Buddha – ZiaLink Ink

#BerniesBack #OurRevolution #SafetyPins #AMJoy #inners #PeacePledge @MMFlint @LisaBloom @JaneOSanders

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but the public declaration of Trump as President-Elect may be the best thing that’s happened since the @BernieSanders revolution. Here’s why:
IF Hillary had been declared the Victor November 8 the Repubs were ready to drag us through four more years of Congressional investigations, impeachment hearings, law suits claiming our election was rigged, on and on. Now read carefully because words matter!

It’s not over YET! The Electoral College meets December 19, 2016. Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, so this isn’t just any old “rubber stamp” meeting. This one will be a doozy, especially if we can disqualify Trump! (details on that below.)
As Dylan says, “Things have changed.”
Diverse groups, a few listed above, plus the Obama Coalition, Michael Moore’s movement and #OurRevolution (aka “the Bernie Band” back together), have renewed vigor given what’s happened since November 9. It’s not too late. Here’s my assessment:

First came #HateCrimes and violence against minorities and women. I actually experienced this myself! On Wednesday (Nov 9) I was driving in a semi-congested area. A huge truck with Trump signs and stickers (behind me) was honking at me. I couldn’t speed up and there was nowhere to go. At some point he pulled out and around, nearly crashing into another car, and yelled, “Move over you F-ing liberal C**t.”
No one has called me anything that offensive since the old FemiNazi label during the heat of the Women’s Lib reactionary days. I forget such hatred of successful women persists! A certain segment of society began “showing their rears” the past few months. Now they feel so empowered they are out and self-identifying with their ugly temperament and actions. Nazi graffiti, KKK signs, bullying and even beatings are on full display against blacks, Muslims, Latinos, Hispanics and other minorities.

At the same time, progressives like Michael Moore (@mmFlint) and Bernie Sanders began speaking out again. Bernie has the long-view of how to reform the Democratic Party with the #OurRevolution movement. That’s great, but with hate crimes and vengeance on the rise EVERYWHERE right now we can’t wait for political action and we can’t let Trump take office.

Immediate action steps unfolded for many of us Saturday morning on #AMJoy (the 2-hour MSNBC show hosted by Joy Reid.) I took 5 pages of notes listening to various speakers like attorney @LisaBloom. The upshot for me is that with so much evidence of hate crimes, violence, voter suppression and disenfranchisement, predatory behavior and foreign collusion we can lobby the upcoming Electoral College to disqualify Trump! I propose the new hash tag of #DisqualifyTrump for listing members of the E.C., how to contact them, and other ideas on how to proceed. I’m sure one of the E.C. experts can help guide us on the most effective way to present our case. There’s plenty to challenge when it comes to the E.C.

Attorney Lisa Bloom said it best Saturday morning:

“Trump is about to bump into the big, beautiful wall of the Justice System!”

She was referring to the 75 pending lawsuits he faces and that will go forward even if he is President-Elect. There is also the Trump University civil case which begins November 28. And, the fake charity called the Trump Foundation is embroiled in legal battles. The so-called Blind Trust that he wants to use is being challenged because if Trump puts his family in charge of his business matters, that’s not a “blind” trust– it’s a conflict of interest!
Ms. Bloom and others discussed the rampant nepotism he is suggesting for his so-called Administration and the many Constitutional violations on the horizon (including attacks on our First Amendment.) So there is a LOT to compile and present to the Electoral College. Constitutional attorneys and elites get busy!! We got work to do!

Also, a great unifying rally-call comes with the #SafetyPins Movement. This apparently began in the U.K. after the Brexit vote. Brits wore safety pins as a silent way to convey their support for refugees and immigrants. Now we have our own #SafetyPinSolidarity Movement in the USA to show we stand with the oppressed groups being bullied and harassed by Trump supporters.
Evangelical Trump supporters say they are worried about losing their “Christian Values” but they don’t show us what that means. Spewing hate, vitriol, and name-calling is far from Christian. Seems that it will take REAL Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, atheists, LBGTQ, the disabled and disenfranchised to show that Christian values are about LOVE. ♡

Finally, Michael Moore and many, many more are marching and protesting. GREAT!! Let’s all get out there, but we MUST remain peaceful to carry out this important mission. So, wear a safety pin (or a lot) and let’s all take the #PeacePledge to stay HIGH as they go low. I see a path forward to #DisqualifyTrump before he takes office. It won’t work unless we maintain a peaceful protest and carry signs with messages of #Justice and #Equality for ALL. Let’s use our “elitist” minds, not our brawn, to get this one done!

Don’t panic! The Jedis will prevail. Hillary was right about this…

#LoveTrumpsHate

I said I would post about consciousness and examining our thoughts, and I will. In fact, I want to begin with my own obsessive political thoughts. Even though I know it’s unhealthy and damaging to my spiritual practice to get so wound up about the upcoming US Presidential election, I often cannot control my compulsion to tweet about Trump. I can’t seem to refrain from name calling, basically reverting to his childish behavior, when watching CNN or other news updates. After all, he is all they’ve talked about for the past YEAR!

His obvious manipulation of the media was driving me crazy. Trump was able to garner around 2 BILLION dollars worth of free publicity, thanks to the ratings grab and greed by the network and cable corporate executives. Talk about “quid pro quo” and “pay to play” schemes! Enter my solution: #TeamGov — the Libertarian team of two former governors, Gary Johnson from my state of New Mexico and Bill Weld, the admired former Massachusetts governor. I never thought I would support a Republican, but both guys agree that Libertarian values are socially liberal and fiscally conservative. I can go for that. Johnson is less hawkish than Hillary, and light years beyond Trump on every issue.

Best of all, I want to support Gary, and that’s so much better than voting against Trump. That’s how I felt about Bernie Sanders. I admired his honesty and integrity and enjoyed his campaign. I wanted to contribute to Bernie’s cause. I feel the same about Gary Johnson. He is not hypocritical, certainly not racist, and Libertarians are not into controlling our behavior. I fear Trump would impose HIS values on everyone and what could be worse? His values are a confused mess. Hillary and hubby Bill are not much better. There has always been a cloud around them, something that is not the case with Gary. I don’t know much about Bill Weld. I suspect he’s had some personal battles, but who hasn’t?

And that’s a perfect segue to the topic of consciousness. It’s a pretty deep subject to tack on in a paragraph or two, but perhaps I can offer a tease and elaborate next time. The most significant insight Buddha had (under the Bodhi Tree in India 2500 years ago) was how our thoughts rule us. He realized that demons, torments and even pain can be banished by gaining control of our thoughts. We don’t have to be slaves to every crazy, impulse that pops into our head. “Seeing Clearly” is when we realize we are more than our thoughts. My own “ah ha” moment came when I realized meditation is not a technique to purge our thoughts immediately, but rather we start by observing them and finding the gap between them.

It’s enough at first to notice that we are not our thoughts. If we are aware of our own ideas and thoughts, then who is the observer? This is where the discussion can get deep and lengthy. So, this is the place to stop for now and leave you with this: in quiet and stillness (meditation) you become mindful. Mindfulness reveals the way. It’s the same with any practice or trade, in doing you learn. Artists and authors were once dabblers, and professional tradesmen were once tinkerers.

Oh, I didn’t explain the image. Trekkies/ Trekkers will recognize the scene where Frank Gorshin (best known for playing the original Riddler on the TV Batman series) on the left, played the bigoted half-whiteface, half-blackface. The half-whitefaced hated the half-blackfaced. It was satire about left/right political arguments. Enough said 😉