What If They Scheduled a Riot and Nobody Came?

In our not-so-distant history, protest in the United States was handled by local law enforcement that treated demonstrations and marches as mere nuisance, mediating and directing as needed. Today, observing the interaction between Occupy movements and law enforcement suggests something different is afoot. Present Occupy protests are now being defined by a bewildering set of law enforcement strategies – and current practices display a worrying new trend.

While riot police are not necessarily an everyday feature at any given protest, the sheer frequency with which we are witnessing their presence on city streets throughout the United States is enough to give average citizens cause for concern; the excessive force being routinely deployed is alarming.
~ from Occupy and the Militarisation of Policing Protest by Ayesha Kazmi ~

It really has become a disquieting occurrence. On one side, we find a large (or not-so-large) crowd peaceably marching and chanting. On the other side, we see a phalanx of mainly men dressed as if headed out to Armageddon. This second group sports helmets with visors, body armor, shields, batons, and various sorts of weaponry. One side looks as if they are ready for Woodstock, while the other looks like they are preparing for World War III!

As I've noted before, this overkill in policing tactics -- which we have witnessed for nearly a decade -- is a not-so-veiled attempt by the state to goad the masses to commit random acts of violence. In some instances -- like in Oakland -- it has bore some fruit. Aggressiveness and brutality from one side tends to breed the same from the other. And this is precisely what the state wants.

It doesn't need to be wide scale retaliation either. If, despite all the goading, the main body of protesters in any given location refuses to take the bait, it only takes a small handful to achieve the desired result. If 99 individuals eschew a violent response and one solitary soul heaves a rock towards the police lines, that's the only pretense they need to brutalize the entire group.

We already know what the mainstream media will seize upon! Recently, in Oakland, there were thousands upon thousands of peaceful protesters, yet the mainstream media immediately become transfixed on the handful who threw rocks and bottles, broke windows and set fires. Hey, it's news, they chortled. We need stories that are interesting and mayhem sells!

Of course, the state cherishes the pictures of unruly mobs. Fires, broken windows and overturned police cars provides them with all the ammo they need to turn public support their way.

We need to restore order, they prattle.

These hordes are out of control, they screech.

Violent masses must be met with sanctified state violence, they declare.

We'll only misbehave for a short while, they promise, until we quell the insurrection.

Sadly, it's all a ruse. State misbehavior will become legitimized. It will become routine. It will become the expectation of the frightened masses.

Dystopia will become the new reality!

Line by Line - Verse 50, Lines 7-9

But I have heard that he who is skilful in managing the life entrusted to him for a time travels on the land without having to shun rhinoceros or tiger, and enters a host without having to avoid buff coat or sharp weapon.
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

He who knows how to live can walk abroad
Without fear of rhinoceros or tiger.
He will not be wounded in battle.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

I've heard of those who are good at cultivating life
Traveling on the road, they do not encounter rhinos or tigers
Entering into an army, they are not harmed by weapons
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

Lao Tzu used to say
a man who truly understood life
could walk through the jungle
without fear
or across a battlefield
without armor, totally unarmed.
Wild animals and weapons couldn't kill him.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

I don't know about you, but I certainly don't interpret these lines literally. If I was walking in the wild and encountered a charging rhino or tiger, I would be truly frightened. The same could be said if someone pointed a loaded gun at me!

What I think Lao Tzu is trying to get across is that, when we take care to size up the situation and circumstances in order to avoid problems BEFORE they present themselves, there is a far less chance we will encounter them later on.

For example, if a person understands the behavior and feeding patterns of wild animals, you avoid direct confrontations. You walk in the bush when they are less likely to be around. Even if you might somehow come across one, by knowing how to react to the situation, you often can escape unscathed.

To view the Index page for this series to see what you may have missed or would like to read again, go here.

Huainanzi - Entry 15

When water is polluted, fish choke; when government is harsh, people rebel.
~ a passage from The Book of Leadership and Strategy by Thomas Cleary ~

I find it so interesting that many of these quotes from the Chinese Masters dovetail so well with what is occurring throughout the world in regards to the Occupy movement. From Athens to London to New York City and so many points in between, the harshness of rampant corruption and inequality is spurring more and more people into the streets.

