "What bliss! What bliss!" His fellow monks thought he was pining for the pleasures he had enjoyed as king, but he later explained to the Buddha exactly what bliss he had in mind:

"Before... I had guards posted within and without the royal apartments, within and without the city, within and without the countryside. But even though I was thus guarded, thus protected, I dwelled in fear -- agitated, distrustful, and afraid. But now, on going alone to a forest, to the foot of a tree, or to an empty dwelling, I dwell without fear, unagitated, confident, and unafraid -- unconcerned, unruffled, my wants satisfied, with my mind like a wild deer."

A third reason for sacrificing external pleasures is that in pursuing some pleasures -- such as our addictions to eye-candy, ear-candy, nose-, tongue-, and body-candy -- we foster qualities of greed, anger, and delusion that actively block the qualities needed for inner peace. Even if we had all the time and energy in the world, the pursuit of these pleasures would lead us further and further away from the goal. They are spelled out in the path factor called Right Resolve: the resolve to forego any pleasures involving sensual passion, ill will, and harmfulness. "Sensual passion" covers not only sexual desire, but also any hankering for the pleasures of the senses that disrupts the peace of the mind. "Ill will" covers any wish for suffering, either for oneself or for others. And "harmfulness" is any activity that would bring that suffering about. Of these three categories, the last two are the easiest to see as worth abandoning. They're not always easy to abandon, perhaps, but the resolve to abandon them is obviously a good thing. The first resolve, though -- to renounce sensual passion -- is difficult even to make, to say nothing of following it through.

Part of our resistance to this resolve is universally human. People everywhere relish their passions. Even the Buddha admitted to his disciples that, when he set out on the path of practice, his heart didn't leap at the idea of renouncing sensual passion, didn't see it as offering peace. But an added part of our resistance to renunciation is peculiar to Western culture. Modern pop psychology teaches that the only alternative to a healthy indulgence of our sensual passions is an unhealthy, fearful repression. Yet both of these alternatives are based on fear: repression, on a fear of what the passion might do when expressed or even allowed into consciousness; indulgence, on a fear of deprivation and of the under-the-bed monster the passion might become if resisted and driven underground. Both alternatives place serious limitations on the mind. The Buddha, aware of the drawbacks of both, had the imagination to find a third alternative: a fearless, skillful approach that avoids the dangers of either side.

To understand his approach, though, we have to see how Right Resolve relates to other parts of the Buddhist path, in particular Right View and Right Concentration. In the formal analysis of the path, Right Resolve builds on Right View; in its most skillful manifestation, it functions as the directed thought and evaluation that bring the mind to Right Concentration. Right View provides a skillful understanding of sensual pleasures and passions, so that our approach to the problem doesn't go off-target; Right Concentration provides an inner stability and bliss so that we can clearly see the roots of passion and at the same time not fear deprivation at the prospect of pulling them out.

There are two levels to Right View, focusing (1) on the results of our actions in the narrative of our lives and (2) on the issues of stress and its cessation within the mind. The first level points out the drawbacks of sensual passion: sensual pleasures are fleeting, unstable, and stressful; passion for them lies at the root of many of the ills of life, ranging from the hardships of gaining and maintaining wealth, to quarrels within families and wars between nations. This level of Right View prepares us to see the indulgence of sensual passion as a problem. The second level -- viewing things in terms of the four noble truths -- shows us how to solve this problem in our approach to the present moment. It points out that the root of the problem lies not in the pleasures but in the passion, for passion involves attachment, and any attachment for pleasures based on conditions leads inevitably to stress and suffering, in that all conditioned phenomena are subject to change. In fact, our attachment to sensual passion tends to be stronger and more constant than our attachments to particular pleasures. This attachment is what has to be renounced.

How is this done? By bringing it out into the open. Both sides of sensual attachment -- as habitual patterns from the past and our willingness to give into them again in the present -- are based on misunderstanding and fear. As the Buddha pointed out, sensual passion depends on aberrant perceptions: we project notions of constancy, ease, beauty, and self onto things that are actually inconstant, stressful, unattractive, and not-self. These misperceptions apply both to our passions and to their objects. We perceive the expression of our sensuality as something appealing, a deep expression of our self-identity offering lasting pleasure; we see the objects of our passion as enduring and alluring enough, as lying enough under our control, to provide us with a satisfaction that won't turn into its opposite. Actually, none of this is the case, and yet we blindly believe our projections because the power of our passionate attachments has us too intimidated to look them straight in the eye. Their special effects thus keep us dazzled and deceived. As long as we deal only in indulgence and repression, attachment can continue operating freely in the dark of the sub-conscious. But when we consciously resist it, it has to come to the surface, articulating its threats, demands, and rationalizations. So even though sensual pleasures aren't evil, we have to systematically forego them as a way of drawing the agendas of attachment out into the open. This is how skillful renunciation serves as a learning tool, unearthing latent agendas that both indulgence and repression tend to keep underground.

At the same time, we need to provide the mind with strategies to withstand those agendas and to cut through them once they appear. This is where Right Concentration comes in. As a skillful form of indulgence, Right Concentration suffuses the body with a non-sensual rapture and pleasure that can help counteract any sense of deprivation in resisting sensual passions. In other words, it provides higher pleasures -- more lasting and refined -- as a reward for abandoning attachment to lower ones. At the same time it gives us the stable basis we need so as not to be blown away by the assaults of our thwarted attachments. This stability also steadies the mindfulness and alertness we need to see through the misperceptions and delusions that underlie sensual passion. And once the mind can see through the processes of projection, perception, and misperception to the greater sense of freedom that comes when they are transcended, the basis for sensual passion is gone.

At this stage, we can then turn to analyze our attachment to the pleasures of Right Concentration. When our understanding is complete, we abandon all need for attachment of any sort, and thus meet with the pure gold of a freedom so total that it can't be described.

The question remains: how does this strategy of skillful renunciation and skillful indulgence translate into everyday practice? People who ordain as monastics take vows of celibacy and are expected to work constantly at renouncing sensual passion, but for many people this is not a viable option. The Buddha thus recommended that his lay followers observe day-long periods of temporary renunciation. Four days out of each month -- traditionally on the new-, full-, and half-moon days -- they can take the eight precepts, which add the following observances to the standard five: celibacy, no food after noon, no watching of shows, no listening to music, no use of perfumes and cosmetics, and no use of luxurious seats and beds. The purpose of these added precepts is to place reasonable restraints on all five of the senses. The day is then devoted to listening to the Dhamma, to clarify Right View; and to practicing meditation, to strengthen Right Concentration. Although the modern work-week can make the lunar scheduling of these day-long retreats impractical, there are ways they can be integrated into weekends or other days off from work. In this way, anyone interested can, at regular intervals, trade the cares and complexities of everyday life for the chance to master renunciation as a skill integral to the serious pursuit of happiness in the truest sense of the word.

And isn't that an intelligent trade?

gradations of consciousness

Mandukya Upanishad
Cognition = prajna

1. Om!—This syllable is this whole world.
Its further explanation is:—
The past, the present, the future—everything is just the word Om.
And whatever else that transcends threefold time—that, too, is just the word Om.

2. For truly, everything here is Brahman; this self is Brahman. This same self has four fourths.

3. The waking state, outwardly cognitive, having seven limbs, having nineteen mouths, enjoying the gross, the Common-to-all-men, is the first fourth.

4. The dreaming state, inwardly cognitive, having seven limbs, having nineteen mouths, enjoying the exquisite, the Brilliant, is the second fourth.

5. If one asleep desires no desire whatsoever, sees no dream whatsoever, that is deep sleep.
The deep-sleep state, unified, just a cognition-mass, consisting of bliss, enjoying bliss, whose mouth is thought, the cognitional, is the third fourth.

6. This is the lord of all. This is the all-knowing. This is the inner controller. This is the source of all, for this is the origin and the end of beings.

7. Not inwardly cognitive, not outwardly cognitive, not both-wise cognitive, not a cognition-mass, not cognitive, not non-cognitive, unseen, with which there can be no dealing, ungraspable, having no distinctive mark, non-thinkable, that cannot be designated, the essence of the assurance of which is the state of being one with the Self, the cessation of development, tranquil, benign, without a second (a-dvaita)—[such] they think is the fourth. He is the Self. He should be discerned.

8. This is the Self with regard to the word Om, with regard to its elements. The elements are the fourths; the fourths, the elements: the letter a, the letter u, the letter m.
The letter o is regarded as the diphthong au, so the word Om can be said to have three letters.

9. The waking state, the Common-to-all-men, is the letter a, the first element, from apti (obtaining) or from adimatva (being first).
He obtains, verily, indeed, all desires, he becomes first—he who knows this.

10. The sleeping state, the brilliant, is the letter u, the second element, from utkarsa (exltation) or from ubhayatva (intermediateness).
He exalts, verily, indeed, the continuity of knowledge; and he becomes equal; no one ignorant of Brahman is born in the family of him who knows this.

11. The deep-sleep state, the cognitional, is the letter m, the third element, from miti (erecting) or from apiti (immerging).
He, verily, indeed, erects (minoti) this whole world, and he becomes its immerging—he who knows this.

12. The fourth is without an element, with which there can be no dealing, the cessation of development, benign, without a second.
Thus Om is the Self (Atman) indeed.
He who knows this, with his self enters the Self—yea, he who knows this!

