tao1776

 Somebody once said. "When I became a Buddhist, everyone was in an uproar! And now, that I'm a Buddha, so no one seems to mind at all." So its been interesting that, in order to speak with my Buddhist's friends, at least via my blog, it has most often been via http://tao1776.blogspot.com/ as this has been my catch-all blog. My leanings toward Zen/Taoism/Buddhism...I am here .  And to communicate with my Masonic Brethren there is this . I am not defined by the label, Buddhist, Taoist or Freemason. Labels are but a quick stamp of convention that allow us to be on the same page while communicating. What labels really convey is but a sliver of the whole. But lets talk a little about Buddhism today.. We spend our lives craving for change / craving for things not to change, seeking to be happy; to be satisfied. If only we could do this, have that. Wishing always that we were this or that. Smarter. Thinner. More successful. A list of, "If only". We stru...

Vrrrrrooooom, Vrrrrroooooom, Vroooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom, Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

When a spouse dies, leaving the other half alone, life often continues with a deafening thud. It is made all the worse when friends, peers, relatives and neighbors never feel comfortable with bringing up the name of the deceased or speaking of memeories shared. One aspect of self that I have yet to come to terms with, is my "being sensitive." I wear my heart on my sleeve. I cry. I am concerned with you and your state of being. I am in all essense, being gay. Real men don't behave that way. I'm just a sucka! My good friend Jon, who I have known since Junior High School, lost his wife (and my good friend) on Nov. 11th 2007. They had been married for I believe, thirty four years. Now the house is empty and quiet. Mutual friends that continue keeping tabs on him as I do have reported to me that Jon is "doing fine" and "as good as you would expect." Jon came to see me at work on Monday to tell me that he is not doing well at all. It is at times like th...

I know. I know. It seems that I'm just no fun anymore. All serious with furrowed brow. So much to be concerned about. Life used to be easy. BAAAAAAAAAWAAAAAA! But I'm getting a new carb for my "Little Hottie." As she sat idle all last summer, I was able to really gussey her up. Man, she is hot! At the All Air Cooled show, she takes first place in the Ghia division every year. Last year, she sat idle. No carb. Unsuccessful rebuild. Low cash flow. I'm going to make it up to her. Speaking of Little Hotties, my MILF, The Lady and me have been married thirty years this Sunday. I have been so successful at this marriage thing and she STILL won't let me add a few more to the harem of one. Damn! Cuz I know a few that I'd love to add. A Buddhist friend of mine from the Mystic Seaport makes exceptional jewelry. I saw some of her latest collection and had her pull one as a gift to the Lady. We have never met. We have spoken via e-mail, messenger and phone. I am happ...

I am of the contemplative sort. I can't help it. It hasn't always served me well. I remember entering Middle School (Junior High) and riding the bus to school for the first time. I sat in the back and watched the cliques develop. Simular to the way an anthropoligist or sociolologist would study groups of humans, mores, and culture: and I was only thirteen years old! I thought, how odd! Is this dissasociative disorder? Someone once remarked at how remarkable it is that I am able to cross over so many social barriers and "when in Rome, act as the Romans do" in the company of professionals or drunkards, (sometimes they are one and the same) Doctors or bikers, Lawyer or Clergy, male or female. This kind of scared me, as this is also said of psycopaths and serial killers! Gulp! Maybe fucking and sucking, drinking and fighting and being as base as as a male animal can be is the answer. Perhaps breathing in deeply of the tenets of Michiavellian life, snake charming your way...

I've successfully managed to scare away all of my faithful readers. This is quite okay because blogging is really done for the self; to vent and think out loud as no one really cares to hear my opinion. I was thinking about what I would do if I found myself elected President of these illustrious United States. I do have a few ideas. Mind you, these would need to be thoroughly studied before being implemented but I think that ideas such as mine are a beginning. I would create a flat tax. Those below a certain income would pay zero tax. And as all good Christians know, and we do claim ourselves to be a Christian nation; "for unto whom much is given; of him shall much be required." Those who had an income over a designated amount would pay a small graduated tax above those that fall within the flat tax bracket Everyone would continue to pay into the Social Security system but with a few changes. We would construct a way to have this money flow into its own account and away f...

Once it happened: Mulla Nasruddin was coming back, completely drunk, in the wee hours of the morning. As he was passing by a cemetery he looked at the signboard. On it was written in big letters, capital letters: RING FOR THE CARETAKER -- and that's what he did. Of course, so early in the morning, the caretaker was disturbed. He came out, staggering, angry, and when he looked at Nasruddin, absolutely drunk, he became even more angry. He asked, "Why? Why did you ring? Why did you ring for me? What is the matter? What do you want?" Nasruddin looked at him for one minute, silently, then looked at the signboard and said, "I want to know, why can't you ring that d***bell yourself?" It was written: RING FOR THE CARETAKER. Now how to interpret it? It depends on you. Don't interpret -- listen. And when you interpret you can't listen, because the consciousness cannot do two opposite things simultaneously. If you start thinking, listening stops. Just listen as...

THE GREAT WAY IS NOT DIFFICULT FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NO PREFERENCES. WHEN LOVE AND HATE ARE BOTH ABSENT EVERYTHING BECOMES CLEAR AND UNDISGUISED. MAKE THE SMALLEST DISTINCTION, HOWEVER, AND HEAVEN AND EARTH ARE SET INFINITELY APART. IF YOU WISH TO SEE THE TRUTH THEN HOLD NO OPINION FOR OR AGAINST. THE STRUGGLE OF WHAT ONE LIKES AND WHAT ONE DISLIKES IS THE DISEASE OF THE MIND. WE WILL BE ENTERING the beautiful world of a Zen Master's no-mind. Sosan is the third Zen Patriarch. Nothing much is known about him -- this is as it should be, because history records only violence. History does not record silence -- it cannot record it. All records are of disturbance. Whenever someone becomes really silent, he disappears from all records, he is no more a part of our madness. So it is as it should be. Sosan remained a wandering monk his whole life. He never stayed anywhere; he was always passing, going, moving. He was a river; he was not a pond, static. He was a constant movement. That is the m...