A Pragmatic Non-Religious Life

 Reasons for living one's life without religious interference.

Living a Good Life Without God
A freethinker's ruminations.
A Practical and Pragmatic Persons Views on Religions

1. Since religions have little scientific, technological, or practical daily life value, you just don't need to bother with them.  For examples: If you needed good medical advice about a proper lifestyle for coping with Type II diabetes, see a competent doctor; and the Bible is useless for this advice. I you needed information on repairing your bicycle chain, don't waste your time reading the Koran. I you want to know how to create and care for an orchard, the Bagjavagita would be useless.  If you wanted to learn a foreign language, reading the Book of Mormon would unnecessary. If you needed to improve you mathematical skills, consulting the Pranjaparamitra Sutra would be useless.

Religious works are filled with stories and fictional tales of ancient tribal peoples, just like some fictional literary works. They might be pleasant leisure diversions, but have little or no substantive practical value.

2. Don't waste your time going to religious services at a Church or Temple. You have heard all these theology stories in the past, read about them in childhood, and listened to preachers splitting theological hairs and repeating the same old stories over and over, year after year. Why use your limited time listening again and again to the same old sermons? It is a non-productive use of your limited leisure hours; like seeing the same old situation comedy over again, watching football games for hours on end, or watching the "News" on TV for many hours. Get off you butt, take a walk, or garden, or practice on your piano, or read a science book. Don't be a passive listener, a dolt in a pew, a dullar sponge of a mind. Free yourself from boring indoctrination by preachers and priests telling you what and how to think. Quietly laugh at their threats, and never return. Think of how many thousands of hours saved for worthy practical and enjoyable pursuits by just not attending any church or temple meetings. 

3. You don't have enough money to give to religious organizations that have little value in your personal, daily, and social life. Don't pay for religious tax free buildings, and put some more money on your own mortgage. Don't fatten the wallets of wealthy preachers and priests, invest your money, or help a friend or somebody struggling. Don't pay for religious pre-schools that indoctrinate little children with absurd ideas. Don't give money to religious institutions that want to control politics, make everyone follow their own lifestyle, advocate violence and hate towards peaceful people of other religious or ideologies. Financially helping hospitals, food banks, libraries, public schools, rest homes, the homeless, children's music programs and sports teams might be a few good alternatives for you expenditures. What would be more useful to your community, a new up-to-date hospital or another church building? Improve your own family home before giving any money to an old worn corner church with few members that have rather rigid opinions about how everyone should live their version of a "moral" and 'godly' life.

4. Don't bother arguing with religious people. They  have been indoctrinated since childhood in the habitual thinking of their parent's religion.  Such habits of thought are seldom changed by talking with non-religious persons. Just mentioning to them that you just don't find religion very useful or practical is enough on your part. Don't let them preach to you or try to convert you; tell them that you are just not interested. Save yourself the time and trouble. 

5. Be skeptical of anyone who acts like they know it all, possess the one truth, speaks with with an attitude of unquestioned absolute authority, and claims to know an invisible god's thoughts. Beware of preachers and priests with spiritual insights and opinions that cannot be questioned. Don't be fooled by "Mysteries" that surpass human understanding. Don't let dramatic and clever preaching get in the way of clear understanding and reasoning. Find other thinkers to read and listen to that have some humility, some practical ideas, some generous humanity, know about limits, and have some common sense.

6. Religious people can become fanatical, mean, and violent. History provides ample horrible evidence for this claim. Avoid and do not in any way support these people.

7. Religious hypocrites talk on an on about the terrible dangers of secularism, modernism, and consumerism. Yet they live just like everyone else in our modern society. Be suspicious of holier-than-thou hypocrites, and wealthy preachers railing against secularism.

8.  Beware of any religious organization that is male dominated, supports macho attitudes, denies women rights, has only male leaders and elders and speakers, keeps women in the back of the church, and encourages male domination over women. Half the population everywhere are women. Don't give your money or time to religious organizations that denigrate and subordinate women.  Such behavior is impractical, unfair, unkind, and spiritually limiting. Support equal education for women, women's rights, and support women in leadership roles in our community. 

9. Being Non-Religious does not mean being Anti-Religious. There are decent people with religious beliefs that you can share your life with. Tolerance, pluralism, compassion, and friendship are good to share with everyone. Yes, there are some extremist religious fanatics you should avoid, shun, and be cautious around. But don't let the bad apples ruin the apple harvest. It is best for us just to avoid and not participate with religious rituals, organizations, and believers rather than persecute and or harass them.  Let the few great writers and orators, like the New Atheists, present the articulate arguments against the negative impacts of religion.