Just like fish in a polluted stream, we of the 99% are choking. We are trying so hard to keep our heads above the waterline, but we are being buffeted about by the debris of corporate capitalism. It pins down our arms, so that we can't swim. Each time we try to kick, our legs collide with obstacles. Even trying to float is near too impossible because the debris weighs us down.

We crave a clear stream where we can each paddle at our own pace. We crave a river with an even and steady flow. We want to have the opportunity to be able to pull out of the water to picnic on the sun-filled beach.

But those are unreachable dreams for most of us these days.

To read the introduction to this ongoing series, go here.

Chapter 5, Part 17 - Confucius

The Master said, "Tsang Wan kept a large tortoise in a house, on the capitals of the pillars of which he had hills made, and with representations of duckweed on the small pillars above the beams supporting the rafters. Of what sort was his wisdom?"
~ James Legge translation via The Internet Classics Archive ~

Go here to read the introductory post to this serialized version of the Analects of Confucius.

Daily Tao - Being

Is anything more strikingly obvious than being?
So undeniable as being?

Daily Tao is a reprint from Ta-Wan's blog, Daily Cup of Tao, which offers one post per day for an entire year. You also can read these posts in an ebook.

Nihilism

Nihilism
by Scott Bradley

Someone recently (07 Sept) commented on a post (Taking Zen To The Laundry Mat) by providing definitions of nihilism and inviting comment. Today is 09 Sept. and I comment, but when will you read this?

Nihilism is partly defined in this comment as "an extreme form of skepticism that denies all existence." My comment: Why and how could anyone "deny" all existence? If skepticism is the suspension of judgment, then no judgments are made. Not-knowing knows not. It is as simple as that. No position is taken. Nothing is fixed. Perhaps you tire of this quote, but here it is again: "The Radiance of Drift and Doubt is the sage's only map." Nihilism is a position, but the point is to have none.

Another possible definition is: "A doctrine holding that all values are baseless and that nothing can be known or communicated." My comment: All values are based on "human inclinations", and the expression of our humanity is an expression of those inclinations. But we can presume no other base; our values cannot be fixed to transcendent and eternal verities.

Zhuangzi's "Walking Two Roads" suggests that we can both live our humanity and transcend it. We go along with the values which arise from our heart, and yet we do not require that they be immutably fixed. We go with the flow of existence in acceptance of its tenuous reality, and in this way discover that we can celebrate it in "far and unfettered wandering". The wanderer has no home or known destination, but only "the vast wilds of open nowhere."

This likewise applies to knowing and communicating. I know I exist, but I also know I cannot know it. Descartes would have us believe that because we think, we are. But nothing about existence reduces to reason. The "understanding consciousness", very much a human inclination, knows lots of neat stuff and is rightfully affirmed, but must know when to stop. It must also realize that it is "peculiarly unfixed".

The final possible definition I will address is this: "Rejection of all distinctions in moral or religious value and a willingness to repudiate all previous theories of morality or religious belief." My comment: The key words here are "rejection" and "repudiate". To reject distinctions would be to make one. To repudiate a theory is to establish a theory relative to others. I am guilty of both, of course, but that is beside the point (isn't it?).

Perhaps the most telling aspect of nihilism is the -ism. It is a chosen position. It is a decision. It is a conclusion. It is a belief, just as atheism is a belief. Negation is belief.

We affirm life and this apparent reality as it appears to be, not because we know that it is, but simply because it appears to be and we appear to be in it. We live, not because we understand what it is to live, but because we live. We have values, not because they have a transcendent ground, but because we have them. We know, not because we know our knowing is sure, but because we know.

We "Walk Two Roads".

You can check out Scott's other miscellaneous writings here.

Learning to speak in the negative person

Learning to speak in the non person

The being speaks absent of person. There is no personal pronoun, there is no action then attached as no doer. This seems to be the prime Wu Wei, non doing as there is no one to do.

