Notes About Nothing #16
dharma hall elephants, new brain stuff, a long song, and a stirring film
Hello from rainy San Francisco, where I’ve been spending increasingly more time (to my delight!). When I’m up here, I feel more proximate to things I’m drawn to: cherished friends, beautiful outdoor spaces, live music, explorations in dharma, walking, public transportation and a higher burrito:person ratio than most towns, to name a few. At the same time a stark reminder of the outcomes that entrenched structural inequities and poor leadership can create—when an exploitative system (and the values ingrained and assumed within it) works as designed. We’re considering moving, as Sierra weighs the gravitational pull of her own extracurriculars against the logistics of a somewhat place-based PhD process. There are always tradeoffs to consider with every decision in life—if I could plop Palo Alto’s highly consistent sunshine in the Outer Sunset, I would. But I’ve yet to find something that compares to Golden Gate Park in this life, either…
Some things worth sharing below! Before you check them out, contact your reps again! U.S. weapons and funding are killing thousands of children in Palestine.
“A new society can come about only by a collective forging of the form that society might take.”
Speaking of activism and engagement—whether with elected officials, our inner circle of friends, fellow residents of a community or city, or in virtual spaces—I think this Tricycle Magazine article hit the nail on the head for those of us wondering why many spiritual practices and paths seem to lack commentary on the power-hungry structures in which we exist and, if we simply accept them as “how things are”, enable.
John Peacock, Buddhist practitioner of nearly forty years and Associate Director of the Oxford Mindfulness Centre, examines the role of politics in the dharma hall, and argues that contemporary mindfulness practices frequently overlook how larger societal systems, politics and ethics connect to the cultivation of individual awareness:
The elephant in the Dharma Hall was the unquestioned social, political, and ethical dimensions of the structures that we all inhabit. Despite its looming presence, this elephant is mostly ignored. There is a refusal to recognize its existence, let alone address it in any significant way. It appeared to me then, as it does now, that unless we bring into full recognition our implication in the devastation of the world via our unexamined complicity in the capitalist and consumerist structures that bring about that devastation, then something is horribly awry with contemporary Buddhism and the mindfulness movements that have their origins in Buddhism. If our quest for personal flourishing in this world, through the study and practice of “Buddhism,” doesn’t lead us to question the structures that give rise to hunger, inequality, prejudice, and injustice, then our “Buddhism” exists in a rarefied atmosphere divorced from the struggle for existence of billions of beings on this planet.
I liked John’s emphasis on questioning our assumptions and on the collective as a vehicle for “making use of our suffering” throughout the article, and I firmly believe his main points apply to modes of spiritual self-inquiry that don’t include the Buddha. Yes, to change the world we must change ourselves, but the journey cannot stop there. It must continue in conversations and in actions to alter power structures and create new ways of being together that align with our ethics and morals:
If, as Buddhist thought suggests, compassion, kindness, and understanding are values to be developed in the individual, then these are ethical qualities we should wish to see cultivated in the political realm. Far from compassion and kindness, what we see generated is the cultivation of a great deal of violence, hypocrisy, exploitation, coercion, and inequality, even in the most democratic societies. This situation has led, among many Buddhist practitioners, to a progressive disaffection with the political as the realm of action and a retreat to the isolated “cave” of the individual wanting “nothing to do with politics” …
…The path of the dharma is above all about becoming human by engaging in a conversation, talking about what it might mean to “wake up,” and then enacting the fruits of that deliberation. We “wake up” not just individually but collectively by exploring an imaginative vision of the form our societies might take. But we also must see clearly how the present structures fail us both individually and collectively—we are “crying,” and “crying out for,” a new vision of what it may mean to live ethically and collectively.
This is yet another hat tip to Thich Nhat Hanh’s fourteen precepts of engaged Buddhism. A question for us all: how closely are we living in alignment with our ethical values and morals? Have we even decided what those values are? And, to the point of this article, how are we thoughtfully and intentionally engaging with society at large to bring about a more compassionate and kind world (for both human and nonhuman beings)?
Some technological “advancements” make me queasy, but not this one (I hope)!
This was a fascinating piece by 60 Minutes on a new method that neurosurgeon Ali Rezai is testing on patients dealing with both Alzheimer’s and addiction. The wide-ranging potential uses of ultrasound are fascinating to me, and I was especially appreciative of 1) the way the video breaks down complicated concepts, like a specific medicine’s interaction with the blood-brain barrier and 2) Dr. Rezai’s humble and focused approach. He was quick to answer “We don’t know” when asked about whether such treatments could reverse the effect of Alzheimer’s, as his research currently demonstrates that ultrasound can help dramatically slow the progression of the disease. His honesty and passion for a project so many years in the making stand out. I also liked his point about how this project may have taken much longer at a more “prestigious” institution due to administrative roadblocks and a tendency to take less risks. Later in the video, seeing the effects of the treatment on a former addict who had reached a point of no return brought me a deep sense of joy. Worth the watch!
Oh, you think a 10-minute song is long?
I forget how I stumbled across this, but it must be shared to recalibrate our shared sense of time and generational existence. An organ in St. Burchardi church in Halberstadt in 2001 began a performance that is due to end in 2640 (!!!!!). This makes it the longest running non-computerized piece currently being performed. The most recent note was played on February 5, 2024. The next note will be played on August 5, 2026. The name of the composition? As Slow as Possible.
Not much to add here besides the sense of perspective it provides me. It’s like an ode to future generations, a reminder that great things take time. It reminds me of this Wes Jackson quote:
If your life's work can be accomplished in your lifetime, you're not thinking big enough.
I’ve been keeping my eyes out for similar types of projects and art ever since. Things that remind us of the briefness of a singular life, and generally the power of the extreme to put things in perspective. Do share if something comes to mind!
“America. They want someone to love, they want someone to hate.”
Shoutout to Sierra for sitting us down and putting on I, Tonya a couple of nights ago. I was immediately drawn into an incredible storyline on the trauma- and violence-filled making of a polarizing, ice-skating superstar. I can only imagine if I was alive and as big of a sports fan in 1994, when “this incident” occurred at a time when sports media was entirely different—Tonya is unfairly maligned on so many occasions because she doesn’t provide that clean, wholesome image that our country demands of its heroes. The film was filled was superb acting, and I’m not surprised at all that Allison Janney won an Oscar for her portrayal of Tonya’s abusive mother. Really difficult to watch at times, but I think that—along with a really creative format—was part of what made the storytelling so good. It reminded me a bit of Open, Andre Agassi’s memoir, which details his somewhat tortured but much less violent relationship with tennis and his father.
Until next time friends! Peace.
PS I agree about Golden Gate Park. The closer, the better :)
Hi! The longest song is incredible! Hard to wrap my head around. Reminds of Beethoven’s Silence. The title made me wonder about the silence of music and what even means.
There was so much to learn from your blog. I read it three times. It was very moving. Thank you! 💜
https://open.spotify.com/track/2fleUzqUTqFTWfff2Q9Jy8?si=8pxhz-RVR1qiKEk8PpmKXA&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A3T2hZAWtMIDhZfZr32rxJe