"I may be a dreamer, but at least I'm in good company"
http://www.dailyvanguard.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2006/10/24/453de4d9cb948
Don't hide your love away
Cynicism can be good in small doses
By Tony le Tigre
October 24, 2006
cynic
1. One of a sect of ancient Greek philosophers in the 4th century B.C.
who advocated the doctrine that virtue is the only good, and that the
essence of virtue is self-control.
2. A person who believes all people are motivated by selfishness.
3. A person whose outlook is scornfully and often habitually negative.
Cynicism, to a point, is a good thing. I'm talking about the type of
cynicism that fits the second definition above. That's the type of cynicism
that makes us critical thinkers, questioning the motives of questionable
people. For instance, when you hear an ad by one gubernatorial candidate
slamming another, you don't take what they're saying at face value; you look
past it to the self-serving subtext: obviously this candidate is slamming
his opponent because it may help him get elected. Or when you see a
commercial or ad peddling the latest cologne, or beer, or skin-care product,
and it features a celebrity like Halle Berry or Madonna, you're critical
about the actual value of the product: are you really spending your money on
something worthwhile and life-enhancing, or just buying in to the cult of
celebrity?
Moreover, who is using who in this scenario? It would seem to be
symbiotic: the label or brand is exploiting the star's image to enhance
their product's appeal, but at the same time, the star is using the
advertising mechanism to project their image. This type of analytical
thinking is one of the good things that can come from cynicism, which in
this context is a form of healthy skepticism. It's when a cynical attitude
goes too far and becomes pervasive that you get into the third definition
quoted above. That kind of cynicism is detrimental to the soul.
When cynicism gets out of hand it becomes linked with jadedness and
apathy, and that's the predominant association of the word today. Hipsters
are often described with adjectives like "jaded" and "cynical," the opposite
of hippies, the wide-eyed idealists and flower children of the 60's and
early 70's who actually believed the world could change, that in fact it was
in the process of changing, for the better! The hippie dream never came
true, and our anger and bitterness about that takes the form of
hippie-bashing, a widespread sport these days. Hippies are an unprotected
minority, and a week doesn't go by without either of our local rags, the
Mercury or the Willamette Week, aiming a sneering remark at them. Idealism
has given way to cynicism, but it's gone too far, and has gotten to the
point of being self-defeating now.
Watching the recent documentary The U.S. vs. John Lennon the other day
at Fox Tower was a surprisingly emotional experience for me. There was the
eerie parallel to our political world today - Nixon refusing to offer a
timetable for withdrawal from Iratnam (oops, I meant Vietnaq), his bullshit
platitudes about the war going well, accusations from Democrats that his
administration was wiretapping and spying on its citizens - and the sense
that we're seeing history repeat itself, which obviously was the point that
Leaf and Scheinfeld wanted to hammer home with their film. Except one thing
is missing today: we don't have a John Lennon. Or a Martin Luther King. The
Black Panthers are still around, but they don't have any real political
presence. We are in Good Night and Good Luck, but no one's tried out for the
role of Edward R. Murrow. The bad guys are still around - the very same
ones; Cheney and Rumsfeld were both part of the Nixon Administration! - but
our leaders and figureheads have either self-destructed or they've been
destroyed. And the Republican corporatists have learned from their mistakes,
gotten more ruthless and cunning, and they won't be making the same mistakes
again. This time around, the corrupt president is not going to be forced to
resign. We're on our own.
Naturally, this bitter realization leads to increased amounts of
cynicism. The tremendous and original thing about John Lennon was that he
used his international fame as a platform by which to preach the gospel of
peace. He had the American press eating out of his hand, but instead of
merely basking in his celebrity status, he attempted to do something really
radical and altruistic with it, disregarding the damage done to his image by
those who thought he'd gone off the deep end. The seemingly goofy publicity
stunts he and Yoko Ono staged had a serious message behind them, and they
were effective, so effective that the paranoid administrations of Nixon and
Hoover considered him a serious threat and attempted to have him deported.
Who do we have today at that level of cultural visibility and influence that
is using their power the way Lennon did?
Given the way things have gone in this country over the last six years,
it's hard not to feel depressed and desperate at times. The Democrats may
win one or both houses of Congress in the November election, giving them
subpoena power and breaking the Republican stranglehold on our nation's
government, but what if they don't? V For Vendetta is a nice fantasy (and
surprisingly radical, for a Hollywood movie), but it's unlikely that the
French Revolution is going to happen in the United States of 2006. The most
we can do is remain stoic and soldier on, without allowing our spirits to be
broken. Say what you will about those loathsome hippies, but their movement
happened at a time in our nation's history that was profoundly protean and
exciting. I can't imagine anyone recording a song like "Imagine" now and
being taken seriously, but when I watched the segment of John Lennon singing
it in the theater the other day, I felt all my layers of cynicism and scorn
melt away in the face of a piece of music and a vision too beautiful to be
denied. I for one would like to believe that such a world is still possible.