Life living, being happening. No one alive, no happening to anyone. No personal story, no attachment to events or things, primarily as there is no one to produce a relative.

You can check out Ta-Wan's other musings here.

Tao Bible - Isaiah 45:7

I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.
~ King James version ~

The Tao of heaven is impartial.
It stays with good men all the time.
~ from Verse 79 of the Tao Te Ching ~

Christians often like to say that evil represents a turning away from God. In this verse, however, God lays claim to evil. How could a being that encompasses love, mercy and compassion create such a thing?

Tao is beyond good and evil. The world operates through the complementary forces of yin and yang. Evil arises solely from the ego of humankind.

If you're interested in reading more from this experimental series, go to the Tao Bible Index page.

Chapter 5, Part 16 - Confucius

The Master said, "Yen P'ing knew well how to maintain friendly intercourse. The acquaintance might be long, but he showed the same respect as at first."
~ James Legge translation via The Internet Classics Archive ~

Go here to read the introductory post to this serialized version of the Analects of Confucius.

Pop! - Part 2

Pop!
by Ta-Wan

The change of perspective, which is the ultimate Enlightenment, is when we realize fully that there is no separation whatsoever between you and the world. Looking out at the world you're really seeing inside your mind. Your happiness and health are a fine reference as to what you believe you are seeing.

As nearly all people take themselves to be a separate autonomous entity in the world then they constantly suffer other people, situations, environments and the play on their minds. Minds, when observed, change and change and change, that's all they do and the average person who is lead by this never ending flux is in constant turmoil. Seeking happiness is not noticed to be the ultimate admission of sadness. Would a happy person seek happiness? No it would be the least of their concerns as they are happy so then the quest for happiness, the thought that it is just around the corner, to be brought about by that next purchase, change at work, relationship, this ongoing mind made play, is the sickness of humanity, almost epidemic and so common it is accepted as normality.

Comparison of one life to another is the game of media and the pass time of most people. The majority of conversation is “And she, then he...” and most of what people read is “So'n'so did this then So'n'so did that...” The comparison is always delivered with the confounded expression of disbelief or of admiration or some qualifying point as to how good or bad this state or action is. Look at me now even stating how “The majority of people are one way or another...” in just the same way. I do though have a purpose here and that is to awaken the reader, who is in all likelihood under this very spell, and free them of their sickness.

You can check out Ta-Wan's other musings here. If you'd like to purchase your own copy of Pop! (a small Ebook), visit the Lulu Marketplace.

Afternoon Matinee: American Propaganda - Capitalism (1948)

Fresh As

The other day I was sitting in the waiting area at my doctor's office. As usual, I seem to fixate on odd things. For a while, I was mesmerized by a or several yellow jacket[s] that kept flying into the window. I next noticed a bottle of hand sanitizer on one of the tables. In big, bold lettering, it announced that it had a fresh scent.

This got me to thinking, what exactly IS a fresh scent? I know what fresh baked cookies and bread smell like. I can easily recall the aroma of fresh-cut flowers. I can imagine the stench of a fairly fresh kill, but, in each of these cases, the freshness is defined by the being or object itself. What would just freshness -- removed from anything else -- smell like?

Beyond that, how could a hand lotion smell fresh if it was manufactured weeks, months or years ago? When I think of the word, fresh, I concurrently think of the word, recent. If someone gave me a loaf of bread that had been baked in July, I don't think either of us would describe its scent as fresh. If someone gave me an arrangement of daisies or roses that they had picked last January, I don't think either of us would describe the fragrance as fresh. So, how can hand sanitizer manufactured far away and long ago be of a fresh scent?

Finally, since the smell of freshness is a rather subjective thing, who got to decide that this hand sanitizer smells fresh and what was this determination based on?

Like I said, I fixate on odd things! ;-)

Love Makes the World Go Around

...nobody dies from lack of sex. It's lack of love we die from.
~ from The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood ~

In all candor, when I was in my 20s, the very thought of a lack of physical intimacy in later life sounded like a death sentence. I think this sentiment is typical of males and it wouldn't surprise me in the least if twenty-something females thought so as well.

