The school in the mountains

This morning Damien and I got on a bus headed for Besshi, the school in the mountains. After an hour and a half of winding roads, we arrived. This school is so great. There are four elementary school kids and three Junior High school students. We played games, watched them dance, talked about insects. It rained and the clouds waved as the scated by.

A sermon

An email I sent to Alicia turned into a religious sermon. Not my first. But I liked some of the ideas that arrived and leaked out of my fingers, so I will share them here with you.

"Eternal" in the Buddhist tradition (which usually refers to the Empty, Primordial Essence: your subtle consciousness or Buddha Nature which is birthless and deathless) means existing outside of time, NOT existing for a long long time, a rather horrible idea.
Eternal means that it never entered "time" in the first place. Eternal from the Greek I think is "above time". And life, actually, if we look carefully, doesn't exist in time either, because you can never find a past or a future in the present moment. The present is all there really is, and so, it is impossible to exist outside a timeless moment, or outside eternity.
SO, I sometime use this definition of Eternity-that is above time, not existing for a long long time- to open Christians' eyes to what "Eternal Life" or "Eternal Hell" could mean. If you are in hell existing outside of time, then it can be as "short" or a "fleeting" as a second. It's outside time altogether. It is not, however, a very long time.


I might even draw the conclusion that EVERYTHING exists in the ETERNAL PRESENT or PRESENCE, in an ETERNAL EMBRACE, and this very real Present Moment that we are all effortlessly plunged into, is actually GOD. The Omnipresence that is closer to you then you are to yourself. The Presence that is with you always. The Condition that is not difficult to contact but impossible to get away from. The Present out of which everything is created. IT is the most utterly obvious Present Presence that is God that is so clear and close and real that is it is actually reading this page, and criticizing these thoughts.


And then I might say "Praise God for the Diversity! The diversity is PROOF that God is creative!" HAH! Isn’t that amazing!? The more types of people and ideas and religions, the GREATER GOD is! Oh my gosh! I just came up with that and it makes so much sense. Obviously a creative God would want to have the most diverse universe ever! Praise God!
So, I have decided to "believe in God" and talk about the nature of God in Christian and theistic conversations. I meet a Christian and talk in their terms, in always a God Affirming tone, which keeps them in the conversation. This might be more useful, don't you think?

Also, and you know this one already I think..
Many Christians I have met are polytheistic; they actually believe in two powers. Sometimes even more. They believe in a good power and an evil one. And, then, on top of that, they might think that they, the individual creations, are in control too. They forgot that there is only ONE in control, only ONE Source and Suchness. In the beginning was God (or "the word”) (I love that!). The Bible did not say that in the beginning there was God and some darkness. If it did, then it would make sense that God created the universe and that the darkness wants control and in the darkness is evil and hell and whatnot. But no, it said in the beginning there was only God, and so, it would follow that now, to, there is only God. And God indeed judges Herself and sends Herself to hell which is actually existing in a corner of herself, as well as heaven, and everything in the universe is created out of her body, as a reflection of her body, for there is NO PLACE GOD IS NOT, for God has not limit, and in the beginning there was only God. Where else could God have gotten the energy to make the universe but out of Herself, the only Presence in the beginning? Anyone?

And yes, this means that on September 11th, 2001, God crashed plane-shaped parts of herself into herself; energy crashed into energy, and all is still moving and evolving in a painful, ecstatic way, full of diversity, growth, compassion, and suffering.

Man, sometimes it really does appear that Christians are polytheistic, and they put a limit on God, saying God is in this and not in that. And, on top of that, they loose faith in God's plan, and think that it is flawed and needs to be fixed or saved.
Classic polytheism. Which is, of course, also God in all her Glory. From atoms to angles.

I think I told you this already too, that it is seeing Good and Evil that keeps us locked out of heaven, which is the Freed Awareness that can embrace both "good" and "evil" as equally important and divine creations. Does God see good and evil? Or does God only see herself in all directions? Both, I presume. Both And. Because both are true in an infinitely diverse universe.

So, Recently I have adopted the word God and Godhead into my vocabulary. Of course, when I use it, I'm usually not referring to the mythic “Parent in the Sky” God that many religions pay allegiance to. An Atheist CAN use the term God meaningfully. And when they do, you know they are not talking about the Christian Creator, but are instead referring to the TRUE GOD or GODHEAD, which might represent TRUE REALITY, BEAUTY, EMPTINESS, FREEDOM, PRESENCE, or JUSTICE, or LOVE. "God" is a sign, or a word. Hah! IN the beginning was the word.

I recently had this idea. When "Jesus" said “I am the truth, the life and the way. You can only get to heaven through me,” he was not saying you can only get to heaven through Jesus. He said only through the Truth, the Life, and the Way, can you get to heaven. If he meant, “Only through believing in Jesus,” he would have said, “I am Jesus. You can only get to heaven through me.” But he was identified as the Truth, the Life, and the Way, and ten spoke from that identification. SO, we could restate his teaching as “It is only Through Life that you can get to Heaven. It is only Through Truth that you can get to heaven. It is only Through the Way that you can get to heaven.” Each of those can be non-theistic. In fact, they are all “this worldly,” life-embracing, clear, non-abstract teachings. The only thing that is iffy is the word Heaven. But, once we consider heaven to be a state of consciousness totally free and embracing (in this world but not of this world)…Heaven is where the heart is.

So, if you don't use the word God in discussions, and actually get uncomfortable and confrontational when that word comes up, try it out for a wile. Talk about god or the mystery with confidence. Since we are all manifestations in this universe, we can all talk about our source, which, in my opinion, is the glowing core of our very selves, shining a light through us unto all things, and then embracing all things, like a mirror its objects.
Anyway..

