What astounds me is that, although the basic point remains “It doesn't matter if you LIKE them; they’re religious so they can’t be part of government,” we’ve all come to tacitly accept that Trump would never and could never think this way; it’s an abstraction, a constitutional principle, and he doesn’t know what those are.
What I especially like about this inability to find the boundary of religion, is when it comes to tax exemption suddenly they’re eagle-eyed; they know exactly what a religious action or institution is.
As a Zen student, eventually, after a number of years, you probably come upon a ritual called "Jukai" which is the taking of the vow to live by the moral and ethical precepts, many of which are similar to the big Ten. Preparation takes 8-12 months, working intensely with each precept in the same manner as Zen heads are made fun of for compulsively finding dust on a dust mote, you'd work with the roshi about your private hang ups and also in groups digging for every imaginable sense of lying or killing there could be.
Do we lie when we change our accent to sound a little more sophisticated? What is misusing sexuality when you are born a gay man who has suffered for most of his life because of the moral teachings of the Christian Church, how do we listen to the moral teachings of Zen Buddhism that may or may not support the orgies we have finally at long last discovered with huge joy and a sense of deep liberation? What about never being intoxicated when you love to share a bottle of wine with your spouse sometimes? Is your antidepressant an intoxicant, or your sleep med?
The whole thing is endless, and I think that's what most people learn from this holy and intense rite of passage, which eventually reveals itself to be nothing else than a life koan. It is good to have some points of reference, but nobody, no set of words is going to tell you what to do, ever. Living kindly and sincerely, referring to your aspiration for perfection, and accepting that you can't even conceive of perfection, must less reach it, and so still try much of the time, hopefully practicing your vow to be good to others, much like the Christians have said they would. And forgetting a lot.
Point is that the whole thing is wired to be alive.
Back in the day, as I was reading my way thru the dictionary, I came upon the word "fact" and the attendant definition "that which is believed* to be true". I alerted alla my colleagues at the factory, and we all had a good horse laugh (no horses were disturbed in the production of that particular laughter).
Ever since then, when somebody spouts some nonsense with certitude, we respond "Now THAT's a FACT!"
Hey, evangelicals, how about voting for the guy who hasn’t broken the most Commandments? (Hint: it’s not Felonious Skunk.)
What astounds me is that, although the basic point remains “It doesn't matter if you LIKE them; they’re religious so they can’t be part of government,” we’ve all come to tacitly accept that Trump would never and could never think this way; it’s an abstraction, a constitutional principle, and he doesn’t know what those are.
*doesn’t, right?
Yes indeed, he has no clue what the issue is, one way or the other, can’t even imagine it.
Trump doesn’t know it’s possible to find out whether or not George Washington owned slaves.
https://substack.com/@yastreblyansky/note/c-59948611
Yes; excuse me.
What I especially like about this inability to find the boundary of religion, is when it comes to tax exemption suddenly they’re eagle-eyed; they know exactly what a religious action or institution is.
lol right
As a Zen student, eventually, after a number of years, you probably come upon a ritual called "Jukai" which is the taking of the vow to live by the moral and ethical precepts, many of which are similar to the big Ten. Preparation takes 8-12 months, working intensely with each precept in the same manner as Zen heads are made fun of for compulsively finding dust on a dust mote, you'd work with the roshi about your private hang ups and also in groups digging for every imaginable sense of lying or killing there could be.
Do we lie when we change our accent to sound a little more sophisticated? What is misusing sexuality when you are born a gay man who has suffered for most of his life because of the moral teachings of the Christian Church, how do we listen to the moral teachings of Zen Buddhism that may or may not support the orgies we have finally at long last discovered with huge joy and a sense of deep liberation? What about never being intoxicated when you love to share a bottle of wine with your spouse sometimes? Is your antidepressant an intoxicant, or your sleep med?
The whole thing is endless, and I think that's what most people learn from this holy and intense rite of passage, which eventually reveals itself to be nothing else than a life koan. It is good to have some points of reference, but nobody, no set of words is going to tell you what to do, ever. Living kindly and sincerely, referring to your aspiration for perfection, and accepting that you can't even conceive of perfection, must less reach it, and so still try much of the time, hopefully practicing your vow to be good to others, much like the Christians have said they would. And forgetting a lot.
Point is that the whole thing is wired to be alive.
I'll insert here my boilerplate response to all religionisms:
"Huh..."
Always remember the definition of faith: belief in things unseen. Once you learn to fake that, the rest is easy.
Back in the day, as I was reading my way thru the dictionary, I came upon the word "fact" and the attendant definition "that which is believed* to be true". I alerted alla my colleagues at the factory, and we all had a good horse laugh (no horses were disturbed in the production of that particular laughter).
Ever since then, when somebody spouts some nonsense with certitude, we respond "Now THAT's a FACT!"
*'Belief' has seldom done a heavier lift.
similar to my response, 'yeah, riiiight' accompanied by eye-dislocating roll.