There is a Buddhist practice to welcome the most adverse things as opportunities and the most adverse people as spiritual friends. I ask myself, “How’s that going?” and I admit “A work in progress.”
The good news for me is that for a portion of the day, I breathe. Obviously I spend the entire day breathing, but for a time I breathe consciously, in and out.
No, those askew/crooked/awry/lopsided/cockeyed things keep multiplying like a virus, no matter how many conscious breaths I give and take. Just as with any virus—we’ve had some recent experience with that—it is essential to address the problem. But those breaths can put those things in their place and us in our place.
Yes, “take a breath” is seemingly cliched advice when we are overwhelmed. We certainly are being overwhelmed, in many ways strategically. The reason “take a breath” is constantly advised is…it works.
It is reported that the Mapquest app—yes, Mapquest—became the number one app in the Apple store, after Mapquest refused to give in to Trump’s attempt to rename Lake Ontario.
Google gave in without a fight.
My first thought was that I would protest by discarding Google from my digital life. Yeah well. Easier said than done.
My AI life is not a problem, since it is already squarely based in Claude, with Gemini in distant second place. And unlike many other users, I don’t do much with other Google apps like Google Docs.
Mail and search are a different story. I could shift both away from Google, and I should, but convenience in that case outweighs conviction. Though if Google continues its kiss-ass ways, that could change.
One place that is vulnerable to my principles is Google Maps. It is admittedly pretty useful, and alternatives are slim. Waze, one of the leading alternatives, is of course owned by Google.
Then my search (yeah, okay, a Google search), turned up Here We Go. Here We Go was developed by Nokia, and evolved into a mapping app supported by multiple car makers.
It is well reviewed as a Google Maps alternative, highlighted for its lack of clutter and especially for its ability to download maps that can be used in offline settings.
I have downloaded Here We Go to my phone but haven’t used it yet. I will. (I also downloaded Mapquest to send a message to Google. I could send an email to Google too, though it would be a Gmail and anyway Google could care less.)
Dada and Surrealism were significant art movements in the early 20th century. One of the most famous works is Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain* (above), though Duchamp refused to be classified with any of the movements he informed and inspired. These movements also included performances, many of which made no sense then—or now. It was art.
Trying to make sense of the action, speech and thought of the current president defies understanding. Perhaps we have been looking at him through the wrong lens. We think of him as a businessman and currently as the most powerful leader in the world. This has left us shaking our heads. But maybe we are looking at it all wrong.
We may say to ourselves, “This can’t be real!”
Maybe it isn’t real. Maybe it is surreal. Maybe it is the work of an artist so supremely talented that his work and performances go right over our heads.
A beautiful Rose Garden buried in concrete. A giant Reflecting Pool covered with green algae. Every wall in a stately historic mansion decorated in ugly and gaudy gold. Historic texts, a Declaration and a Constitution, burned in front of our eyes. Just a few of the extraordinary works that are still being made.
If all that isn’t cutting edge art, deserving of multiple prizes, I don’t know what is.
* The original Fountain from 1917 is no longer available. Replicas of the original are worth between $2.5 and $5 million. Something for a presidential artist to think about.
Did I think the Gaza War would be over by now, that Israel would have come to its senses and humanity, on its own or pushed there by Jewish communities and Jews in America?
Do I look naïve? As much as I repeat Abraham Joshua Heschel’s view on things in general and on the Vietnam War in particular—“I am an optimist in spite of myself”—no, I thought it just as likely that things in Gaza would get worse before they got better, if ever better at all. Now we know.
One of the books was by David Livingstone Smith, whose work centers on the phenomenon of dehumanization. You don’t have to be an expert like him to understand the basics. When you treat others as an inferior kind of human, or as not human at all, you find yourself free to do all sorts of bad things. You may feel it necessary to justify, excuse or lie about what you do, comforting yourself and avoiding condemnation and even punishment.
“We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal” was not the invention of America’s founders. It was not the invention of the Enlightenment thinkers who inspired some of our founders. It is at the heart of millennia-old traditions that uphold the value of every human being.
Are there circumstances where that value might be weighed against other considerations? You know there are. Should that human value be the default, the great weight, the primary and starting position against which any contrary initiative should be carefully considered? Should those contrary initiatives be rare and followed by confession, humility and contrition? Of course.
Have you, have those on your behalf, treated others as less than human? What will you do about it?
Don’t come a-knockin’ around my door Don’t wanna see your shadow no more Coloured lights can hypnotize Sparkle someone else’s eyes
Many people like or love Canada. One of the reasons is that without the roster of Canadian artists, modern pop music would be much, much poorer:
Neil Young Joni Mitchell The Band Leonard Cohen k.d. Lang Rush The Weeknd Celine Dion Justin Bieber Drake Arcade Fire Shania Twain Etc.
Nobody likes a bully, except for those who benefit from the bullying. History and the current world are filled with bullies. Russia bullies Ukraine. Israel bullies Palestine.
The U.S., in addition to its finest moments, has also been a bully. Currently, the strangest and most perplexing bullying involves our longtime friend, neighbor and provider of great musicians Canada.
