To me, protesting in front of banks or on Wall Street is like protesting in front of the rat's nest.
Protest where it can influence a lawmaker, that's where the power is. In D.C., at your state capital, in the voting booth, in e-mails to your congressional reps. I've done it, they respond. Not always the way I'd like, but...
My 2 cents.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Walruses and Carpenters
In Napolean Hill's Think and Grow Rich
(written in 1937), he refers to the denizens of Wall Street not as Bulls and Bears, but as "Walruses and Carpenters"... referring to Lewis Carroll's poem about a walrus and a carpenter that trick dozens of oysters to join them on the beach, where they eat every last one.
In light of the current "Occupy Wall Street" situation I thought that was an interesting insight. You may return to your lives now. Thank you.
(written in 1937), he refers to the denizens of Wall Street not as Bulls and Bears, but as "Walruses and Carpenters"... referring to Lewis Carroll's poem about a walrus and a carpenter that trick dozens of oysters to join them on the beach, where they eat every last one.In light of the current "Occupy Wall Street" situation I thought that was an interesting insight. You may return to your lives now. Thank you.
Friday, September 16, 2011
God Wants You to Kill
Having read and re-read the Bible in my search for enlightenment, I am amazed by the rationalizations for violence in the name of God. Gotama Siddhartha said the only thing you should kill is your anger.
I'm thankful that I found the way of Tao.
I'm thankful that I found the way of Tao.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Bad Taoist
I'm not a very good Taoist.
The first rule of being a Taoist: Don't talk about being a Taoist. Okay, maybe not the first rule, but it's certainly up there. We're supposed to be humble and quiet about our philosophy. Says so in the Tao Te Ching.
It's sort of like being a born-again Christian, I'm so happy that I finally found a philosophy that lines up with my values that I have to tell everyone about it. I even have a website: You Might Be A Taoist that has lines like, "If you describe yourself as spiritual but not religious... you might be a Taoist". And I hope one day to turn it into a little book, like "Chicken Soup for the Soul".
See? Not being quiet about it. In fact, sometimes I'm quite militant about it when Christians try to pummel me with scripture. I whack them back with peaceful Taoist thoughts.
If Taoists believed in hell, I'd probably have to go there.
The first rule of being a Taoist: Don't talk about being a Taoist. Okay, maybe not the first rule, but it's certainly up there. We're supposed to be humble and quiet about our philosophy. Says so in the Tao Te Ching.
It's sort of like being a born-again Christian, I'm so happy that I finally found a philosophy that lines up with my values that I have to tell everyone about it. I even have a website: You Might Be A Taoist that has lines like, "If you describe yourself as spiritual but not religious... you might be a Taoist". And I hope one day to turn it into a little book, like "Chicken Soup for the Soul".
See? Not being quiet about it. In fact, sometimes I'm quite militant about it when Christians try to pummel me with scripture. I whack them back with peaceful Taoist thoughts.
If Taoists believed in hell, I'd probably have to go there.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
I Pledge Allegiance
There have been a lot of postings lately on Facebook (due to the 9-11 anniversary, I think) regarding the "Pledge of Allegiance". Typically they are written in all caps, because that makes it somehow easier to see the fervor of the author.
I've always thought that pledging allegiance to a flag made little sense, like worshiping idols. I have no problem with pledging allegiance to the republic of the United States of America, but being a Taoist, I don't believe in G-O-D.
So...
As a veteran who supports our troops, a registered voter, and a Taoist, I can easily say the pledge, with my hand over my heart, without the words that I find unnecessary or divisive:
"I pledge allegiance to the... United States of America, and to the republic... one nation... indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
Easy-peasy :)
I've always thought that pledging allegiance to a flag made little sense, like worshiping idols. I have no problem with pledging allegiance to the republic of the United States of America, but being a Taoist, I don't believe in G-O-D.
So...
As a veteran who supports our troops, a registered voter, and a Taoist, I can easily say the pledge, with my hand over my heart, without the words that I find unnecessary or divisive:
"I pledge allegiance to the... United States of America, and to the republic... one nation... indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
Easy-peasy :)
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Life continues to be Perfect. No kidding.
Life is perfect.
With all its ups and downs, laughter and tears, pleasures and disappointments, how could it possibly be any better? If you really got everything you wanted would it be more perfect? Really?? Boring!
Oh, and Tao is all.
Namaste.
With all its ups and downs, laughter and tears, pleasures and disappointments, how could it possibly be any better? If you really got everything you wanted would it be more perfect? Really?? Boring!
Oh, and Tao is all.
Namaste.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Enlightened!
From this morning's meditation...
1. Describing Tao is a paradox.
It is so indescribable that if you try to describe it you limit your understanding of what it is. You could write pages and pages of descriptions and still not have it all. You could call her the Mother of All Things but that only describes a small portion of what she is.