Commentary on the Mandukya Upanishad
by Swami Krishnananda

How can we be sure of ending the rebirth process and of entering a higher dimension? The answer is simple, but achievement is difficult. We must literally change our lifestyle and get rid of the subtle brainwashing by religions and social customs which keep us in bondage. The kleshas (ob-blocks) taught in yoga are as follows:
The five pain-bearing obstructions,
The root cause of trouble and strife,
Ego, Ignorance, Repulsion,
Attachment, and Clinging to Life.

Most of the problems of life I have solved by simple living, and developing the faculty of tranquility, and trying as much as possible to be in harmony with natural environment and natural law. We have to meet or associate with people, things, and ideas, but these tend to be always changing, so attachment to any of them may bring sorrow and instability. By being in tune with the interdependently co-arising and constantly changing nature of reality to we can experience the The Four Sublime or Uplifted States

1. Metta — Friendliness, Loving-kindness;
2. Karuna — Compassion;
3. Mudita — Joy, Gladness. Appreciation of good qualities in people;
4. Upekkha — Equanimity, the peaceful unshaken mind.

By Dipankar Khanna

The astanga aryamarg or the Noble Eight-fold Path was propounded by the Buddha, Prince Siddhartha Gautama nearly 2500 years age, in 500 BC. It is still a beacon, shining brightly, to help and guide the suffering sentient beings. The eight-fold path is an antidote to the state of suffering existing in cyclic existence to explain which the Buddha also explained in the doctrine of the four noble truths. These four noble truths are:

Truth relating to existence of suffering in cyclic existence.
Truth relating to cause of this suffering.
Truth relating to the cessation of suffering.
Truth relating to the path resulting in the cessation of suffering.

So the eight-fold path acts directly in order to achieve liberation from the shortcomings and sufferings of samsara and also to aid fellow sentient beings to obtain release and attain to the state of the fully-illumined One. These components are metaphorically depicted in their representation of the dharmacakra or wheel of dharma with the eight spokes culminating in the centre, and providing noble support so that the wheel of dharma can turn round and round smoothly. The eight-fold path in Buddhism therefore suggested a certain mode attitude, thought and action. It comprised the following eight components.

Right View: This also relates to the first link or ignorance ( avidya ) of the doctrine of Interdependent Origination or Pratityasamutpada, also known as Conditioned Co-production by some scholars of Buddhism. What it suggests is that on an ongoing day-to-day basis our wrong understanding of our self and other related phenomenon, and how we interact with them, constitutes the wrong view. One of the greatest myths that we hold according to the Buddha is that we directly exist from our own side and so does phenomenon; that is we possess inherent existence. This constitutes our fundamental mithyadristi or wrong view. This therefore gives rise improper relationship between us and other and between us and phenomenon. So the right view impels us to reject the wrong view and constitutes seeing things in the prescribed way.

Right Resolve: This suggests that only possessing knowledge is not enough. It is similar to a donkey carrying a load of scriptures on its back. Knowledge has to be supplemented with action and what translates knowledge to action is continuous awareness of our resolve to 'stop not till the goal is reached'. This step also implies tapa or fortitude and vairagya or renunciation from gross attachments.

Right Speech: Speech constitutes a profound mode of communication for people and proclaims our intents and actions. Hence we free ourselves from negative attachment of speech like lies, gossip mongering, harsh words and flattery.

Right Conduct: Just as our speech should be noble our actions should also match our words. We refrain from negativities of conduct like stealing, hitting, killing, sexual misconduct and intoxicants when we follow the principle of noble conduct.

Right Livelihood: Wrong livelihood will often have us commit transgressions of body, speech and mind. It is most likely we may end up telling lies and falsehoods or hurting others to make quite profits selfishly. So Buddha rightly advises our livelihood should also stem from a noble source.

Right Effort: Just as right view should be accompanied by right resolve, similarly right resolve should also be translated into action, which is right effort. This also implies that the negative habits of old are being given and positive new habits are being acquired through continuous practice.

Right Mindfulness: Constant update of actions and review of all the previous six steps is implied here. This is essential to avoid the pitfalls of sliding backwards in ones efforts. So one is mindful of all that one thinks, speaks and does. This step also seems to suggest that being forewarned is being forearmed.

Right Meditation: According to teachers and guides right Meditation constitutes making the journey inwards and exploring the depths of our inner consciousness. The Buddha earmarked few indicators for positive meditative states like joy, peace, tranquility and special insights.

1. Metta — Friendliness, Loving-kindness;
2. Karuna — Compassion;
3. Mudita — Joy, Gladness. Appreciation of good qualities in people;
4. Upekkha — Equanimity, the peaceful unshaken mind.

Trying to Compare States of Conciousness

FUKANZAZENGI
by Eihei Dogen

The Way is basically perfect and all-pervading. How could it be contingent upon practice and realization? The Dharma-vehicle is free and untrammelled. What need is there for concentrated effort? Indeed, the whole body is far beyond the world's dust. Who could believe in a means to brush it clean? It is never apart from one, right where one is. What is the use of going off here and there to practice?

And yet, if there is the slightest discrepancy, the Way is as distant as heaven from earth. If the least like or dislike arises, the Mind is lost in confusion. Suppose one gains pride of understanding and inflates one's own enlightenment, glimpsing the wisdom that runs through all things, attaining the Way and clarifying the Mind, raising an aspiration to escalade the very sky. One is making the initial, partial excursions about the frontiers but is still somewhat deficient in the vital Way of total emancipation.

Need I mention the Buddha, who was possessed of inborn knowledge? The influence of his six years of upright sitting is noticeable still. Or Bodhidharma's transmission of the mind-seal?--the fame of his nine years of wall-sitting is celebrated to this day. Since this was the case with the saints of old, how can we today dispense with negotiation of the Way?

You should therefore cease from practice based on intellectual understanding, pursuing words and following after speech, and learn the backward step that turns your light inwardly to illuminate your self. Body and mind of themselves will drop away, and your original face will be manifest. If you want to attain suchness, you should practice suchness without delay.

For sanzen (zazen), a quiet room is suitable. Eat and drink moderately. Cast aside all involvements and cease all affairs. Do not think good or bad. Do not administer pros and cons. Cease all the movements of the conscious mind, the gauging of all thoughts and views. Have no designs on becoming a Buddha. Sanzen has nothing whatever to do with sitting or lying down.

At the site of your regular sitting, spread out thick matting and place a cushion above it. Sit either in the full-lotus or half-lotus position. In the full-lotus position, you first place your right foot on your left thigh and your left foot on your right thigh. In the half-lotus, you simply press your left foot against your right thigh. You should have your robes and belt loosely bound and arranged in order. Then place your right hand on your left leg and your left palm (facing upwards) on your right palm, thumb-tips touching. Thus sit upright in correct bodily posture, neither inclining to the left nor to the right, neither leaning forward nor backward. Be sure your ears are on a plane with your shoulders and your nose in line with your navel. Place your tongue against the front roof of your mouth, with teeth and lips both shut. Your eyes should always remain open, and you should breathe gently through your nose.

Once you have adjusted your posture, take a deep breath, inhale and exhale, rock your body right and left and settle into a steady, immobile sitting position. Think not-thinking. How do you think not-thinking? Non-thinking. This in itself is the essential art of zazen.

The zazen I speak of is not learning meditation. It is simply the Dharma gate of repose and bliss, the practice-realization of totally culminated enlightenment. It is the manifestation of ultimate reality. Traps and snares can never reach it. Once its heart is grasped, you are like the dragon when he gains the water, like the tiger when she enters the mountain. For you must know that just there (in zazen) the right Dharma is manifesting itself and that, from the first, dullness and distraction are struck aside.

When you arise from sitting, move slowly and quietly, calmly and deliberately. Do not rise suddenly or abruptly. In surveying the past, we find that transcendence of both unenlightenment and enlightenment, and dying while either sitting or standing, have all depended entirely on the strength (of zazen).

In addition, the bringing about of enlightenment by the opportunity provided by a finger, a banner, a needle, or a mallet, and the effecting of realization with the aid of a hossu, a fist, a staff, or a shout, cannot be fully understood by discriminative thinking. Indeed, it cannot be fully known by the practicing or realizing of supernatural powers, either. It must be deportment beyond hearing and seeing--is it not a principle that is prior to knowledge and perceptions?

This being the case, intelligence or lack of it does not matter: between the dull and the sharp-witted there is no distinction. If you concentrate your effort single-mindedly, that in itself is negotiating the Way. Practice-realization is naturally undefiled. Going forward (in practice) is a matter of everydayness.

In general, this world, and other worlds as well, both in India and China, equally hold the Buddha-seal, and over all prevails the character of this school, which is simply devotion to sitting, total engagement in immobile sitting. Although it is said that there are as many minds as there are persons, still they all negotiate the way solely in zazen. Why leave behind the seat that exists in your home and go aimlessly off to the dusty realms of other lands? If you make one misstep, you go astray from the Way directly before you.

You have gained the pivotal opportunity of human form. Do not use your time in vain. You are maintaining the essential working of the Buddha-Way. Who would take wasteful delight in the spark from the flintstone? Besides, form and substance are like the dew on the grass, destiny like the dart of lightning--emptied in an instant, vanished in a flash.

