Since September 11, I have had so many emotions pass across the plane of my mind, it is almost hard to comprehend. I'm sure they haven't been that dissimilar to most of you - shock, sadness, anger, fear, confusion, resentment and depression. In some ways, the tragedy in New York, Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania felt like the loss of a loved one. I've cried, trembled, prayed, worried and thought - mostly that last one - a lot over the past 10 days or so. In Buddhism, they describe the feeling beginning meditators have when trying to empty their mind of thoughts. They talk of how the mind is busy and full of thoughts and that, when we really try to empty our minds, we notice for the first time how many thoughts are going through our heads all the time. They call it "monkey mind" and the object of meditation is to replace "monkey mind" with "empty mind." My monkey has been working overtime. I've read reports about an increased sense of tension, depression and inability to sleep all over America. This is normal. I think we all feel it. I've always been the type to over-think and over analyze everything. This situation has been no different. For days, I sat glued to my tv or radio for news and analysis. I listened to talking heads drone on with the same reports and talk to an endless stream of consultants, experts and eyewitnesses. I was looking for comfort. What I got was mostly a bunch of mindless chatter and "uncomfirmed reports." As a person who believes that peace is the only solution, ultimately, to the cycle of violence that perpetuates our planet, it was hard for me to decide just how I felt. Some might think that I had it figured out and just plugged my own values system into the equation of terrorism and my "morality calculator" spit out an answer. I wish! No, I struggled with old fears that I had as a child of nuclear war. I fought with my desire to pummel the holy hell out of whoever was responsible. I felt so sad and depressed I had to force myself out of bed. But, over the past day or so, I've started to feel something different from what I have felt in the past. Hope. I see the world differently today. Everyone said that we were now living in a new world. Of course, that is true of every day because the world is never the same even from one second to the next. I guess it just took an event of this magnitude for us all to see it that way. I've always wanted to live in the moment, to not dwell on the past or worry about the future. My monkey usually has other ideas. My desire for clarity of thought is, in itself, a hinderance to the very clarity I seek. As a wise lyricist once said, "The point of the journey is not to arrive." By desiring clarity, it escaped me. But today, I was at my desk where I've been working and I read a column by Thom Marshall in the Chronicle. He spoke to Kim Soo, the legendary karate teacher based in Houston, about how he would handle it if he were on a plane with terrorists. Believe it or not, I took karate from Kim Soo when I was just a child. My wife took a class from him in college. He's an institution in Houston and even in my life. I picked up the phone without a hesitation, called my wife and said, "I'm going to study martial arts. Wanna do it with me?" She agreed and that was it. In that moment, I realized that now is <b>it</b>. It's all we have. That moment of insight, however small and insignificant, made me feel better. Suddenly, life didn't seem so terrible. Rather than feeling sorry for myself and my world, I was motivated to act in the moment and be a different person in THAT MOMENT. I wasn't worried about how my bad back would respond. I wasn't thinking about kicking ass like Jet Li (ok, maybe once!). I was just feeling good about doing something I had wanted to for a long while and it struck me that life is really that simple. I began to think about all the wonderful pictures that made me sob uncontrollably showing people from around the globe paying tribute to the US. I thought of Mexico cancelling its (Fiestas Patrias) Independence Day and the Buckingham Palace guard playing the Star Spangled Banner. I thought of the people stopped on the freeway in the Netherlands observing 3 minutes of silence and the flowers left at US Embassy's in Russia and China. Somehow, all the fear went away and I begin to feel hopeful. It was as if for that moment in time on September 11, the whole world stopped, stunned and gasped. For that one moment in time, we ceased to be Russian, British, German, Chinese, Indian, Mexican, Australian, Sudanese and American. For that moment, we became <i>human</i>. Sages and religious students practice their entire lives to find moments of clarity like that (called Sartori in Japanese) and, unknowingly, a few radicals turned their own hatred into a signle moment of conscious love. They say in Buddhism that when the student is ready, the teacher will appear. The world students just found their teacher. In the midst of terror, fear and grief, we realized that "united we stand, divided we fall." It takes all of us: Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Taoist, Sikh, Pagan, Atheist and all other faiths and philosophies - to change the world and we can accomplish it in a moment, not a lifetime, if we choose. Five hundred years before the birth of Christ, Buddha said, "In this world, hate never disspelled hate. Only love disspelled hate." Jesus later said, "Love your enemies," and "love your neighbor as you love yourself." He implored us to "do unto others as you would have them do unto you." In the 1960's, Martin Luther King, Jr. said that we only have two choices: to live together in peace or destroy ourselves. In 1971, Marvin Gaye wrote, "Only love can conquer hate." Finally, Mother Teresa once said, "I don't do great things. I do small things with great love." They got it. Every flower left. Every dollar given. Every smile. Every tear. Every prayer and positive thought. Every small thing done with great love over the past week has changed us all. It has left an indelible mark on the entire world and it will not be forgotten. Just like those wise men and women, we got it too. In all of our ignorance and all of our fear; in our moments of hatred and anger and our times of greatest despair, we as humans transcended our own humanity and found something greater. It is my sincere hope that we continue to draw upon the unexpected strength that came from that terrible moment when the world stood still. There are moments in our collective history we can look to and say, "That changed everything." Let's make this moment the one remembered for turning our hearts and minds to the realization that we are all brothers and sisters joined not by race, creed, color, nationality or religion but by our common humanity. "And in the end, The love you take, Is equal to the love you make." Namaste.