10. Don't Ask, Don't Tell.  Keep your spiritual and philosophical opinions to yourself in daily life. In America, religious people might hamper your success in work and business or public service if they know about your non-religious views.  Speak in general humanistic ethical ways, and avoid references to religious views in your daily ordinary life. Be neutral.  Don't proselytize for non-religious views amongst your ordinary daily contacts with people. 

11. Lead by example.  Make your lifestyle and thinking a model for others seeking alternatives to religious indoctrination and authoritarianism and magical irrelevance. Consult my "How to Live a Good Life: Advice from Wise and Respected Persons" for ample information on a viable humanistic lifestyle for the 21st Century.

he Little Book of Humanism: Universal Lessons on Finding Purpose, Meaning and Joy. By Andrew Copson and Alice Roberts. Piatkus, 2022, 256 pages. VSCL, Hardbound.

Humanly Possible: Seven Hundred Years of Humanist Freethinking, Inquiry and Hope. Penguin Press, 2023, 454 pages. VSCL, Paperback.

American Humanist Association

Humanists of Greater Portland, Oregon

Good Without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe.  By Greg M. Epstein, Humanist Chaplain at Harvard University.  William Morrow, 2009, 250 pages. FVRL, Hardbound. Outstanding presentation!

Cultivating Taste

Repost from October 2022

I have been reading books by and about John Dewey (1859-1952).  I favor many of the positions of the American Pragmatist philosophers.  

The mind-Body arts and disciplines I practice and write about are useful for maintaining fitness and good health, helping with self-defense at a number of levels, encouraging oneself and others to be peaceful and calm, reducing anxieties and tension, balancing internal forces, opening one up to interesting cultural and philosophical Eastern traditions, and having a dignity and beauty associated with their practice.  I judge them to be "good," and exemplars of "good taste."  They seem right and noble to me, based on broader judgments as to value, and not just my personal preferences or habits.       

"Well, a vast number of our moral perceptions also are certainly of this secondary and brain‑born kind. They deal with directly felt fitnesses between things, and often fly in the teeth of all the prepossessions of habit and presumptions of utility. The moment you get beyond the coarser and more commonplace moral maxims, the Decalogues and Poor Richard's Almanacs, you fall into schemes and positions which to the eye of common‑sense are fantastic and overstrained. The sense for abstract justice which some persons have is as eccentric a variation, from the natural-history point of view, as is the passion for music or for the higher philosophical consistencies which consumes the soul of others. The feeling of the inward dignity of certain spiritual attitudes, as peace, serenity, simplicity, veracity; and of the essential vulgarity of others, as querulousness, anxiety, egoistic fussiness, etc‑-are quite inexplicable except by an innate preference of the more ideal attitude for its own pure sake. The nobler thing tastes better, and that is all that we can say. “Experience” of consequences  may truly teach us what things are wicked, but what have consequences to do with what is mean and vulgar?"  ....


"The word "taste" has perhaps got too completely associated with arbitrary liking to express the nature of judgments of value. But if the word be used in the sense of an appreciation at once cultivated and active, one may say that the  formation of taste is the chief matter wherever values enter in, whether intellectual, aesthetic or moral.  Relatively immediate judgments, which we call tact or to which we give the name of intuition, do not precede reflective inquiry, but are the funded products of much thoughtful experience. Expertness of taste is at once the result and the reward of constant exercise of thinking.  Instead of there being no disputing about tastes, they are the one thing worth disputing about, if by "dispute" is signified discussion involving reflective inquiry.  Taste, if we use the word in its best sense, is the outcome of experience brought cumulatively to bear on the intelligent appreciation of the real worth of likings and enjoyments.  There is nothing in which a person so completely reveals himself as in the things which he judges enjoyable and desirable, Such judgments are the sole alternative to the domination of belief by impulse, chance, blind habit and self-interest. The formation of a cultivated and effectively operative good judgment or taste with respect to what is aesthetically admirable, intellectually acceptable and morally approvable is the supreme task set to human beings by the incidents of experience."
-  John Dewey, The Construction of Good in the Quest for Certainty, 1929

Buddhist Understanding and Advice

Dharmapada Sutra


Verse 245 (18:245)
245. Life seems hard for one who ever seeks purity, is detached and humble, is pure and reflective. Narada 1959

