Quenching the Thirst

I woke up this morning and, despite feeling pretty good physically and mentally, felt myself inwardly grumbling: "Time to get up and eat breakfast, always the same old food and the same old routine..."

I stopped myself when I noticed that thought. Who cares if it's the same old food and the same old routine? This is Samsara, baby! There's no quenching the thirst when all we've got is a saltwater world with saltwater breakfast foods and saltwater morning routines. I can't look to the routines or the food to satisfy me -- they inherently can't, and won't no matter how much I replace or rearrange them.

Same old food, same old routine. Good morning! I don't need those things to have a peaceful start to my day.

Chasing Around the Circumference

As the media (and many people I know personally) start indulging in the madness of the 2012 elections, I find it very timely that I just stumbled across this passage...

... We find ourselves
at the center of the circle,
and here we sit, serene,
while Yes and No keep chasing each other
around the circumference, endlessly.
~Stephen Mitchell, The Second Book of the Tao (ch.6)

Even if the media extravaganza wasn't manufactured and orchestrated (which it is), there's still nothing satisfying about watching yes/no, yin/yang, Republican/Democrat, conservative/liberal, invade/isolate, etc. chase each other around the circle. They never really get anywhere, anyway...

~

Momentarily digressing into the scope of politics, I'd at least like to say that I'm baffled by the importance attributed to presidential elections. There are large-scale games being played and moves being made, and in general a political figurehead like the president doesn't affect them much. Can anyone honestly say that Goldman Sachs, the Federal Reserve, the International Monetary Fund, etc. and the economic power that they (and their government stooges) wield will be affected by who sits in the Oval Office? Moreover, does it seem likely that anyone at the EU (a body of non-elected elites) or at the UN (another body of non-elected elites), both of which wield considerable global military power, would actually give a damn about who is President of the United States? Or for that matter, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom?

(One could also point out that most "conservative" Republicans buy into and implement allegedly "liberal" policies, such as Bush's "compassionate conservatism." And vice versa, with "liberal" Democrats seeming as eager as any "blood-thirsty" Republican to invade, bomb, sanction, and drone-strike anybody with oil fields and copies of the Qur'an. But whether the parties are different or not, the point about presidential elections stands.)

It's akin to a chess game, played on a wooden board with wooden pieces. So you swap the wooden king piece for one made of marble -- the king can still only move one square at a time, while the rest of the game continues with many more pieces who are doing far more interesting things. The American political cycle has all eyes on the king, while the queen and the rooks, bishops, knights, and even the lowly pawns go about the real business of making strategies unfold.

~

That said, even from the king and queen down to the pawns, I still can't help but think of Yin and Yang, endlessly chasing each other around the edge of the circle...

The Master lives in the center;
the immature live on the edge
of things, unsatisfied, always
reaching for what is not.

The Master lives in harmony;
the immature pick and choose,
accept some things and reject some,
and make themselves miserable
trying to control the world.

When things seem to be in discord,
return to the center.
~Ibid. (ch.34)

Get Motivated

Today I had the pleasure of going to the Get Motivated seminar here in Albuquerque. The event included talks by lots of big-names like Colin Powell, Laura Bush, Rudy Giuliani, and other heavyweights.

First, let's get the obvious stuff out of the way: Get Motivated will make you a bit suspicious up front. Your ticket will likely say "$225 admission on day of event," though the tickets are readily available in advance for $4.95, $1.95, or (in my case) free. Other people around the internet have done the math, but it's pretty obvious that $4.95 or less doesn't cut it to pay for all the "pyrotechnics," rental of a stadium, event staff, security, and especially $50,000 to $100,000 appearance fees for big-name celebrities. Colin Powell and Rudy Giuliani aren't going to come to Albuquerque and chat for 45 minutes out of the goodness of their hearts, you know!

That leads to the next obvious bit: Get Motivated seminars target people who are desperate and/or in a low income bracket. If you know nothing else about the seminars, knowing about two constant bedfellows for Get Motivated should make the point clear. All of the non-celebrity speakers (the pitchmen trying to sell you crap) integrate excruciating, revival-style Bible-thumping and Crucifix-waving "praise the Lord!" segments into their talks. There's also a great deal of gratuitous chest-thumping patriotism, especially of the "GO ARMY!" variety.

