aloha jw,

    It is the essential question, one of those questions a person can obsess on when taking psychedelics, an existential question: "what is there to do?"

   Taoism can be distilled to two principles:

1) non-interference
2) suspended judgment

   Consider how we got here. Here we find ourselves, "thrown" iinto a world that's happening happening happening and we have to catch up and do as others do just to tread water.

   As lewis carroll had it:


"Well, in our country," said Alice, still panting a little, "you'd generally get to somewhere else—if you run very fast for a long time, as we've been doing."

"A slow sort of country!" said the Queen. "Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!" 


   We find ourselves doing all sorts of things and entangled in all sorts of commitments and obligations that we have more or less fallen or stumbled into, as a result of the "doing" that we have been doing since we were born.

  Now that we are aware and are capable and presumably competent we can ask ourselves the question, "what can we do to make our world a better place for sentient being?" Note that in order to improve something you have to understand it and know how to make it better. Think about how little we really are able to do that, other than correct obvious abuses in our immediate vicinity. 

   A taoist would say, 1) don't interfere and 2) suspend judgment. Aka wei wu wei, "doing non-doing."  "Let the mud settle" is the classic way of putting it.

   Danger is the result of ambition. Every creature by nature is doing its best, what else could it do? To assume that "things" are all wrong and that we should take immediate action to fix society through systemic change involves a number of dubious assumptions about our competence and insight. 

   It's easy to see that our society is less than ideal. And it is easy to change our own attitudes and behave better. Attempting to change others is difficult, unethical and hubristic.

   Consider children, who learn from your example and discount what you say if it doesn't reflect actual behavior. If you lecture children on how they "ought" to behave, the children will turn around and lecture their peers similarly. If you behave with character and rectitude, they naturally follow your example.

   It seems like a limited activity, to depend on a good example and make no effort to change people. To let them be free and sort it out for themselves. In rural neighbor island hawaii it is our culture to put up with people's foibles, and let them work it out, until you get tired of it and make them stop. We're not much into lecturing each other on how to act. 

   If you can simply be genuine, you are a culture hero of the first water. If you can be happy, you are a national treasure. As an activist who suffers from inner demons, you cause more harm than good.


terry



ONCE IN A LIFETIME
(Talking Heads)

And you may find yourself
Living in a shotgun shack
And you may find yourself
In another part of the world
And you may find yourself
Behind the wheel of a large automobile
And you may find yourself in a beautiful house
With a beautiful wife
And you may ask yourself, well
How did I get here?
Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
Into the blue again after the money's gone
Once in a lifetime, water flowing underground
And you may ask yourself
How do I work this?
And you may ask yourself
Where is that large automobile?
And you may tell yourself
This is not my beautiful house!
And you may tell yourself
This is not my beautiful wife!
Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
Into the blue again after the money's gone
Once in a lifetime, water flowing underground
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Water dissolving and water removing
There is water at the bottom of the ocean
Under the water, carry the water
Remove the water at the bottom of the ocean!
Water dissolving and water removing
Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
Into the blue again into silent water
Under the rocks and stones, there is water underground
Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
Into the blue again after the money's gone
Once in a lifetime, water flowing underground
You may ask yourself
What is that beautiful house?
You may ask yourself
Where does that highway go to?
And you may ask yourself
Am I right? Am I wrong?
And you may say yourself
"My God! What have I done?"
Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
Into the blue again into the silent water
Under the rocks and stones, there is water underground
Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
Into the blue again after the money's gone
Once in a lifetime, water flowing underground
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Look where my hand was
Time isn't holding up
Time isn't after us
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Letting the days go by
Same as it ever was
And here the twister comes
Here comes the twister
Letting the days go by (same as it ever was)
Same as it ever was (same as it ever was)
Letting the days go by (same as it ever was)
Same as it ever was
Once in a lifetime
Let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by

Songwriters: Brian Eno / Christopher Frantz / David Byrne / Jerry Harrison / Tina Weymouth

Terry, couldn't agree more.  And to clarify, I'm not suggesting we try to change others.  We can, however, try to understand and change our own problematic behaviours. For me personally, not making assumptions about others would be one good place to start.

