Wait, our Christian God is the monster?

Jack Kerouac's Rules for Writing (contest)

Why do we sit cross legged?

Not everyone wants to be a writer, but every writer wants to be a better writer. How? It's good to read a lot and read widely. The examples we stumble upon do much to open the mind to the possibilities of the pen. It is sometimes even better if we can glean some advice from successful writers. They do not endure by chance but by the whim of changing tastes of the audience. What will endure 100 years from now? That's what matters to those attempting to write literature. For the rest, the producers of pulp fiction, anything will do. It's all just fodder for sales. Beware the imitators. Kerouac is more influential now because he influenced so many influential people after him. He was onto something, studying Buddhism before it was trending.

Jack Kerouac's rules for good writing

(polymathematics) Oct. 17, 2018: Jack Kerouac, the king of the Beats, has 30 rules for writing to share with aspiring writers of any generation. Rule 0, which is not stated, is "Be ruggedly handsome." Look what it did for James Dean. But great writing can overcome even that.

By Jove and Jack, I think I got it — the spirit of the Beat, like when they say, "What do kids like about the crazy music today?" It's the same reason it's always been, whether the parents understand it or not: the beat, the beat, the beat!

Going Off Road

Get out of my way.

Seven (5/19/24) I swerve on each turn, like I always do, like I've always done all my life, turning to stare at people who interest me, because the ones I prefer are the madcaps, the spirited ones overwhelmed with a sense of urgency to reach the ring, to say something worth saying, to seize liberation, with a zest for everything all at once, madcap laughers like Syd B., who never utter an obliging commonplace, but revel and burn, who plummet like a shooting star, shining bright falling far, streaking phosphenes into the eye, flares, shattered glass, a thousand multiplications of the sun, each a sparkle in the heat, a gleam of steam the fogged breath of a wolverine, and everyone pants, "F yeah!" (Inspired by JK's On the Road)

Charles: Too derivative.

Seven: Of course it's derivative. I'm a student, following his example. I'm more passionately saying what he was attempting to say but at a more pounding beat, given the fiercer music we have today — grindcore and Bambie Thug, The Agonist (Alissa White-Gluz) and Dimmu Borgir, Die Antwoord and Eternal Conspiracy. It's madness, howling, burning from the inside as Bauhaus would say. Primal scream.

Charles: In that case, try it again.

Seven: We should open it up to readers of Wisdom Quarterly: American Buddhist Journal. I'm sure any writer reading has in mind the deluded thought, "I'm sure I could do it better." Write it. Send it in — to the Comments Section below. We won't print it unless it's worth printing. (Comments do not automatically post).

Charles: So it's a contest?

Sort of. Here are the parameters. Pass this and be invited to send in more writing for consideration and possible publication. Writing is better when it has more restrictions, fewer degrees of freedom. Think about it. If the prompt were merely, "Do whatever." That's too many possibilities. But if there are fewer and fewer degrees of freedom, suddenly greatness emerges. We'll only give three rules to be able to judge and to be judging the same thing (comparing oranges to oranges):

1. Limit of 12 words
2. Topic: Burning from the inside
3. Use the word "road"

Charles: That sounds easy enough.

Seven: Guarantee you, Chuck, most will s***w it up, which will cut down on our number of finalists.

Charles: But a dozen words?

Seven: Honest Tea, their limit was 6 words, and people sent in amazing things that were printed on the inside of the caps. "Brevity is the heart of poetry." Get to the point. Edit. Cut the fat.

Charles: That's too hard; they'll never get it.

Seven: Okay, we'll add a fourth stipulation:

• Break one of the rules, if you want, but say which one you broke or be disqualified.

Charles: That's impossible.

Seven: No, we already have a submission. The contest has only been going on for 7 minutes, and we already have a submission.

Charles: What is it?

Sariputra saw it just as it is.

Seven: It comes from a Mr. Buddha from Scythia, who has chosen to break the third rule, and has nevertheless come up with something very profound:

"Not having been, they come to be;

once having been, they cease."

Charles: What?

Seven: Clearly, he's referring to dhammas ("phenomena," all "things"). It is explained by Andrew Olendzki Outline of Abhidhamma (buddhistinquiry.org) and stated the Anupada Sutta (MN 111).

Why do Christians blame rape victims?

Ashley Wells, Pat Macpherson, Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly; Tom Boggioni (RawStory.com; Claire Gordon, Al Jazeera America, June 18, 2014)

Christian university student/rape victim told to look for her sin as the cause (RawStory)

 

Catholic Church [get] out of my body (FEMEN)

According to an investigative report from Al Jazeera America, rape victims searching for help at Bob Jones [Christian] University in Greenville, South Carolina, were told to repent and seek out their own “root sin” that caused them to be raped.

 

Within the past year BJU has opened its own investigation into sexual abuse and rape, and now former students who were victimized are coming forward to tell their stories about life on a campus where they were shamed and told to keep their stories to themselves.

 

Rape, abuse, incest (rainn.org)

Coming from a conservative Mennonite family, Katie Landry, who at age 19 had never even held hands with a boy, was raped multiple times by her supervisor at her summer job. Two years later, haunted by the attacks, and attending Bob Jones University, she sought help from then dean of students, Jim Berg.

 

BJU rape survivor Katie Landry (AJA)

According to Landry,  Berg asked whether she’d been drinking or smoking pot and if she had been “impure.” He then brought up her “root sin.”

 

“He goes, ‘Well, there’s always a sin under other sin. There’s a root sin,’” Landry explained. “And he said, ‘We have to find the sin in your life that caused your rape.’ And I just ran.”

 

“He just confirmed my worst nightmare,” she added. “It was something I had done. It was something about me. It was my fault.”

Christian conservatives: Rape? Were you asking for it? That's what ya get for having sex!