245. But life is hard to live for a modest man, who always looks for what is pure, who is disinterested, quiet, spotless, and intelligent. Muller 1881

245. Life is hard for the modest, the lover of purity, the disinterested and simple and clean, the man of insight. Wagiswara 1912

Verse 24 (2:24) (II:24) 

The glory groweth Of one who is aroused and recollecting. Clean of deed, considerate in his doing. Restrained, righteous in life, and earnest.
- Edmunds 1902

Great grows the glory of him who is zealous in meditation, whose actions are pure and deliberate, whose life is calm and righteous and
full of vigor.   - Wagiswara 1912

The man who is strenuous, mindful, of pure conduct, and careful, who restrains himself, who acts after due deliberations and practices
Right Livelihood, becomes famous.   - Jung 2009

Energetic, alert, pure in deed, careful in action, self-controlled, living in accord with truth, the vigilant one will rise in repute.   - Cleary 1994

One who is energetic, mindful, pure in deed, considerate, self-controlled, right living shall arise in glory.   - Narada 1959

For the person of energy, thoughtfulness,
pure conduct, considerate action,
restraint, wholesome living, and diligence,
glory increases.   - Wallis 2007

If an earnest person has roused himself, if he is not forgetful, if his deeds are pure, if he acts with consideration, if he restrains himself,
and lives according to law, then his glory will increase.
- Muller 1881


Buddhism

Philosophy

Lessons from Paulo Coelho

 I found this information about Paulo Coelho on a recent post to Facebook.  Since I have not read this book, I am unsure as to the correctness of this post.  However, it does fit with the messages of positive psychology and practical philosophy that I have studied by other authors.  

How to Live a Good Life: Advice from Wise Persons
Compiled by Michael P. Garofalo

 

 

10 Top Lessons
From he Book The Alchemist

A book by Paulo Coelho

1. Fear is a bigger obstacle than the obstacle itself

"Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself.

And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams."

Any new pursuit requires entering uncharted territory -- that's scary. But with any great risk comes great reward.

The experiences you gain in pursuing your dream will make it all worthwhile.

2. What is "true" will always endure

"If what one finds is made of pure matter, it will never spoil. And one can always come back.

If what you had found was only a moment of light, like the explosion of a star, you would find nothing on your return."

~ Truth cannot be veiled by smoke and mirrors -- it will always stand firm.

~ When you're searching for the "right" decision, it will be the one that withstands the tests of time and the weight of scrutiny.

3. Break the monotony

"When each day is the same as the next, it's because people fail to recognize the good things that happen in their lives every day that the sun rises."

~ Gratitude is the practice of finding the good in each day.

~ Life can easily become stagnant, mundane, and monotonous, but that changes depending on what we choose to see.

~ There's always a silver lining, if you look for it.

4. Embrace the present

"Because I don't live in either my past or my future. I'm interested only in the present.

If you can concentrate always on the present, you'll be a happy man."

~ There's no point dwelling in the past and letting it define you, nor getting lost and anxious about the future. But in the present moment, you're in the field of possibility

~ How you engage with the present moment will direct your life.

5. Your success has a ripple-effect

"That's what alchemists do. They show that, when we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better, too."

~ Growth, change, and evolution are weaved into the fabric of reality.

~ Becoming a better version of yourself creates a ripple effect that benefits everything around you: your lifestyle, your family, your friends, your community.

6. Make the decision

"When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he has never dreamed of when he first made the decision."

~ It's easy to get overwhelmed by the unknowns and finer details of your dreams.

~ Actions will flow out of having confidence in your decision; sitting on the fence will get you nowhere.

7. Be unrealistic

"I see the world in terms of what I would like to see happen, not what actually does."

~ Some of the greatest inventions would not have happened if people chose to accept the world as it is.

~ Great achievements and innovations begin with a mindset that ignores the impossible.

8. Keep getting back up

"The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times."

Because the eighth time could be your breakthrough.

Some of the greatest novels in history were published after receiving hundreds of rejections. Thankfully, those authors never gave up.

9. Focus on your own journey

"If someone isn't what others want them to be, the others become angry.

Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own."

~ It's easy to be influenced by others, but you'll be miserable if you end up living someone else's life.

~ There's nothing wrong with taking advice and learning from others, but make sure it aligns with your desires and passions.

10. Always take action

"There is only one way to learn. It's through action. 

