Crew of the B-29 The Virgin Sturgeon, Tinian, South Pacific, 1945
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
The Riddle of Steel
Mongol General: What is best in life?
Mongol: The open steppe, fleet horse, falcon at your wrist, and the wind in your hair.
Mongol General: Wrong! Conan! What is best in life?
Conan: To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of their women!
- Conan the Barbarian
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
無心 (No-Mind)
"One day I wiped out all the notions from my mind. I gave up all desire. I discarded all the words with which I thought and stayed in quietude. I felt a little queer - as if I were being carried into something, or as if I were touching some power unknown to me . . . and Ztt! I entered. I lost the boundary of my physical body. I had my skin, of course, but I felt I was standing in the center of the cosmos. I spoke, but my words had lost their meaning. I saw people coming towards me, but all were the same man. All were myself! I had never known this world. I had believed that I was created, but now I must change my opinion: I was never created; I was the cosmos; no individual Mr. Sasaki existed."
-Zen Master Sokei-an Sasaki
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Friday, August 12, 2011
Thursday, August 11, 2011
When Johnny Comes Marching Home
If Texas Governor Rick Perry gets what he wants, this Union soldier's sacrifice (one of 1,384) at the Battle of Pea Ridge in 1862 will have been in vain.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
The Dismal Science
This is a picture of the Earth from space:
If you were an alien cruising by the planet in your '64 X2001 T-bird in the late summer of 2008 A.D. this is what you would see. Aside from noticing that the Earth is flat, apparently, you would also see all of the industrialized areas of the planet lit up. If you felt like it, you might decide to make a pit stop and create a few crop circles or abduct a hillbilly.
Now zoom 3 Earth years ahead. You read the Milky Way Journal and the Galactic Economist magazine so you've heard about the financial crisis on Earth. So this time, when you swing by you expect to see a dark planet with pygmies in mud huts. Instead, as you put the top down and roll down the window you see this:
The same thing! How can that be? It seems as if nothing has changed. The reason is because it hasn't.
The only thing that actually changed is the magnetic polarity on computer hard drives in some of the computers on the planet and the voltages being processed in their chips. So now the Dow Jones Industrial Average number is 11,239 ("10101111100111" in binary instead of what it was last time you came by - "11011010110000" - woah!) and the yield on 10 Year Treasuries is listed as 2.18% ("DA" in hexadecimal instead of "18C" like it was before - incredible!) . There are similar differences in the numbers stored in computers across the planet. Aside from that, though, the same buildings stand, the same people are running around, and the same knowledge of science and mathematics exists among the Earthlings.
So you pull the power out of your X2001 and begin to descend into the Earth's atmosphere to take a closer look (or maybe to ride in a basket on a bicycle in front of the moon) and you notice that there are, in fact, noticeable differences. Bubba, whom you abducted 3 years ago for medical experiments, doesn't live in his house anymore and there is a sign out front that says, "Bank Owned." So you think to yourself, "Huh, maybe this time I'll grab Granny from her trailer." When you get there, though, you realize that Granny has moved in with one of her children in Phoenix. You consider going there to pick her up and then decide against it because Phoenix sucks (you remember that from when you went there on March 13, 1997 and checked the place out for an hour). Bewildered, you return to Xenu to tell your friends about the inexplicable changes on Earth.
"Vxyvncu, you're not going to believe this..."
Of course, most people will say that these changes were brought about by money transferring or disappearing altogether. But money is simply an agreed-upon concept that we have created. It is an abstraction that we assign value to so that we can have a standardized medium of exchange. It does not determine or limit what we are capable of doing.
For tens of thousands of years Mankind lived, and produced, without a standardized medium of exchange. People bartered goods and services that they believed were comparable in value. The invention of currency, however, radically altered society and we went from the Stone Age to the Nuclear Age in the blink of an eye. This publication would argue, however, that the usefulness of currency has run its course and shown its limitations and downsides. The time has come to develop a new system for the exchange of goods and services based on entirely different principles.