2. Gods can be lied to to or hidden from, gods get angry. Tao sees all, knows all, is all, and cares nothing about what choices you make. Tao never tries to teach you a lesson. Tao has no commandments but it does have rules (including the rules of physics and logic) that are impossible to violate. You can't pray mightily and get the sun to rise in the west, water to not be wet, gravity to not work, etc. You might figure out a way to temporarily bend them but they will always prevail.
3. I cannot climb the mountain to enlightenment because I'm already the mountain. I cannot become more spiritual because I'm already a fully spiritual being (having a human experience... thanks Pierre Teilhard de Chardin!) However... I can live more in balance, show more compassion, and be more humble.
4. Life is what it is. You can't influence it by praying to non-existent gods. You aren't being punished for your sins. You don't get rewarded for being more pious than your neighbor. Bad things happen to good people, and bad people get away with horrible things all the time. Eventually a bad person might be punished by his or her peers, but there is no comeuppance in the afterlife.
5. There is only life. You aren't going to get rewarded in heaven or punished in hell. Those are stories that are made up by priests to make people give up control of their valuables: their time or their income.
6. Holy books are collections of stories used by self-proclaimed holy men to put fear, uncertainty, and doubt into the minds of people who might otherwise be quite happy with the facts. If you can take away something positive from a holy book, that's great, but by-in-large the stories are used to scare you into behaving the way the priests/rabbis/mullahs/monks/etc. want you to. Show me a religion where the congregation decides who is the true mouthpiece of the gods and I'll show you the exception rather than the rule. Church leadership always decides who is "holy". You'd think if they were so good at it there'd be no pedophiles, drug addicts, thieves, or adulterers in the pulpit.
7. We did not evolve from monkeys, we evolved with monkeys.
Monkeys have evolved beside us, like chimpanzees, gorillas, chickens, bacteria and daffodils. Trees don't evolve into ducks and we did not evolve from the monkey. Similar structures but different evolutionary paths. This is probably why they haven't found the "The Missing Link" yet, they haven't gone back far enough to primordial sludge where the ant/monkey/chimp/daffodil/gorilla/human/elephant family tree split.
8. All things are made from same basic set of atoms. The only form of reincarnation is some of your atoms being eaten by a worm, who is eaten by a chicken who hatches an egg that carries some of your atoms.
1. Describing Tao is a paradox.
It is so indescribable that if you try to describe it you limit your understanding of what it is. You could write pages and pages of descriptions and still not have it all. You could call her the Mother of All Things but that only describes a small portion of what she is.
2. Gods can be lied to to or hidden from, gods get angry. Tao sees all, knows all, is all, and cares nothing about what choices you make. Tao never tries to teach you a lesson. Tao has no commandments but it does have rules (including the rules of physics and logic) that are impossible to violate. You can't pray mightily and get the sun to rise in the west, water to not be wet, gravity to not work, etc. You might figure out a way to temporarily bend them but they will always prevail.
3. I cannot climb the mountain to enlightenment because I'm already the mountain. I cannot become more spiritual because I'm already a fully spiritual being (having a human experience... thanks Pierre Teilhard de Chardin!) However... I can live more in balance, show more compassion, and be more humble.
4. Life is what it is. You can't influence it by praying to non-existent gods. You aren't being punished for your sins. You don't get rewarded for being more pious than your neighbor. Bad things happen to good people, and bad people get away with horrible things all the time. Eventually a bad person might be punished by his or her peers, but there is no comeuppance in the afterlife.
5. There is only life. You aren't going to get rewarded in heaven or punished in hell. Those are stories that are made up by priests to make people give up control of their valuables: their time or their income.
6. Holy books are collections of stories used by self-proclaimed holy men to put fear, uncertainty, and doubt into the minds of people who might otherwise be quite happy with the facts. If you can take away something positive from a holy book, that's great, but by-in-large the stories are used to scare you into behaving the way the priests/rabbis/mullahs/monks/etc. want you to. Show me a religion where the congregation decides who is the true mouthpiece of the gods and I'll show you the exception rather than the rule. Church leadership always decides who is "holy". You'd think if they were so good at it there'd be no pedophiles, drug addicts, thieves, or adulterers in the pulpit.
7. We did not evolve from monkeys, we evolved with monkeys.
Monkeys have evolved beside us, like chimpanzees, gorillas, chickens, bacteria and daffodils. Trees don't evolve into ducks and we did not evolve from the monkey. Similar structures but different evolutionary paths. This is probably why they haven't found the "The Missing Link" yet, they haven't gone back far enough to primordial sludge where the ant/monkey/chimp/daffodil/gorilla/human/elephant family tree split.
8. All things are made from same basic set of atoms. The only form of reincarnation is some of your atoms being eaten by a worm, who is eaten by a chicken who hatches an egg that carries some of your atoms.
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