   "Trust is the coin of the realm." But once you spend it, it's gone. Trust that is bought and sold is like friends and likes on social media, they only undermine the very idea of trust, liking and friendship.

   Reminds of the politician talking about sincerity: "Once you can fake that, you can fake anything."

   "Teaching leadership" is another concept I have trouble with. They do it in the military, and it means following orders, being a better tool. A tool that tools other tools is still a tool.

   Try teaching charisma.

t

This would be the glass half empty version of trust. In my version trust isn't subject to barter. That's demeaning to all involved.

Leaders shouldn't trade in trust. Trust is earned and maintained by people of character and ethics, by doing the right thing even when no one is there to see it. There are leaders who are like that. I've worked with and for a few of them. 

Why did we outlaw slavery? 

   "Doing," or action, or karma, involves injecting our assumptions into willed, intentional behavior. Active doing inevitably has consequences and repercussions which exceed or confound our intentions.

   Assumptions are the very devil but what could we say without them? We throw out assumptions and humbly ask "others" to correct them. This is the dialectic.

  And we learn, from dialog. As naturally as children.

   The idea of non-doing also applies to changing our own behavior. When the buddha preached the dharma in the pali suttas, he would reach a point where his hearers were filled with understanding and comprehension, and he would tell them, now is the time to do as you will. We too can reach a point where everything is luminously clear, and then simply behave naturally without motives, other than "eat when hungry, sleep when tired."

   As sufism and zen point out, we are a combinatoin of perfect mind and animal lust. Perfect mind needs no cultivation, so in practice dealing with "our own problematic behaviors" involves taming and yoking the animal. Feed it, keep it clean, exercise it and restrain it. Make it a willing partner who can understand its best interests are in serving its lord, as in the four horses of the buddhist story, the best of whom respond  when seeing the shadow of the whip. Once the animal is somewhat tame, we have come to realize that taming the animal is a lifetime occupation of considerable difficulty and every generation struggles with it. Demanding that people behave better often ignores the fact that they are doing the best that they can. Helping someone you understand is already doing the best they can is a different thing from correcting people who are "wrong."

   Besides, not judging others and not having expectations of them frees up lots of energy for working on oneself, training the animal.


terry



from "radical zen; the sayings of joshu" ed and trans yoel hoffman:


5.
Joshu was standing on the ladder above the well at Nansen's monastery, drawing water, when he saw Nansen passing below. He held on to a rung, dangling his feet in midair, and cried, "Help! Help!"
Nansen climbed the ladder, saying, "One, two, three. four, five." After a moment Joshu turned to Nansen to offer his thanks. He said, "Master, I am grateful for your saving me a little while ago."

NOTE: In his show Joshlu calls on his master Nansen to "save" him. Nansen does not respond with a saintlike "salvation" act but slowly climbs up the ladder. Nansen does not rush to "save" Joshu, not only because Joshu's call for help is a show, but because even where there is real need for rescue (from the bonds of suffering), all one can do for the other (and for oneself) is to walk one's own path step by step. Had Nansen "rescued" Joshu, Joshu could not have saved himself. Joshu thanks Nansen for making him realize this .

   Me, I've never done anything right in my life, and wouldn't know where to start. Sorry to say I've never met any people like those you speak of. Trust me.

   If I had any such coins I gave them away, along with my reason and reputation.

   To me trust is absolute, like unconditional love. I trust that god is working through you even if you don't know it. As a rule I trust people to be as they present themselves, until they make it clear they don't want that sort of trust, and then I let them be. It doesn't have anything to do with trustworthiness (coins), which is hard to judge.

terry



from the rubaiyat of omar khayyam, trans fitzgerald


LXIX

 Indeed, the Idols I have loved so long
 Have done my Credit in Men's Eye much wrong:
   Have drown'd my Honour in a shallow Cup,
 And sold my Reputation for a Song.