Og learns to speak
My proposal is that we create a system whereby everyone does all they can to contribute to the collective welfare. Those who are good at inventing flying machines will do just that. Others who are skilled carpenters will continue to build. Without question, some will give more than others and receive no more material benefit in return. Undoubtedly this will require an evolution of Consciousness where Mankind realizes that he and all Life are a part of the Cosmic Soul and that any advantage he gains over others is merely illusory because he is the others.
Perhaps the failure of the current economic system will prompt this change. When things are bad enough, our species may decide at an individual and collective level to do things differently. Fortunately, we have words to guide us:
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one
He Imagined
Until then, that'll be $50. I accept PayPal and all major credit cards.
If you were an alien cruising by the planet in your '64 X2001 T-bird in the late summer of 2008 A.D. this is what you would see. Aside from noticing that the Earth is flat, apparently, you would also see all of the industrialized areas of the planet lit up. If you felt like it, you might decide to make a pit stop and create a few crop circles or abduct a hillbilly.
Now zoom 3 Earth years ahead. You read the Milky Way Journal and the Galactic Economist magazine so you've heard about the financial crisis on Earth. So this time, when you swing by you expect to see a dark planet with pygmies in mud huts. Instead, as you put the top down and roll down the window you see this:
The same thing! How can that be? It seems as if nothing has changed. The reason is because it hasn't.
The only thing that actually changed is the magnetic polarity on computer hard drives in some of the computers on the planet and the voltages being processed in their chips. So now the Dow Jones Industrial Average number is 11,239 ("10101111100111" in binary instead of what it was last time you came by - "11011010110000" - woah!) and the yield on 10 Year Treasuries is listed as 2.18% ("DA" in hexadecimal instead of "18C" like it was before - incredible!) . There are similar differences in the numbers stored in computers across the planet. Aside from that, though, the same buildings stand, the same people are running around, and the same knowledge of science and mathematics exists among the Earthlings.
So you pull the power out of your X2001 and begin to descend into the Earth's atmosphere to take a closer look (or maybe to ride in a basket on a bicycle in front of the moon) and you notice that there are, in fact, noticeable differences. Bubba, whom you abducted 3 years ago for medical experiments, doesn't live in his house anymore and there is a sign out front that says, "Bank Owned." So you think to yourself, "Huh, maybe this time I'll grab Granny from her trailer." When you get there, though, you realize that Granny has moved in with one of her children in Phoenix. You consider going there to pick her up and then decide against it because Phoenix sucks (you remember that from when you went there on March 13, 1997 and checked the place out for an hour). Bewildered, you return to Xenu to tell your friends about the inexplicable changes on Earth.
"Vxyvncu, you're not going to believe this..."
----------------------------
This parable demonstrates how unnecessary the recent changes in the standard of living have been. Mankind has no less capacity to produce than it did 3 years ago. Now, however, because of changes in debt-to-GDP and asset-to-liability ratios people have lost their homes, standards of living across the world have dropped, and people are not able to live as well as they did before those numbers changed on computer hard drives.
Of course, most people will say that these changes were brought about by money transferring or disappearing altogether. But money is simply an agreed-upon concept that we have created. It is an abstraction that we assign value to so that we can have a standardized medium of exchange. It does not determine or limit what we are capable of doing.
For tens of thousands of years Mankind lived, and produced, without a standardized medium of exchange. People bartered goods and services that they believed were comparable in value. The invention of currency, however, radically altered society and we went from the Stone Age to the Nuclear Age in the blink of an eye. This publication would argue, however, that the usefulness of currency has run its course and shown its limitations and downsides. The time has come to develop a new system for the exchange of goods and services based on entirely different principles.
Og learns to speak
My proposal is that we create a system whereby everyone does all they can to contribute to the collective welfare. Those who are good at inventing flying machines will do just that. Others who are skilled carpenters will continue to build. Without question, some will give more than others and receive no more material benefit in return. Undoubtedly this will require an evolution of Consciousness where Mankind realizes that he and all Life are a part of the Cosmic Soul and that any advantage he gains over others is merely illusory because he is the others.