 

Sixteen Bodhisattva Precepts

 

The Sixteen Bodhisattva Precepts

The Sixteen Bodhisattva Precepts are an essential part of Zen practice. They are taken in ordinations and recited at other ceremonies such as weddings and funerals, as well as every month in the renewal of vows during Full Moon Ceremonies. One translation commonly used at Zen Center is given below.

 

Three Refuges
I take refuge in Buddha
before all beings,
immersing body and mind
deeply in the Way,
awakening true mind.

I take refuge in Dharma
before all beings,
entering deeply the merciful ocean
of Buddha's Way.

I take refuge in Sangha
before all beings,
bringing harmony to everyone,
free from hindrance.

Three Pure Precepts
I vow to refrain from all evil.
I vow to make every effort to live in enlightenment.
I vow to live and be lived for the benefit of all beings.

Ten Grave Precepts
I vow not to kill.
I vow not to take what is not given.
I vow not to misuse sexuality.
I vow to refrain from false speech.
I vow to refrain from intoxicants.
I vow not to slander.
I vow not to praise self at the expense of others.
I vow not to be avaricious.
I vow not to harbor ill will.
I vow not to disparage the Three Treasures.

Virtue Ethics

 

 

Yamas and Niyamas of Hinduism

Yamas:  Moral Observances and Restraints

 

1.  Nonviolence, Not Harming, Not Killing   Ahimsa 

2.  Truthfulness, Not Lying, Not Gossiping, Good Speech   Satya 

3.  Not Stealing, Paying Debts, Not Gambling, Keeping Promises, Not Wasting   Asteya 

4.  Divine Conduct, Immersed in Divinity, Celibacy, Following Marriage Vows   Brahmacharya

5.  Patience, Restraining Intolerance, Don't Argue, Slow Down   Kahama

6.  Steadfastness, Persistence, Perseverance, Industriousness   Dhriti  

7.  Compassion, Kindness, Helpfulness   Daya

8.  Honest, Law Abiding, Not Cheating, Fair   Arjava

9.  Moderation, Proper Eating, Simplicity, Not Greedy   Mithara and Aparigraha 

10.  Purity, Cleanliness, Proper Language, Keep Good Company   Saucha

 

Niyamas:  Spiritual Practices, Religious Observances, Values

 

1.  Remorse, Humility, Apologize, Acknowledge Wrongdoing, Correct Your Faults   Hri

2.  Contentment, Serenity, Gratitude, Simplicity, Following Spiritual Values   Santosha 

3.  Giving, Charity, Liberality, Volunteer, Support Worthwhile and Spiritual Causes   Dana

4.  Faith   Astikya 

5.  Worship, Surrender to God, Love of God   Ishvara Pujana 

6.  Scriptural Listening   Sidhanta Shravana

7.  Cognition, Self-Study, Meditation, Seek Knowledge, Follow Guru   Mati  and Svadhyaya

8.  Sacred Vows   Vrata

9.  Recitation   Japa

10.  Austerity, Fervor, Effort, Work, Energy   Tapas 

 

-   Yamas and Niyamas

    From the Indian scriptures, The Upanishads: Shandilya and the Varuha.

    From 600-100 BCE

    Hinduism's Code of Conduct

 

    See also Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra, Circa 2nd Century CE

    (Yoga Sutra, Verses 2:30 – 2:34.)

 

Don't Do Unto Others

                      The Fireplace Records, Chapter 33

Don't Do Unto Others

An acquaintance of mine, a devout Catholic, ends all his email letters with "Love, Arthur."

He has frequently mentioned the Biblical verse "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." (Matthew 22: 38)  Love and loving phrases pepper his conversations. 

My underlying feeling was that these references to "love" were rather insincere and somewhat ungrounded, since I could not understand how two people with radically different opinions about life, religion, and politics could actually "love" one another; socialize and tolerate maybe, but "love," unlikely.  

In my teenage years, I questioned how this verse would apply to people who don't like themselves, hate themself, are ashamed of themself, denigrate themself, or don't love themselves in the slightest, etc. They would seem quite handicapped or incapable of loving their neighbor, insofar as they don't love themselves. On the opposite side, self-respect and self-love has some positive connotations, and can lead to loving others; however, carried to excess it becomes flawed and appears as egotism and narcissism.

I grew up in East Los Angeles, in the Bandini Barrio, for 20 years. It was a low income suburban LA neighborhood. I had a few friends and some good neighbors. However, as with most suburban neighborhoods, I did not know or have any relationships with 96% of my neighbors. I did not love them, nor did I have any opinion or emotion regarding them other than live and let live, let's stay at peace, and mind your own business. "Loving" them was not my concern; and, I had no ill will towards people I did not know. 

