WWHHTDLD, Your Royal Hineys?
July 1st, 2010
Pierre and Pam Omidyar,
it doesn’t mean a thing to me that you
order your Control Risk Group to ride in on me,
or your $2500/hr. lawyers, or instruct my local police
chief to act as your flunky and pound on my door
at night and rattle my dog’s chain and mine
and tell me you don’t want me
to write about you.
People on the right
side of the fence have always done that,
always had some version of an ex-NSA “security chief”,
always controlled legions of capos to keep the people in line, always
tried to control the press. You want to live that life while Rome burns, every
once in a while some lunatic will lift up an ember and illuminate you for everyone else
to see, not caring how you flex your mighty security muscles. You want to
collect luxury resorts on a golden chain round your necks while
rapping about uniting humanity and using technology to
– oopsie! — go ahead.
Don’t expect this kind of thing not
to happen, though. Live over where you do
and the favelistas are bound to jump up
and peer over the fence at you.
‘Specially when you talks
like you does!
Some will throw rocks.
Some will throw words. Threaten all
you like. It doesn’t mean a thing
to me. Here’s what
interests me:
In
this state
there is no Shiva,
nor any holy
union.
Only
a somewhat
something moving
dreamlike on
a fading
road.
Even though the
wisdom realizing selflessness and
the development of a concentrated meditation
do not depend on others, the practice of morality, which is
their very foundation, must take place in relation to others because
morality is based on not harming others; without other sentient
beings you cannot perform the virtuous deeds that
stop harming them. For example, the
virtue of abandoning killing
requires others…
It goes without saying
that attainment of Buddhahood relies on others,
since the distinctive practices for achieving that state are love,
compassion, and the altruistic intention to become enlightened, which come
from being aware of the suffering of others and being moved from the
depths of your heart to bring help and happiness to them.
We should respect those who suffer as
much as we respect the Buddha;
as Shantideva says:
Living beings and the Buddha are similar
Since from them you achieve a Buddha’s qualities.
How is that you do not respect living beings
Just as you respect the Buddha?
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