Country Music: Buddhism with a Rough Edge

Those who know me know with what little regard I hold country music. At lunch today, I was unwillingly subjected to the crooning that was coming over the PA system at the restaurant where I was eating. In the spirit of living in the present moment, and avoiding trying to wish for some state of affairs that wasn’t (say, like Dave Matthews or some good jazz or classical music), I decided to listen to some of the lyrics—first to make fun of them but then one caught my ear. It’s a new song by country artist Darryl Worley called “Sounds Like Life To Me.” Click here for the lyrics. To hear a recording of the song on You Tube, click here.

The short message is: stop your whining and deal with it. In a more pastoral way, Jesus might say “do no worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself” (Matthew 6:34). Or in a more cerebral way, a Buddhist might say “don’t desire the present moment, whether good or bad, to be anything other than it is—freedom comes from embracing the current state and learning and growing from it.” Or, my nephew and niece’s preschool might say “take what you get and don’t throw a fit” (click here for my posting on this from June 15, 2009).

But there’s a certain appeal to directness of the lyrics of this song—it’s Buddhism with rough edges, for those of us that are dealing with the rough edges of life. A guy is complaining to his friend about the car falling apart, the appliances breaking down, the mother in the nursing home, the mounting bills, etc. The friend responds:

Sounds like life to me—it ain’t no fantasy

It’s just a common case of everyday reality

Man I know it’s tough but you gotta suck it up

To hear you talk it sounds like some kind of tragedy

But it just sounds like life to me.

The guy continues the whine: you don’t understand, there’s another kid on the way, I’m the only income earner, my pay got cut last week. The friend, a persistent if not terribly articulate presence, again responds:

Sounds like life to me—plain old destiny

The only thing for certain is uncertainty

You gotta hold on tight just to enjoy the ride

Get used to all this unpredictability

Just sounds like life to me.

The only thing for certain is uncertainty? Get used to all this unpredictability? This is the concept of impermanence that I’ve previously blogged about on July 19, 2009 (click here to view the posting). Sometimes you just have to look at the present moment or present state and say: it doesn’t get any better than this. The sentiment can certainly be expressed with resignation (which is not the idea), but it can also be expressed with the wisdom that you should not be attached to nor averse to the present moment. If it’s good, don’t be attached to it because it will go away. If it’s bad, don’t be averse to it because it will go away. As the great Chinese Zen master Ta-mei said, “there’s only now—when now comes don’t try to avoid it; when now goes, don’t run after it.”

So stop the drama, quit the whining, buck up, it’s just life. Country music—it’s Buddhism with rough edges.

Compassion

In my first posting (What is Interstices, May 24, 2009), I referenced a quote from His Holiness the Dalai Lama when he was speaking at the Ethics for the New Millennium Conference in Edinburgh Scotland in November of 2005. “All major religions carry the same messages,” he said: “messages of love, compassion, forgiveness, tolerance, contentment and self-discipline. I have Muslim friends, Christian friends. All have these same values.”

So, I want to spend some time writing about what Buddhism and Christianity say about love and compassion and forgiveness and tolerance. I will do this through a series of posts, roughly along the following lines: today I want to speak to the basics and in future posts I’ll address some other related themes like compassion and action, compassion and diversity, compassion for our enemies, and then finally I’ll end with some Buddhist meditations and Christian prayers on compassion. At the glacial speed I post to this blog, it could take weeks to get all this pulled together so be patient.

I’m struck by the simplicity in which the entirety of Buddhism and Christianity can be summed up in a few brief statements, or one word really: love.

Jesus says, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” (John 13:34)

Elsewhere, Jesus says, “Love your neighbor as yourself—this is the greatest commandment.” (Leviticus 19:18; Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27)

Paul makes a more sweeping statement: “The entire law is summed up in a single command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Galatians 5:14) It’s not just the greatest commandment, but the summing up of the entire law.

And just so you’re clear that this love extends to everyone (not just your friends, as in “love one another,” and not merely that kindly old lady who lives next door with the small dog and the garden, as in “love your neighbors”) Jesus throws down the gauntlet with this really tough one: “Love your enemies.” (Matthew 5:44; Luke 6:27)

The entire law, the entire teaching and ministry of Jesus, summed up in one phrase, one word really, a single command: love. It’s a verb (not a noun)—it requires action (not a passive state of being).

I’m not hearing any judgment here, no condemnation, no threats of burning in hell or eternal damnation—just love and compassion for all beings; a Gospel of compassion, not a Gospel of hate and judgment.