I also read, "In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you." (Matthew 7:12) If I wanted hard drugs, does this mean I should give or sell hard drugs to others? If I thought I should be severely punished if I chose not to follow Catholic doctrines, does this give me license to severely punish non-believers? If someone liked perverted sexual play, should they being doing these acts with others? Knowing that others have cheated me, should I cheat others? This moral maxim had some good applications; and, some bad/evil/wrong/destructive applications.  

In high school in 1961, I read Confucian texts.  I came across the Confucian maxim "Don't do to others what you don't want done to you." (Analects, V. 12, VI. 30, 500 BCE)  This ethical/moral/behavioral advice seemed to resonate with me more than the Christian advice. I thought I could apply this maxim more effectively in my daily life with the many people I encountered but did not know, or love. It was a way of caring for others by not harming them. I have tied to follow this practical maxim for six decades.

Comments, Sources, Observations

Gold is malleable, soft, valued, and long lasting; but, limited in other ways.
Rather than a ruler of gold, a flexible cloth tape is more practical.
Rules are useful if properly and intelligently applied.
Acknowledging exceptions to rules is a good rule to apply sometimes. 
The disadvantages loving yourself to excess are numerous.
"Love" is often just another boring cliche, a charming metaphor.
A church sign says "God is Love!" The Devil also loves his work.
Liking, preferring, and loving are cousins, sometimes distant cousins.
Yes, gold is valuable; but of what value is this value?

"Love" is rarely mentioned in Zen Koans; maybe 6 times out of 1,975 Koans. Egoistic-restraint, kindness without reciprocity, control of desires, patience, gentleness, helpfulness, asceticism, toughening, and wisdom are emphasized more.  

Golden Rule - Wikipedia

Ten Reasons Why Self-Love is Bad

Refer to my Cloud Hands Blog Posts on the topic of Koans/Stories. 

Subject Index to 1,975 Zen Buddhist Koans

Zen Buddhist Koans: Indexes, Bibliography, Commentary, Information

The Daodejing by Laozi

Pulling Onions  Over 1,043 One-line Sayings by Mike Garofalo

Chinese Chan Buddhist and Taoist Stories and Koans

The Fireplace Records  By Michael P. Garofalo

Ten Golden Rules

 Ten Golden Rules for Living the Good Life

  
“1. Examine life, engage life with vengeance; always search for new pleasures and new destines to reach with your mind.

 2.  Worry only about the things that are in your control, the things that can be influenced and changed by your actions, not about the things that are beyond your capacity to direct or alter.  

 3.  Treasure Friendship, the reciprocal attachment that fills the need for affiliation. Friendship cannot be acquired in the market place, but must be nurtured and treasured in relations imbued with trust and amity.  

 4.  Experience True Pleasure. Avoid shallow and transient pleasures. Keep your life simple. Seek calming pleasures that contribute to peace of mind. True pleasure is disciplined and restrained.  

 5.  Master Yourself. Resist any external force that might delimit thought and action; stop deceiving yourself, believing only what is personally useful and convenient; complete liberty necessitates a struggle within, a battle to subdue negative psychological and spiritual forces that preclude a healthy existence; self mastery requires ruthless cador.  

 6.  Avoid Excess. Live life in harmony and balance. Avoid excesses. Even good things, pursued or attained without moderation, can become a source of misery and suffering.  

 7.  Be a Responsible Human Being. Approach yourself with honesty and thoroughness; maintain a kind of spiritual hygiene; stop the blame-shifting for your errors and shortcomings.  

 8.  Don’t Be a Prosperous Fool. Prosperity by itself, is not a cure-all against an ill-led life, and may be a source of dangerous foolishness. Money is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for the good life, for happiness and wisdom.  

 9.  Don’t Do Evil to Others. Evildoing is a dangerous habit, a kind of reflex too quickly resorted to and too easily justified that has a lasting and damaging effect upon the quest for the good life. Harming others claims two victims—the receiver of the harm, and the victimizer, the one who does harm.  

 10.  Kindness towards others tends to be rewarded. Kindness to others is a good habit that supports and reinforces the quest for the good life. Helping others bestows a sense of satisfaction that has two beneficiaries—the beneficiary, the receiver of the help, and the benefactor, the one who provides the help.” 

