So, the Bell.tron gets a little fame today in the ultimate world. Check out this lay-out caught on Ultivillage.com
I know my momma would be proud!
PS: you’ll notice Bell “The Shadow” Tron on the far left of the screen while Ego breaks the Hodag cup, and the moment the big swing from Dusty happens, I’m off to the races. Jah boi!
PPS: Next up—- NW Regionals, this weekend in Vancouver, BC. Top two teams advance to Nationals. We’re seeded 3rd. Keep us in your thoughts, and give us your blessings!
- a sermon by the Buddha -
written by: Bell
Course: Philosophy Seminar on ‘Nagarjuna’
And finally, with enough courage, the youthful scholar, Arran began to speak. “Dear Buddha, how is that we should think of Love? I am young, only a schoolboy, and already I feel the difficulty of being available for another. I’ve learned that I shall develop right view… right intention… right speech… right action… right livelihood… right effort… right mindfulness… right concentration… in short, that I shall learn to cultivate the Noble Eightfold Path if I can live a life of seclusion, dispassion and cessation. Here I am confused, and have more questions than answers: Does not a life of Love entail the opposite of these latter notions? Could a healthy Love lead to right view… right intention… right speech… right action… right livelihood… right effort… right mindfulness… right concentration? Perhaps I am mistaken in thinking that Love is something to be sought after.”
“Young scholar, Love cannot be sought after. It does not arrive. It does not appear. There is no distinct moment. It is not a goal or an ends. When we speak of Love, we speak of being found “in” it. It grows and surrounds us. We do not control the emergence of Love, although we can impede it altogether. Above all else, young Arran, one must never take an attitude towards another of convenience— each must be treated as something in and of themselves, as in the same way that you treat your self.”
“In my previous efforts to Love, Enlightened One, I have suffered greatly a pain beyond measure. I have given Love without return. I have given Love and had it broken. Having been hurt before in such ways, I find myself unable and unwilling to treat others as an extension of myself. How should I proceed?”
“Young scholar, as you well know, Love does not come easily, and does not come to all. Love requires vulnerability and happenstance. Often, Love emerges out of the harmonious and mutual liking of two individuals, and in these ways, Love can take time to cultivate. It need not patience, because it is never something for which you are waiting. However, one mustn’t cling to feelings of liking either. Liking another person (even in companionship) must be accompanied with genuine openness. Liking in any other context arises from making the decision to do so. When there is decision-making there is lust and desire; where there is lust and desire there is attachment; where there is attachment there is possessiveness; where there is possessiveness there is niggardliness; where there is niggardliness there is defensiveness. And because of defensiveness, various evil unwholesome things originate, such as slander and falsehood. Such things are the destruction of interpersonal relationships, and the root of sexual misconduct, the root of loving falsely.”
Then, young Arran, having expressed his appreciation, continued to speak. “All of this makes wonderful sense, Blessed One. Please accept my appreciation. But, Venerable sir, you speak of sexual misconduct, and though I have not opened myself fully to her, I am faithful to my present partner, and I treat her with respect and gratitude. I speak highly of her often, and shower her with time and gifts.”
“I understand, young scholar, and these are good things. But if they are choices you make because you hope to persuade your significant other to think favorably of you, or because you simply enjoy satisfying her with good deeds; this is an empty trade. Such a state is a tangled web of desire alone.”
“I am deeply grateful, Blessed One. You have been more than helpful. But one question remains. I cannot help but wonder how one can have Love, while remaining dispassionate and secluded. To Love, it appears, is to stray from those things that cultivate the Noble Eightfold path. If one were to have true Love, is it not to be passionate? Is such a person meddling only in sensual pleasures? Dearest Buddha, have I altogether misunderstood the loveful stories I’ve read as a child…?”
“You have a very fair mind, young scholar, and it will treat you well for a lifetime. Passion is deeply seeded in the home of desire, and this, as you well know, is a gateway to suffering. No form of desire can be satisfied. To truly Love another is to go beyond desire. To truly Love another demands a generous compassion, a kind of compassion where the concerns and feelings of the other are taken to be your own. And whatever the outcome of such a relationship, there is fulfillment to be found in knowing what you have shared. In these ways, young scholar, Love will help develop and cultivate right view… right intention… right speech… right action… right livelihood… right effort… right mindfulness… and right concentration.”
——————
POST SCRIPT:
To be honest, I have struggled with the Buddha’s sermons. He constantly alludes to ideals that constitute, for example, Moral Discipline. He’ll insist that we should abstain from the destruction of Life, from stealing, from sexual misconduct, false speech and from intoxicants— but he never/rarely seems to provide concrete definitions. I understand that the Buddha does not have the same message for everybody, and that he caters his words specifically to the listener, but I needed something more concrete. The above sermon is meant to do two things: 1) begin to address the notion of sexual misconduct, and 2) begin the conversation about Love. Both of which I found to be complicated issues, and to be lacking in our readings. The discourses deal with hate, with cordiality, with giving, companionship, and even marriage, but nothing that helps us understand what it means to Love one another, or whether we should. I guess, this was my attempt to take on his persona, and get the ball rolling… :)
Hopefully, in this sermon, it appears that the Buddha says just enough to keep the young scholar on the right path. There is much more he could have said, but the goal is to teach young Arran how to be open yet non-attached to genuine Love, while never quite providing explanation for incidental issues (ie., loving through multiple partners, how to negotiate seclusion and cessation when in a relationship, whether interpersonal Love should be sought after, etc.). This story is written in much the same fashion as the sermon about the Family Man who loved to lay in bed with his children.
I experienced a moment of infinity the other day.
Remember in “Star Wars”, at the introduction, where you find yourself racing through space at the speed of light, zipping past stars in the farthest reaches of the galaxy? Yeah, something like that. But I was in Eugene, of course, walking home in the rain.
I was listening to “Kothbiro”, by Ayub Ogada (the theme song from the movie, “The Constant Gardener”), and I stopped to stair up at the grey clouds — to look them square in the eyes and take a deep a breath. Immediately, I squinted nervously and it wasn’t long before I caught a raindrop near the eye and had to turn away. Realizing what happened, I tried to exert my influence on the situation.
Eventually, I calmed my nerves and attempted to brave the falling rain and once again turned my eyes to the sky. In that moment, I was relaxed and wide-eyed. With my eyes fixed above, I captured a glimpse of reality pouring down on me. I could see drops falling all around me, one by one, coming into view from the heavens and falling out of view beside me. The music continued, and began to compliment their journey to the ground. The drops would dance to the beat. Out of the infinite abyss above, one drop, one after another, out of hundreds of thousands of millions, would appear in my periphery in perfect time to the sounds in my earphones.
For just a moment, the whole world felt in synch, in rhythm, and I was a part of it. With my eyes straight to the sky, I could witness the work of the cosmos; each new drop came into view, vanished, and was followed by another. I closed my eyes to remember the moment. And like a tear, a drop came to my eyelid, and slid down my cheek and I was reminded of my finitude.
This was my moment of infinity.