Creativity

What can be considered creative? Paintings, writing stories, design, sculpture, these are traditional creative forms. Creativity in a capitalist society is driven by money, marketing and celebrity. In the post-Warhol age, people create to be noticed, to be lauded, to be acknowledged, to be paid.

Creativity is a part of Buddhist practice. It is not often labelled as such, but it is a necessity. This is the creativity of keeping the quest for positive human change alive, despite the inertia of the Universe.

Creativity is required to make one's immersion in the necessary routines of practice a worthwhile and renewing process for personal evolution. This is the creativity which stems from mindful observation of minute details of life. This creativity is aided by meditation. This creativity brings the mundane to another level, where it is cherished and honored as a great gift, the gift of being. With this gift, one can continue the creative process of becoming a compassionate human being.

Layers

You may find that your life experiences will add layers of understanding and feeling to your consciousness without your doing a thing. Aging and sickness are life's great teachers. Unfortunately, most human beings do not reap the wisdom of aging and sickness until they have very little time to apply their increased awareness, empathy and compassion.

The point of practice is to learn as much about the full arc of life and death while having the time and energy to apply this learning to life. When this happens, the level of learning goes deeper and deeper. Then, when additional layers of life experience come along, more and more can be learned from those new experiences.

Enlightenment and liberation start with learning. Book learning and experiential learning. When one looks to the history of Siddhartha, it is tempting to assume that meditation alone led to his enlightenment and liberation. However, Siddhartha had the best education of his time as a young royal prince. He traveled extensively. He communicated with the most revered thinkers of his place and time. He was a worldly man before his enlightenment and liberation.

The deepening layers of bodily and conscious experience will come inevitably. We all age, sicken and die. How we prepare to experience these deepening phenomena depends on the preparation we consciously put into our daily lives through practice.

Set aside a time every day to meditate. Set aside a time every day to exercise. Set aside a time every day to learn through reading and communication with those you meet who have much to teach you. This is all part of daily practice.

Sunday

sunday...day of whites and colors...
fetch the straw basket out and sort.

regular load? high water setting, yes.
snap, twist, whoosh, clunk, swish.

blinking timer light says, 'go ahead'..
tic, tic, tic, in my mind's background.

spin thunders in the basement below.
final clunk. wash done. dryer gapes.

my steaming vapors vent outside.
do neighbors smell my cleanliness?

it is a liturgy of fabric resurrection.
it is a celebration of man's machines.

sunday...day of whiter whites.
sunday...day of brighter colors.

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Shill

Today Tony Snow died. Like his predecessor, Scott McClellan, Mr. Snow became the salesman for a corrupt fascist regime, which has waged illegal war, killed hundreds of thousands of helpless civilians for oil, spied on its own citizens to maintain control and lied daily about the nation's health and economy. I am sure these men see what they did as only a job. I am sure Nazi propagandists saw themselves the same way.

Every individual bears the responsibility for the jobs he/she performs, despite any rationalization he/she may make to the contrary to live with a troubled conscience. Life presents daily opportunities and demands to make right choices for the good of one's personal evolution and the evolution of the human species.

Do you throw that piece of paper or plastic out of your car window? Do you smoke that cigarette? Do you buy that sugar-infused coffee? Do you push your way through a line? Do you disturb your neighbors with loud and obnoxious behavior? Do you support a dictator? Do you hide your real beliefs to be liked?

The corruption of humanity occurs in small doses with minor daily decisions to do what is not the righteous thing to do. Sentimentality, peer pressure, religion, prejudice, all these factors are constant inhibitions to doing the right thing. Overcoming these habits is called practice. Practice also begins small and grows large with daily persistence.

Masculinity

Gender is not a matter of choice in nature. We live in a time of gender alteration by surgery. We live in a time of metrosexuality. We live in a time of sexual take-out menus on Web sites. You name it; you can get it.

Masculinity is still valued in a society where men are becoming undervalued. Education statistics indicate that men are performing badly academically in relation to women. The media culture indicates that brutish, rude, criminal men sell clothes and music.

So, what is masculinity? Is it a mix of hormonal responses and affect? Is it the swagger, the crotch scratch? Is it the accomplishment of athletic skill? Is it the ability to coldly kill an enemy in a uniform? How do you define masculinity?

I abandoned my masculinity about 10 yrs ago when I first fell critically ill and nearly died. I realized that disability had made me something other than masculine or feminine. It had made me human in consciousness. Recovery only solidified this feeling about my genderness. I began the process of accepting myself to an extent I had never imagined when I was engaged in the 'normal' world.

I happen to believe that moving past obsession with gender is another step in personal evolution.

I also think that gender obsession to the point of self mutilation is a disease. The cure for that disease is the actual mutilation (sex reassignment) in the eyes of some. I would disagree, despite the current political trend to accept that solution. Yet, I would support and defend those who feel so compelled that they undertake that surgery, if I felt they have explored all possible options to deal with their gender obsession without self mutilation.

The photograph above is allegedly of Oscar de la Hoya, the famous boxing champ. It has become a notorious image. It challenges the masculine stereotype of millions of men and women. It does not challenge mine. Does it challenge yours? My practice includes being aware of my gender and what effects it has on my attempts at personal evolution. While I am not obsessed with my genderness, I am also not ignorant about it. This is another example of seeking the Middle Path.

Summer

Eniko, poet/friend,
inspired this.....



Summer has come for an extended visit.
He's sweating on all the furniture and weeps,
in thunderous showers. The plants love him.
The bees and wasps are frantically building.
I sit in my new patio space and watch him.
He seems determined to topple the tall lilies.
Those weepy outbursts and windy tantrums.
When he leaves I won't miss him 'til January.


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