-   By M. A. Soupious and Panos Mourdoukoutas, The Ten Golden Rules: Ancient Wisdom from the Greek Philosophers on Living the Good Life, 2009. 

Epicureanism

How to Live a Good Life: Advice From Wise Persons

Hedonism, Utilitarianism

Crying on Memorial Day

A repost from May of 2017:

Today is an American holiday called 'Memorial Day.'  It is a day to remember American soldiers who were injured or died in wars of the past.  Yes, sometimes fighting in wars is necessary in self-defense; but, still an evil and not to be glorified.  

Even the god Krishna tried to convince Arjuna (a professional soldier) in the Bhavagad Gita that fighting and killing were a duty and necessity.  The Bible and Koran tell of how "God" slaughters people, and how murder is acceptable to punish "sinners" and non-believers. Fervent religious people are often quite pleased with killing other people.  

Scores of millions of people have died in the many useless, stupid, tragic, horrible, cruel, and crushing wars of the past. Most of the men that started or fought in these destructive rampages where merely pawns in the hands of nations or dogmas or greed or dictators or petty warlords.  There were a few heroes, and many evil men, and mostly just extremely scared soldiers and civilians crying and screaming as the bombs exploded and bullets whizzed by and their loved ones and friends were torn apart and murdered.  60 million people died because of World War II.  

So, let us instead remember on this Memorial Day to celebrate the real joy that everyone felt when we heard "The War Has Ended" and people could live again in peace.  Let us remember the millions of civilians slaughtered by soldiers marching under ten different flags.

I recommend that we adopt an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to Limit the War Making Powers of the U.S. Government. 


I served in the United States Air Force from 1969-1973.  I served because the United States forced men of my age, through "The Draft," to serve in the Vietnam War.  Penalties, social ostracism, and imprisonment were imposed on young men if they did not "serve their country" in the military.  I had been indoctrinated in my youth in Catholic Schools to hate communists and have few moral reservations about killing atheistic communists.  Again, sadly, we were merely pawns in the hands of nations or dogmas or ideology or religions or greed or dictators or petty warlords.  

When I hear women and men talking these days about how we need to fight and kill those cruel Islamist ISIS brutes in the Middle East, and that Mr. Trump is going to get "tough" and greatly increase military spending, this worries me greatly.  These war mongering nationalists very likely never gave one single hour of their life in being a soldier and/or seeing and smelling the carnage of battle.  They fret about Jidhadists 20,000 miles away, and ignore the fact that over 100,000 people are shot each year in America by Americans.    

Peace and Memorials to Peace, Less Thinking about War "Heroes."  

Beware of worshiping flags, signs, emblems, and symbols.  We, and every nation, including our "enemies," indoctrinates its ruled population to stand up and show worshipful reverence to their own nation's flags and favored religious symbols and fallen soldiers and heroes.  On Memorial Day the graves of dead soldiers in America are decorated with U.S. flags and the Christian cross and gunfire salutes to their following orders.  But, remember, the map is not the territory.   

Before you get too worked this Memorial Day about our military "heroes," our brave fighting men, our courageous soldiers ... please recall just a few of the cruel acts they did to earn such glorious distinctions, to wit:


"On March 9, 1945, United States military warplanes launched a bombing offensive against Japan, dropping 2,000 tons of incendiary bombs on Tokyo over the course of the next 48 hours. Almost 16 square miles in and around the Japanese capital were incinerated, and between 80,000 and 130,000 Japanese civilians were killed in the worst single firestorm in recorded history."  

 

The United States military, during Operation Rolling Thunder, killed over 90,000 civilians in North Vietnam from 1965-1968.  Listen to a "heroic" professional U.S. soldier tell of "silencing" the Hanoi defenses to rescue one downed pilot, and the "business" of war.  

On February 14, 1945, the United States military dropped 3,900 tons of bombs on the city of Dresden in Germany, and killed over 25,000 civilians.

The United States military dropped atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 and killed over 129,000 civilians.  

The United States military killed over 550,000 civilians in North and South Vietnam from bombing, artillery attacks, and heavy weapons attacks.

And, in 2003, we made a "mistake" about Iraq having any weapons
of mass destruction and for having anything to do with 9/11.
American military soldiers killed over 120,000 Iraqi noncombatant civilians.  

 

Heroes?  Artillery men, air bombers and gunners, snipers, tank gunners ...

Only crying on Memorial Day.

Yes, the horrors of war and the intense survival necessities of battle for he conscripted soldiers is nearly unfathomable.  