In many ways, our society is over-sexed. Sexual prowess is seen as a virtue. Sensuality is utilized to sell everything from cars to clothes to toothpaste. The sex act itself is on display everywhere in almost every medium imaginable. If you don't treat copulation as one of your chief goals in life, many folks will say that something's wrong with you.

As I've aged, however, I have come to understand the point of Atwood's main character. While I certainly wouldn't deny that sexual intercourse tends to be a pleasurable experience, love is far more important. This is not to suggest that a person can't have both, but, if I had to choose one over the other, love would win out easily.

As my body continues to breakdown, physical intimacy isn't as easy to arrange as it use to be. What has surprised me is that I realize I can live without it and still be happy. I love my wife dearly and I often find it just as pleasurable sitting in the same room with her talking over the day's activities in front of a roaring fire.

I can imagine a life without much, if any, sexual gratification, but not one without the deep and abiding love of those closest to me.

Line by Line - Verse 50, Lines 4-6

There are also three in every ten whose aim is to live, but whose movements tend to the land (or place) of death. And for what reason? Because of their excessive endeavors to perpetuate life.
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

And men just passing from birth to death also number three in ten.
Why is this so?
Because they live their lives on the gross level.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

Those whose lives are moved toward death
Also three in ten
Why? Because they live lives of excess
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

Their bodies are the focus of their lives
and the source of their death,
because they think a healthy body
is all there is to life.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

Derek Lin uses the word overindulgence and John Lash uses self-gratification to underscore the meaning of these lines. When our sole focus in life is on satisfying our short and long-term desires, we tend to resemble the proverbial candle burning bright at BOTH ends simultaneously. While we may enjoy the heat, we quickly discover the flame doesn't last all that long.

To view the Index page for this series to see what you may have missed or would like to read again, go here.

In response to Andrew Cohen's New Book EVOLUTIONARY ENLIGHTENMENT: A New Path to Spiritual Awakening

In response to Andrew Cohen's New Book
EVOLUTIONARY ENLIGHTENMENT: A New Path to Spiritual Awakening
by Ta-Wan

[Note: We are frequently contacted via email by publishers who offer free copies of soon-to-be published books for review. I passed on this offer and it seems Ta-Wan has too! ~ Trey]

There are 5 main points raised in this book (which I was put off reading due to the contradictions within these points).

1) Clarity of Intention – Cultivate your own intention to transform by consciously aligning with the evolutionary impulse.

2) The Power of Volition – You are defined by the choices you make. Take responsibility for them and learn to express the best part of who you are.

3) Face Everything and Avoid Nothing – Discover the indomitable strength and freedom that come from facing reality as it is.

4) The Process Perspective – Awaken to the liberating recognition that every dimension of our human experience is part of one vast cosmic process.

5) was just mushy.

Possibly as these points were given meat in the book then there would be certain agreements between the author and myself. This is the way of these spiritual works, there are enough honeypots, that is something obvious dressed in a sweet expression to make your head nod in agreement, and then there are the little bits of bee shit, that is the authors attempt to make the work their own. Bee shit points are claims of this and that backed up with science our pseudo science, later to be proven false years after you've been bathing in honey.

1) intention
2) volition
3) face what is
4) part of one big process

Intention is future-based, something the author sees as a positive. Future-based is though where half of all people already are, they're wishing for the future while the other half regret the past.

Intention is ego-based and attached to one of humanities largest problems, desire.

Volition is the idea we can alter now or the future. You can't alter the future as it is not here and when it is it will be the now. You can't alter the now as it's already happened. Again this is ego-based.

Volition says there is someone to have volition and something to have volition over. This is ego-based and leads people to dream of the future, regret the past and attempt to alter that which is already the case. Again desire based misery.

Facing what is is in contrast to the previous points.

Facing what is is the wisest point here but is not new to this author and as said, is a honey pot in contradiction to his own bee shit.

Part of one big process will be argued by him differently in the book for sure but is he saying this process is other than you? Self and other how unhealthy a notion!

