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hardie karges
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hardie karges
Buddhism, the Present Moment, and a Walk for Peace
The only thing certain is the past, and that’s dead and gone. Maybe that’s why so many Buddhists emphasize living in the present moment, because it’s alive and free, even if uncertain. I’m not sure if the Buddha agreed, but he probably would have. Because in the original Buddhism there is a contract between Buddhist society and society at large that the sangha would ensure some level of goodness in this world if society would feed them and house them in turn.
So, monks can essentially be children of Nature, while the householders can plant and f*ck and do all those other things that most people consider ordinary. And so now they bargain for a higher honor, as they walk for peace in multiple countries and on multiple fronts, begging for attention, not alms, but to make a point, not to rock this joint, that point being simply to live a mindful existence in whatever ways possible, and to be peaceful about it. And if the immediate ramifications for Buddhism are more for show than substance, the larger ramifications are palpable.
Because, if Theravada Buddhism has long been moving toward an emphasis on Vipassana meditation and a decrease in dogma, now that is official. There should be no more quibbling over the minutiae of Abhidharma or debates over what exactly is reborn with rebirth. The point now is to have a happy day and spread the cheer around town. Now, if we can only get old-time Buddhists on the same page as the newcomers, many of whom are still trying to escape cyclical rebirths in samsara, then we will truly accomplish something.
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hardie karges
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hardie karges
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hardie karges
Buddhism in a Time of War…
I take refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha, the Mahasangha, community on the quest for knowledge, path of fulfillment. Those are the three jewels of Buddhism, of course, enshrined in the old familiar Pali chant: Buddham saranam gacchami, Dhammam saranam gacchami, Sangham saranam gacchami. (I take refuge in the Buddha, I take refuge in the Dharma, I take refuge in the Sangha), refuge being the foundational commitment, so much preferable to any other feigned obedience, in my humble opinion, this being voluntary and heartfelt.
Because religion has a bit of a bad reputation in some circles, and Buddhism must answer to those accusations, also, whether it is technically a religion or not. Those claims usually consist of accusations that religions cause war in their respective names with little regard to the consequences. And this is at least partly true but usually comes with the naive assumption that life was always precious and dear before that, and anything that threatened that was guilty of a cardinal sin. But as much as I’d like to believe that, it’s probably not true.
Love of life in any form is probably a very new development, though the so-called ‘Venus figurines’ of ancient history are certainly worth considering. I don’t think those approximate our modern concepts of ‘love’, though, much less ‘lovingkindness’, and I’m not sure but what many men would rather fight to the death than worship peacefully. So Vedic Brahmanism gave up fire rituals as part of its conversation with the Jains and Buddhists on their way to adopting the more enlightened principles of the Upanishads. And the Christians of the New Testament rejected much of the Jewish Old Testament similarly. Maybe it’s time for the next phase in the history of religion: peace, love, and understanding. Be kind. It’s good for your health.
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hardie karges
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hardie karges
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hardie karges
Buddhism and Fear of the Unknown
Fear of the unknown is not a reliable guide to life. It comes from ignorance and leads to hatred. So, in fact, it’s probably one of the major challenges in life and one of the best reasons for the existence of religion, so that not so much is unknown if we all agree to a certain set of rules, given a certain set of circumstances. Many people hate the word ‘religion’, though, recounting all the wars fought in its name, without counting all the wars prevented in the same name. The problem is getting everyone enrolled in the same program.
Religion should make us all family, and that means in a good way. That’s the idea, anyway, limited only by the fact that people often don’t get along well with their families, either, and that’s gospel, unfortunately. The point is that fear is no way to live, and if we conquered nature to the extent that we no longer must be scared of it, then it’s doubly ironic that the substitute of migratory trails in rugged bush and brush in exchange for settled life in standalone cities would bring far worse circumstances from our own species, in circumstances far removed from logic.
Fast forward to the present day, and it would seem that we’ve conquered Nature and cities, too, but the reality is far different from that apparent truth. Because the fact is that the fear never lay in the realm of Nature or cities, either, but in our own hearts and our own cravings for things that we have no right to, as explained in the Buddha’s second Noble Truth, that craving is at the core of our suffering, and that is the result of a glitch in our hearts and our minds, same thing, really, which perceives lack as endemic, when nothing could be further from the truth, We have all that we need. We just need time and space and compassion and grace, not God’s but our own.
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hardie karges
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hardie karges
streaming consciousness... 
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