 

Republicans: Military-rape? Man up, soldier!

Landry eventually withdrew from the school and didn’t tell anyone else for five more years.

 

In interviews with Al Jazeera, other victims of abuse related how Biblical scripture was used to lay blame for the rapes on their own sins and that their trauma was a sign that they were fighting God and would never be at peace until they forgave their rapists.

 

Called the “Fortress of Fundamentalism, ” Bob Jones University’s philosophical approach to almost all mental problems, beyond medical issues, is that they are the result of sin.

• [Rationalist, materialist, left-leaning readers may not like to hear it but: Unskillful karma from past lives does cause one many troubles in many ways in other lives. To blame oneself for what was done in previous lives, however, leads to a lot of confusion about identity, justice, root causes and conditions of anything. We are not in the past. The present does not contain all of the causes, but it usually does contain triggers, and we can do something about guiding our attention and intention now. The working out of karma is very mysterious and impossibly complicated. Make merit to counteract it.]

Even R.J. has more compassion

In a 1996 book, Becoming an Effective Christian Counselor, written by former BJU Dean of Education Walter Fremont and his wife, counselors are instructed to emphasize that the blame lies with the abuser.

However, the authors also state that being sexually assaulted is not an excuse for “sinful feelings” of discontentment, hate, fear, and especially, bitterness, calling unresolved anger “rebellion and bitterness against God.”

• [That's true. That's right. Those things are our karma, our action in response to someone else's grave misdeeds. Each being is the owner of one's own karma. Rapists have the karma of rape, which does NOT necessarily manifest as being raped although it can. It manifests in many terrible and unwelcome ways now and in many future lives. But are we performing the mental-karma of resentment, hate, fear, anger, sadness, and so on? Although most of us cannot normally exercise control over our emotions and reactions, we can gain such control. We can be mindful and not react to what comes up. If we fail to be mindful then react to what typically comes up for victims, we sink ourselves worse than the initial injury.]

Every 2 minutes in the U.S. (codepinkla.org)

Previously Al Jazeera America reported on a BJU student named identified only as Lydia, who had been raped off campus and, seeking help, reported it to the school authorities only to eventually be expelled for dwelling upon it and questioning the schools handling of the incident. [Such indifference by the school is abominable!] More

Cannibalism in the future? (video)

LiveScience.com, Yahoo! News, Life's Little Mysteries, Vanderbuilt University (Going Raw for 30 days)

Scaring people into believing world cannot sustain 7 billion without insane changes? There is enough for everyone's need, but not nearly enough for anyone's greed. Live Science shocks us into paying attention to sustainable practices.

The global human population is set to hit 7 billion on Oct. 31 [it was at 2 billion in 1927], and by century's end it will stand at 10 billion, according to the United Nations. That's a lot more mouths to feed.

There's a very good chance that generating food from traditional farming and livestock practices will not be able to keep pace with this boom. What if a worldwide food shortage were to become so terribly dire that people resorted to eating... people?

In such a dreadful event, the most-sensible first choice for meals might seem to be the elderly. After all, a fifth of those 10 billion humans will be at least 65 years old, and less physically able than the rest to contribute to what remains of society.

• 5 Ways World Will Change Radically in Next Century

Mercifully, researchers say that feeding on the old -- or, really, anyone -- would not solve world hunger. In the short term, eating old people might satisfy the gruesome dilemma of how to feed the population and lower it at the same time. But cannibalism on a global scale could never work in the long term.

"If everyone is eating each other, the species won’t last very long," said James Cole of the University of Southampton 's Center for the Archaeology of Human Origins. More

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Buddhist (cruelty-free) Thanksgiving

(VIDEOS) "Vegetarian" (Latin, vegetus, "lively, lusty") means eating life-giving foods. Avoiding animal products (like cheese with calf-stomach lining, white sugar with bone char, or Jello with boiled pig's feet) gives life to the eater, the environment, and the eaten. Or follow AOL's advice and eat roadkill.

As we Americans stuff ourselves on neo-traditional Tofurky and braised asparagus tips, mounds of mashed potatoes drizzled with Earth Balance or real olive oil (if any can be found), with a side of sweet potato pie and -- what Thanksgiving table would be complete without gelatinous canned and sliced cranberry dressing -- let us give thanks that [pick something, anything]. There's plenty to be thankful for!

Black Friday means it's back to a case of the ungrateful seduction of greed we like to call "Me first and the gimme gimmes"! Mindfully enjoy that, too. It's by knowing-and-seeing how the mind works so subtly that we slowly free ourselves by wisdom. (Oh, and buy me something as you end up buying so many things for yourself). Enjoy!

Do we have to?!
There's no rule saying Buddhists have to be vegetarian. It's the compassionate and environmentally-conscious thing to do (benefiting oneself, others, and everyone else). But it's a choice. If we were more mindful of what came out of our mouths (verbal karma) than what went in, we might also do well for ourselves. So whatever you eat, enjoy it! For joy is the way.

• What "family" really meant in ancient India
• Japanese told we eat KFC for the holidays
• Vegetarian humor (vegetus.org)
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• VIDEO: Raw vegan food for Thanksgiving
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Buddhist Yoga; Yoga Month; Raw Spirit

• 30DayYogaChallenge.com 30 Day Yoga Challenge is joining forces with Yoga Month and Global Mala Project. Register now, connect with the global community, and raise the quality of your life to the next level in all areas.
• Perfect10Lifestyle.com
• YogaMonth.org
• GlobalMala.org

• 1959 visit to a Japanese Yoga School: Kiyamizu Buddhist Temple of Kyoto, a Nichiren Buddhist monastery in Minobu, on the slopes of Mt. Fuji. Michael Rogge (DVDs available).