The Metta Sutta is the Buddha’s discourse on love and compassion, (metta meaning compassion or loving-kindness, and sutta or sutra meaning discourse or teaching). I’ve heard it referred to as the Universal Hymn of Love. Expressing similar commands, the Buddha says:

Cultivate an all-embracing, boundless mind of love

And radiate love through the entire world,

In all its height, depth and breadth —

Love that is untroubled and unhindered

And beyond hatred, ill will or enmity.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama sums up both the Buddhist and Christian perspective beautifully and succinctly: “I have no need of elaborate temples or complicated religions: my heart is my temple and my religion is kindness.”

Some more equally succinct sayings on metta by HHDL:

“Be kind whenever possible . . . and it is always possible.”

“If you can, help others; if you cannot do that, at least do them no harm.”

"If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.”

“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.”

“Whether one believes in a religion or not, and whether one believes in rebirth or not, there isn’t anyone who doesn’t appreciate kindness and compassion.”

A string of quotes from Jesus, Buddha and HHDL, all variations on a theme: love one another. Pick one that speaks to you and let it become your compassion mantra. Repeat it to yourself whenever you get pissed off, angry, hurt, or neglected. Repeat it to yourself when you see the homeless person or the beggar on the street. Just repeat it to yourself: love one another.

Impermanence, Tom Watson, and the Open Championship

Tom Watson lost the Open Championship today. So what, you may be saying. Well, it’s not just any golf tournament—it’s the Open Championship, sometimes referred to as the British Open, one of the four major tournaments in the annual professional golf calendar, the oldest of the four, and usually played in Scotland where the ancient game originated—it’s the golf equivalent of Wimbledon. You still may not care.

Well, this wasn’t just any Open Championship, and it wasn’t just any old professional golfer. Although it was in fact an old golfer, at least by professional golf standards—a 59 year old competing against a field of twenty and thirty somethings. And, had he won, it would have been historical—the oldest golfer ever to win one of the four major championships and the sixth Open Championship for Watson which would have tied him for the lead of the most Open Championships.

And this opportunity at victory wasn’t a long-shot (well, it was on Thursday when the tournament started, but not by Sunday when Watson was still in the lead). Watson lead on Thursday and everyone was nostalgic about the brief flash of brilliance reminding everyone of the fine champion he was in the 70s and 80s, but you knew it was just a moment in the sun. He was still the leader on Friday and we were all amazed at his stamina, for an old guy anyway. He was still the leader on Saturday and suddenly we all realized he could do it—he could make sports history.

On Sunday, he was at the top all day, going in and out of the lead at various times but always the constant contender. As other players fell in and out of the lead, Watson was constant, and constantly at the top of the leader board. Going into the 18^th and final hole he was the sole leader and victory and history were his. I was very emotional—truly on the verge of tears of happiness for this Gentleman of Golf, already a champion in the history books and poised on the precipice of even greater sports fame.

And then he lost. And I was still on the verge of tears, but now of heartbreak. How, in a matter of a few minutes, moments really—just two strokes of a golf club, the third and forth strokes on the 18^th hole—did he go from eternal fame to nothing? (Not to mention the fact of why is a 44-year old man crying over a 59-year old golfer—crying whether he won and crying whether he lost.)

Such is the nature of impermanence. Today we’re a prince, tomorrow a pauper. Yesterday we had robust retirement accounts, today we’ve postponed retirement and are working into our 70s. Today we’re healthy, and tomorrow we are succumbing to death by cancer. Someone lost a job. Someone lost a spouse. It can all be quite devastating. But why focus on the negative? Impermanence also means that tomorrow my business venture could take off, my cancer may be cured miraculously, and my soul mate might wander into my life. Certainly, this is true. But the point is not to get caught up in the misery of the bad times or the glory of the good. Either way it will pass—nothing is permanent.

Golf (and especially today’s final round) is a good metaphor for impermanence. You can be on the precipice of greatness, and nothing may come of it. A great shot is followed by a terrible shot. A triple bogey is succeeded by a birdie. A three hundred yard drive counts as one stroke, as does a 3-inch putt. Today, six different persons held the lead at various times during the day. It was a veritable feast of change on the shifting sands of change.