Perhaps the failure of the current economic system will prompt this change. When things are bad enough, our species may decide at an individual and collective level to do things differently. Fortunately, we have words to guide us:
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one
He Imagined
Until then, that'll be $50. I accept PayPal and all major credit cards.
Monday, August 8, 2011
The Way of the Samurai
In July of last year I posted an article entitled, “Bushido: The Way of the Warrior.” In that post, I attempted to convey my understanding of the samurai ethic of Bushido (literally, the "Way of the Warrior"). Here are excerpts from the post which contain its essence:
The starting point for shifting one's point of view to mirror that of a warrior's begins with recognizing and accepting one's own impending death. Recognition and acceptance of that fact not only focuses the mind on the value of every moment but also frees one from all illusions of permanence and the fear and attachment that naturally follows...
With the acceptance of his own death, then, and the conclusion of the play already determined, the warrior is now free to act in the most impeccable manner, without fear of failure or an ounce of hesitation. That freedom actually results in the flawless execution of every act and, ironically, creates the greatest possibility of success in any endeavor.
I. Correcting the Record
I have come to realize that my understanding of what it means to be samurai and, accordingly, to follow the Way of the Warrior, were severely lacking. At the time, my understanding of the purpose of accepting one's death was limited only to its practical application in action. I failed to see the Way's higher meaning. I will now attempt to correct the record.
To help understand the true function of a samurai’s acceptance of his own death, we must first explore the greater circumstance in which we find ourselves. With that established, its function will become apparent.
II. The Inner War - The Cosmic Struggle within Ourselves
Our lives are filled with challenges. Sometimes it seems as if we are in a constant struggle with people and situations that seem to know how to find the weak links in our armor. While this interpretation is natural and easy to accept, it is an illusion - for many of our struggles in the world are merely dramas within which actors are playing important roles, that can illuminate the ultimate battle each of us has to fight within ourselves – the battle against our own Darkness.
And this Inner War may even serve a greater purpose than we realize; for the struggle within ourselves may only be a microcosm of a larger conflict – one battle in a larger war.
According to the ancient religion of Zoroastrianism, the Universe is the battleground of a cosmic struggle between the forces of Ahura Mazda, the Creator of truth and order, and the forces of Ahriman, who represents chaos and destruction. Man has an active role to play in the conflict and his actions can serve to further the interests of either side. As such, it is his responsibility to conquer the evil within himself and do his part.
A similar concept can be found in the Kabbalah, the mystical tradition of Judaism, in which Armageddon is not the battle at the End of Times but rather the War between Gog and Magog, the battle between Light and Darkness, that takes places in every soul.
Now that the context of the battle has been established, this next part will deal with the struggle itself.
III. Peace
The television show, Highlander, brilliantly portrayed this struggle and its resolution in a three-part episode in which MacLeod faced an ancient Zoroastrian demon named Ahriman, who only appears once every thousand years and against whom a champion is chosen to fight. The fate of the world rests upon the champion's successful defeat of Ahriman in this cosmic cycle. Ahriman takes the physical form of many of MacLeod's friends and foes, confusing and enraging him, and after taunting him extensively, seems invincible. The more MacLeod struggles, the more he seems powerless to stop Ahriman. Finally, MacLeod realizes that the demon is deriving its power from his own hatred and anger and he understands that in order to defeat Ahriman, he must defeat the darkness within his own self.
In the final confrontation, the demon appears and offers MacLeod various weapons, urging him to exploit the hate that he has for the demon and to strike him down. MacLeod rejects the offer, instead doing qi gong breathing exercises to cultivate peace within himself. In the scene that follows, MacLeod is seen resisting the attacks of the various manifestations of the demons, negating them with the movements of his breathing exercises. MacLeod is heard saying:
"I become one with everything...I become one with you...Because I am everything I am nothing...Because I am nothing you are nothing...Without my anger, you have no substance...Without my pride, you have no form...Without my hate...you have no being."
