Eye candy for my Buddhist friends

For the story, go to Rev. James Ford's blog -
Monkey Mind: The Kind of Rumor I Like to Hear

Freedom does not come cheap

Last night I talked to my friend Gini, who went to the Columbus rally yesterday, and stood in line four hours to vote. Among other things, we talked about the protections in place. She told me about the wide green space that separated people who had gone through security check from every one else, a space constantly patrolled by the Secret Service. There were people on the surrounding rooftops. She worried about one building that rimmed the statehouse lawn, which looked like it had old windows that might open.

I told her how TV viewers could see Obama exit the platform in a box of agents with black sunglasses and curly wires going down from their ears.

There was a big guy right behind him whose movements echoed his, whose arm went up every time Obama reached up to shake someone's hand over the heads of the crowd. Tom said, "That guy's job is to throw himself on Obama if anything happens." Later he added, "The reason that guy raises his arm like that, if someone grabs Obama's arm and tries to pull him down, that guy is ready to pull back." I told him the thrillers I've read make it plain that Secret Service agents are expected to be instantly willing to risk their lives to protect the candidate or official. It doesn't matter who it is or whether they like him. It's their job.

Oh, the lessons of history must have haunted my dreams, because this morning I wanted to hear Dion's "Abraham, Martin, and John." If you click on the title of this post, it should take you to a very moving visual rendering of the song on YouTube by M. D. Reiger.

I think the Obamas know history very well. His daring to appear in the open air like this - daring to even run for office - is the act of a warrior willing to lead the battle. He and Michelle and all those agents know very well how dangerous it is. All of us who lived through the assassination of one voice of hope after another, all of us know and hope, or pray, for his continued safety.

Obama's sword of wisdom

Still a little feverish with flu, I stayed home today and watched Barack Obama's Columbus, Ohio rally on C-span. I was more impressed than ever, in part by the faces in the crowd. It was wonderful to see so many young black men lit up with, well, hope. Joy, perhaps mixed with amazement. Remembering events in Selma, Alabama in the mid-sixties, I too am amazed.

I found myself noticing how, again and again, Obama said things you might hear from a dharma teacher. He stepped aside from the dualism the media relentlessly propound in their forecasts: It's not about red state, blue state, he said, but about The United States.

He stepped aside from the human tendency to divide and blame. It's not about erecting a boundary around America to stop outsourcing of jobs, he said, but about seeing to it that trade is fair and equal, and learning to make fuel-efficient automobiles right here in Ohio. That got cheers. You can't erect boundaries, really. This really is one world, as the weather keeps demonstrating. The climate is everyone's problem. Barack pointed out that energy efficiency was also everyone's responsibility.

There he made me happy, talking about individual responsibility like a true Grandma. In education, the government cannot do it all, he said; you parents have to turn off the TV and make their kids do homework. He talked about people working hard and saving, so their kids could have it better than they did - there's old-fashioned values.

The first presidential election I voted in was Goldwater-Johnson, so you can imagine how many years of political rhetoric I've heard. None of it began to make sense the way this did. Is it just me that's changed? I don't think so. I think Obama has a common-sense, problem-solving approach such as I have never seen before. It's visionary, but the vision grows right out of the common experience.

The sword of wisdom referenced in my title today is said to be held by a Buddha named Manjushri. From Wikipedia--

. . . he is depicted wielding a flaming sword in his right hand, representing his realisation of wisdom which cuts through ignorance and wrong views.

In Buddhist thought, when we cut through ignorance, we end our suffering. This is really the benefit of living in the present moment, that is, in reality. When we see clearly, we can act in useful ways. You don't have to subscribe to any particular religion to do that, though many have found meditation practice indispensable.

Recent American economic policy has favored the greedy to a devastating degree, as if we were not all connected, as if the continued exploitation of the ordinary person wouldn't ultimately bring down the house of cards. I thought of Manjushri as I watched Obama talk. I see Obama cutting through economic delusion, telling us we can be united in common pursuit of a decent life and opportunity for all, which was, after all, the stated American Dream.