Paraphernalia

On the second day posts leading up to Christmas my favorite blogger gave to me...

I would like to share a few quotations from the book I just listened to and loved, Letter to a Christan Nation. The author Sam Harris wrote a book called The End of Faith. Needless to say many religiosos were P. O.'d and they let him know it in no uncertain terms, including death threats. This book is his answer to them.

"That religion may have served some necessary function for us in the past, does not preclude the possibility that it is now the greatest impediment to our building a global civilization."

"If you think that christianity is the most direct and undefiled expression of love and compassion the world has ever seen, you do not know much about the world's other religions."

"Mahavira, the Jain patriarch, surpassed the morality of the bible in a single sentence : "Do not injure, abuse, oppress, enslave, insult, torment, torture or kill any creature or living being." Imagine how different our world might be if the Bible contained this as it's central precept. Christians have abused, oppressed, enslaved, insulted, tormented, tortured and killed people in the name of god for centuries on the basis of a theologically defensible reading of the bible. It is impossible to behave this way by adheareing to the principles of Jainism. How then can you argue that the Bible provides the clearest statement of morality the world has ever seen?"

"Consider for instance, the Human Papllioma Virus. HPV is now the most common sexually transmitted disease in the United States. The virus infects over half the American population and causes nearly 5000 women to die each year from cervical cancer. The Center for Disease Control, or CDC, estimates that more than 200,000 die world wide. We now have a vaccine for HPV that appears to be both safe and effective. The vaccine produced 100% immunity in the 6000 people that received it as part of a clinical trial. And yet Christian conservatives in our government have resisted a vaccination program on the grounds that HPV is a valuable impediment to premarital sex. These pious men and women want to preserve cervical cancer as an incentive toward abstinence. Even if it sacrifices the lives of thousands of women  each year."

"The problem is that Christians like yourself are not principally concerned about teen pregnancy and the spread of diseases, that is, you are not worried about the suffering caused by sex, you are worried about sex... Reginald Finger, an evangelical member of CDC's advisory committee on immunization practices recently announced that he would consider opposing an HIV vaccine, thereby condemning millions of men and women to die unnecessarily from AIDS each year, because such a vaccine would encourage pre-marital sex by making it less risky. This is one of many points on which your religious beliefs become genuinely lethal."

and I couldn't leave this one out - 

"Of course, The church's position on abortion takes no more notice of the details of biology than it does of the reality of human suffering. It has been estimated that 50% of all human conceptions end in spontaneous abortion. Usually without a woman even realizing that she was pregnant. In fact, 20% of all realized pregnancies end in miscarriage. There is an obvious truth here that cries out for acknowledgement. If god exists, he is the most prolific abortionist of all."

Moving On

I recently listened to The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold on audiobook. Michael had read the book a while back and highly recommended it. It's about a teenage girl that is brutally raped and murdered then watches from Heaven as her friends and family process the tragedy and continue on with their lives. It sounds morbid, and it is, but at the same time, she's nararating the book and you know she's in a great place so there's a certain amount of comfort. The movie is in production so read it soon if you want to compare the 2. This is a really crappy review - the point is its a very interesting story and very well written.

I just listened to a great book!

I just discovered the wonders of Audiobooks.

It's not that I'm too lazy to read, but that I just don't have the time so much. Most of my reading in the past 8 years has been done on the subway. Reading on the subway is great when you have a seat and a longer commute without transfers. But when it's so crowded there isn't even room to hold a book up and then at some point you have to push pass the crowd off the train to be swallowed up in a massive herd up the stairs, down the corridor and back down some other stairs to wait to push on to another crowded train, not to mention the 10 minutes "lost" in walking to the train then or your destination; reading isn't a viable option.

I also sit in front of the computer drawing for most of my work days. Largely a mindless task at this point. Listening to music is great but unless you're rich enough to buy new music every day, gets repetitive. I started listening to podcasts (working on a big post on those so stay tuned). Some are very good, most are not worth it.

I decided to get an audiobook and started with Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. It was great! I listened on the subway and when I was walking and while at work. I even listened to it at the gym. What would have taken me weeks if not a month to read, took about 3 days to listen to (about 12 hours). The woman who read it has a real talent for reading allowed, something I had never really considered before.

Bible Schmible

As someone who was raised Mormon, born gay, and turned out vehemently anti organized religion it probably comes as no surprise that I'm no fan of the Bible. Unfortunately, I'm in the minority on that. It's a fact of life that I have to confront daily because this ancient collection of stories is used to justify hate, discrimination and violence against me and the people I love. I read this great book "What the Bible Really Says About Homosexuality" in the interest of educating myself on the common biblical arguments against homosexuality and how they have been misinterpreted and twisted to justify people's ignorance and fears.

The other night we went to see For the Bible Tells Me So which was amazingly well done. The most frustrating part is that the people that really need to see it are precisely the people that will never see it.

Be A Light Unto Yourself

*I use the term Buddha Dharma (understood as Teachings of the Awakened) instead of Buddhism because there are too many connotations with the isms.*

I went in search of a book on Buddha Dharma and happened to buy Buddhism Plain & Simple by Steve Hagen. It was the perfect “Buddhism for beginners” book for me.

He dispenses with the superfluous nature of religion and cuts to the heart of Buddha’s teachings, the 4 noble truths. There is no talk of robes, rituals, chanting, reincarnation, praying, lighting incense, ascetic lifestyles, “belief, doctrine, formula, or tradition,” or any preconceptions one might have about the Buddha Dharma. He casually mentions meditation, but leaves it largely up to the reader to investigate that path when ready.

This book is about recognizing the propensity for human suffering, the origin of said suffering, how to stop suffering and life after suffering. Suffering not so much in the “starving children of Africa” literal sense, but specifically in, “the underlying ache of the heart [that] remains omnipresent and unquenchable”. Existential angst – it’s not just for teenagers. That something that’s always harboring under the surface that keeps us from bliss.

The answer is simply participating in direct experience without attaching our concepts, egos and notions to what we see. Simple to say, but being human we have been conditioned otherwise, making seeing as easy to do as it is difficult. (Fortune cookie enough for ya’ll?)

What I love about the Buddha Dharma is that it’s about direct experience here and now.  It’s not about following rules in life to attain some status in the afterlife. There are no rules; there are suggestions. The Buddha said be a light unto yourself.  It’s about experimenting with these concepts to see if they work for you. No one else can do it for you, the Buddha said don’t take my word for it, try it, put it to use, see for yourself because no one can see for you.

I like that we can be awakened and end our suffering at any moment we set our intention to do so. 

I like that the Buddha was as human as you or I. He had neither mystical powers nor divine direction. 

I recommend this book to anyone who experiences existential angst, anyone who has a constant rambling chatter in their heads, anyone who isn’t 100% satisfied with their life experience and anyone interested in what the most important teaching of the Buddha are without the pomp and circumstance.