Purity

“The quality of mind that is firm, steady, undis-tracted, and focused on a single object is called samahitatà (stability, collectedness). That mind is clear and pure, not disturbed by anything, unobscured by defilement. A mind empty of defilement is called parisuddhi (purity). Such a citta is fit and supremely prepared to perform the duties of the mind. This is called kammaniyata (activeness, readiness). It might be wise to memorize these three words: samabitatà (stability), parisuddhi (purity), and kammaniyata (active-ness). For correct concentration all three of these qualities must be present. This kind of concentration can be used not only in formal meditation practice but in any of the necessary activities of life.” p. 85 Mindfulness of Breathing Buddhadasa, 1996. 

I don’t like the idea of purity because it reminds me of Puritans and I think it’s an unrealistic standard that leads to a lot of mistakes in American history, and a lot of good horror movies. I like focus over purity

The voice: But can’t you see that the change from purity to focus causes you to leave behind the idea that you try to avoid greed, hatred, and delusion and unconsciously you can have a focusing agenda on one of those three poisons.

OK then it's focused not on greed, hatred and delusion. I've been monitoring my thoughts more around those 3 poisons, and it's not an unfamiliar scan of my thoughts for me. 

Reading about ill gotten museum items

When I learned a little bit about the artifacts taken from China in the early 1900s (one, two), I also assumed that with the human evolution, people would begin to give them back because they were stolen. One thing I've noticed about justice is that it's slow, but it is a kind of relentless force. I find it an odd thing when I postulate a genera of articles and information, that it actually exists, and I'm proud to discover it.

I've collected a short list of articles about returned artifacts:

6/21/24: A Rubens Returns to a German Castle, 80 Years After It Was Stolen (NY Times).

6/27/24: Amsterdam Museum to Return a Matisse Work Sold Under Duress in World War II (NY Times).

6/28/24: Ancient artistic loot will finally make its way back to Cambodia (Economist).

7/4/24: Cambodia welcomes the Metropolitan Museum's repatriation of statues looted over decades of turmoil (AOL).

7/4/24: Looted Artifacts Returned to Cambodian Soil (Kiripost)

183

Today is the 183rd day of the year, and in Thubten Chodron's daily Awaken Every Day (2019), this is the following quote:

“One way to express compassion is to be as clear as possible in our communication. Sometimes this is difficult because we aren’t clear ourselves about what we think or want to express, even though we think we may be. Only later do we realize our own confusion.

When we aren’t clear in our own minds, it’s best to say that directly and tell the other person and let them know we need more time to clarify our ideas.

When I’m tangled up, I’ve found it helpful to stop, let go of all the thoughts and ideas, and simply ask myself, What am I trying to say? That helps me get to the heart of the matter, the one sentence that is the essence of what I want to communicate.”

People who think the USA should be a Christian nation

 

(source)

27% average, yikes, one in four. Personally I think the refugees from Europe who came here and wanted religious freedom, are like people who were bullied, and then they turn into the bully, as an evolution from overcoming being bullied, instead of reflecting and saying, "I don't want what was done to me, done to others," they think, "I'm going to just gain power and do what others did to me."

There's a block there in the bible belt, but I'm surprised NC, SC and GA don't have the dark, or Texas and OK. Places where poverty is worst are where they put up the ten commandments in school, like that's going to do something. The politicians who say, "it can't hurt," are cynical and playing to their base. It's the nonsense of American politics and the banality of evil. 

I'm proud to be from a state that is white. I see religious freedom, freedom from religion and the separation of church and state as quite important for the USA.