The Dalai Lama's simple religion

The Dalai Lama refers to his simple religion; I would call it pure religion. And in principle it was taught by Jesus, Mohammed, the Buddha, and other great spiritual leaders in their time. Thanks to Meditation Techniques for making this image available on Facebook.

The orchid plant thrives!

Okay. So I'm lacking in botanical skills. Never have had much success in keeping house plants alive. When a friend sent me an orchid plant last February, a kindly neighbor came to my rescue and coached me on its care. Thanks to my neighbor's detailed instructions, the plant is now thriving and as you can see in the photos (views from opposite sides), new life is popping out in every direction.

 And I'm beaming with pride!

Is there a distinction between America’s targeted killing of individuals and acts of murder?

Public domain.

Writing for Esquire, author Tom Junod raises some difficult questions in his article titled, The Lethal Presidency of Barack Obama. Junod’s words are especially troubling as my mindfulness meditation group is currently reading and discussing Thich Nhat Hanh’s book, Calming the Fearful Mind: a Zen response to terrorism, which I recommend to all people who are sincerely interested in peacemaking.” Nhat Hanh warns:

The military doesn’t know where terrorism is. They cannot locate terrorism-it is in the heart. The more military force you use, the more terrorists you create, in your own country and in other countries as well.

But back to The Lethal Presidency of Barack Obama:

Sure, we as a nation have always killed people. A lot of people. But no president has ever waged war by killing enemies one by one, targeting them individually for execution, wherever they are. The Obama administration has taken pains to tell us, over and over again, that they are careful, scrupulous of our laws, and determined to avoid the loss of collateral, innocent lives. They're careful because when it comes to waging war on individuals, the distinction between war and murder becomes a fine one. Especially when, on occasion, the individuals we target are Americans and when, in one instance, the collateral damage was an American boy.

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Too busy for friendship?

Friendship.  Photo credit: Virginia Bergman.

Saturday morning at Cups ‘N’ Scoops, a local coffee shop, I enjoyed spending an hour or two visiting with friends Julie and Dee with whom I feel connected at a deeply spiritual level. Our get together was a powerful reminder that friendship is not just an option in how we choose to spend our time; it’s essential to our health and well being - regardless of our circumstances.

Currently focused on revising a book-length manuscript, I value my hours of solitude, but like writer Tim Kreider, the author of an astute contribution to the NY Times series on anxiety, I intentionally plan my daily schedule to avoid “The Busy Trap.” As a result, I seldom need to rush in order to include time for exercise, reading, meditation, writing, and staying in touch with family and friends.

The 1950s theory of Type A and Type B personalities has since been discredited; however,  attributes customarily assigned to Type A, especially the chronic busyness, might well describe the dominant trend in our present day culture depicted by Kreider:

If you live in America in the 21st century you’ve probably had to listen to a lot of people tell you how busy they are. It’s become the default response when you ask anyone how they’re doing: “Busy!” “So busy.” “Crazy busy.” It is, pretty obviously, a boast disguised as a complaint. And the stock response is a kind of congratulation: “That’s a good problem to have,” or “Better than the opposite.”

Notice it isn’t generally people pulling back-to-back shifts in the I.C.U. or commuting by bus to three minimum-wage jobs  who tell you how busy they are; what those people are is not busy but tired. Exhausted. Dead on their feet. It’s almost always people whose lamented busyness is purely self-imposed: work and obligations they’ve taken on voluntarily, classes and activities they’ve “encouraged” their kids to participate in. They’re busy because of their own ambition or drive or anxiety, because they’re addicted to busyness and dread what they might have to face in its absence.

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How about a holiday celebrating our kinship with nature and membership in the global community?

Today we Americans commemorate the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, which declared our independence from Great Britain, and and it is good that we do so. However, I would suggest that to balance things, we declare a holiday celebrating human kind's interdependence within the ecological web of relationships as well as our membership in community at home and around the world.

Can you imagine a day of fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball games, family reunions, political speeches, etc. celebrating our kinship with nature and our love and respect for all who inhabit our global neighborhood?

Justice Ginsburg's response to Roberts' ruling on the Affordable Care Act

Ginsburg's official portrait.

Thanks to Taylor Marsh for calling our attention to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's opinion in response to Chief Justice John Roberts' recent ruling on the Affordable Care Act. Marsh pays tribute to Justice Ginsburg prior to posting the text of her incisive opinion:

THE GREATEST FEMALE Justice of the Supreme Court in U.S. history, likely for all time, not only reveals her mental might, but forever puts to rest why Justice Sandra Day O’Connor will be forever disgraced for her part in Bush v. Gore.

As someone who found the mandate smacking up against my libertarian streak, the great Ginsburg schools me on Libertarianism’s stinginess, while reminding me why I’ve never been a libertarian.  That where all are impacted, we all must participate.  Lacking eloquence, that’s the nucleus of it for me and also why I was once a hyper-partisan Democrat, long before neoliberals and Blue Dogs ruled Democratic policy prescriptions and politics.

The politics of Chief Justice Roberts is woven throughout his majority opinion, as I’ve already written, though it doesn’t make it any less brilliant a move.  Roberts toyed with Pres. Obama like a rat does cheese before devouring, the lip-smacking finish to be seen in years and decades to come. Because in handing Obama what cable yakkers are calling a “win,” Roberts dislodged and elevated his own reputation from and above that of the disgraced Chief Justice Rehnquist and his Court, simultaneously succeeding in preserving options of action through conservatism that will inevitably harm the American majority.

Chief Justice Roberts also kept the elite private insurance industry and Big Pharma in charge, aiding Pres. Obama’s goal and that of Democrats, neither of whom had the tenacity to do what’s required so that health care wouldn’t become a political football, with taxes the tool that both sides today utilize to make villains out of leaders.

The liberal giant Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s opinion renders Chief Justice Roberts to the political player he is, through the machinations of her great thinking mind. 

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Where's that vision thing in the 2012 campaign?

As the 4th of July approaches during the lackluster 2012 campaign, Drew Western at the LA Times points out that neither Obama nor Romney offers an inspiring vision to disheartened Americans:

Americans today aren't interested in slogans and sound bites. They want the candidates to offer them a vision, but so far neither Mitt Romney nor President Obama has done so.

Read the entire column here.