 

 

Only crying on Memorial Day.

I recommend that we adopt an amendment to the U.S. Constitution
to Limit the War Making Powers of the U.S. Government. 

Memorial Day: Sorrow, Guilt, Shame, Revulsion

My Facebook Memorial Day Post on May 29, 2017:

"Every very brave and patriotic soldier knows that his enemy is also a very brave and patriotic soldier. Many patriotic soldiers and patriotic civilians, from all countries, believe some god is on their side, and that their enemy is unworthy or evil. The brave and patriotic soldiers on both sides, sworn enemies, will kill each other, and kill tenfold the number of civilians. The fighting will be hell on earth, millions will die, cities will be destroyed, famine and disease will prevail, and billions of dollars will be wasted. Each country will erect memorials and set aside days for patriotic citizens to honor their brave and patriotic soldiers. Patriotism will become a religion that few will dare to question, and doubters will be called cowards, ungrateful, and unpatriotic sinners. Such is the worldwide human condition.
We displayed a U.S. flag on our porch this Memorial Day. I am a Vietnam era veteran. While walking this morning, I noticed that 60% of my neighbors did not display a flag. I often think that they are wiser than I."

Don't Draw Attention to Yourself

"The most well-known Epicurean verse, which epitomizes his philosophy, is "lathe biōsas λάθε βιώσας "(Plutarchus De latenter vivendo 1128c; Flavius Philostratus Vita Apollonii 8.28.12), meaning "live secretly", "get through life without drawing attention to yourself", i. e. live without pursuing glory or wealth or power, but anonymously, enjoying little things like food, the company of friends, etc."

Epicurus, 341-270 BCE

Epicurean Philosophy Online

Epicurean History

How to Live a Good Life: Lifestyle Advice from Wise Persons

Taoism  

Epicureanism   A hypertext notebook by Mike Garofalo.  

From a Letter to William Short by Thomas Jefferson, 1819

"I take the liberty of observing that you are not a true disciple of our master Epicurus, in indulging the indolence to which you say you are yielding. One of his canons, you know, was that "that indulgence which prevents a greater pleasure, or produces a greater pain, is to be avoided." Your love of repose will lead, in its progress, to a suspension of healthy exercise, a relaxation of mind, an indifference to everything around you, and finally to a debility of body, and hebetude of mind, the farthest of all things from the happiness which the well-regulated indulgences of Epicurus ensure; fortitude, you know is one of his four cardinal virtues. That teaches us to meet and surmount difficulties; not to fly from them, like cowards; and to fly, too, in vain, for they will meet and arrest us at every turn of our road. Weigh this matter well; brace yourself up ..."


Syllabus of the doctrines of Epicurus (By Thomas Jefferson)

"Physical.—The Universe eternal.

Its parts, great and small interchangeable.

Matter and Void alone.

Motion inherent in matter which is weighty and declining.

Eternal circulation of the elements of bodies.

Gods, an order of beings next superior to man, enjoying in their sphere, their own felicities;
but not meddling with the concerns of the scale of beings below them.

Moral.—Happiness the aim of life.

Virtue the foundation of happiness.

Utility the test of virtue.

Pleasure active and In-do-lent.

In-do-lence, is the absence of pain, the true felicity.

Active, consists in agreeable motion; it is not happiness, but the means to produce it.

Thus the absence of hunger is an article of felicity; eating the means to obtain it.

The summum bonum is to be not pained in body, nor troubled in mind.

i.e. In-do-lence of body, tranquillity of mind.

To procure tranquillity of mind we must avoid desire and fear, the two principal diseases of the mind.

Man is a free agent.

Virtue consists in 1) Prudence. 2) Temperance. 3) Fortitude. 4) Justice." 


The Spirit of Gardening

 

What is the Practice?

What is the Practice?  That is, what is correct Zen Buddhist practice?

"We are confused about the basic core of practice, and we get sidetracked with all sorts of incorrect notions about it. Practice can be stated very simply. It is moving from a life of hurting myself and others to a life of not hurting myself and others."
- Charlotte Joko Beck, Everyday Zen, p. 131

"So the crux of zazen is this: all we must do is constantly to create a little shift from the spinning world we've got in our heads to right-here-now. That's our practice. The intensity and ability to be right-here-now is what we have to develop."
- Charlotte Joko Beck, Everyday Zen, p. 11

Practice has many dimensions for Ms. Beck: zazen - just sitting, behaviors in our daily lives, interactions with others, dealing with feelings and reactions, vows, respect for students and teachers, daily life, calm and quiet nature, simple lifestyle, friendships, determination-grit-endurance-steadfastness-discipline, etc.