River

a little something

what is the quality of music that is the sountrack of your life?

cover up

well, I watched some of "911 In Plane Site" and "Loose Change.." I suggest everyone see these films. Also, has anyone seen the French Documentary "911"?
Moreover, here is the feather, pinecone, and 5 stones painiting revisted.

great questions

I'm now on www.integralnaked.org in the "what's new" section. I am so happy about this. My role models are involved with this site. This might be the highlight of my carrer.

and here are some great questions.

(Questions by Gregory Stock, PH.D.)

Were you able to wake up tomorrow in the body of someone else, would you do so? Whom would you pick?

Would you be willing to reduce your life expectancy by five years to become extremely attractive?

Have you ever considered suicide? What is so important to you that without it life would not be worth living?

How many different sexual partners have you had in your life? Would you prefer to have had more or less?

What was your best experience with drugs or alcohol? Your worst experience?

If you were at a friend’s house for thanksgiving dinner and you found a dead cockroach in your salad, what would you do?

If you were having difficulty on a really important test and could safely cheat by looking at someone else’s paper, would you do so?

Would you be willing to give up sex for five years if you could have wonderfully sensual and erotic dreams any night you wished?

If you were to die this evening with no opportunity to communicate with anyone, what would you most regret not having told someone? Why haven’t you told them yet?

What are your most compulsive habits? Do you regularly struggle to break those habits?

Is there something you've dreamed of doing for a long time? Why haven’t you done it?

If you could choose the sex and appearance of your soon-to-be-born child, would you?

How do you picture your funeral? Is it important for you that people mourn your death?

Would you like to be famous? In what way?

Would you rather die peacefully among friends at age 50, or painfully and alone at age 80?

If you knew that in one year you would die suddenly, would you change anything about the way you are now living?

Would you be willing to go to a slaughterhouse and kill a cow?

When did you last yell at someone? Why? Did you later regret it?

Would you like your lover to be both smarter and more attractive than you?

When did you last sing to yourself? To someone else?

Have you ever been sexually attracted to someone of the same sex? To someone in your family? If so, how did you deal with it?

Are there people you envy enough to want to trade lives with them? Who are they?

If you could wake up tomorrow and having gained any one ability or quality, what would it me?

If you were guaranteed honest responses to any three questions, whom would you question and what would you ask?

A sermon while shaving my head

I was shaving my head today and it reminded me of the spiritual path. When I started shaving my head, I had the tools (the scissors and the clippers), and I though I could just quickly cut all the hair off. Simple enough. But as I actually engaged in the hair cut, I quickly learned that it takes time, and I can only cut the hair off little by little. This made me a little frustrated since I didn’t have much time, but ultimately I had to surrender to the law of nature and cut the hair off little by little. Same thing with meditation or with spiritual practice. At first, I thought, “well, I have the tools (my mind and the dharma, the eight-fold path) and I know what to do, so it will be a cinch.” But, after a few weeks of practice, I learned that you could only transform little by little. The Zen Abbot in Lawrence Kansas spent 20 years or so just focusing on her breathing. There is something to say for that. Just think if you had that type of concentration, or that type of control over your mind (it makes me ask the question “Who is in control of my mind. Am I using my mind, or is my mind using me?” And meditating on the breath makes it very clear how little control I have over my mind! It wonders away from the breath so quickly. But little by little, “Sukoshi zutsu” in Japanese, i can learn to keep my mind where i place it.

Another interesting thing I thought of while cutting my hair. One reason why consciousness should not be reduced to physiological processes is because that erases all value judgments. For example, different brainwave patterns can be observed using an EEG machine, but the machine cannot say if one pattern is BETTER than another. Hatred and compassion will both register as patterns on the EEG machine, but the machine cannot say if one is better, or more valuable, than another.

SO, let me ask you: which is better or more valuable: Hatred or Compassion? Now I can hear some of my friends saying “You can’t say one is BETTER than another because they are both important and necessary." Or some might say that they are both manifestations of Spirit, they are both equally empty and thus equally luminous. But that nonjudgmental position is maintaining itself as a better or more evolved position than the judgmental one. Or, even better, the scientific position is better than the spiritual one. That itself is a value judgment that is impossible to make if you wish to reduce consciousness to brain processes (or if you wish to commit scientific reductionism, which I, and many of my friends, most honorably wish to do.) Interesting. We are condemned to Spirituality. Consciousness or subjectivity is not found solely in the brain. (And, just look at the Ken Wilber video to the right and notice that he is totally awake and aware even though there is next to no brain activity. In fact, many meditators (myslef included) claim that one is more aware of what is real and going on when there is less brain activity masking or limiting perception. Again, very interesting I think.

Mountains

Saturday morning I climbed a mountain with a group of foreigners in Saijo. Staring out across the vast mountains range I thought, “Even though my eyes are small, they see huge things.”
That night I danced at a club with all my new friends. Sunday I was stunned with the beauty of the waves of tiled roofs adorning the morning sunlight. After I returned to niihama I went swimming with Trisha at the neighborhood pool, then bought the new Cornelius album “Music,” and saw Superman, which I loved.
You can bet i will be painting a lot of these pics. its just so powerful how a vast mountain range can still the mind while also expanding it (the entire mountain range is INSIDE the awareness!). oh, and see us standing by that stream. we drank that water. first time in my life i think i have ever had fresh spring water.

new pics from matsuyama

These are pics I took using my friend Izumi’s camera while visiting the Kansas High School students in Matsuyama last June. They’re mostly of Ishiteji, the 51st temple in the 88 temples of Shikoku. That is an abandoned kitty in a box. Also, Kannon Bosatsu riding a dragon, wish stones, mom can you see all the paper cranes? There were three or four walls full of them. Also, a 3-D mandala found deep inside one of the caves at the temple.