7/29/15

I remembered a story my mom told me from when I was little. Tom Archibald was a former rum-runner and Purple Gang member who lived at the hotel I used to live at when I was a kid. He was about 70 then. For some reason, he liked me and would talk to me, although he didn't talk much to anyone else. After he died, my mom found me talking to him out of the window (we lived on the second story overlooking Madison Ave. in downtown Detroit). I told her I saw him sitting in the tree outside our second story window...

Today would've been my mom's 63rd birthday. I originally planned on spending over a month in Michigan so that I could spend it with her. I had no idea at the time that she wouldn't make it that long, that her body had finally endured all that it was capable of handling. It's still hard for me to believe that she's gone. She was so stubborn and won every battle she fought; and I half-assumed that this time would be no different. I miss her terribly, and I'd do anything to spend one more birthday with her...

When it comes to religion, I think it's not so much about what you believe as it is about whether what you believe leads you to do what is right. I suppose the real question is, What is right? And while the answer to that question has dominated theological arguments for millennia, I think the Buddha gave the clearest/most succinct answer: that which leads to the long-term welfare and happiness of ourselves and others, something I suspect even Jesus would agree with. Purity is found through right intention and action, not simply adhering to one dogma or another:

"And how is one made pure in three ways by bodily action? There is the case where a certain person, abandoning the taking of life, abstains from the taking of life. He dwells with his rod laid down, his knife laid down, scrupulous, merciful, compassionate for the welfare of all living beings. Abandoning the taking of what is not given, he abstains from taking what is not given. He does not take, in the manner of a thief, things in a village or a wilderness that belong to others and have not been given by them. Abandoning sensual misconduct, he abstains from sensual misconduct. He does not get sexually involved with those who are protected by their mothers, their fathers, their brothers, their sisters, their relatives, or their Dhamma; those with husbands, those who entail punishments, or even those crowned with flowers by another man. This is how one is made pure in three ways by bodily action.

"And how is one made pure in four ways by verbal action? There is the case where a certain person, abandoning false speech, abstains from false speech. When he has been called to a town meeting, a group meeting, a gathering of his relatives, his guild, or of the royalty, if he is asked as a witness, 'Come & tell, good man, what you know': If he doesn't know, he says, 'I don't know.' If he does know, he says, 'I know.' If he hasn't seen, he says, 'I haven't seen.' If he has seen, he says, 'I have seen.' Thus he doesn't consciously tell a lie for his own sake, for the sake of another, or for the sake of any reward. Abandoning false speech, he abstains from false speech. He speaks the truth, holds to the truth, is firm, reliable, no deceiver of the world. Abandoning divisive speech he abstains from divisive speech. What he has heard here he does not tell there to break those people apart from these people here. What he has heard there he does not tell here to break these people apart from those people there. Thus reconciling those who have broken apart or cementing those who are united, he loves concord, delights in concord, enjoys concord, speaks things that create concord. Abandoning abusive speech, he abstains from abusive speech. He speaks words that are soothing to the ear, that are affectionate, that go to the heart, that are polite, appealing & pleasing to people at large. Abandoning idle chatter, he abstains from idle chatter. He speaks in season, speaks what is factual, what is in accordance with the goal, the Dhamma, & the Vinaya. He speaks words worth treasuring, seasonable, reasonable, circumscribed, connected with the goal. This is how one is made pure in four ways by verbal action.

"And how is one made pure in three ways by mental action? There is the case where a certain person is not covetous. He does not covet the belongings of others, thinking, 'O, that what belongs to others would be mine!' He bears no ill will and is not corrupt in the resolves of his heart. [He thinks,] 'May these beings be free from animosity, free from oppression, free from trouble, and may they look after themselves with ease!' He has right view and is not warped in the way he sees things: 'There is what is given, what is offered, what is sacrificed. There are fruits & results of good & bad actions. There is this world & the next world. There is mother & father. There are spontaneously reborn beings; there are brahmans & contemplatives who, faring rightly & practicing rightly, proclaim this world & the next after having directly known & realized it for themselves.' This is how one is made pure in three ways by mental action. (AN 10.165)