Please, honored followers of Zen, long accustomed to groping for the elephant, do not be suspicious of the true dragon. Devote your energies to a way that directly indicates the absolute. Revere the person of complete attainment who is beyond all human agency. Gain accord with the enlightenment of the buddhas; succeed to the legitimate lineage of the ancestors' samadhi. Constantly perform in such a manner and you are assured of being a person such as they. Your treasure-store will open of itself, and you will use it at will.

the Truth must dazzle gradually or every man be blind

Yeat's Vision

THE SECOND COMING

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: a waste of desert sand;
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Wind shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The Second Coming" is a poem by William Butler Yeats first printed in The Dial (November 1920) The poem uses religious symbolism to illustrate Yeats' anguish over the apparent decline of Europe's ruling class, and his occult belief that Western civilization (if not the whole world) was nearing the terminal point of a 2000-year historical cycle.

The poem was written in 1919 in the aftermath of the First World War.[1] However, the various manuscript revisions of the poem refer to the French and Irish Revolutions as well those of Germany and Russia; as a result, it is unlikely that the poem was solely inspired by the Russian Revolution of 1917, which some claim Yeats viewed as a threat to the aristocratic class he favored.[citation needed]

Early drafts also included such lines as: "And there's no Burke to cry aloud no Pitt," and "The good are wavering, while the worst prevail."

The sphinx or sphinx-like beast described in the poem had long captivated Yeats' imagination. He wrote the Introduction to his play The Resurrection, "I began to imagine [around 1904], as always at my left side just out of the range of sight, a brazen winged beast which I associated with laughing, ecstatic destruction", noting that the beast was "Afterwards described in my poem 'The Second Coming'". However, there are some differences between the two characters, mainly that the figure in the poem has no wings.

Critic Yvor Winters has observed, "…we must face the fact that Yeats' attitude toward the beast is different from ours: we may find the beast terrifying, but Yeats finds him satisfying – he is Yeats' judgment upon all that we regard as civilized. Yeats approves of this kind of brutality."

I COULD DREAM CAN'T I?

Murder most foul

If you conspire for the death of a person or group of people, without a legal justification like self defense, and death ensues, then you're guilty of murder whether you pull the trigger or not.

Vincent Bugliosi understands this legal principle very well.

He's the prosecutor who put Charles Manson behind bars even though Manson never personally killed anyone.

When George Bush attacked Iraq knowing fully well that the US was not under any threat from that country, he became legally liable for the death of every US soldier under his command.

Bush is, of course, morally responsible for the death of every person in that conflict, but the legal theory for prosecuting him for all of them is not as clear cut.

But it doesn't matter.

Just one wrongful death is enough to indict him and bring him to court on murder charges and just one conviction is enough to put him in jail, hopefully for the rest of his natural life.

This video addresses the smoking gun that proves that Iraq was not a threat to the US and Bush knew it.

Therefore, his order to attack was a premeditated criminal act that resulted in the death of others i.e. he is a murderer.

There is an experienced attorney running for Attorney General in the State of Vermont.

She is ready, willing and able to bring Bush up on murder charges.

All it takes is one Attorney General to step up and the flood gates will open.

But it won't happen by itself.

There is no single issue more important to the future of this country than the criminal persecution of George Bush for murder.

Future presidents must be made aware that criminal activity in the White House will result in aggressive prosecution and that their immunity lasts only as long as they're in office.
-----------------------------------
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, September 16

Vermont Progressive Party
Contact: Morgan Daybell
Tel: 802 229 0800

RENOWNED CRIMINAL PROSECUTOR VINCENT BUGLIOSI AND VERMONT ATTORNEY CHARLOTTE DENNETT TO ANNOUNCE INTENTION TO BRING LEGAL PROCEEDINGS AGAINST PRESIDENT BUSH

Press conference to be held at: Contois Auditorium in Burlington City Hall on September 18, 2008 at 10:30 a.m.

Vincent Bugliosi, the legendary criminal prosecutor and bestselling author of The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder, will appear in Burlington with Charlotte Dennett, a Cambridge-based attorney and Progressive Party candidate for Attorney General, on Thursday, September 17 at Burlington City Hall at 10:30 a.m. The two attorneys will announce their intention to commence legal proceedings against George W. Bush in the event that Dennett succeeds in her bid to become the next Attorney General of Vermont.

As a Los Angeles District Attorney, Bugliosi successfully prosecuted 105 out of 106 felony jury trials, including 21 murder convictions without a single loss. He is best known for prosecuting Charles Manson, an experience he memorialized in his book Helter Skelter. His most recent book, The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder, has become a sensation since its publication this summer. "I have never received such a passionate response as I have to this book," says Bugliosi. "Most Americans are deeply offended that George W. Bush has not been held accountable for his many crimes while in office, the most egregious of which is the murder of 4,000 American soldiers and over 100,000 Iraqi civilians. My book lays out the framework of how he can be brought to justice in any state in this country, a framework which I hope will serve notice to future occupants in the White House."

Dennett has been practicing law in Vermont since 1997 and has been an investigative journalist for more than 30 years. “Vermonters deserve an Attorney General who will prosecute those who break the law,” says Dennett. “Vermonters pay a huge amount of money and a disproportionate share of soldiers’ lives in this illegal war. If our elected representatives will not act to hold President Bush accountable, it is up to us to use this final remaining tool.”

Paid for by Charlotte Dennett for Attorney General
PO Box 281, Montpelier VT 05601
-------------------
http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/449.html

It seems like a crazy long shot but I've been to Vermont and besides the beautiful landscape the people there were so pious and in the mode of goodness that I felt strange being there and breathing the same air as them so who knows?

I'm not sure Saturday Night Live could be any funnier

During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.

The very concept of objective truth is fading out of the world. Lies will pass into history.

actual picture of real Republicans

Iconic image of average republican

Of course they say they'll change.

If you have a functioning brain you know they won't

Michael Winship sees the ACORN "election fraud" story as one of the urban legends that come up every election cycle.
ACORN and election fraud. Hang on. As soon as I can get the alligator that crawled out of my toilet back into the New York City sewers where it belongs, I can turn my attention to this very important topic.

ACORN, which stands for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, is an activist group working with low- and moderate-income families to, among many other things, register voters. To do this, they hire people to go around signing up the unregistered, killing two birds with one stone - giving employment to people who need it (some with criminal records) and providing the opportunity to vote to members of minority communities whose voices all too often go unheard.

What happens is that some of those hired to do the registering, who are paid by the name, make people up. As a result, you'll discover that among the registrants are such obvious fakes as Mickey Mouse and the starting line-up of the Dallas Cowboys, among others.

This is where the Republican meme kicks in. As they have in past elections (although now louder and more angrily than ever), the G.O.P. has made ACORN the red flag du jour as the party tries to mobilize its conservative base and, allegedly, attempts to suppress the vote and distract attention from accusations of election tampering made against them, too.

The charge is that these fake registrations will create havoc at the polls. On Tuesday morning, former Republican Sens. John Danforth and Warren Rudman, chairs of Senator McCain's Honest and Open Elections Committee, held a press conference and described the results of the bad seeds in ACORN's registration program as "a potential nightmare." Danforth said he was concerned "that this election night and the days that follow will be a rerun of 2000, and even worse than 2000."

John McCain raised it at Wednesday night's final debate and went further, adding, "We need to know the full extent of Senator Obama's relationship with ACORN, who [sic] is now on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country, maybe destroying the fabric of democracy."

Obama replied, "ACORN is a community organization. Apparently, what they have done is they were paying people to go out and register folks. And apparently, some of the people who were out there didn't really register people; they just filled out a bunch of names. Had nothing to do with us. We were not involved."

Which is not to say Obama has not been associated with ACORN in the recent past. He has. As he said in the debate, as a lawyer, he joined with the group in partnership with the US Justice Department to implement a motor voter registration law in Illinois - allowing folks to register to vote at their local DMV. His work as a community organizer bought him into contact with ACORN, the organization received money from the Woods Fund while he was a board member there, and his presidential campaign gave ACORN more than $800,000 to help with get-out-the-vote campaigns during the primary season - but not, apparently, for registration drives.

All of this distracts from several important points. ACORN has registered 1.3 million voters and maintains that in virtually every instance it is ACORN that has reported the incidents of fraud.

As the organization asserted in a response to Senator McCain, "ACORN hired 13,000 field workers to register people to vote. In any endeavor of this size, some people will engage in inappropriate conduct. ACORN has a zero tolerance policy and terminated any field workers caught engaging in questionable activity. At the end of the day, as ACORN is paying these people to register voters, it is ACORN that is defrauded."

According to ACORN, "Even RNC [Republican National Committee] General Counsel Sean Cairncross has recently acknowledged he is not aware of a single improper vote cast as a result of bad cards submitted in the course of an organized voter registration effort."

Not that this has stopped the G.O.P. from banging the same drum every national election. And amnesiac members of the media and some government agencies from buying into it every time. Last year, The New York Times reported that the federal Election Assistance Commission, created by the Help America Vote Act, legislation enacted after the Florida debacle, was told by a pair of experts - one Republican, the other described as having "liberal leanings" - that there was not that much fraud to be found. But their conclusions were downplayed.

As per the Times, "Though the original report said that among experts 'there is widespread but not unanimous agreement that there is little polling place fraud,' the final version of the report released to the public concluded in its executive summary that 'there is a great deal of debate on the pervasiveness of fraud.'"

Which raises the ongoing investigation of the Justice Department's firing of those eight US attorneys shortly after President Bush's re-election. It shouldn't be forgotten that despite official explanations, half of them were let go after refusing to prosecute vote fraud charges demanded by Republicans. The attorneys had determined there was little or no evidence of skullduggery; certainly not enough to prosecute.

