(quote originally from Jenni @SimpleReminders) It’s a good one.
Christians may disagree, claiming a Savior is the answer, but Buddha’s enlightenment was that we control our minds and stabilize our practice of beneficial behavior. Only then can we avoid the whip-saw of destructive emotions.
I know this, so why am I still grappling and “hate tweeting”? Like all addictions, habits are extremely difficult to change, even when we know they are harming us and others. Continue reading
Let’s begin with this extremely distressing, but very moving brief clip…
I grew up in the Midwest when America was still proud to be a melting pot of immigrants. We weren’t taught to hate or discriminate. I was wide-eyed and hopeful just like little Rachel in this video. I had friends who went to the Peace Corps and I became a journalist. We were all working for Peace and Truth in our own way… believing if people had facts they would do the right thing.
What an eye-opening journey this life has been. I’m over 60 now and things seem so much worse than I could have imagined. I was sure that after JFK, RFK & MLK were killed, after Watergate, and after the long, horrifying Vietnam war ended, surely there would be peace in the world, or at least here in America. But no. The never-ending conflict in the Middle East raged on and the USA was in the thick of it. Continue reading
Without a long academic analysis of the phenomenon called the Butterfly Effect, I want to use the concept to bring together two divergent viewpoints– the enlightened approach versus what we now call #Trumpism. Definitions will emerge, just as a butterfly does.
I used the term Butterfly Effect while writing about my current intense grief over losing my 17 1/2 year old. She was my K9, but that does not diminish my sadness. Rather than call everyone I know to cry and lament over my loss, I tried to take a more zen approach. Continue reading
books, blog & tweets
Learn more about the books (and how to buy) on ej Morgan’s Amazon.com Author Page. including the latest Dharma in your Ear mini book (99 cents for limited time, 2023.)
For large print paperback of Seeing Clearly — click here dear “hard copy” readers. 😉
Some info and history of ZiaLink and ZenWoman on the “about” links at top of home page.
Other projects underway:
It’s so easy to call something we don’t like or understand “stupid.”
I find myself constantly calling our factually-challenged POTUS “stupid”, but it’s labeling and name-calling and gets us nowhere. Here’s why:
On the first day, actually in the first hour, of Anthony Scaramucci’s new gig as #Fake45’s White House Communications Director, he claimed Trump has “really good karma.” What? 😵
The hedge fund manager turned communicator is not Seeing Clearly* how karma works.
CNN’s lovable Jake Tapper wasn’t much clearer claiming karma “takes place in the next life.” Not necessarily.
It’s trendy thinking that yoga is primarily poses and postures and karma is only tied to the afterlife, but actually neither is true. Yoga refers to practice, usually a spiritual practice, and karma is cause and effect (which can ripen immediately or much later.) Either way Trump is FAR from generating “good karma.”
Nothing limits karmic consequences to a future life… in fact, “extreme thoughts of malice” often ripen quickly (in this lifetime.) We can “purify” (clear karma) or continue on mindlessly, uncontrollably repeating our patterns (sound like our fearless leader?) While “negative” actions can result in a miserable future life, in Buddhist thinking it’s also possible to prevent future rebirths through beneficial actions in this life. Who knew karma was so complicated, Moochie!
As you can see, it’s basically impossible for me to write about Trump without generating angst, anger and karmic consequence for myself. It’s why I stopped blogging about him. I’m convinced the candidate and and his campaign colluded in Russian espionage to get into the White House and don’t understand why the “MSM” is so willing to accept that he won legitimately. Let #Mueller or a totally independent, bipartisan commission decide that.
Why am I and others so suspicious of Trump’s Russian connections? 1) there are an INCREDIBLE number of ties and links (to use Trump lingo) so many that a Buddhist might call it “auspicious” (but that exalted term is reserved for “good karma” not dirty tricks. ) 2) follow the money. Financial trails are quite revealing. In this case, after the Donald had stiffed all the U.S. banks (call that “bad karma”), he found friendlier funding sources through Deutsche Bank, Chinese and Russian banks and maybe some in Cypress.
And, it’s impossible to search Trump topics without encountering nefarious web sites. Russian and Ukrainian hackers and bots have created so many #FakeNews sites, that unless you are a savvy web user, you can easily get sucked into scam sites and stories. I’ve noticed that if I click on some of these dubious links I get virus warnings (from my non-Russian security software) and often my VOIP (internet-based) phone rings! This happens on my desktop PC. I don’t know what the karmic consequences are of following such links on a phone or tablet. I try not to.
Bottom line: the difference between real news and #FakeNews is not what Donald Trump thinks; it’s actual, factual information on established news sites not made-up stories created by hackers. When reporters or journalists use the term “sourced” part of the sourcing is knowing who you are speaking to (okay, “to whom”– Trumpism is wearing down my standards.)
I could go on and on, but let me close where we began, with karma. When asked about the Chinese military torturing and killing Tibetan monks, His Holiness the Dalai Lama has commented: “No I don’t hate Chinese people for the terrible human rights violations their government engages in. But, I do feel compassion for the future suffering they are creating for themselves.” That answer, my friends, is good karma.
*Shameless plug for my book 😇
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