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unconventional


unconventional


we should all be careful that cherished

traditions handed down through generations,

don’t, over time, ossify into expectations that

prohibit freedom of thought and carry forward

dangerous ideas of hatred and intolerance from

past eras that have no place in our lives any more.


now that the greatest migrations in the history

of our race have begun because of war, climate, food

and water insecurity, and politically-based ethnic

and religious persecution, we have a duty to invent

and foster new ways of expressing human solidarity.


if we as a race, fail in that duty now, we will not

succeed in preventing an accelerated breakdown of

human society that will reap instability, fear, dread,

anger and mayhem far into the future. the suffering

and loss of life will be on a scale never before imagined.

.

a philosophaster:


a philosophaster:


has clueless disregard for opprobrium and

supports mighty, uninformed wisdoms.


has needs compounded by insecurities which

regulate paucity of purpose and find ersatz proofs.


uses obscene offensive strategies to unfairly battle

opponents for shallow, stolen pyrrhic victories.


has legions of enemies who’ve been vanquished

by loud nonsense of dilute proportion.



all at once


all at once


summer evenings lakeside, I was so thin.

at dusk we’d climb up out of the water to squat at a

muddy patch and light a fire. we’d huddle around

the little blaze with our glass ‘mason’ jars at the ready,

caps almost unscrewed. and watch the place where cattails

grew high and dense under a rocky outcrop. as the final

wedge of orange sunlight sank and darkness fell, we waited.


all at once a crowd of winking lights arose on barely seen

miniature dragon’s wings. the evening’s fireflies had come to

visit our light. we couldn’t be quiet or still, we leapt at the

nearest flicker with the mouths of our jars, hoping to capture

living, blinking light. I wasn’t as quick or accurate as some

but I wasn’t ashamed either.


a little twitch of light that darts from the confines of

the pierced metal cap to thick glass at the bottom and

then spirals right back up is a marvel to me. holding

clear glass down near the light of the fire, I can see its

tiny insect body, and tinier and tinier pulses.

I unscrew the cap and gently shake it free.


kept alive


the birds of time have but a short while to fly.

distance between birth and death cannot be

known. time is the thorn that bursts dreams,

quickly they bleed away. only a dream that is

met by a dream will endure, kept alive with love.

REBIRTH

Following are the ideas I believe about rebirth. H.H. the14th Dalai Lama has presented the ideas much more eloquently than I ever could The essay is translated from the original Tibetan. I hope readers will accept that my motivation for sharing these ideas is to simply share my beliefs, humbly.

How rebirth takes place:

There are two ways in which someone can take rebirth after death: rebirth under the sway of karma and destructive emotions and rebirth through the power of compassion and prayer.

Regarding the first, due to ignorance negative and positive karma are created and their imprints remain on the consciousness. These are reactivated through craving and grasping, propelling us into the next life.

We then take rebirth involuntarily in higher or lower realms. This is the way ordinary beings circle incessantly through existence like the turning of a wheel.

Even under such circumstances ordinary beings can engage diligently with a positive aspiration in virtuous practices in their day-to-day lives. They familiarise themselves with virtue that at the time of death can be reactivated providing the means for them to take rebirth in a higher realm of existence.

On the other hand, superior Bodhisattvas, who have attained the path of seeing, are not reborn through the force of their karma and destructive emotions, but due to the power of their compassion for sentient beings and based on their prayers to benefit others.

They are able to choose their place and time of birth as well as their future parents. Such a rebirth, which is solely for the benefit of others, is rebirth through the force of compassion and prayer.

H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama

a wide place in the road


a wide place in the road


there’s a wide place in the road ahead, it’s not too far.

it’s a place to rest for a spell with your own self alone.

after precarious curves, when steep, pent-up fears want to

rule your day and abysmal depths loom, you can park.


at that place, there’ll be time to form reluctant comraderie

with thoughts of what could have been, were it not for the

skills you displayed when danger was at its most acute,

and all was there for you to lose, but for your deft moves.


now that welcome respite’s been had, I must inform you

that it’s time to go. the road beckons you, as ever, onward.

you’ll need to be alert to navigate the capricious catenaries

that lie unforseen ahead. the journey’s not yet at its end.