Impermanence and change are central to Buddhist belief. Buddhism states that there are certain matters over which no human being has control—certain matters that will constantly be in a state of flux, an inexorable movement forward, for good or ill, that cannot be stopped: you will grow old, you will get sick, you will die, things that are perishable will perish, and that which is liable to pass away will pass away. The more cynical (and succinct) American paraphrase of this primordial truth is that only two things are certain: death and taxes.

Just so you don’t think that Buddha (or the East) had the lock on ancient wisdom, at about the same (c. 500 BCE) Heraclitus, a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher, was also proclaiming change and impermanence as bedrock truth of reality: “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.” (The river is a classic metaphor for constant change; see below).

And the Judeo-Christian tradition is not silent about impermanence either. Let’s start with Psalm 90.

We fade away suddenly like the grass

In the morning it is green and flourishes

In the evening it is dried up and withered

The span of our years is seventy

Perhaps in strength even eighty

Yet the sum of them is but labor and sorrow

For they pass away quickly and we are gone.

The entire psalm is about impermanence. So what’s the answer to this? Eternal misery over constant change that we’ll never be able to control? Well, no. The psalmist has an answer: “So teach us to number our days/That we may apply our hearts to wisdom.”

What is numbering our days? I think it’s nothing other than the concept I have discussed already in this blog—living in the present moment, good or bad, and graciously accepting it for what it is without trying to change it—the knowledge that the present bad moment will eventually turn pleasant, and the current pleasant moment will eventually turn bad, just as a river is constantly flowing downstream with ever changing currents.

Jesus also addresses this issue.

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19-21).

Life is impermanent, moth and rust destroy, we grow old and we die. If the present moment is pleasant, you become attached to it and when it’s gone you despair. If the present moment is bad, we pine for another time and we despair. Either way, we despair. But if we store up treasure in heaven, that is, lead a life of wisdom, of graciously accepting the present moment as neither good nor bad, but as just the present moment that we can learn from, then we can break this constant cycle of attachment to good and aversion to bad, both of which only lead to misery.

I leave you with two prayers. The first has become sort of trite because it’s on so many bumper stickers, note pads, coffee mugs, and other paraphernalia, but it still speaks fundamental truth:

"Lord, grant me patience to bear the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."

The second is from the Episcopal Church Book of Common Prayer and it’s one of the collects (prayers) for Compline, the ancient monastic prayer service said immediately before retiring to bed.

Be present, O merciful God, and protect us through the hours

of this night, so that we who are wearied by the changes and

chances of this life may rest in your eternal changelessness;

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Everything changes. Don’t get caught up in it. Relax. Breathe. Experience the moment and learn from it.

Postscript: After the Open Championship, at the press conference, the reporters filed in somber and quiet while Tom Watson sat stoically at the dais. “Come on fellas,” he said, “this isn’t a funeral.” That’s the attitude, Tom! You’re already a champion. It would have been great one more time. And I would have cried tears of joy for you. But if you really want to make a difference in this world, go home and love your wife, love your kids, be gentle and kind to strangers, a mentor to young golfers—continue being the Gentleman of Golf.

Links to the Rolling Stones

It occurred to me that someone might want to see the lyrics and/or hear the Rolling Stones songs referred to in the last couple posts. However, you probably will need to be a Rolling Stones fan, or at least a 60s and 70s rock fan, to appreciate the music. With that caveat, here are some links to the lyrics and the songs.

Satisfaction

lyrics:

http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/r/rolling_stones/satisfaction.html

audio recording of song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MejtR81RzCo

You Can't Always Get What You Want

lyrics:

http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/r/rolling_stones/you_cant_always_get_what_you_want.html

audio recording of song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGfJ0_KMiro

Enjoy (or not, as the case may be).

The Rolling Stones--Redux

As a follow up to yesterday’s post about The Rolling Stones’ Satisfaction (as in, I can’t get no) and You Can’t Always Get What You Want (but you do always have what you need), the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, and Jesus’ wisdom about not fretting about tomorrow, I ran across this translation of the ending passage of the lilies of the field parable that I was referring to in my post yesterday.

“Do not ask anxiously, What are we to eat? What are we to drink? What shall we wear? The whole world runs after such things. Set your heart and mind on God's commonwealth and justice first, and all the rest will come to you as well. So do not be anxious about tomorrow. Today has enough problems of its own; tomorrow can look after itself.” Matthew 6:31-34

I was perusing www.dailyoffice.org, a great website if you are looking for the daily office on line, and this was from the website’s Wednesday Compline service and the translation is taken from the New Zealand Prayer Book.