(In an interview with Talking Points Memo on Thursday, one of those fired attorneys, David Iglesias, reacted to reports that the FBI has launched an investigation of ACORN: "I'm astounded that this issue is being trotted out again. Based on what I saw in 2004 and 2006, it's a scare tactic.")

What's equally if not more scary are continued allegations of Republican attempts at "caging" minority voters - making challenge lists of African- and Hispanic-Americans registered in heavily Democratic districts. Just this week, a federal judge in Michigan ruled that voters could not be purged from the rolls in that state simply because their mailing address was invalid - this followed a failed attempt by a Michigan Republican county chairman to use a list of foreclosed homes as the basis of voter challenges.

This comes on the heels of a recent report from the Brennan Center at New York University documenting how state officials - often with the best of intentions - purge huge numbers of perfectly legal voters from the rolls.

As my colleague Bill Moyers reported, "Hundreds of thousands of legal voters may have been dumped in recent years, many without ever being notified." The report describes a "process that is shrouded in secrecy, prone to error, and vulnerable to manipulation."

Here's the full article

Michael Winship | A Mighty Hoax From ACORN Grows

Michael Winship sees the ACORN "election fraud" story as one of the urban legends that come up every election cycle.
ACORN and election fraud. Hang on. As soon as I can get the alligator that crawled out of my toilet back into the New York City sewers where it belongs, I can turn my attention to this very important topic.

You see, the ACORN "election fraud" story is one of those urban legends, like fake moon landings and alligators in the sewers, and it appears three or four weeks before every recent national election with the regularity of the swallows returning to Capistrano. First, the basics: ACORN, which stands for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, is an activist group working with low- and moderate-income families to, among many other things, register voters. To do this, they hire people to go around signing up the unregistered, killing two birds with one stone - giving employment to people who need it (some with criminal records) and providing the opportunity to vote to members of minority communities whose voices all too often go unheard.

What happens is that some of those hired to do the registering, who are paid by the name, make people up. As a result, you'll discover that among the registrants are such obvious fakes as Mickey Mouse and the starting line-up of the Dallas Cowboys, among others.

This is where the Republican meme kicks in. As they have in past elections (although now louder and more angrily than ever), the G.O.P. has made ACORN the red flag du jour as the party tries to mobilize its conservative base and, allegedly, attempts to suppress the vote and distract attention from accusations of election tampering made against them, too.

The charge is that these fake registrations will create havoc at the polls. On Tuesday morning, former Republican Sens. John Danforth and Warren Rudman, chairs of Senator McCain's Honest and Open Elections Committee, held a press conference and described the results of the bad seeds in ACORN's registration program as "a potential nightmare." Danforth said he was concerned "that this election night and the days that follow will be a rerun of 2000, and even worse than 2000."

John McCain raised it at Wednesday night's final debate and went further, adding, "We need to know the full extent of Senator Obama's relationship with ACORN, who [sic] is now on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country, maybe destroying the fabric of democracy É"

Obama replied, "ACORN is a community organization. Apparently, what they have done is they were paying people to go out and register folks. And apparently, some of the people who were out there didn't really register people; they just filled out a bunch of names. Had nothing to do with us. We were not involved."

Which is not to say Obama has not been associated with ACORN in the recent past. He has. As he said in the debate, as a lawyer, he joined with the group in partnership with the US Justice Department to implement a motor voter registration law in Illinois - allowing folks to register to vote at their local DMV. His work as a community organizer bought him into contact with ACORN, the organization received money from the Woods Fund while he was a board member there, and his presidential campaign gave ACORN more than $800,000 to help with get-out-the-vote campaigns during the primary season - but not, apparently, for registration drives.

All of this distracts from several important points. ACORN has registered 1.3 million voters and maintains that in virtually every instance it is ACORN that has reported the incidents of fraud.

As the organization asserted in a response to Senator McCain, "ACORN hired 13,000 field workers to register people to vote. In any endeavor of this size, some people will engage in inappropriate conduct. ACORN has a zero tolerance policy and terminated any field workers caught engaging in questionable activity. At the end of the day, as ACORN is paying these people to register voters, it is ACORN that is defrauded."

Arrests have been made, as well they should be.

Add to this the simple fact that registration fraud is not election fraud. Seventy-five made-up people who are registered as, say, "Brad Pitt," are not likely going to show up at some polling place on November 4 to vote in the election. Because they don't exist. (Besides, Angelina would never give them time off from babysitting duties.)

Granted, there are ways to mail in an absentee ballot under a fake name and, too, from time to time some joker is going to come to the polls and try to bluff his or her way in. But despite the charge that thousands and thousands of fakes will flood the machines and throw off the count, it does not happen very often. And according to ACORN, "Even RNC [Republican National Committee] General Counsel Sean Cairncross has recently acknowledged he is not aware of a single improper vote cast as a result of bad cards submitted in the course of an organized voter registration effort."

Not that this has stopped the G.O.P. from banging the same drum every national election. And amnesiac members of the media and some government agencies from buying into it every time. Last year, The New York Times reported that the federal Election Assistance Commission, created by the Help America Vote Act, legislation enacted after the Florida debacle, was told by a pair of experts - one Republican, the other described as having "liberal leanings" - that there was not that much fraud to be found. But their conclusions were downplayed.

As per the Times, "Though the original report said that among experts 'there is widespread but not unanimous agreement that there is little polling place fraud,' the final version of the report released to the public concluded in its executive summary that 'there is a great deal of debate on the pervasiveness of fraud.'"

Which raises the ongoing investigation of the Justice Department's firing of those eight US attorneys shortly after President Bush's re-election. It shouldn't be forgotten that despite official explanations, half of them were let go after refusing to prosecute vote fraud charges demanded by Republicans. The attorneys had determined there was little or no evidence of skullduggery; certainly not enough to prosecute.

(In an interview with Talking Points Memo on Thursday, one of those fired attorneys, David Iglesias, reacted to reports that the FBI has launched an investigation of ACORN: "I'm astounded that this issue is being trotted out again. Based on what I saw in 2004 and 2006, it's a scare tactic.")

What's equally if not more scary are continued allegations of Republican attempts at "caging" minority voters - making challenge lists of African- and Hispanic-Americans registered in heavily Democratic districts. Just this week, a federal judge in Michigan ruled that voters could not be purged from the rolls in that state simply because their mailing address was invalid - this followed a failed attempt by a Michigan Republican county chairman to use a list of foreclosed homes as the basis of voter challenges.

This comes on the heels of a recent report from the Brennan Center at New York University documenting how state officials - often with the best of intentions - purge huge numbers of perfectly legal voters from the rolls.

As my colleague Bill Moyers reported, "Hundreds of thousands of legal voters may have been dumped in recent years, many without ever being notified." The report describes a "process that is shrouded in secrecy, prone to error, and vulnerable to manipulation."

Hardly reassuring words if you want democracy to work, and sadly, not an urban legend, but the simple truth.

---------

Michael Winship is senior writer of the weekly public affairs program "Bill Moyers Journal," which airs Friday nights on PBS. Check local airtimes or comment at The Moyers Blog at www.pbs.org/moyers.

greed

Greed
Buddhists believe greed is based on incorrectly connecting material wealth with happiness. This is caused by a view that exaggerates the positive aspects of an object; that is, acquiring material objects has less impact than we imagine on our feelings of happiness. This view has been corroborated by studies in the field of happiness economics, which confirm that beyond the provision of a basic level of material comfort, more wealth does not create greater happiness.

America's Disease is Greed
by Andrew Greeley

The most serious spiritual problem in the country today is reckless and untrammeled greed. Greed caused the disgraceful corporate scandals that fill our newspapers. Greed is responsible for crooked cops and crooked politicians. Greed causes the constant efforts to destroy unions that protect basic worker rights.

Greed has produced rash tax cuts that have given money to the rich and in effect taken it away from the poor. Greed has led to the immigration policy in which hundreds of poor men and women die every year as they struggle across the desert for the jobs that el norte promises them. Greed accounts for the efforts to take profitability out of the pensions and health insurance of working men and women. Greed is responsible for the fact that so many Americans have no health insurance and the fact that the recent reform of Medicare was a fraud. Greed causes newspapers to overestimate their circulation.

Greed is responsible for the obscene salaries of CEOs. In the '90s the ratio of CEO compensation to average workers' compensation was 250 to 1, meaning that the boss earned on his first day of work during a year as much as the worker did in a whole year. In European countries the ratio is closer to 100 to 1. Recent estimates put the current ratio at 500 to 1 -- the boss makes as much before lunch as the worker does all year. Greed is the cause of the high wages paid to the bosses even if the company is failing.

Greed is responsible for the endless stress and ruthless competition of the workplace and the strains and tensions of professional class marriages. Greed (in this instance another name for relentless ambition) explains much of the cheating on college campuses. Greed is responsible for outsourcing, which is incapable of comprehending that the employees who lose their jobs are also the consumers who sustain the economy. Greed generates the reckless ventures that in part caused the bubble of the late '90s. Greed causes expensive wars that shatter the budget. Greed is the reason that only the wealthy are benefitting so far from the economic upturn that is allegedly happening. Greed drives loan sharks. Greed is responsible for the success of big box stores that tax the poor with low wages to provide bargains for affluent suburban shoppers. Greed is the reason poor white Appalachians, poor African Americans and poor Native Americans must fight the wars that the wealthy start. Jessica Lynch joined the Army so she could go to college. Her Native American roommate, killed in action, joined so, single mother that she was, she could support her children. Greed is the reason why the country is being run by those whom the president has described, however inelegantly, as the ''haves and the have mores.''