LXX.

 Indeed, indeed, Repentance oft before
 I swore—but was I sober when I swore?
   And then and then came Spring, and Rose-in-hand
 My thread-bare Penitence a-pieces tore.


LXXI.

 And much as Wine has play'd the Infidel,
 And robb'd me of my Robe of Honour—well,
   I often wonder what the Vintners buy
 One half so precious as the Goods they sell.

I'm sorry to say, too.

tao te ching, trans mitchell


49

The Master has no mind of her own.
She works with the mind of the people.

She is good to people who are good.
She is also good to people who aren't good.
This is true goodness.

She trusts people who are trustworthy.
She also trusts people who aren't trustworthy.
This is true trust.

The Master's mind is like space.
People don't understand her.
They look to her and wait.
She treats them like her own children.

christians tell me I'm a poor witness

in truth, I've never had anything to do with people in suits - I always said I would as soon wear a nazi uniform...
I've never worn a tie as an adult...
never gotten a haircut since I left the navy...

I literally never even met any of the people you speak of...

not sorry, either...


t

   what are people engaged in the rat race like?

obviously....






from "radical zen; the sayings of joshu" trans hoffman



14.
A monk asked, "A holy temple - what is it like?"
Joshu said, "A maiden with her hair rolled up [i.e., a virgin]."
The monk said, "Those inside the holy temple - what are they like?"
Joshu said, "A maiden with her hair rolled up, pregnant."

in the spirit of corporate mindfulness...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWXazVhlyxQ&list=PL2EbESdPFdo4PtTC22P-A3PGN8gBEEaks&index=2




KILLING IN THE NAME OF
(Rage Against the Machine)

Killing in the name of
Some of those that work forces
Are the same that burn crosses
Some of those that work forces
Are the same that burn crosses
Some of those that work forces
Are the same that burn crosses
Some of those that work forces
Are the same that burn crosses
Uh
Killing in the name of
Killing in the name of
Now you do what they told ya
Now you do what they told ya
Now you do what they told ya
Now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
But now you do what they told ya
Well now you do what they told ya
Those who died are justified
For wearing the badge
They're the chosen whites
You justify those that died
By wearing the badge
They're the chosen whites
Those who died are justified
For wearing the badge
They're the chosen whites
You justify those who died
By wearing the badge
They're the chosen whites
Some of those that work forces
Are the same that burn crosses
Some of those that work forces
Are the same that burn crosses
Some of those that work forces
Are the same that burn crosses
Some of those that work forces
Are the same that burn crosses
Uh
Killing in the name of
Killing in the name of
Now you do what they told ya
Now you do what they told ya
Now you do what they told ya
Now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya, now you're under control
And now you do what they told ya, now you're under control
And now you do what they told ya, now you're under control
And now you do what they told ya, now you're under control
And now you do what they told ya, now you're under control
And now you do what they told ya, now you're under control
And now you do what they told ya, now you're under control
And now you do what they told ya
Those who died are justified
For wearing the badge
They're the chosen whites
You justify those that died
By wearing the badge
They're the chosen whites
Those who died are justified
For wearing the badge
They're the chosen whites
You justify those that died
By wearing the badge
They're the chosen whites
Come on
Uh
Yeah
Come on
Uh
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Motherfucker
Uh

Songwriters: Timothy Commerford / Thomas B. Morello / Zack M. De La Rocha / Brad J. Wilk

Nan-in received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen.
Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor’s cup full, and then kept on pouring.
The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. “It is overfull. No more will go in!”
“Like this cup,” Nan-in said, “you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?”

from "learning how to learn" by idries shah




CHARITY OF THE RATS


Dr. J. T. Greene, of Georgia University, took ten white rats and trained them to obtain food pellets by pressing one of two levers in their cage. One lever produced fewer pellets and was hard to depress, and the rats soon found this out and ignored it, con­centrating on the other. Now the experimenter wired the levers so that when the one which yielded food was pressed, a rat in the next cage received an electric shock.