This translation hones in on the Eightfold Path a little more directly and makes the tie in to the Path as the Way to tame desires and cravings, end suffering, and achieve enlightenment. We should not worry about satisfying physical desires (what to eat or drink) or all the “stuff” we want (what we will wear, what we will drive, what stuff we will put in our house). Craving, desire and attachment only bring misery. And, as Jesus says, we don’t need to worry about tomorrow as tomorrow can look after itself. Rather, we should practice the Eightfold Path, as set forth by Jesus: “set your heart on God’s commonwealth” (Right Understanding and Right Thought); “set your mind on God’s commonwealth” (Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration); “seek justice first” (Right Speech, Right Action and Right Livelihood). If you practice the Path, “all the rest will come to you as well.” Enlightenment can be attained—you will possess all by possessing nothing.

To descend briefly into the academic esoterica, I highlight the words heart, mind, and justice above because these loosely tie to the three prongs of the Eightfold Path: The Wisdom or Heart Prong: Right Understanding and Right Thought; The Mind or Mental Discipline Prong: Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration; and the Justice or Ethical Conduct Prong: Right Speech, Right Action and Right Livelihood.

I can’t say Jesus and Buddha are saying the precisely same thing, but close enough that it’s worth making the connection. But that’s my purpose with this blog—the space between Christianity and Buddhism is a small space not a chasm—an interstices.

The Rolling Stones and the Four Noble Truths

Buddhism is grounded in the Four Noble Truths. First, life entails suffering and unhappiness. Second, suffering comes from unfulfilled desire—every moment of suffering or unhappiness emanates from a desire for the current state of affairs to be different than it is. Third, suffering can cease—primarily through taming our desires, through accepting the current state of affairs or current moment as it is and not seeking, striving or desiring for it to be anything other than it is. Fourth, the path to enlightenment and the end of suffering and unhappiness is the Eightfold Path (Right Understanding, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration).

But, really, what does this have to do with The Rolling Stones? What first comes to mind is the song Satisfaction: “I can’t get no satisfaction . . . I try, and I try, and I try, and I try . . . but I can’t get not satisfaction.” A rock and roll restatement of the second noble truth: we suffer because we are constantly striving to satisfy unsatisfiable desires. I can’t get no satisfaction and therefore I suffer and am unhappy.

But in their rock wisdom, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards don’t leave us in the despair of endless suffering. Rather, they show us the way to the end of suffering in the song You Can’t Always Get What You Want: “You can’t always get what you want/But if you try sometime/You just might find/You get what you need.” Actually, if we try, we realize we always have what we need.

Last week there was a post on Tricycle’s Daily Dharma that expounds on this concept:

July 4, 2009, Tricycle's Daily Dharma

You Have What You Need

“One definition of an enlightened person is one who always has everything they need. At every moment what they need is there; they're not seeking anything. If you really are seriously practicing to be free and to simultaneously realize enlightenment, you never seek out of the immediate situation, no matter how bad it is. You transform the immediate situation into what you need.”

Richard Baker Roshi. From The Roundtable: Help or Hindrance (Tricycle Fall 1996)

Buddhism is about living in the moment, good or bad, and not getting caught up in the desire to try to make it something other than it is.

What does Christianity (actually Judeo-Christianity) say about this? A lot, actually. The first act of rebellion in the Bible is Eve’s unhappiness over being denied the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. What happens when she tries to satisfy that desire by grasping for and eating the desired but forbidden fruit? Banishment from Paradise and eternal suffering and unhappiness for all humanity.

The tenth commandment reminds us that we should tame our cravings and desires in order to find happiness: You shall not covet your neighbor’s possessions.

And Jesus says “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.” (Matthew 6:19). In other words, seeking material possessions only leads to unhappiness when those possessions are lost, destroyed, stolen—or when we simply lose interest and turn our attention to the next thing we crave. A little further on in that same chapter Jesus says, “Seek first the kingdom of heaven, and all will be yours.” (Matthew 6:33). This comes right after Jesus tells us we should not worry about what we will eat or drink or wear. Stated in a Buddhist way, the end to suffering is ending our cravings and desires about what we will eat or drink or wear or possess. If we are going to seek or desire anything, it should only be the kingdom of heaven (enlightenment), and then we will possess everything by possessing nothing (nirvana).

I could go on. Jesus and Buddha are really saying the same thing.

I’m reminded of this pithy little saying: Happiness is wanting what we have, not having what we want.