I may be a dreamer, but at least I'm in good company.
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Don't hide your love away
Sunday, September 24, 2006
Smokey the Bear Sutra by Gary Snyder
SMOKEY THE BEAR SUTRA
BY GARY SNYDER
Once in the Jurassic about 150 million years ago, the Great Sun Buddha in this corner of the Infinite Void gave a discourse to all the assembled elements and energies: to the standing beings, the walking beings, the flying beings, and the sitting beings--even the grasses, to the number of thirteen billion, each one born from a seed, assembled there: a Discourse concerning Enlightenment on the planet Earth.
"In some future time, there will be a continent called America. It will have great centers of power called such as Pyramid Lake, Walden Pond, Mt. Rainier, Big Sur, Everglades, and so forth; and powerful nerves and channels such as Columbia River, Mississippi River, and Grand Canyon. The human race in that era will get into troubles all over its head, and practically wreck everything in spite of its own strong intelligent Buddha-nature."
"The twisting strata of the great mountains and the pulsings of volcanoes are my love burning deep in the earth. My obstinate compassion is schist and basalt and granite, to be mountains, to bring down the rain. In that future American Era I shall enter a new form; to cure the world of loveless knowledge that seeks with blind hunger: and mindless rage eating food that will not fill it."
And he showed himself in his true form of
SMOKEY THE BEAR
A handsome smokey-colored brown bear standing on his hind legs, showing that he is aroused and watchful.
Bearing in his right paw the Shovel that digs to the truth beneath appearances; cuts the roots of useless attachments, and flings damp sand on the fires of greed and war;
His left paw in the mudra of Comradely Display--indicating that all creatures have the full right to live to their limits and that of deer, rabbits, chipmunks, snakes, dandelions, and lizards all grow in the realm of the Dharma;
Wearing the blue work overalls symbolic of slaves and laborers, the countless men oppressed by a civilization that claims to save but often destroys;
Wearing the broad-brimmed hat of the west, symbolic of the forces that guard the wilderness, which is the Natural State of the Dharma and the true path of man on Earth:
all true paths lead through mountains--
With a halo of smoke and flame behind, the forest fires of the kali-yuga, fires caused by the stupidity of those who think things can be gained and lost whereas in truth all is contained vast and free in the Blue Sky and Green Earth of One Mind;
Round-bellied to show his kind nature and that the great earth has food enough for everyone who loves her and trusts her;
Trampling underfoot wasteful freeways and needless suburbs, smashing the worms of capitalism and totalitarianism;
Indicating the task: his followers, becoming free of cars, houses, canned foods, universities, and shoes, master the Three Mysteries of their own Body, Speech, and Mind; and fearlessly chop down the rotten trees and prune out the sick limbs of this country America and then burn the leftover trash.
Wrathful but calm. Austere but Comic. Smokey the Bear will Illuminate those who would help him; but for those who would hinder or slander him...
HE WILL PUT THEM OUT.
Thus his great Mantra:
Namah samanta vajranam chanda maharoshana Sphataya hum traka ham mam
"I DEDICATE MYSELF TO THE UNIVERSAL DIAMOND BE THIS RAGING FURY BE DESTROYED"
And he will protect those who love the woods and rivers, Gods and animals, hobos and madmen, prisoners and sick people, musicians, playful women, and hopeful children:
And if anyone is threatened by advertising, air pollution, television, or the police, they should chant SMOKEY THE BEAR'S WAR SPELL:
DROWN THEIR BUTTS
CRUSH THEIR BUTTS
DROWN THEIR BUTTS
CRUSH THEIR BUTTS
And SMOKEY THE BEAR will surely appear to put the enemy out with his vajra-shovel.
Now those who recite this Sutra and then try to put it in practice will accumulate merit as countless as the sands of Arizona and Nevada.
Will help save the planet Earth from total oil slick.
Will enter the age of harmony of man and nature.
Will win the tender love and caresses of men, women, and beasts.
Will always have ripened blackberries to eat and a sunny spot under a pine tree to sit at.
AND IN THE END WILL WIN HIGHEST PERFECT ENLIGHTENMENT
...thus we have heard...
(may be reproduced free forever)
Banned Books Week Sep 24
Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read is observed during the last week of September each year. Observed since 1982, this annual ALA event reminds Americans not to take this precious democratic freedom for granted. This year, 2006, marks BBW's 25th anniversary (September 23-30).
BBW celebrates the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one’s opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them. After all, intellectual freedom can exist only where these two essential conditions are met...
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...During Banned Books Week, Amnesty International directs attention to the plight of individuals who are persecuted because of the writings that they produce, circulate or read. Traditionally, Banned Books Week activities take place at the end of September -- but the featured cases are not confined to a week. They continue to need your action...
The freedom within us is larger than the jails that we're in . . . Syrian poet Faraj Birqdar, a former prisoner of conscience
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