Finale

(the finale)

 

the bad things, don’t do them

the good things, try to do them

try to purify, to subdue your own mind…

          the Buddha (via Thich Nhat Hanh)

___________________________________________

 

the bad things

don’t do them

don’t do things that create suffering

to yourself, to others, to the planet

 

war is a bad thing

there is no other way to put it

 

war, what is it good for?

absolutely nothing, say it again!

 

war equals suffering

 

to the good things

do them

try to walk the way of peace

(which is very difficult when a demented narcissist, egged on

 by another demented narcissist is bombing your country)

 

there is an old story that comes from the desert fathers

It seems as if two old men had lived together for many years and they had never fought with one another. The first said to the other, “Let us fight like other men.” The other replied, “I do not know how to fight.” The first said to him, “Look, I will put a brick between us and I will say: it is mine; and you will reply: no, it is mine; and so the fight will begin.” So they put a brick between them and the first said, “This brick is mine,” and the other said, “No, it is mine.” And the first replied, “If it is yours, take it and go.” So they gave it up without being able to find a cause for argument.

 

I don’t claim to know what goes on in the mind of Vladimir Putin

or the mind of Donald Trump

half the time I am not sure what is going on in mine

that causes me to do the things I do

 

but I do know that it is important to

try to purify, to subdue our minds…

 

the Buddha said it, Paul said it too

“Do not be conformed to this world,[c] but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.”  (Romans 12)

 

violence, hate,

injustice,

inequity,

voter suppression, and

toxic selfishness are not good, acceptable, and perfect

 

following, even worship

people who lie, manipulate, intimidate and punish

in order to have power

is not good acceptable and perfect

 

but here we are

with bombs falling on Kyiv

with violence creeping toward the farmlands

where once my great-great-grandparents farmed

and my great-grandparents were born

 

how do we purify our minds

so that we are not caught up in the whirlwind of hate and violence

 

our minds it seems are susceptible

to the poisons of craving, hate, and delusion (Thich Nhat Hanh)

 

when we crave power and domination, our mind is poisoned

when we hate people of other countries, creeds, colors, our mind is poisoned

when we are confused and do not see things clearly, but only see things

in the light of our individual self

our mind is poisoned

that poison makes us, and the world, ill

 

when our mind is not pure even if we want to refrain from bad things

and want to do good things we cannot

 

but when our minds are poisoned the sad truth is

we don’t want to refrain from the bad things

and the good things seem weak and powerless

 

and so, in our delusion, we call evil good and good evil

 

we can only purify our minds

when we have singleness of mind

when we mindfully look for and focus on

that which is sacred

that which is love

 

whatever our mind is full of

that is what manifests in our lives

when Sacred is manifest our lives are sacred

when love is manifest, we live love

 

it takes work

to walk the earth this way

ground and rooted in love

it is inconvenient

dangerous

and it feels as if it won’t work

 

it won’t work we if don’t try

it is not that the way of Love (Christianity)

has been tried and found wanting

it has rarely if ever been tried

 

it begins with a breath

God’s breathing into us

our breathing out the good air of Sacred Presence

 

it continues as

our minds renewed

we walk the earth mindfully

focused on Love

 

peace