I fully respect honest spiritual pursuits, a healthy love of America's good qualities, and gratitude towards those who stand up in defense of our country -- but I think I can safely point out that both Christianity and the US military have an established, historical tendency of targeting the downtrodden and less affluent. The jarring, non sequitur insertion of Jesus-touting and "HOO-AH!" Army grunts in the middle of (allegedly) motivational business talks makes it pretty obvious what's going on here. It doesn't take much of a brain stem to figure out that the Billy Graham-style salvation offers of "$3,000 value" investment kits for "only $99" will just lead you down a path of spending even more money.

[For comparison, go see one of Jeffrey Gitomer's talks. Though he does give a soft nudge to buy his books, his seminars are self-contained, non-pushy, and don't promise any salvation except whatever you can accomplish for yourself through your own honest, positive effort. He genuinely wants to help, rather than fleece, you.]

That said, I did start this blog post off by saying it was a pleasure to go. Get Motivated is a lot like watching prime time TV: you have to endure a lot of ads for stupid crap for suckers, but doing so gets you to the meat of what you wanted to see. I Googled around to prepare myself for the aforementioned ads and stupid crap, so I knew how to get the most out of the seminar. (My strategy: watch the speakers worth seeing, and use the HALLELUJAH! sales pitch times to stretch my legs and visit the restroom/food court without any lines. My iPod and smartphone were very handy for passing the time between the worthwhile speakers.)

For the cost of a $2 bus pass (cheaper than parking) and a little bit of overpriced stadium food, I had the immense pleasure of seeing some really interesting people speak. That is, the ones who weren't trying to sell me their stock market web kits, real estate tips, or "motivational DNA" books. Speakers I saw today:

• Lou Holtz - I don't know jack about Notre Dame, but I know I enjoyed watching Lou Holtz speak. He's a charming guy on the stage, he seems to speak with heart, and he genuinely leaves you with a warm feeling after hearing what he has to say.
• Laura Bush - The "odd duck" in the celebrity line-up. She talked neither about "motivation" nor about anything particularly related to business or leadership. She mostly talked about her personal experiences and feelings as a First Lady. Nothing she said was particularly deep, meaningful, or practical, but I enjoyed her talk anyway.
• Colin Powell - Definitely the star of the show. He was the most coherent, genuinely energetic, and interesting of the speakers I saw. He spoke from a very personal perspective, and really offered some inspiration on leadership. He also hinted at some of the deeper things that make America great (as opposed to the shallow fist-pumping of "AMERICA KICKS ASS!" sentiment during sleazy sales pitches by the no-name speakers).
• Rudy Giuliani - Not as charismatic or as organized as Powell, but an interesting guy to listen to. He was the most overtly political of the speakers I saw today, at times tiptoeing into using the seminar as a political platform. There's nothing wrong with that, since he's a politician, but some people might be offended by it for some silly reason.

Oddly for an event with such high production values (and high-dollar guests who are on the clock!), it seemed to me the schedule ran beyond what was planned. With less than an hour of their official schedule remaining, I had to leave even though there were at least two more speakers on the docket. Alas, I did not get to see Howard Putnam of Southwest Airlines -- I don't know much about him, but Southwest is one of my favorite companies both from a consumer standpoint and from a business inspiration perspective.

Anyway, as I said, I enjoyed the event overall. I'll likely go again the next time they come through Albuquerque.

I highly recommend going to a Get Motivated seminar if you can, because for practically nothing you get to see some pretty interesting people do their thing. Just be honest and mentally fortified, remembering that sprinkled among the stars will be the sleazy sharks circling for fiscally wounded prey. Unless you'll lose sleep over the fact that you will only pay $1.95 to see Colin Powell and the rest speak, while their exorbitant speaking fees will be paid for by thousands of suckers who buy into get-rich-quick schemes, you'll go and you will have a great time.

Books In Progress: When Things Fall Apart

In recent times, I've come to value Pema Chödrön as a great teacher. From my early days exploring Buddhism, I was dimly aware of her books, although I read few of them and never really got into any of them with any seriousness. That trend shifted this year as I spent a lot of time reading and living with No Time To Lose, which is her commentary on the Bodhicharyavatara (a.k.a. "The Way of the Bodhisattva"). I learned a lot from it, and will revisit that book and explore others as time goes by.

A couple of weeks ago, I was very happy when I found a used copy of her book, When Things Fall Apart. This is one of Chödrön's best known books, and probably the first one of hers that I was aware of back in my early Buddhist dabblings. I'd never approached the book before, because I was put off by the title -- and even more put off by the subtitle, "Heart Advice for Difficult Times." Still, when I found When Things Fall Apart at a local thrift store, I was eager to add it to my Buddhist library and learn from it. Sure, it was a tad overpriced for a used book with a beat up dust jacket, but I knew a Pema Chödrön book was not something to turn my nose up at.

