human nature?

So why did I think I would be spending my summer sitting quietly and reading our book for hours and hours?

I do keep The Pocket Dalai Lama with me so I can read a few pages when I'm waiting to pick up Emily. I keep wondering, will I be able to read more and less after she gets a drivers' license? I'm highlighting and putting stickey notes on most pages.

The one quote which jumped out at me is "human nature is basically good, gentle and unaggressive." The Dalai Lama has not worked at a pre-school with 3 & 4 year old boys. Perhaps children are different in Tibet.

"In Buddhism, any thought, feeling or mental state that undermines our peace of mind from within-all negative thoughts and emotions such as anger, pride, lust, greed, envy and so on, are considered to be afflictions."

So how does the Dalai Lama get through the day? He must have people shopping and cooking for him. He doesn't have children or drive on the freeway. I bet he doesn't have a drivers' license. Are there highways in Tibet?

At this point I think I would need to be wrapped up in bubble pack and placed in a dark closet to achieve peace of mind day after day. A few days at the Sonoma Mission Inn might help also.

"Anger is the real destroyer of our good human qualities, an enemy with a weapon cannot destroy these qualities, but anger can. Anger is our real enemy."

Hm-m-m-m. Not be angry. That's something to think about. That's like a day without caffeine.

Maybe I'm just not Buddhist material.

I actually have started to read "The World's Religions" but I also picked up a copy of "The Illustrated World's Religions" so I'm bouncing back and forth. The text is interesting but dense. I'll read some pages, come back in a few days, read the pages again and am surprised to find highlighting on the page , which means I read it but I don't remember it. Very slow progress.

"To be sure India has not made pleasure her highest good, but this is differnt from condemning enjoyment. To the person who wants pleasure, India says in effect: Go after it-there is nothing wrong with it: it is one of the four legitimate ends of life."

After growing up as a Presbyterian/Christian I read this and thought, "WOW" they actually get to talk about pleasure. It's actually encouraged. That's not one of those words Presbyterians toss around a lot.

Emily tells me she read early Christians were rejecting Rome/Roman ideals so "pleasure" was not an activity they supported. They saw what it did to the Romans.

Talking about pleasure, I think I understand Salman Rushdie's style of writing more with just the little bit of reading on Hinduism. It's like a window into the world he is writing about.

"All of us dwell on the brink of the infinite ocean of life's creative power. We carry it within us: supreme strength, the fullness of wisdom, unquenchable joy."

wishing you all pleasure, Jane

Impatience

The summer blog begins...jump right in!

After reading the introduction of "The World's Religions" I immediately skipped to chapter 2 on Buddhism because this is the religion we had decided to focus on. I'm impatient. It took a few a pages to realize I would benefit from reading chapter 1 on Hinduism. So this is where I am now.

I know nothing about Hinduism also, so this is time well spent.

I did get far enough in the Buddhism chapter to find out Siddhartha is "Buddha's" first name in his before life. Ah-ha-ha, I thought, "Siddhartha" the novel by Herman Hesse. Someone brought a copy to the group last Friday. When it was held up there was group recognition and approval but that is because everyone in their before life has read it. It was the "in" book right up there with "Trout Fishing in America." Of course I saw a girl at my high school with a copy of "Trout Fishing" and I felt sorry for her because I thought she was forced to read fishing regulations for some science class.

I admit I did not read "Siddhartha" at Woodside High School. I was not cool. I was in the drama crowd. I studied Broadway musical comedies and not enlightenment or journeys of discovery.

"Man of La Mancha" was the big hit on Broadway and I would dash home to hear Richard Kiely sing "The Impossible Dream" one more time.

I wrote an American History final based entirely on the musical "1776". High school was easier back then.

Name dropping! Kenny Ortega, the director/producer of High School Musical 1 & 2 was MY director and choreographer for shows with Redwood City Civic Light Opera. A theatre company started by kids and for kids. He was a cheer leader and student at Sequoia High School.

So what does all of this have to do with Buddhism? Since it's too soon to have much to say about our "suggested book", I'm asking when and why did you read "Siddhartha" and if you didn't...why not? Perhaps you know people who read it or were about to read it but got distracted. There must be some good stories out there.

"Young people", Cathy C, Sarah and McKenna are excused from this assignment.

Jane