Part of one big process, can his volition and intention compete?

I'd rather not read a book where the main points raised are in contradiction with themselves.

You can check out Ta-Wan's other musings here.

Chapter 5, Part 15 - Confucius

The Master said of Tsze-ch'an that he had four of the characteristics of a superior man in his conduct of himself, he was humble; in serving his superior, he was respectful; in nourishing the people, he was kind; in ordering the people, he was just."
~ James Legge translation via The Internet Classics Archive ~

Go here to read the introductory post to this serialized version of the Analects of Confucius.

Daily Tao - Who Died?

The body rots.

The memories of you that are left behind with others, fade.

Yet you live on.

Not the body, not the mind, you were, before birth, through life and after, only ever the same. A case of mistaken identity took place and an association with body and mind resulted.

Realise who you were always and will always be. See how you cannot die.

Daily Tao is a reprint from Ta-Wan's blog, Daily Cup of Tao, which offers one post per day for an entire year. You also can read these posts in an ebook.

Thinking Of You

Thinking Of You
by Scott Bradley

I have mentioned that each morning I spend time reflecting, for lack of a better word. That is also when I write these posts. And this is a problem. No, you are the problem. No, I am the problem. The problem is that I am thinking of you and these posts addressed to you. But there is a more pressing need. I need to be thinking about myself. No, I need to be experiencing that something that is myself, yet is beyond my self. But as long as my mind is directed to the external, posts and 'you', this cannot happen. Nor can it happen when I am thinking about myself.

I have previously discussed this problem of external and internal dependence in connection with Zhuangzi's "far and unfettered wandering". Our first tendency is to relate to ourselves with reference to others. What do they think of me? Who am I in the world? It is a step forward, sort of speak, to cease to care about the opinions of others, and to refer oneself to oneself. What do I think of myself? But this is a movement from one dependence to another. But what if, Zhuangzi asks us, we could depend on no referential opinion at all? What if we depended on nothing at all, but simply released ourselves into the Vastness, free of all judgment and opinion of self or others? That would be freedom, indeed.

All this referential thinking is essentially the same; it is thinking. And thinking is not primary experience. And this is why all traditions with a mystical bent emphasize the need to free oneself from the ceaseless flow of thought. Some seek no-thought-at-all. Others seek instead to simply be other-than-the-flow-of thought, which flows nonetheless. I just muddle along with occasional glimpses of life outside the "understanding mind".

Were I perched upon the very cusp of "unexcelled, irreversible enlightenment" I would probably think about it, first with reference to myself ("I am experiencing this!"), and then with reference to you and a post. And thus, would the experience cease.

The solution to this 'problem' is not to stop writing posts, or even to try and stop thinking of myself and you. The thinking would go on in any case. The first step is to realize that I do, in fact, live in that very narrow space that Zhuangzi calls the "understanding mind". Our human reality is simply a great deal more than this.

The second step...well, I just muddle along.

You can check out Scott's writings on Zhuangzi here.

Tao Bible - Isaiah 45:5

I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me
~ King James version ~

Therefore the sage works without recognition.
He achieves what has to be done without dwelling on it.
He does not try to show his knowledge.
~ from Verse 77 of the Tao Te Ching ~

Here we have yet another example of God's vanity. He constantly has this insatiable desire to thump his chest, so to speak. It's not enough that he is lord of all, but he has to announce it and rub people's faces in it.

Vanity springs from the ego. It comes from our desire to prove that we are more worthy or important than others. Neither Tao nor the sages feel the need to promote themselves. They do what needs to be done and then move on.

If you're interested in reading more from this experimental series, go to the Tao Bible Index page.

Chapter 5, Part 14 - Confucius

Tsze-kung asked, saying, "On what ground did Kung-wan get that title of Wan?"

The Master said, "He was of an active nature and yet fond of learning, and he was not ashamed to ask and learn of his inferiors! On these grounds he has been styled Wan."
~ James Legge translation via The Internet Classics Archive ~

Go here to read the introductory post to this serialized version of the Analects of Confucius.