Foundation
If you don't give a damn about spirituality and woo-woo stuff than skip this page it's not for you.
--this page still very much a work in process--
Of course I don't suggest my way of thinking for anyone else, I only ask that you consider whether I'm a reasonable person, justified in representing you in the US Government.
Love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus, Krishna, The Buddha, Lili’uokalani, it's a popular theme.
Maybe 4 years ago, sometime after my second divorce I came across the Tao Te Ching. A Chinese text only 81 very short chapters. It's a 1 hour read. In it I saw the same thing Jesus was saying but from the perspective of ancient Chinese culture rather than Jesus' Hebrew background. Listen to Wayne W. Dyer reading the Tao Te Ching on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Fk8ldivh7uI?si=tmkQCZN7YYrngwc6
Lao-tzu speaks of three treasures worth holding onto: compassion, moderation, and humility. — Tao Te Ching, Chapter 67
From compassion comes courage. From moderation comes generosity. From humility comes true leadership. My instinct that Jesus and Lao-tzu were saying the same thing led me to a Tao Te Ching online discussion group. The group still meets the second Sunday of every month. But lately I've been out by the highway wagging political signs at that hour.
Later I read the Bhagavad Gita. A holy book from India. Poem actually though it doesn't rhyme in English. In it there's a stage for a battle and our protagonist, Arjuna, a mighty warrior prince starts to feel grief about the thought of killing all those people arrayed against his army and considers bowing out of the fight. His charioteer, Krishna, helps him to understand that backing away from a just confrontation is wrong. That's what puts the fire in my belly today. The battle against fascism is a just confrontation. I will take it on.
And this:
"He who has let go of hatred, who treats all beings with kindness and compassion, who is always serene, unmoved by pain or pleasure." — Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 12, Verses 13
Then I read Thich Nhat Hanh's book "The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching" I also learned to calm my mind thru meditation. The last couple of years I sit Zazen (Buddhist style sitting meditation) for about ten minutes each morning. It helps me to think more clearly the rest of the day.
And finally,
“I could not turn back the time for the political change, but there is still time to save our heritage. You must remember never to cease to act because you fear you may fail. The way to lose any earthly kingdom is to be inflexible, intolerant, and prejudicial. Another way is to be too flexible, tolerant of too many wrongs and without judgment at all. It is a razors edge. It is the width of a blade of pili grass. To gain the kingdom of heaven is to hear what is not said, to see what cannot be seen, and to know the unknowable - that is Aloha. All things in this world are two; in heaven there is but one”
Lili’uokalani, 1917
Radical Equanimity
Equanimity isn't a word I was familiar with before studying Thich Nhat Hahn's book on Buddhism. It is one of Buddhism's Four Immutable Minds.
Loving-kindness — The sincere wish for all beings to be happy.
Compassion — The wish for all beings to be free from suffering.
Joy — The capacity to genuinely celebrate the happiness and good fortune of others.
Equanimity — Neither grasping nor aversion. Not being concerned with the results of my actions, only doing the right thing.
In me equanimity relates to a verse in the bible
and from the Bhagavad Gita...
"You have a right to your actions, but never to your actions' fruits." — Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2, Verse 47
Do not let the fear of losing stop you from doing what needs to be done.
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James 4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is a sin.
Matthew 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Matthew 22:38 This is the first and great commandment.
Matthew 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Matthew 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
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John 15:12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
John 15:14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
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John 15:17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.
In all four of these cultures the bottom line is
Righteousness can be defined simply as loving my neighbor as myself. It's Aloha.
They're all talking about the same God whether you call him Jehovah, Krishna, the Tao, or just I AM.
Exodus 3:14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.
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If I don't put myself above another than we can live in harmony. This old hippy has a place in our government today.
Again, I don't ask anybody to see things my way, only to accept my foundation as reasonable.
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_WEBMASTER NOTES: _
_Bible quotes use King James Version (KJV). _
_Tao Te Ching — Lao-tzu, translation by Stephen Mitchell. _
Bhagavad Gita — translation by Stephen Mitchell.
Attribution note to Thich Nhat Hanh's book The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching
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