Now about one third into the book, I realize how off-base I'd been this whole time. I bet you, like I did, see the title When Things Fall Apart and assume this is the kind of book you read when you've lost a loved one, or when you've been diagnosed with a terminal disease, or the like. "Heart Advice for Difficult Times" would seem to compound that understanding of what the book purports to be about. However, it doesn't take much reading to realize that the title and subtitle are 100% accurate in describing the book, and yet they're also completely different from your interpretation of them.

The point of this book, and indeed the heart of the Buddha's teachings, is that Dharma is not merely for those stereotypical big moments of things "falling apart" -- death, disease, loss, etc. Pema Chödrön points out to us that an essential aspect of the nature of our existence is things falling apart. It is inseparable from what we are, what we do, and what we experience. This indeed is her "heart advice for difficult times," but what most of us (even those of us who have tread the Buddhist path for years) don't realize is that this entire human existence includes "difficult times." This book could accurately been titled, When Samsara Samsaras: Heart Advice for Samsara Times, although that is not very catchy or marketable!

"As long as we're addicted to hope, we feel that we can tone our experience down or liven it up or change it somehow, and we continue to suffer a lot."
~Pema Chödrön, When Things Fall Apart (p.40)

If there's a big takeaway from When Things Fall Apart, it's the critical lesson that must be continually pounded into our skulls: there is no safety net, there is no firm ground, and there is no point we can reach where all the bad stuff goes away. No matter how long you practice, or how many Buddhist books you read, or how many hours you spend on the meditation cushion, that is one of the key lessons -- and one that's oh so hard to learn, as I know. When Things Fall Apart is not a "self help" book, nor is it a book to comfort you when you're in dire straits. It's a reminder that the very notion of fixing the self up is the source of pain; that the dire straits are part and parcel of life; that the addiction to hope or to finding a wordly refuge is what imprisons us in the cycle of craving and dissatisfaction.

Mind Absorbed in Sense Objects

The mind is the friend of the conditioned soul, and his enemy as well. For him who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends; but for one who has failed to do so, his mind will remain his greatest enemy.
~Bhagavad Gita 6.6-7

For man, mind is the cause of bondage and mind is the cause of liberation. Mind absorbed in sense objects is the cause of bondage, and mind detached from the sense objects is the cause of liberation.
~Amrta-bindu Upanisad 2

As long as one's mind remains an unconquered enemy, one has to serve the dictations of lust, anger, avarice, illusion, etc.
~Swami Prabhuphada, Bhagavad Gita As It Is (6.6 Purport)

Steve Jobs: "Death is the best invention of Life"

For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something...

Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new.

(from Steve Jobs on death at Wildmind Buddhist Meditation)

It's a sad thing to lose Steve Jobs. There are so few brilliant minds that shine so brightly, they illuminate the whole drudgery of the vast landscape of everyday human life. To lose one of those lights, especially at such a young age, is a loss for everyone -- even those who never used or perhaps outright hated Apple products. There's very little in modern technological life that did not get impacted somehow by what Steve Jobs accomplished over the last decades.

RIP Steve Jobs. And thank you, sir, for sharing your thoughts on death before we lost you.

$5/month Debit Fees: You Wanted It? You Got It!

Dear Mainstream America,

You talk about how you hate capitalists, how you hate businesses that make "excessive" profits, how it's immoral to charge more than what something costs. The government listened, and they capped how much banks (private entities!) can charge businesses (other private entities!) for debit transactions. Never mind that these private businesses are making voluntary agreements to mutual benefit. It's evil!

Fear not, because your government has heard your cries.

The result? Bank of America will charge YOU $5/month to use your debit card. Other banks are set to follow suit -- Wells Fargo is rolling out $3/month debit card fees, and JP Morgan Chase is testing them out, too.

Yeah, that's SO much better than the "excessive" (according to who?!) profits they had before.

Remember: YOU asked for it with your anti-capitalist rhetoric. The government gave you exactly what you wanted. You can't complain now! Please consult your grade school textbooks for the appropriate chapters on "cause and effect" ... Or, maybe, consult Atlas Shrugged and see just what it is you're advocating.

Much love,
Thomas