No one said during the bizarre deification of President Reagan that he taught us that greed is good and that we should feel good about our greedy country. Greed is the reason that the country is being run by the insurance, pharmaceutical, weapons and petroleum industries. Greed causes worldwide sex slavery of women and children.

Greed drives the murders of the narcotics world. Greed is responsible for the exploitations of teen sports stars by colleges and for the mess in the pro sports world. It is also the cause of the use of performance drugs by young athletes. Greed is responsible for the bad advice lawyers gave the Church years ago to beat victims of sexual abuse into the ground. It is behind the scam artists who steal from the elderly.

Greed may have been a more serious problem for Americans, say, in the era of the robber barons. But the Garys and the Morgans and the Carnegies were a small bunch of men. Now their greed has seeped down to a much larger segment of the population.

The Catholic Church speaks of four sins that cry to heaven for vengeance. Two are cheating workers out of wages and exploiting widows and children. Both happen every day in our greedy country.

Ambition is not evil within limits. The struggle for success is not bad within limits. Hard work and fair rewards are good within limits. It is not good to take from the poor and give to the rich, and that's exactly what this country is doing today.

Don't let anyone tell you that lust is the most deadly of the deadly sins.

FREEDOM IS SLAVERY

When Refusing to Kill Has a Higher Sentence Than Murder

The powerful may appear great, but in reality they are not. Greatest of all are the ordinary people. If those in power lead lives of idle luxury it is because the people are silent. We have to speak out. With impassioned words, we need to resolutely attack abuses of power that cause people suffering. This is fighting on the side of justice. It is wrong to remain silent when confronted with injustice. Doing so is tantamount to supporting and condoning evil.
-Daisaku Ikeda?

The idea that the on-going Iraq War is substantively an anti-terrorist operation which is designed to turn Iraq into a democracy, and bring security to Americans and the world, is propaganda, along with professed statements of "success" in this region. This is the kind of mass-deception that was used while Nazi Germany rounded up Jews in extermination camps. However apparent Eugenics practitioners, appreciate that similarly rounding of Muslims into such extermination camps, or using a couple of atomic bombs would overly alarm the American people, and other peoples. Instead, the Iraqis are being subjected to genocide through the well documented use of "dirty bombs" packed with more nuclear radiation results that were used against the Japanese at the end or World War II.
Over one million Iraqis have been victimized by an apparent campaign of genocide. Americans who ignore history apparently repeating itself in Iraq, are no less negligent than the Germans who turned their back on Jews, Gypsies, Slavs, and a variety of other deemed racially inferior groups.

Like Nazi Germany, America’s apparent Eugenics inspired ruling elites, have sought to create distorted presentation of the enemy so as to legitimate the spread of mass human suffering. These distortions have included monolithic presentation of “the Taliban”, the “freedom hating“ “terrorists” in Iraq, and “Iranians” as the latest target of Eugenic inspired elites, for a prospective “tactical” nuclear attack.

If American military elites were in fact, only specifically directing their military action to “weed out terrorists” rather than the whole Iraqi population, then these military elites would not have chosen to include Depleted Uranium in their military armaments.

The use of Depleted Uranium is evidence of an apparent intent to execute a Eugenics inspired “de-population” agenda. It is apparent that this de-population agenda is against both U.S. soldiers (and allied soldiers) who are largely African Americans and “poor whites” who are viewed to be of “inferior genetic stock” and a whole nation “coloured“ infidels, under the mass-deceptive pretext of targeting so-called terrorists.

Indeed, the use of Depleted Uranium “irradiates” the military personnel users of this weaponry, the immediate targets of this weaponry, and civilians hundreds of kilometres downwind and downstream from weapons that have been called “mini nuclear bombs”.

The unlawful pre-emptive attack and continued occupation of Iraq as defined by international law, constitutional law, and conventions of human rights, is the very source of a destructive political instability. The Iraq War appears to be also inspired by eugenics ideology which promotes the idea that war in a necessary part of socio-biological evolution.
-Traci Lawson

When Refusing to Kill Has a Higher Sentence Than Murder
Saturday 20 September 2008

by: Ann Wright, t r u t h o u t | Perspective

An American soldier pauses before heading out to patrol near Tikrit, Iraq. According to Ann Wright, soldiers may be more severely punished for refusing to kill than for killing the wrong person.

