thoughts of the day

Increased awareness can lead to problems. When you open up to the close calls between cars and buses and motorcycles and trucks on the roads of New York City, close calls happen every second. It's really terrifying. When you drive you have to be confident. But if you really think about how dangerous it all is, that is scary.

Metta and the other Brahma Viharas, helps us to frame things in a more positive compassionate way. Connecting with the spirit of Avalokiteshvara, you feel the interconnections that make it impossible to hurt yourself/others.

I saw a Bob Marley documentary the other day and began to like this song. Of course it has some things I don't believe in, but sometimes with some people you feel them raise above their tradition and speak to something universal.

"One Love / People Get Ready"

One Love! One Heart!
Let's get together and feel all right.
Hear the children cryin' (One Love!);
Hear the children cryin' (One Heart!),
Sayin': give thanks and praise to the Lord and I will feel all right;
Sayin': let's get together and feel all right. Wo wo-wo wo-wo!

Let them all pass all their dirty remarks (One Love!);
There is one question I'd really love to ask (One Heart!):
Is there a place for the hopeless sinner,
Who has hurt all mankind just to save his own beliefs?

One Love! What about the one heart? One Heart!
What about - ? Let's get together and feel all right
As it was in the beginning (One Love!);
So shall it be in the end (One Heart!),
All right!
Give thanks and praise to the Lord and I will feel all right;
Let's get together and feel all right.
One more thing!

Let's get together to fight this Holy Armagiddyon (One Love!),
So when the Man comes there will be no, no doom (One Song!).
Have pity on those whose chances grows t'inner;
There ain't no hiding place from the Father of Creation.

Sayin': One Love! What about the One Heart? (One Heart!)
What about the - ? Let's get together and feel all right.
I'm pleadin' to mankind! (One Love!);
Oh, Lord! (One Heart) Wo-ooh!

Give thanks and praise to the Lord and I will feel all right;
Let's get together and feel all right.
Give thanks and praise to the Lord and I will feel all right;
Let's get together and feel all right.

[end]

I've been doing a sort of manta, "one love, one heart, lets get together and feel all right." I can't stop thinking about these two opposed leaders who got up on stage, and Marley got them to hold hands together. I'm going to watch a Leonard Cohen documentary next because it's coming off netflix soon.

In the Kalama Sutra, the Buddha suggests you stay away from intellectual speculation, and focus on your ethics. In Buddhism there is no orthodoxy, there's only orthopraxy.

I feel like the 5 precepts are better than the 10 commandments, because you don't have to believe in anything. They are rules that would suit you to follow. In the ten commandments, you have to me a monotheist.

I'm going to read Buddhist Ethicsnow.