A desk to enlightenment and beyond
Two nights ago I had an intense discussion in which we concluded that the economic system in which we live, be it communist or capitalist, is inherently irrelevant. What supercedes those is human dignity. But then what the fuck do I know, I was really drunk.You ever get roped into conversations you don't really want to? Him and his girlfriend offered me some Chinese food. I first declined, but my insatiable appetite for Mu Shu and duck quickly changed my mind. I swear the conversation went like this:
Patriot: "Hey, this duck is great! Thanks man."
Red Commie Bastard: "I'm glad you like it. I think the Mu Shu was pretty good too, but don't you think our capitalistic tendancies and knee jerk reactions to market based economies have led us to yet another useless war?"
Patriot: "Yeah the Mu Shu is ... WHAAAA?!?!?!"
Certainly there's some inconsistencies in the above scene, like the Patriot eating Chinese food. But then again, he's being fed by a Commie Bastard. All mundane details aside, the conversation flowered into something interesting.
How many times have you had the Capitalist vs. Communist debate? And how many times has it boiled down to the following
- Our capitalistic system isn't a true capitalistic system as in Laissez-faire
- There has never been a truly communist system implement as Marx foresaw it. Meaning the proletariats are the focus. All systems claiming to be communist have really been socialist.
- Mekrob isn't really any good. In fact God hates it so much he made it a curse word.
- Comparing Democracy to Communism is like comparing apples to oranges. One dictates a political system, the other is a economic system.
- When Buddha laughs, he's laughing at you.
- Neither matter as long as human dignity/agency is allowed and the depth of human identity is allow to flourish
I moderately enjoyed the debate. I guess the biggest problem is, I didn't learn anything. I didn't see anything new. So it was fun to run the gambit, but I need more.
This condition of thinking through a problem looks stark past a simple issue of "What do I feel at this moment?" Thinking through a problem is amazing! It deepens your awareness of the world far more than you can imagine. But it doesn't contribute to your disposition. The awareness of that life is vast and so am I is something that few people ever reach. Then to go ahead and play with that intersection in a joyful manner is exquistely rare! And so we have figures like the laughing Buddha to remind us that "It doesn't matter in the end!" Well, not until you tie yourself up in it. Bound by the world is one thing that most everyone does.. Trying to break the binds is what tortured souls do. One broken from the binds, they become Buddhas and laugh. Then they can pluck on the strings that bind the rest of us till we are forced to break free all the while laughing at the fact that... well... I don't know... it's just funny. It really is.
So I have this wonderful little laughing Buddha on my desk. It's been taunting me. And I've been laughing with it. I swear everytime I look at it, I want to laugh. There's a tradition in Taoist Yoga where you practice laughing. Actually, it's not just Taoist. I've seen Indians gather together just to have a laugh. They practice laughing for an hour or so. But the Taoist take that feeling laughter and trie to just silence and capture it in their gut, which is the source of laughter. Think about how nothing else matters when you're laughing. Now imagine you had that feeling all your life. "Well, that's just not how the world works and that's just kind of the stuff that ummm... yeah!" Try thinking hard when your laughing. You can't! It's amazing.
People were laughing before they starting talking. It was probably one of the first sounds that escaped us and meant something to us.
Any case, laugh so more. I'm not going to say give up on thinking. It's fun. But laughing will always, in my mind, supercede thinking. Imagine dying with a deep hearty laugh? How cool would that be!
This condition of thinking through a problem looks stark past a simple issue of "What do I feel at this moment?" Thinking through a problem is amazing! It deepens your awareness of the world far more than you can imagine. But it doesn't contribute to your disposition. The awareness of that life is vast and so am I is something that few people ever reach. Then to go ahead and play with that intersection in a joyful manner is exquistely rare! And so we have figures like the laughing Buddha to remind us that "It doesn't matter in the end!" Well, not until you tie yourself up in it. Bound by the world is one thing that most everyone does.. Trying to break the binds is what tortured souls do. One broken from the binds, they become Buddhas and laugh. Then they can pluck on the strings that bind the rest of us till we are forced to break free all the while laughing at the fact that... well... I don't know... it's just funny. It really is.
So I have this wonderful little laughing Buddha on my desk. It's been taunting me. And I've been laughing with it. I swear everytime I look at it, I want to laugh. There's a tradition in Taoist Yoga where you practice laughing. Actually, it's not just Taoist. I've seen Indians gather together just to have a laugh. They practice laughing for an hour or so. But the Taoist take that feeling laughter and trie to just silence and capture it in their gut, which is the source of laughter. Think about how nothing else matters when you're laughing. Now imagine you had that feeling all your life. "Well, that's just not how the world works and that's just kind of the stuff that ummm... yeah!" Try thinking hard when your laughing. You can't! It's amazing.
People were laughing before they starting talking. It was probably one of the first sounds that escaped us and meant something to us.
Any case, laugh so more. I'm not going to say give up on thinking. It's fun. But laughing will always, in my mind, supercede thinking. Imagine dying with a deep hearty laugh? How cool would that be!
posted by Mitesh @ 5:38 PM
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