From the beginning of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the United States military has come under intense criticism and scrutiny for the deaths of civilians. This week, the secretary of defense and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff made trips to Afghanistan and Pakistan to "acknowledge" the deaths of innocent civilians in attacks in those countries.
In the five and one-half years of the US occupation of Iraq, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians have been killed by US military personnel at checkpoints, during convoy movements and during operations to find the "enemy." In the half-decade of US military presence in Iraq, a very small number of US military personnel and an even smaller number of CIA and contractors have been charged with manslaughter or murder in these deaths. The deaths of most civilians are counted in the "costs of war." A few dozen military have been court-martialed on allegations of mistreatment, manslaughter and murder of Iraqi civilians. With a very few exceptions, most who were court-martialed have been acquitted. Those who were convicted have generally served light sentences.
This week we see again that punishment is less for murdering four Iraqis than for refusing to participate in a war that many citizens, and many in the military, see as a crime against the peace - a war crime.
On September 18, 2008, the US Army sentenced Specialist Belmor Ramos to seven months in prison, demotion to private and a dishonorable discharge for standing guard from a turret in a Humvee while three others in his unit, the First Infantry Division, bound, blindfolded, shot in the heads and dumped the bodies of four unidentified Iraqi men into a Baghdad canal in 2007 in retaliation for deaths in Ramos's unit. According to Associated Press reports, during the court-martial, Ramos admitted his guilt: "I wanted them dead. I had no legal justification or excuse to do this."
Ramos had been charged with conspiracy to commit murder, for which he could have received a life sentence. The military judge in Ramos's court-martial in Vilsek, Germany, would have sentenced him to 40 years in prison had the military prosecutor not agreed to a plea bargain for seven months to testify in the upcoming court-martials of the three non-commissioned officers - Sgt. John E. Hatley, Sgt. 1st Class Joseph P. Mayo and Sgt. Michael P. Leahy Jr. - who were charged on September 16, 2008, with premeditated murder, conspiracy to commit premeditated murder and obstruction of justice.
Longer Sentences for Resisting War Than for Murdering Civilians
Just one month ago, US Army Private Robin Long was sentenced to fifteen months in prison, reduced to private and given a dishonorable discharge for having been absent without leave from the Army rather than serving in a war he believed was unlawful. He had been deported from Canada where he had been speaking on his concerns about the legality of the war for three years and was handed over by Canadian immigration officials to the US military for prosecution. One month earlier, US Army Private First Class James Burmeister voluntarily returned from Canada and was sentenced in July 2008 to six months in prison for refusing to return to Iraq after two previous tours in which he was hit by three IEDs. In May 2008, Private First Class Robert Weiss was court-martialed in Vilseck, Germany, and sentenced to 7 months in jail for refusing to go to Iraq. Also in May 2008, Private First Class Ryan Jackson was also court-martialed and sentenced to 100 days in jail for refusing to go to Iraq.
In 2007, the court-martial of US Army First Lieutenant Ehren Watada, the first commissioned officer who refused to deploy to Iraq, ended in a mistrial. He is still on active duty with the Army. Also in 2007, US Army Sergeant Mark Wilkerson refused to return to Iraq and was sentenced to seven months in jail. The Army denied the conscientious objection application of US Army medic Specialist Agustin Aguayo; he refused to return to Iraq and was sentenced to eight months in jail. Also in 2007, Specialist Melanie McPherson, a US Army Minnesota Reservist, refused to go to Iraq in a job she was not trained for; she was court-martialed and sentenced to three months in jail.
In 2006, US Army Specialist Dale Bertell refused to return to Iraq and was sentenced to four months in jail. US Army Texas National Guard Specialist Katherine Jashniski refused to deploy to Afghanistan; she was sentenced to four months in jail. US Army Sergeant Ricky Clousing of the 82nd Airborne Division refused to return to Iraq and was sentenced to three months in jail. US Marine Corporal Ivan Brobeck voluntarily returned from 18 months in Canada and was court-martialed for refusing to return to Iraq; he was sentenced to eight months in jail.
In 2005, US Army Sergeant Kevin Benderman refused to return to Iraq and was sentenced to 15 months in jail; he served 13 months. US Army Specialist Blake LeMoine refused to return to Iraq and served seven months in jail. When the conscientious objection application of US Army Private Neil Quentin Lucas was denied, he refused to go to Iraq and served 13 months in jail.
In 2004, US Army Sergeant Camilo Mejia refused to return to Iraq and was sentenced to 12 months in jail. The highest-ranking non-commissioned officer to refuse orders to Iraq, US Army Sergeant First Class Abdullah Webster, was sentenced to 14 months in jail. He was within two years of retirement when he refused to deploy to Iraq. US Navy Petty Officer Third Class Pablo Paredes refused to deploy on a ship carrying Marines to a war he considered illegal. He was sentenced to three months confinement. The US Marines denied the conscientious objection application of Corporal Joel Klimkewixz and he was sentenced to seven months in jail.
In 2003, the US Marines denied the conscientious objection application of Marine Reservist Stephen Funk and sentenced him to six months in jail. All of the war resisters who have been court-martialed for refusing to go to Iraq or Afghanistan have been given either dishonorable or bad conduct discharges.
Thousands of other military service members who privately and silently oppose the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been given administrative discharges upon their voluntary return to the military after having been absent without leave.
Light Sentences for the Murders of Iraqis
Some of the more prominent cases where US military personnel have been court-martialed, but not necessarily convicted, for the murders of Iraqi civilians include:
On August 29, 2008, a civilian jury in Riverside, California, acquitted former US Marine Sergeant Jose Nazario Jr. on charges of voluntary manslaughter in the deaths of four unarmed Iraqi detainees during the siege of Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004.
In June, 2008, a U.S. military judge dismissed charges against Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Chessani, who had been accused of failing to investigate the November 2005 massacre of 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha. Of the eight Marines originally charged in the Haditha massacre, only one still faces prosecution. Criminal charges have been dismissed against six of the Marines and a seventh Marine was acquitted.
In 2007, seven Camp Pendleton Marines and a Navy corpsman were charged with murder and related offenses in the April 2006 kidnapping and killing of a 57-year-old retired Iraqi policeman in the village of Hamdania northwest of Baghdad. Only one of the men, squad leader Sergeant Lawrence Hutchins III, remains in jail, convicted of murder and sentenced by a Camp Pendleton military jury to 15 years. The other six either served out the terms they agreed to in plea deals or had their sentences commuted by Lieutenant General James Mattis, the Commanding General of Camp Pendleton. Mattis ordered the men below Hutchins's rank released after a military jury in July 2007 found Corporal Trent Thomas guilty for his role in the murders but limited his sentence to time already served. In releasing the others, General Mattis determined that Thomas's sentence created an unfair disparity for his fellow Marines who had been convicted with higher sentences.
In December 2007, US Marine Reservist Lance Corporal Delano Holmes was convicted of negligent homicide for the stabbing death of Iraqi Army Private Munther Jasem Muhammed Hassin, a man he shared guard duty with at Camp Fallujah, Iraq, on December 31, 2006. Holmes killed Hassin, stabbing him 17 times, slashing him another 26 times and nearly slicing his nose from his face. A military jury sentenced Holmes to time served, the second time in five months that a Camp Pendleton Marine military court jury allowed a defendant convicted in a homicide case to be sentenced to only time served. Holmes was reduced in rank from lance corporal to private and given a bad conduct discharge.
In August 2008, Article 32 hearings were held in Vilsek, Germany, to determine whether to proceed with criminal charges against Staff Sergeant Jess Cunningham and Sergeant Charles Quigley for the death of an Iraqi. The hearing officer has not yet decided whether the two will be court-martialed.
In only one murder case in Iraq have convicted US military personnel received substantial sentences. In August 2007, a military jury convicted US Army Private First Class Jesse Speilman of rape and four counts of felony murder for the rape and murder of Abeer Qassim al-Janabi, a 14-year-old Iraqi girl, and the murders of her parents and younger sister on March 12, 2006, in Mahmoudiya, a village about 20 miles south of Baghdad. Speilman was sentenced to 110 years in prison, but will be eligible for parole in ten years. During their court-martial, Specialist James P. Barker and Sergeant Paul Cortez testified they took turns raping Abeer while Private Steven Green shot and killed her mother, father and younger sister. They also testified that Green shot Abeer Qassin in the head after raping her. They then set her body on fire to destroy evidence. Cruz was sentenced to 100 years in prison under a plea agreement and will be eligible for parole in 10 years. Barker pleaded guilty at his court-martial and was sentenced to 90 years in a military prison, with the possibility of parole. Private Bryan Howard was sentenced to 27 months in prison under a plea agreement. Private Steven D. Green was discharged from the Army for anti-social behavior before the murders had been discovered. However, he was arrested and charged with rape and murder in the Western District Court of Kentucky. He will be tried in that court on April 29, 2009. His attorney has filed documents for an insanity defense.
Higher Punishment for Killing Fellow Servicemen Than Iraqis
Punishment for murder of other U.S. service members is dramatically higher than for murder of Iraqi and Afghan civilians.
In April 2003, US Army Sergeant Hasan Akbar, a member of the 101st Airborne Division, allegedly threw grenades into a tent at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait that killed two officers and wounded 14. Akbar was sentenced to death in April 2005.
In June 2005, US Army 42nd Infantry Division Staff Sergeant Alberto Martinez allegedly killed two superior officers with an anti-personnel mine and grenades inside one of Saddam Hussein's palaces, near Tikrit, Iraq. Martinez's court-martial is underway at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.
Earlier this week, on September 14, 2008, two US Army soldiers, assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division, were shot and killed, reportedly by another soldier at their base, near the town of Iskandariyah, about 30 miles south of Baghdad. The soldier who reportedly killed the two others is confined and will be brought before a military magistrate this week for pretrial procedural determinations.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ann Wright is a retired US Army Reserves colonel with 29 years of military service. She also was a US diplomat who served in Nicaragua, Grenada, Somalia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Sierra Leone, Micronesia and Mongolia. She was on the small team that reopened the US Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, in December 2001. She resigned from the US diplomatic corps in March 2003 in opposition to the Bush administration's decision to invade and occupy Iraq. She is the co-author of "Dissent: Voices of Conscience," profiles of government insiders who have spoken and acted on their concerns of their governments' policies.

WAR IS PEACE

first step ignorance

If your mind is in balance,
What need is there to work at morality?
If your behavior is correct,
What use is meditation to you?
If you understand mercy,
Then you still naturally care for your parents.
If you understand faithful conduct,
Then all society will be in order.

H.H. the Sixth Patriarch Hui Neng (638-713)

The symbolism of these three circles, moving from the center outwards, is that the three afflictive emotions of Desire, Hatred, and Ignorance give rise to virtuous and non-virtuous actions, which, in turn, give rise to the various levels of suffering in cyclic existence. The outer rim symbolizing the twelve links of dependent-arising indicates how the sources of suffering-- actions and afflictive emotions--produce lives within cyclic existence. The fierce being holding the wheel symbolizes impermanence --- not symbolize a creator-deity.

The essential point is to symbolize impermanence; this is why the being is a wrathful monster, though there is no need for it to be drawn with ornaments and so forth as it is here.

The moon on the far left side indicates liberation. The Buddha on the right is pointing to the moon, indicating that the liberation that causes one to cross the ocean of suffering of cyclic existence should be actualized.

With regard to the history of this painting, at the time of Shakyamuni Buddha, an outlying king, Udayana, made a present of a jewelled robe to the king of Magadha, Bimbisara, who did not have anything of equivalent worth to give in return. Bimbisara was worried about this and asked Buddha what he should give. Buddha indicated that he should have a Wheel of Cyclic Existence with five sectors drawn and have the following stanzas put with it:

Undertaking this and leaving that,
Enter into the teaching of the Buddha.
Like an elephant in a thatch house,
Destroy the forces of the Lord of Death.

Those who with thorough conscientiousness
Practice this disciplinary doctrine
Will forsake the wheel of birth,
Bringing suffering to an end.

Buddha told Bimbisara to send this to King Udayana. It is said that when the king received the picture and studied it, he attained realization.

The twelve links of dependent arising are symbolized by the twelve pictures around the outside. The first, at the top--an old person, blind and hobbling with a cane--symbolizes ignorance, a wrong consciousness that conceives the opposite of how things actually do exist.

The Twelve Links of Dependent Origination

IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

What Is Buddha?

"Enlightenment, for a wave in the ocean,
is the moment the wave realises it is water."
Thich Nhat Hanh

Buddha is a person who has achieved the spiritual state of bodhi. The word buddha literally means "the awakened one" – someone who has no ignorance and can see the universe as it really is. People who have achieved this state can be called a buddha. There are many buddhas, and no one has the right to say, "I am the one and only buddha."

Following in the Buddha's Footsteps

The lotus has its roots in the mud,
Grows up through the deep water,
And rises to the surface.
It blooms into perfect beauty and purity in the sunlight.
It is like the mind unfolding to perfect joy and wisdom.

All is Buddha
Each form, each particle, is a Buddha. One form is all Buddhas. All forms, all particles, are all Buddhas. All forms, sounds, scents, feelings, and phenomena are also like this, each filling all fields.
-Pai-chang

This Mind is Buddha
Daibai asked Baso: `What is Buddha?'
Baso said: `This mind is Buddha.'

Mumon's Comment: If anyone wholly understands this, he is wearing Buddha's clothing, he is eating Buddha's food, he is speaking Buddha's words, he is behaving as Buddha, he is Buddha.

This anecdote, however, has given many pupil the sickness of formality. If one truly understands, he will wash out his mouth for three days after saying the word Buddha, and he will close his ears and flee after hearing `This mind is Buddha.'

Under blue sky, in bright sunlight,
One need not search around.
Asking what Buddha is
Is like hiding loot in one's pocket and declaring oneself innocent.

