h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

18 March 2003

In this moment which lends itself to anger, despair and outrage I've gotta remember my motto: Choose Hope. A conscious choice.

I don't know how things'll go. I suspect there'll be a great paradigm shift which'll bring on a change of lifestyle for us here in the USA. Not immediately, perhaps. And I think it would have come to pass eventually even had the government which 'represents' me not set the precedents it did last night, the ones founded in ill logic. That just opens the arena for excuses to do unto others before they do unto you. Karma is a wonderful thing, ya know. The government has just created a colossal karma for us all.

But, Hope. I guess I'll try to find it in the idea that eventually we'll probably have no choice but to deal with the other humans on the skin of the Earth as humans, rather than as 'collateral damage', enemies, allies, or business opportunities. Eventually we'll probably have to accept that rampant abuse of global resources is not acceptable. And possibly, eventually we'll become an honorable people again. So yes, there's hope.

Thank you, MoG.

With love,

B

Tonight I will start to do what I can towards making my ideals a reality. My neighborhood Buddhist group will gather and chant for an hour and a half for world peace. Before we do that I've prepared something I want to say to them:

Taking Action Towards World Peace

Tonight as we chant for world peace I’d like to ask each of you to give some consideration towards the action you, as an individual, can take to alleviate some of the justification for war.

It’s becoming an increasingly valid concern that one aspect our government’s purpose in this war is to gain control over foreign oil and resources so the American citizens can maintain their way of life. By refusing to change our way of life we are complicit in giving the government a sort of silent approval for its aggressive actions.

Chanting for peace is good, but it’s not enough, especially for Buddhists who believe that chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo is a means towards activating action and creating change. I’d like to propose that each of you devote some time as you chant to find a way to cut back on your fuel consumption through the use of personal vehicles, through the energy you require to maintain your homes, through the rampant consumerism, which is a part of our culture. All the things that we buy require fuel to create as well as fuel to dispose of when we’ve found a new thing to replace the old things. The packaging on most of our products alone is a tremendous waste of resources, as it’s just something else that must be trashed when the product is unpacked. The bags we accept everything in are another abuse of resources. Do we really need everything we purchase to have a bag so we can carry it to our car?

I’d also like you to consider what you can do to affect governmental waste of resources. Perhaps if enough of us wrote letters to our local government they’d change something small, such as increasing the temperature in publicly maintained buildings by one or two degrees. Those couple of degrees makes a huge difference in energy consumption in large buildings here in the Florida heat.

If enough people make a conscious decision to adjust their way of life towards one which doesn’t depend so heavily on access to foreign oil we will at least be able to say, truly and without hypocrisy, that we as a people do not support this war. Currently I think that many of us are unwittingly guilty of making statements that are actually empty words based on an idealism that has little to no connection to the reality we create through our daily lives.

Thank you for your consideration.

Militant Buddhism?

MoG - you are a wonderful woman and a wise friend.

B

Just trying to live up to some the standards you set, Ben. You've inspired me in so many ways, you don't even know.

Tell me, does that letter come across as militant? It wasn't my intention at all. I've run across so many well-meaning people who've been totally astounded at the idea that it's the way we live here that's validating some of this mess, was just trying to figure out a way to address one of the causes of the problem rather than flapping our wings at the symptoms.

Last night when I asked the group leader if it would be ok to say that he asked me not to because the majority of the people there were brand new to the practice and he didn't want to confuse them. I understand what he was talking about, so I'd planned to do an emailing to people who are already used to the idea that the chanting is a tool to open our own wisdom and spur effective action. I think I'll wait and get your feedback on this one before I send it out there. I *meant* to poke people a bit, make 'em think, but I didn't mean to be militant.

It is a little militant, though that was a joke, more than anything else. These are things which need to be said. Maybe in the middle of a chanting/meditation session is a little in your face, but is there any harm in that?

As I said - these things need saying.

B