Excellent. Just excellent. I could not have written something like that if I had 3 weeks and a dictionary. I'm glad you have found peace, unlike most citizens of this nation, including myself. Something we all must remember is that all this excessive worrying does nothing but make our lives miserable. Yes, we must all be concerned, but to an extent. As tragic and horrible this event was, we can not let it be an obstacle in living out our normal lives, or they have won. Live up every moment in your life; don't spend them in excessive fear. I don't mean to sound falsely brave, but if the world were to be destroyed tomorrow, so be it. If we were to kick OBL and all his little buddies's asses tomorrow, so be it. I hope we can all move on from this uncomprehensable tragedy. This past week had to be the most miserable of all my life, along with the rest of the nation. We must put our misery from this event behind us and go on.
Good article. I'm starting to have increased moments of peace like you mention. I'm getting less angry at individual conservatives, even though the policies they espouse are so counterproductive in combatting terrorism and creating peace in the Middle East.
glynch, you were not that angry at me, were you? I think we all need to understand the concept of winning this war. ...Have yall ever heard of lose now, win later?...also win now, lose later? ...I'm being ambiguious, but it's something to ponder.
I read your post last night and was floored. I couldn't even reply... A simple thanks is all I can say. Thanks Jeff. rH
Jeff, Look into aikido. Aikido is more than a martial art, it is also deeply entrenched in Shintoism (which is basically the Japanese version of Taoism). Basically, to be a good practitioner, you must clear your mind, clear the monley as you said. You must be completely relaxed to perform everything well. In addition to these wonderful things, the good practitioner can defeat just about any other martial artist in the world. When Ueshiba was alive and running his school, they would invite other disciplines to come and challenge them (the others did not take thier peace-practice seriously). They were undefeated until one day when there was a draw. This new challenger just stood there, did not initiate. Due to the non-initiative nature of aikido, there was nothing Ueshiba's student could do. So, it was a draw. After, the challenger said that he was told never to attack a student of aikido, because he would lose. It also would not be as strenuous on your back. If you want the aggressive, kick ass hybrid, look into aiki-jiujutsu. Or, another all-around, ultimate fighting system is the Korean Kuk Sul Won. It incorporates everything. OK, enough from me. Glad you are finding some good out of all of this.
His courage didn't prevent him from burning entire villages. Perhaps something is a priori to courage in terms of virtue.
About Netanyahu, I can do that as soon as I return to the library. Specifically Israel and Palestine? I'm easily on Palestine's side. Israel: 1. Deprived them of citizenship, yet taxed them. 2. Didn't allow them to have government jobs, which constitutes a huge % of the job market. You see, only those who serve in the Israeli military can get them. But Palestinians aren't allowed. Orthodox Jews don't serve, but are given a religious exemption. 3. Only two wells have been dug in Palestine during the Israeli occupation. Many times this # have been dug for Israelis. Israel is breaking international treaties with its water consumption, which ranks among that of most Western nations with plentiful water... and they're in a DESERT. They're stealing resources from their neighbors. 4. Limited economic development in Palestine. Money is simply not invested in Palestine. Government contracts are about impossible to procure for Palestinian contractors. 5. Education and health care is vastly inferior for Palestinians. And we dare deny that Israel is a racist state? The US rebelled against England over "no taxation w/o representation." Israel is doing that and more to Palestine.
Lovely post Jeff. My wife was born a Buddhist and knows the teachings of The Buddha to a level where she could teach it if she wanted to. She has some excellent books on it also... One IS called "What the Buddha Taught" by Dr W Rahula. It is an excellent book...it is from the Theravada school of Buddhism (Buddhism in it's purest form)...really great read. Cool post...and good luck with the martial arts. I'd like to do that also some day, maybe you've just inspired me