Mu Bul’s Speech at the Ceremony Celebrating Buddha’s BirthdayApril 3, 1976(He raised the stick over his head and hit the table with it; he repeated this three times.)An eminent teacher once said, “Before Buddha was born and came to the Kapila Empire,he had already saved all people.”When Buddha was born, he took seven steps, looked in the four directions, pointed withone hand to the sky and with the other to the ground, and said, “In the sky above and thesky below, only I am holy.”Somebody once mentioned these words of the baby Buddha to Zen Master Un-mun andasked what they meant. Un-mun said, “as soon as Buddha said this, I hit him and killedhim and fed his body to a hungry dog. The whole world was at peace.”One of these three sentences is a freedom sentence. If you find this sentence, you will befree from life and death. If you cannot find it, you cannot escape from samsara.But, if you say you have found it I will hit you, and if you say you cannot find it I will hityou.Why?Katz!April 8, 1976 is Buddha’s 2520th birthday.Thank you all for coming to this ceremony. What is Buddha’s birthday? FIrst, what isBuddha?Someone once asked Dong-San Zen Master, What is Buddha?” Dong-San said, “Threepounds of flax.”Someone once asked Un-Mun Zen Master, “what is Buddha?” Un-mun said “Dry shit ona stick.”Someone once asked Dok-San Zen Master, “What is Buddha?” Dok-San hit him.Someone once asked Lin-Chi Zen Master, “What is Buddha?” Lin-Chi shouted KATZ!Someone once Ku-Ji Zen Master, “What is Buddha” Ku-Ji raised his finger. Someone once asked Mang-Gong Zen Master, “What is Buddha?” Mang-Gong made acircle with his thumb and forefinger.Some one once asked Jo-Ju Zen Master, “What is Buddha?” Jo-Ju said “Go drink tea.”Someone once asked Gyong-Ho Zen Master, “What is Buddha?” Gyong-Ho asked him,“Did you wash your bowl?”Someone once asked Ma-Jo Zen Master, “What is Buddha?” On one occasion Ma-Jo said,“Mind is Buddha, Buddha is mind,” and on another occasion, “No mind, no Buddha.”Someone once asked Hae-Jo Zen Master, “What is Buddha?” Hae-Jo asked, “Did you eatbefore you came here?”Which one of these answers is correct? If you aked me, “What is Buddha?” I would answerthis way: (He raised the stick over his head and hit the table with it once.) But, is thiscorrect? Is this Buddha?Next, what is birthday?An eminent teacher once said, “Life is like a floating cloud which appears on the horizon.Death is like the floating cloud disappearing over the horizon. The floating could itselforiginally does not exist. Life and death, coming and going, are also like that.”Once there was a young boy who went to a progressive elementary school. At school oneday he learned all about conception, pregnancy,and birth. In his textbook there was a series of drawings and x-ray photos of the stages ofthe growth of a fertilized egg into a mature fetus. The boy found this fascinating, but hehad a question: “When exactly did I become a human?” He looked at the pictures in hisbook. The first picture was obviously not a human; the last picture was clearly a humanready to be born. The boy wanted to know at exactly what point the fetus became ahuman? He asked his father “In which one of these stages did I become a human?” Hisfather pointed to one picture and said, “This one. In this picture you can see a cleardistinction between the head and torso. When the fetus gets this far, its human.” The nextday at school the boy asked his teacher the same question (he just wanted to make sure).But his teacher pointed to a different picture! His teacher said, “This one. In this pictureyou can see that the fetus had developed arms and legs and the beginnings of facialfeatures. At this point it becomes human.” The boy was confused. Which one was correct?In the 1950”s an American artist named Jaspar Johns had a show in New York City. Butthe pieces he exhibited were not what people expected to see at an art exhibit. One manwas outraged and said, “This isn’t art! “ Jaspar Johns said, “If I say it’s art, it’s art.” So, ifthe boy’s father says “In this picture you become human,” then this is correct; if the boy’steacher points to a different picture and says, “In this picture you become human,” thenthis is correct. Why?Birth is only a word. Life is only a word. When you were born you did not stand up andannounce, “I have just been born; now I am a human.” Someone said, “A baby has beenborn.” Birth is only a word. People make words. If people did not make the word “birth” there would be no birth. If people did not make any words, then what? The sixth patriarchsaid, “Originally there is nothing at all.” But many people don’t understand this. They areattached to words, so they have life and death and suffering. And they have manyquestions. What is life? What is art? And they get very serious and sometimes upset aboutthese. So if you understand that originally there is nothing, then life is funny.The Diamond Sutra says, “One cannot attain past mind, present mind, or future mind.”But people say, “Before I met you, I was nothing. Now that you’re here, I’m always happy.If you ever leave me, I’ll be sad.” This is funny. What is past? What is present? What isfuture? What is happiness? What is sadness?The Heart Sutra says, “no attainment with nothing to attain.” But many zen students wantEnlightenment. Long ago, in China, a great Zen master told his students, “You mustalways keep the great question, ‘What am I’ If you practice this very hard, then thisquestion will grow and grow until, finally, kghhh… you will get Enlightenment.” So his students practiced very hard, but sometimes they wondered, “When kghh… ? I’ve beenpracticing very hard. Why no kghh… ?” Or, they thought, “I feel so good. I mean my mind is so, you know, clear, could this be… No, no way. But, maybe, I mean, could thisbe… ENLIGHTENMENT? But, if it is, why didn’t I hear the kghh… ? This is funny.So this ceremony is also funny.What is Buddha? What is birthday? What are past, present, and future? What arehappiness and sadness? What is Enlightenment? What is kghh… ? They are all words.They are all made by people’s thinking. If you make Buddha, there is Buddha. If youmake birthday, there is birthday. If you make past, present, and future, and happpinessand sadness, there are all of these. If you make kghh… , there is kghhh… Also if youmake funny, there is funny.“Originally there is nothing,” but the stone cow holds her belly and laughs.How can we celebrate Buddha’s birthday? What is correct Buddha’s birthday celebration?Don’t make anything. Don”t check anything. Not making anything means throwing awayyour situation, condition, and opinion. If you do this your mind is like a clear mirror.Only reflection, only reflected action. When red comes, the mirror is red; when whitecomes, the mirror is white. When you see happy people , you are happy; when you see sadpeople, you are sad. This is the great bodhisattva way. Buddha’s birthday comes and wehave a ceremony. This is Bodisattva action. This is “nothing at all.” Put it all down.So, now you all understand Buddha’s birthday. So I will ask you a question. GautamaShakyamuni died long ago, so he could not be here tonight. Instead we have this statuewhich we call Buddha. So I ask you: the historical Buddha, Gautama Shakyamuni, and thisBuddha on the altar, are they the same or different? If you understand this, then you cancorrectly celebrate Buddha’s birthday. But, if you say you understand this, I will hit you. And if you say you don’t understand this. I will hit you.why?Teaching Letters of Zen Master Seung Sahn • Page 753© 2002 Kwan Um School of Zen • www.kwanumzen.org

Bruce Maltz is always reminding me of this and in return I send him clips of the Three Stooges.

Comin Thro' The Rye.
Chorus.
O Jenny's a' weet, poor body,
Jenny's seldom dry:
She draigl't a' her petticoatie,
Comin thro' the rye!
1.
Comin thro' the rye, poor body,
Comin thro' the rye,
She draigl't a' her petticoatie,
Comin thro' the rye!
2.
Gin a body meet a body
Comin thro' the rye,
Gin a body kiss a body,
Need a body cry?
3.
Gin a body meet a body
Comin thro' the glen,
Gin a body kiss a body,
Need the warld ken?
4.
Gin a body meet a body
Comin thro' the grain,
Gin a body kiss a body,
The thing's a body's ain.

I'm pretty stupid so it makes sense to me

Arguments for getting off petroleum:

I was in New York in the 30’s. I had a box seat at the depression. I can assure you it was a very educational experience. We shut the country down because of monetary reasons. We had manpower and abundant raw materials. Yet we shut the country down. We’re doing the same kind of thing now but with a different material outlook. We are not in the position we were in 1929–30 with regard to the future. Then the physical system was ready to roll. This time it’s not. We are in a crisis in the evolution of human society. It’s unique to both human and geologic history. It has never happened before and it can’t possibly happen again. You can only use oil once. You can only use metals once. Soon all the oil is going to be burned and all the metals mined and scattered.
M. King Hubbert, 1983

Initially it will be denied. There will be much lying and obfuscation. Then prices will rise and demand will fall. The rich will outbid the poor for available supplies. The system will initially appear to rebalance. The dash for gas will become more frenzied. People will realize nuclear power stations take up to ten years to build. People will also realize wind, waves, solar and other renewables are all pretty marginal and take a lot of energy to construct. There will be a dash for more fuel-efficient vehicles and equipment. The poor will not be able to afford the investment or the fuel. Exploration and exploitation of oil and gas will become completely frenzied. More and more countries will decide to reserve oil and later gas supplies for their own people. Air quality will be ignored as coal production and consumption expand once more. Once the decline really gets under way, liquids production will fall relentlessly by five percent per year. Energy prices will rise remorselessly. Inflation will become endemic. Resource conflicts will break out.
Colin Campbell, March 2002

http://www.thegreatchange.com/

http://www.dieoff.org/page1.htm

This guy is no fan of personal rapid transit

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." -Arthur C. Clarke

I first encountered the strange world of PRT in 1989, two years after I moved to Minneapolis from Manhattan. Hennepin County was planning to build a light rail transit line, a modern replacement for the trolley line that was torn up in 1954. The County sent a representative around with charts, maps and brochures to the monthly Kingfield neighborhood meeting.

During the question and answer time, a very agitated man stood up and delivered a fierce polemic against trains, calling them a “19th century technology” He also praised automobiles because drivers could choose who to ride with, adding that Americans would never ride in a bus or train with “strangers”. He then began talking about Personal Rapid Transit or PRT. Personal Rapid Transit, he explained was far cheaper and more efficient than trains because it had all of the “advantages” of automobiles and none of the “drawbacks” of trains.