What did the food-seeking rats do? First, they recognised that their actions were giving their neighbour pain; then no less than eight out of ten of them went over to the other lever, even though it was hard to work, and concentrated on it, saving their fellow from further harm.

   "I threw my cup away when I saw a child drinking from his hands at the trough." 

~diogenes



   (I wonder if you realize this parable is about pouring out more and more zen into rhe minds of those who profess until the their cups spill over and their pretense of high tea is spoiled.)






from "let the beauty we love be what we do," rumi, ed and trans amante, cohen and soulard:



WHO SAYS WORDS WITH MY MOUTH?

All day I think about it, then at night I say it.
Where did I come from, and what am I supposed to be doing? I have no idea.
My soul is from elsewhere, I’m sure of that,
and I intend to end up there.

This drunkenness began in some other tavern.
When I get back around to that place,
I’ll be completely sober. Meanwhile,
I’m like a bird from another continent, sitting in this aviary.
The day is coming when I fly off,
but who is it now in my ear who hears my voice?
Who says words with my mouth?

Who looks out with my eyes? What is the soul?
I cannot stop asking.
If I could taste one sip of an answer,
I could break out of this prison for drunks.
I didn’t come here of my own accord, and I can’t leave that way.
Whoever brought me here will have to take me home.

This poetry. I never know what I’m going to say. I don’t plan it.
When I’m outside the saying of it,
I get very quiet and rarely speak at all.

I guess it depends on the Starbucks. At my local store the employees seem to be having a good time where the Boss lady looks like the one who is stressed out and needs some mindfulness.

    I literally drink almost nothing but kona coffee. The kona starbucks doesn't sell kona coffee, they can't make a profit selling quality coffee. They have to add lots of cheap calories to coffee flavored caffeine beverages to build their empire of ersatz. The macdonalds of coffee, with a similar social footprint. Corporate karmic corruption.

t

Do you know when the growing season is?

I have heard that most coffee drinkers will be priced out of the market.

I have never had Kona coffee.

Points one and two are vague. Or maybe I am vague?

   Best coffee in the world, bra; only jamaican blue mountain compares and it just doesn't have that acid zing.

  t grows all the time, and fiming depends on when the rains set in being as every location is a microclimate. The flowers smell great, and look kind of like a xmas tree draped with popcorn. After a while the trees (about 6 to 10 ft in height, some over 100 years old) are heavy with red cherries, and again look like xmas trees, though leafy.

   I lived in a coffee shack for over a year. I tried to make my own coffee from cherry, but it isn't easy, and I didn't succeed. Once the fruit has rotted off the bean you have what is called "parchment" because the beans have a tight coating of a paper like substance. They are generally spread out in screened buildings to let the parchment dry then are put through a mechanical process which abrades the parchment off. Most coffee farmers send the cherry to the mill, or they send the parchment to the mill. The the roaster gets it after that, so it is not something the farmer actualy does all phases of. Generally the roaster mixes the product of various farms for a generic (though excellent) kona coffee, regardless of the label, though there are "estate coffees" which have theirs roasted separately. I get mine wholesale for $23/lb directly from a farm up on rock bottom road, dr paulo's. I drink about a lb a week, or a bit more.

terry


from "buddhascup.com" (f'real):

"Timing is key to harvesting the best batch of coffee beans. Kona buds begin to blossom at the start of the rainy season, usually in the early Spring and Summer. Come August, the bright green pulpy fruit surrounding two coffee beans, called cherries, becomes ripe. Cherries continue to ripen up until February."

I want to weigh in on this coffee convo to agree with terry. Kona coffee is the bomb.