Thursday, January 3, 2008

Poetry

Their proud snarling faces with curling lips
Smile at me with their contempt
So vile so subtle- it is death
Their pleasantries and small talk
Sting and strike me at my very core
I cannot speak their language, their double speak, their lies
My tongue struck dumb like Echo the Oread in their presence, only able to repeat their last words
Their interest lies within themselves and does not extend past their up turned noses
They drink in the delicious stench of my squirming taciturn (muted) agony
My pain burns unquenchable-the smoke fills their nostrils
Their eyes aglow with the power they have over me
I would welcome the sparks from their pain like twinkling lights
Their deaths would not provoke in me the tiniest sympathy
They are wooden-hollow.
They are like me?

Jesus vs. Buddha

Ok so the other day my boyfriend and I got into an argument. I said something to the effect that he should pray to Jesus for something or other and he said, "No, I’d rather pray to Buddha". And for some reason this really bothered me. Now keep in mind I am not a hardcore Christian, I don’t go to church, and I don’t really read the bible but what he said upset me. And I thought "Why would you choose Buddha over Jesus". Not to say that I think that Jesus is better than Buddha because I believe that all religions are equally good and that all religious Gods/lesser deities/prophets/etc. are equally good and are reflections of the one true "God" which is the unnameable force at work in the universe that goes by many names by many different religions. Moreover, not only are all the worlds prophets and deities reflections of the same god but we human beings are also reflections of God. So I am god, you are god, the bum on the street is god, etc. But I realized the thing that bothered me was not the idea the he would pray to Buddha over Jesus or anyone else but the notion that Jesus was not a God. Upon further discussion my boyfriend pointed out that he believed that either all religious beings are Gods or none of them are, and he was operating under the principle that none of them were gods. So after some more debate he and I came to the conclusion that we would consider all religious beings as God’s. Now I don’t claim to know the answers because if I did I wouldn’t know anything at all but to me this seems to make the most sense so I’m gonna stick with it.

Simple Stuff

I took a moment today at around 3 in the morning while laying in bed to realize just how often I think about myself. I sit around all day long thinking about shoes, or purses or clothes that I want to buy, or how I look, or what people will think about me. And even when I think about other people it is usually in relation to how they and/or their actions will affect me. And I don’t think that I am a particularly unusual specimen in this respect. Take a moment to think about your own lives and how much you think about yourself. Go ahead think about it…….see what I mean? So I spontaneously remembered a moment in my life when I wasn’t thinking about myself and the person that I was thinking about was of no particular importance to me whatsoever other than the fact that this stranger touched my life in a profound and unusual way. I remember driving to my boyfriend’s house on a warm summer day and I saw an old man walking his dog. Pretty normal right? But the odd thing was that the dog didn’t have a regular collar and leash that you would get at PetSmart or wherever, it just had a piece of rope tied loosely around its neck. Now I don’t know why but for some reason this image of an old man walking his dog with a piece of rope as a leash with the sun beaming down on them was so profoundly moving that I still am bowled over by it today. And I cannot for the life of me understand why it moves me so much other than the fact that the scene was so pure and simple in every way. And that perfect moment in time has stayed with me to this day and is more important than the thought of any purse or pair of shoes or bit of celebrity gossip. And that makes me smile.

The Tao

I find myself reading the Tao Te Ching very often of late and I find that I much prefer it to the Bible (heresy!). Personally, I believe that all world religions are equally good paths to the same source whether that source is called God, the Tao, Allah, Yahweh, etc. They are like rivers leading to the sea. To be honest though, in this Judeo-Christian society I have always felt like somewhat of an outcast for not embracing Christianity as vehemently as others. But when reading the Bible I simply am unable to decipher the meaning or the truth behind it, not to say that it isn't there but perhaps I am simply to dense to see it! In contrast I find the Tao Te Ching to be simple and straightforward. It is easy to find the meaning because you do not have to sift through the layers of a story, rather you absorb the chapter and you spontaneously understand it. Not that you can really understand the Tao because if you claim to understand it then you do not understand it at all. Sounds quite paradoxical doesn't it? Rest easy because I think if you read it you will "absorb" what I'm saying.

Welcome Welcome

Hello interweb users! I have created my first blog, cheers to me! I realized that there are many folks out there with blogs these days and I have even read a few. I have found that so many blogs are used by people to highlight their daily accomplishments and say "Hey look how great my life is!". To me this is not what a blog should be for, so I will not bore you with my day to day routine or any "see how much better I am than you" nonsense. Instead, I am here simply to share myself; little bits of my existence that might correspond to your life and that might be useful. Enjoy!