Coming from New York, I thought the guy was a total nut. After all, cars were invented about the time as electric trolleys and while American rail transport has fallen behind, European and Japanese rail systems are as modern as any transportation technology. In the years since that meeting I have encountered more of these fanatics who insist that PRT was “faster, cheaper, better” than trolleys and buses. In one memorable encounter, a deranged man interrupted a workshop my wife and I were giving at Macalester College, shouting that PRT is the “only transportation solution", threw a dozen Taxi 2000 Corporation brochures at us and stormed out.

In 2003, I joined a group of transit advocates to stop the 35W Access Project, a highway expansion project. As we tried to put mass transit on the table as an alternative, PRT supporters added confusion to the debate. During one meeting, we had to endure one woman’s description of the PRT exhibit at the “Wonders of Technology” building at the Minnesota State Fair. She spoke about the PRT vehicle, a pod resembling a shiny red lady bug. “We could build it on Lake Street and call it the ‘Lady Bug Line’”, she chirped on and on about the pod while we cringed.

January 20, 2004, the Mayor of Minneapolis and five city councilmembers declared their support in a resolution for a study of PRT. Green Party Council member Dean Zimmermann was so preoccupied with promoting PRT that he nearly voted for the “Excess Project” Fellow Greens talked him out of it. In the end, the Minneapolis City Council voted to support the highway expansion project... condemning homes, businesses and a playground for low-income children. PRT played a crucial yet unacknowledged role in that decision.

In the aftermath of that vote, I decided to strike back and post a satirical and skeptical view of PRT on my web site. I was not prepared for the response I received. I got e-mails from all over the United States and England with information and advice from other PRT opponents. I learned from them that PRT proponents had attempted to block improvements to mass transit in other cities. Some of these transit activists had even coined a word, “gadgetbahnen” for futuristic transportation schemes like PRT.

I attempted to get skeptical information on the web about PRT, but it wasn’t easy. PRT proponents are very web savvy. They have dozens of web sites, all linked to each other which moves them to the top of the list on search engines such as Google and Yahoo. I had to spend many hours finding the few articles that were skeptical of PRT claims.

What I eventually pieced together is a complicated picture of the PRT movement. PRT groups seem to have a great deal of support from anti-transit, pro-highway forces. For people with a stake in highway planning and construction or people who have a right-wing, ideological hatred of the public sector, PRT is clearly a way to monkey-wrench mass transit.

PRT appears to be an investment scheme similar to “Springtime for Hitler” in the Mel Brooks movie “The Producers”. In The Producers, the Broadway huckster played by Zero Mostel oversells a musical he is certain will fold on opening night. With PRT's inherent design flaws, lack of peer approval and 30-year history of failure, Taxi 2000's stock has nowhere to go but up. PRT share prices can be easily be boosted by a favorable article or press release. The proponents of PRT seem to spend more time and energy on publicity and public relations than the pursuit of credible research and development. Sadly, the media is all too eager to publish these “Gee Whiz” puff-pieces on PRT. When PRT projects go nowhere or belly-up , the media is less likely to report they were hoodwinked. The unwary media also seems dazzled by the cult-like enthusiasm of PRT proponents.

PRT proponents have an almost evangelical belief in the power of PRT technology to transform the world. The grassroots contingent of the PRT movement thrives in cyberspace, where it seems that anything is possible if it can be cut and pasted with Photoshop and uploaded with Dreamweaver. It’s this faith-based aspect of PRT that reminded me of the cargo cults of Micronesia.

Cargo cults sprang up in many Pacific Ocean Islands during World War 2 in response to the invasion by more technically advanced Japanese and American troops. The islanders who had never seen an airplane before began to build their own airstrips in the hope the "big birds from heaven" would come to them and deliver the cargo they were convinced was being sent to them by their ancestors. Thousands of these cargo cults sprang up independent of each other all over Micronesia and New Guinea.

PRT has its roots in the glory days of the 20th century era of cheap and plentiful petroleum. The streamlined monorail was a featured element of the “World of Tomorrow” futuristic propaganda of that optimistic time. That propaganda, paid for largely by the auto industry fueled an explosive growth in the suburbs and led to the “benign neglect” of older, transit dependent cities.

The cheap petroleum era and all its naive, optimism began its decline after the 1973 OPEC Oil Embargo. With the subsequent rise of the environmental movement, the automobile became a symbol of waste and excess. Smog, acid rain, pipeline and tanker spills, and the growing awareness of the automobile’s contribution to the trashing of cities and towns led to a growing cynicism for the “American Dream” of a house in suburbia with two cars parked in the garage. More Americans were looking to Europe and Japan for a modern, non-automobile solution to getting around. Americans began to ask for alternative transportation.

The automobile and highway construction industry were on the ropes after the beating they got in the 1970's from European and Japanese small car manufacturers. The last thing they needed in the “stagflation days” of the post embargo economy was a federal program to fund mass transit. They called on their friends in government and academia to stall federal investment in conventional transit and instead plow money into PRT, monorail, smart roads, synfuels and other technologies that didn’t threaten to replace the highway and the automobile. After several decades and millions of dollars of investment, none of these “gadgetbahnen” solutions delivered on their promises.

In spite of nearly thirty years of failure, PRT and other gadgetbahnen are experiencing a renaissance. In Minneapolis, Duluth, Cincinnati, Seattle, Santa Cruz and San Antonio, the Gadgetbahners are busy lobbying government and citizens for funding, tax-breaks, and “exclusive utility” exemptions from antitrust law.

It’s not surprising that all this gadgetbanen activity comes at a time when Americans are once again being confronted as they were in 1973 with the realization that the oil their economy depends on is a finite and rapidly vanishing resource. We are trapped in bloody conflicts for oil in Asia, Africa, and South America. Scientists are warning us that our increasing fossil fuel use contributes to catastrophic climate change. Oil and gasoline prices are climbing again. In Washington and state capitols smaller transportation budgets pit the supporters of transit against highway construction and automobile lobbyists. Along with aging baby boomers nostalgic for the care-free, top-down, car-hopping, hot-rodding, post-WWII glory days of the cheap petroleum era, Generation X’ers holding together a shattered dream of better living through cyber-connectivity have been drawn to the futuristic allure of the PRT pod. Other PRT supporters, the conscientious and environmentally-minded, feel terribly guilty about the cars they are forced to drive because of suburban sprawl or lack of adequate transit. For these people the knowledge that their driving a car contributes to global climate change is very disturbing. The current war for oil in Iraq and oil combined with reports that oil may run out mid-century adds to their unbearable guilt. For them, PRT’s claim to be a “green technology” holds an almost messianic promise of miraculous deliverance from a depressing, guilt-ridden existence.

This strange group of hucksters and true believers march through state capitols and city halls shoving their petitions and brochures at lawmakers, in the process, they spread misinformation and confusion about real alternatives to automobiles and highways. They hallucinate back and forth on Yahoo and other e-mail forums. Like other fanatical, faith-based groups such as right to lifers and creationists they have an indefatigable desire for confrontation and debate. They call up radio talk shows and write letters and e-mails. For transit activists, having to combat the disinformation campaign of the PRT fanatics is exhausting.

The world is aghast at the spectacle the United States has become. We need to take stock of the reality of 21st century America. We have become a nation constantly at war abroad for the oil to fuel millions of cars that isolate us in depressing , blighted landscapes. We have become a sedentary nation that spends all of its time sitting in front of televisions, and computers or sitting in cars with millions of Americans sickened and fattened by drive-in convenience food. Americans need to abandon the American cargo cult illusion that we can each continue to pursue our individual quest for comfort and convenience at the expense of the peace, justice and the environment of others. Americans can no longer keep hitting the snooze button on the Doomsday Clock.

We to need to wake up and get real.

the true buddha of the latter day

I would think it would be beyond question who the true buddha of the latter age of the law would be.

Welcome to the Most Holy-n- High Church of the Blinding Light of the Holy Glowing™ Form of the One Toupeed and Gloriously Bloated Shatner!

Buddha's delight

A common English name given by Chinese restaurants to a vegetarian dish (sometines Buddhist delight, as well). It refers to the fact that Buddhist monks in China and related countries were vegetarian, and would have to eat vegetarian dishes. So strong was the belief in vegetarianism among Chinese Buddhists that some scriptures in the tradition depict the Buddha as a vegetarian, despite the fact that many older scriptures (such as the Pali Canon) make it clear that the Buddha ate meat, and forbade the establishment of vegetarianism among the Sangha.

While there was actually quite a lot of good and fairly complex vegetarian cuisine served among Buddhists (monks and otherwise) in China, adaptation to Western tastes (and the greater availability of quality, cheap meat in the U.S. and elsewhere) means that often some variation on "Buddha's Delight" may be the only vegetarian dish available in Chinese restaurants outside of areas with large, well established Chinese communities. Typically, it consists primarily of stir fried vegetables (snow peas, carrots, peppers, cabbage (oriental or otherwise), onions, etc.) in a soy sauce based sauce, served over rice or noodles. What's that you say? Sound like no more than that staple of American Chinese cooking, chop suey, with the meat yanked out? Well, frankly, that's usually what it is.

True Entity of Life
- Shoho Jisso Sho -

Question: In the Hoben chapter of Volume One of the Lotus Sutra is the passage: "The true entity of all phenomena can only be understood and shared between Buddhas. This reality consists of the appearance, nature...and their consistency from beginning to end." What does t