In a final attack the demon lunges at MacLeod, who is in a deep meditative state, and against whom the attack is useless. Ahriman recognizes he has been defeated and becomes furious. MacLeod simply crouches down along a wall and says, “It's time for you to leave. You have no place here,” to which Ahriman says, “I'll always be a part of you.” MacLeod, smiling, answers, “You always were.” With that Ahriman is defeated in this iteration of the 1,000-year cycle.
A similar concept is portrayed in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. Luke Skywalker is training to be a Jedi with Master Yoda on the swampy planet Dagobah when he hears something coming from a nearby cave. Curious, he goes to investigate further. Turning to Yoda, who is quietly looking down and waiting, he says, “What's in there?” “Only what you take with you,” Yoda replies. Skywalker straps on his belt with his light saber. Yoda, without looking up, says, “You will not need them.” Disregarding the advice, Skywalker then enters the cave and is confronted with the image of Darth Vader. In fear, he draws his own light saber and strikes at Vader, whom he beheads. Vader's head rolls onto the ground and the mask burns off revealing Skywalker's own face. He is then forced to confront the fact that Vader's evil is a part of himself.
Luke Skywalker confronts his own darkness in The Empire Strikes Back. Click here to watch the scene.
Before he leaves to rescue his friends, Yoda warns Skywalker about the dangers that await him. He says, “Remember, a Jedi's strength flows from the Force. But beware. Anger, fear, aggression. The dark side are they. Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny.”
The cartoon Samurai Jack also portrayed this struggle in a brilliant manner. An unusually intelligent show, its dramatization of the struggle against one's own darkness was nothing short of perfect. In one particular episode, Jack is confronted by his evil twin. In the final showdown he meets his nemesis in a clearing of trees. Jack unleashes a furious attack on his opponent who counters every blow with ease and who becomes increasingly pleased to see Jack becoming more and more enraged and frustrated. Finally, consumed by fury, he launches a ferocious attack. Jack, locked blade-to-blade, sees his own reflection in the steel, and is horrified by what he has become.
Samurai Jack Sees Himself in the Mirror
He disengages, ties his hair back in a top-knot, sheaths his sword, and puts his hands together in prayer. His Dark Side, realizing that Jack has figured out the secret to defeating him, makes one final attack in the hopes that Jack will lose himself in his own anger. Jack, though, maintains his inner peace and his Dark Side, having lost the source from which it derived its power, is vanquished.
Our own Darkness is a far more formidable enemy than any external foe we will ever face. But victory over it is necessary if we are to be of any use. It is a battle that requires determination, fearlessness, and conviction. As Yoda tells Skywalker, “A Jedi must have the deepest commitment, the most serious mind.”
IV. Bushido: A Way of Life Through Death
Having struggled with his own darkness and mastered himself, the samurai realizes that his pre-occupation with his own well-being is nothing more than self-indulgence – the shadows created by his own fear, anger, and pride. Aside from serving himself, they hold no greater purpose. It is here that accepting one’s own death comes into play. The shadows of self-indulgence disappear when he has accepted that he is already dead. With nothing to gain, and nothing to lose, all that remains is his duty.
The Spirit of the Samurai: Tatsuya Nakadai in Samurai Rebellion
It is at this point that the samurai is truly a force to be reckoned with. Having discarded thoughts of himself and his own well-being, he can commit the entirety of his focus to fulfilling his responsibility: service to others.
Accepting his own death, then, he is now free to act with absolute commitment to his purpose, unhindered by thoughts of himself. He is no longer a mere soldier. He is a warrior.
Cherry Blossoms in the Spring
Friday, August 5, 2011
The Great Liberation
"When you are born, you cry and everyone else laughs. When you die, you laugh and everyone else cries."
-Tibetan proverb
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
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