"What Practice is Not:
Practice is not about producing psychological change.
Practice is not about intellectually knowing the physical nature of reality, what the universe consists of, or how it works.
Practice is not about achieving some blissful state.
Practice is not about having or cultivating special powers.
Practice is not about personal power or Joriki, the strength that is developed in years of sitting.
Practice is not about having nice feelings, happy feelings.
Practice is not about some bodily state in which we are never ill, never hurt, one in which we have no bothersome ailments.
Practice is not about achieving an omniscient state in which a person knows about everything, a state in which a person is an authority on any and all worldly problems.
Practice is not about being spiritual.
Practice is not about highlighting all sorts of "good" qualities and getting rid of the so-called "bad" ones."
- Charlotte Joko Beck, Everyday Zen, p. 23

"Practice is essentially simplified space." p. 25

"On no account make a distinction between the Absolute and the sentient world.
- Huang Po

"Practice has to proceed in an orderly fashion, in a relentless dissolution of self."
p. 43

"Practice is for a lifetime. There is no end to it." p. 175

"The process of practice is to see through, not to eliminate, anything to which we are attached." p. 188

"It's important that we continually examine ourselves and see where it is that we are looking and what it is that we are looking for." p. 134

Everyday Zen. By Charlotte Joko Beck (1917-2011). Edited by Steve Smith. Harper One, 2007, 230 pages. VSCL.

All of the following websites were created by Michael P. Garofalo

Zen Poetry

Buddhism

Taoism

Zen Buddhism Koans

Virtue Ethics

Great Compassion "For the Sake of Others"

Zen Master Torei (1721-1792), The Undying Lamp of Zen

"So great compassion is like the sky, because it covers all living beings; great compassion is like the earth, because it produces all the teachings; great compassion makes it possible to see Buddha-nature, by first clarifying real knowledge for the sake of others. Great compassion makes it possible to pass through unyielding barriers, by plumbing the profound teachings more for the sake of others. Great compassion makes it possible to penetrate the transcendental, by seeking a life beyond for others. Great compassion can develop powerful application, by striving on this path for the sake of others. Great compassion can activate intrepidness, by keeping a vigorous will alive for the sake of others. Great compassion makes it possible to get beyond regression, because the mind is settled for the sake of others. Great compassion can produce broad learning, by studying everything for the sake of others. Great compassion can produce erudition, by deep deduction on the principles of things for the sake of others. Great compassion can produce blessings, by always coming up with expedients for others. Great compassion can annihilate afflictions, by sacrificing body, life, and goods for others. Great compassion can extirpate conceit, by acting benevolently for others. Great compassion enble detachement from fame and profit, by basing everything on truth for the sake of others. Great compassion enables entry in the realm of reality, because there is nowhere it does not go for the sake of others. 

The virtues of great compassion are infinite; they could be expounded upon forever without exhausting them, but it boils down to this: Whoever has great compassion can extinguish all obstructions caused by past action and can fulfill all virtues, no principle cannot be understood, no path cannot be practiced, no knowledge cannot be obtained, no virtue not developed."

- Zen Master Torei (1721-1792), The Undying Lamp of Zen, p. 24

 "The practice of the four universal vows first makes liberation of others the number one pledge, along with clarifying your own nature, cutting of the root of afflictions, studying all teachings, and carrying out the activities of Bodhisattvas, so compassion and knowledge are completely fulfilled. This is called the way of Buddhas."
- Zen Master Torei (1721-1792), The Undying Lamp of Zen, p. 22

"Four Universal Vows:
Living beings are infinite, I vow to liberate them.
Afflictions are endless, I vow to stop them.
The teachings are innumerable, I vow to study them.
The way of the Buddhas is supreme, I vow to fulfill it."
- Thomas Cleary

Rinzai Zen Buddhist and Daoist Studies
By Michael P. Garofalo

The Undying Lamp of Zen: The Testament of Zen Master Torei. By Torei Enji (1721-1792). Translated and edited by Thomas Cleary. Shambhala, 2010, 144 pages. VSCL, Paperback.

Ch'an (Zen) Buddhist  Poems, Verses, Sayings, Quotations, Quips, and Koans.  Selected Quotations:  One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine 
Compiled by Michael P. Garofalo