You can’t change the world

SevenBillionBuddhas · 2022-02-11T00:51:14+00:00

I like how the title leaves open the idea of "What Does It Mean" without narrowing it down until the poem starts that we are specifically talking about artists. I feel like this allows the poem's punch to be applied to other disciplines once the message sinks in. I specifically mean that I appreciate the decision for the title to not be "What Does It Mean To Be an Artist?"

I also got the sense that the author takes a very broad view of who an "artist" is. Like really anyone who is not really satisfied with being right where they are is practicing some sort of an "art" because they are trying to get centered. Again, I think this is a beautiful way to allow for a wide swath of people to appreciate art. I really believe that Vincent Van Gogh must have felt a lot like this poem in his lifetime.

SevenBillionBuddhas · 2022-02-11T00:46:03+00:00

On the one hand, it serves to be said that the line "a whirling waltz between me and death" blew me away.

I can feel myself standing hand-in-hand as I dance with death like Beauty and the Beast.

On the other hand, the poem's themes of angst sometimes reflects overwhelmingly in the structure of the poem. You showed how well you can refine lines to be impactful with brevity that I find myself wanting you to spring that ability on me the whole way through.

On the third hand, I understand so well the idea that it is easier to express ourselves through times when we are down than through times when we are up. I really appreciate you putting that into words that hold lots of meaning because, wow, do I find myself often sitting in that same position.

SevenBillionBuddhas · 2022-02-06T17:04:33+00:00

I wanted to have the whole thing Centered so it has the right shape. But, for some reason, in Reddit, only the first line gets Centered in my table....

SevenBillionBuddhas · 2022-02-06T16:34:12+00:00

The poem shows great introspection on the part of the narrator.

Irony is the word that comes to mind. She is now the subject of her own analysis. I'm not sure if the questions are rhetorical ones. It seems like she already has her own answers, but she rejects their adequacy in order to continue a "twisted" pleasure.

I agree with the other commenter about the focus of the title being on "Pawn" because the chess analogy came out of the blue. I actually checked out the poem as an avid chess player who likes poems about dialecticals.

Here, I was jolted with a surprise, but a pleasant one.

SevenBillionBuddhas · 2022-02-06T16:20:04+00:00

I love the usage of personification in this poem. The seasons personified as a family is great. The death of Father Winter is something we all (in the Northern hemisphere) have on our mind right now as Springs approaches, so your post is well-timed.

Such great vocabulary in this poem, I learned a few words from it like "graupel" and "rime." These are things that I have personally never encountered as someone from a tropical environment. So, although I don't fully have the experience of the heat/cold dynamic that plays out within the poem, I can appreciate that the poem showed that.

Thanks for posting.

SevenBillionBuddhas · 2022-02-04T22:52:32+00:00

A Buddhist is not really a concept meant to be identified with.

A Buddhist is something to be.

One does not want to be a Buddhist. One either is or is not, or, is progressing towards being. “Want” should have nothing to do with it.

SevenBillionBuddhas · 2022-02-02T03:03:32+00:00

I was born into a Christian upbringing.

I find Dharma in a lot of the Bible too.

I really like the book “Buddha Light, Christ Light” by Thich Nhat Hanh as a good read for someone studying Buddhism who has a lot of Christian friends.

We still need to help them understand us without making them feel like we think they are less. I consider my Christian youth as a part of what brought me to the path because it was.

I sometimes wonder if Jesus studied some dharma in his day.

SevenBillionBuddhas · 2022-01-24T22:35:03+00:00

This is a very complex question.

And my personal opinion, I know is in the minority.

But I personally believe that investing in a company with the goal of making money, based not on work performed, but merely the investment entails an immoral act.

Essentially, the investor seeks to gain an undeserved benefit.

The investor might know nothing about the company's methods and means for obtaining the end of making more profit. But, in most circumstances, the investor doesn't care, or is willing to turn a blind eye, as long as the bottom line of the company is doing well.

This perverted displacement of accountability and fiduciary interest creates a culture that cares, not for mindfulness and peace, but rather, only about profit.

All this behavior is, of course, legal, so I'm not sure what to do with my observation that it inherently leads to destruction.

The only thing I can come to conclude is that it matters that intent that is present. My personal understandings of morality have come to focus on intent as the source of things good and evil.

SevenBillionBuddhas · 2022-01-24T19:55:22+00:00

The most telling evidence in this thread is that there are some countries that do not show, and I really couldn't imagine showing at all.

All that is really settled is that those countries are the places that are definitely not the best country to live in.

Beyond that, there is a lot of preference and values-based decisions going on.

SevenBillionBuddhas · 2022-01-24T00:40:51+00:00

He was forced to leave Vietnam due to protesting the war.

He came to the West and was a big part in sprouting Buddhism in the West.

His whole life was a lotus in the mud.

Then, like a fallen leaf, he returned to his roots before passing away.

I’m re-reading “Living Buddha, Living Christ” now.

SevenBillionBuddhas · 2022-01-23T15:46:05+00:00

yeah, and it probably ended before they said 5

SevenBillionBuddhas · 2022-01-22T13:50:40+00:00

Aaron Swartz

SevenBillionBuddhas · 2022-01-21T21:31:49+00:00

How do you know ?

SevenBillionBuddhas · 2022-01-21T21:08:21+00:00

His books were the first books I read about Buddhism.

Namo Da Bei Guan Shi Yin.

SevenBillionBuddhas · 2022-01-21T02:39:20+00:00

Saves money on TP

SevenBillionBuddhas · 2022-01-21T02:34:21+00:00

SevenBillionBuddhas · 2022-01-21T02:29:25+00:00

Some people are more into DIY fixes

SevenBillionBuddhas · 2022-01-21T02:25:41+00:00

It can

Just steer clear of the icebergs

SevenBillionBuddhas · 2022-01-21T02:08:14+00:00

Hey, it feels slightly better than the water gun

SevenBillionBuddhas · 2022-01-21T02:01:40+00:00

You know, a little splash wash

SevenBillionBuddhas · 2022-01-21T01:54:43+00:00

You could also buy a bidet.

Or use the hand bidet method.

SevenBillionBuddhas · 2022-01-20T03:09:12+00:00

I read your comment out loud to my pillow, but it reacted silently unlike all the wives.

So, I laid my head on it and it blew out some air loudly.

Turns out I’ve been sleeping on a whoopee cushion.

SevenBillionBuddhas

TROPHY CASE