Canadian artists frequently include their love of Canada in their songs. The songs may also include issues with the United States, even (especially?) for those artists who have adopted it as home.
No Canadian song about the U.S. is more fitting than American Woman (1970) by Winnipeg natives The Guess Who. The United States was not a favorite nation in much of the world in 1970, especially among young people rejecting America’s deadly and tragic Vietnam War.
American Woman still sounds just about right.
American woman gonna mess your mind American woman, she gonna mess your mind
American woman Stay away from me American woman Mama, let me be Don’t come a-hangin’ around my door I don’t wanna see your face no more I got more important things to do Than spend my time growin’ old with you American woman Get away from me American woman Mama, let me be Don’t come a-knockin’ around my door Don’t wanna see your shadow no more Coloured lights can hypnotize Sparkle someone else’s eyes
American woman Said get away American woman Listen what I say Don’t come a-hangin’ around my door Don’t wanna see your face no more I don’t need your war machines I don’t need your ghetto scenes Coloured lights can hypnotize Sparkle someone else’s eyes
You’re no good for me, I’m no good for you Gonna look you right in the eye, tell you what I’m gonna do You know I’m gonna leave You know I’m gonna go, you know I’m gonna leave You know I’m gonna go, woman I’m gonna leave, woman Goodbye, American woman
Chapter 5 – Guarding Awareness 13. How could there be sufficient leather To cover the earth entirely? With just the leather for my soles, It is as if the whole earth’s covered. –Shantideva (7th-8th century CE), The Way of the Bodhisattva, translated by Khenpo David Karma Choephel
Making things better. Making other people better. Making the world better.
All for the good.
As Shantideva says in his classic work of Buddhist wisdom, one way to smooth our walking would be to cover the entire earth in leather. Of course that would be impossible.
Instead, we could just choose to wear shoes. Simple.
While we want things, other people and the world to be better, we should start with ourselves. Get those shoes, make those shoes, wear those shoes. Easier than covering the earth.
The mad frenzy to rename waters around the U.S. continues. An attempt was made to start calling the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. Now Lake Ontario has been “renamed” Lake America. Soon maybe the Great Lakes will be called the Great American Lakes. (I know, don’t give anyone ideas.)
The oceans on both sides of the U.S. may be next. But there is a problem. The obvious initiative is to call each ocean the Ocean of America. But that would obviously be confusing, like having two streets with the same name.
The simple solution: Name one the Ocean of America and name the other the Other Ocean of America. In the image above, I have put Ocean of America on the Pacific, but there is no reason it can’t be the other way around.
Speaking of naming, I want to include a musical moment. Not quite Shakespeare (“A rose by any other name’) but a good point:
You call it rain but the human name doesn’t mean shit to a tree —Eskimo Blue Day, Jefferson Airplane
In one of the most significant exchanges in religious history, it is reported that after the Buddha’s enlightenment, he was asked who he was. He simply replied, “I am awake.”
Trying to make “woke” a pejorative is crazy. Not crazy like a political and ideological fox, just bonkers. No matter the party or philosophy, from the White House on down, everybody wants to wake up each day, and wants those they love to wake up each day. The opposite of waking up is not waking up, and that is not what we want.
What is actually meant by the charge of “woke” is related to the Buddha’s expression. It is an accusation of being enlightened, of seeing others, all others, no matter their identities and origins, as worthy of our active care and concern. Since this is a Christian, not just a Buddhist message, it is inconceivable that so many are sworn enemies of “woke”. Not to mention that all of these anti-woke people really do want to wake up each day. Instead of the alternative.
I’ve occasionally designated and declared various years and months to be dedicated to important causes. Very informal, unofficial declarations, since I have no authority or platform to direct or realize those declarations. Just this blog.
A few weeks ago, I declared the upcoming Jewish New Year 5787 (time flies!) as the “Jewish Year of Compassion”. Reconsidering this declaration–once again, very informal and unofficial–I’ve determined that the declaration should read “5787: Year of Jewish Compassion”. Every writer and editor will recognize the subtle nuanced torture of word placement, particular in a phrase four words long.
For now, and for what it’s worth, it is declared that the upcoming year 5787 that begins on Rosh Hashanah (evening of September 11) is the Year of Jewish Compassion.
“Never once in my life did I ask God for success or wisdom or power or fame. I asked for wonder, and he gave it to me.” –Abraham Joshua Heschel
Vashti Bunyan released the jewel of an album Just Another Diamond Day in 1970. Even though it was an era of eclectic music catching on, it was overlooked, and she left recording.
She and the album were discovered/rediscovered decades later and she resumed her musical career.
You will listen to the title track (below) and say: This is children’s music! In a sense it is, filled with wonder at the simplest things. If you haven’t noticed yet, among the things AI is not capable of is genuine wonder. Not wonder in the question-and-answer way. Wonder in that ineffable way that has your jaw drop and your heart leap (no jaw or heart in AI). Children have it, we can keep it or recover it.
Listen to the whole album. It takes 39 minutes from your life. It will extend your life by 39 years or more.
Masters of creative sampling, The Avalanches, included Vashti Bunyan on their 2020 album We Will Always Love You on the track Reflecting Light
