WW: On the Black River

(Fishing with my nephew. Open in a new window or tab to see it better.)

Appearing also on My Corner of the World.

Responsibility Kyôsaku

"Do not emulate others' wrongdoing. See to your own virtue."

Dōgen

(Photo courtesy of Jay Castor and Unsplash.com.)

WW: Compassion in the pit of Hell

(The world is still talking about the 40+ degree weather we on the North Coast experienced this week. I've lived places where that kind of heat wasn't unheard of, but to see it fry my green and temperate homeland was terrifying. [And uncomfortable; few homes here have air conditioners.]

The above photo was snapped beside a local bike path. It's a basin of water for the dogs that are often walked on this trail, presumably placed by the neighbour who lives behind the gate that's out of frame on the right.)

Appearing also on My Corner of the World.

Our Worst Nightmare

This week I learned two things:

1. that something called "the Buddha-like mindset" is trending among young people in China and Japan, and
2. it's largely condemned

The phrase "Buddha-like mindset" – or Chinese and Japanese phrases so translated – refers to a tendency among those nations' youth to eschew lifestyles dedicated to amassing status symbols and winning the approval of others. It dovetails with a new tiger-free parental attitude that Simon Fraser anthro prof Jie Yang sums up as "there are not that many kids who will really amount to much, so why give them an exhausting childhood?"

Instead, these mostly male kids are said to grow up shiftless and solipsistic, never making it in the work world, devoting their lives instead to their hobbies, pets, and interests.

Most alarming to cultural gatekeepers, they're also swearing off women. Insofar as courtship is the most grueling of society's approval rackets, these young-to-middle-aged men buy back their sovereignty and peace of spirit by simply Bartlebying that mofo.

All of which is a precise description of me. Or has become, any road.

Of course, as Wikipedia points out, "Although it is inspired by the Buddhist guidance to become satisfied through giving up anything tied to avarice, it is not a Buddhist principle." It is, however, predicated on conventional Zen teaching. To wit, as another source in the WP article puts it: "It's OK to have, and it's OK not to have; no competition, no fight, no winning or losing."

But in fact, in a twist partly reminiscent of Western "lifestyle Buddhism", few adherents actually follow Buddha-like mindset into any spiritual practice. (China's Communist ruling class is turning back flips over it all the same, officially for ideological reasons, but more likely for political and economic ones.)

And really, in the end, it's not surprising that the lions of these Asian societies are greeting this improbable teenage fad with consternation.

Just imagine the atomic tantrums we'd pitch in the Christian West if our kids suddenly started emulating Christ.

While simultaneously rejecting the authority of the Church.

I dare to venture this would be the single worst nightmare we've ever faced.

(Photo courtesy of Ian Stauffer and Unsplash.com)

WW: Slime python

(This is Ariolimax columbianus, the Pacific banana slug. With a maximum length just south of ten inches, it's the second-largest slug species on the planet, though this individual is only about 7.)

Father's Day Meditation

"About the worst kind of person I can imagine is a man who's mean to his dog."

My dad.


(Photo courtesy of Fred Marriage and Wikimedia Commons.)

WW: Whelk eggs

(Almost certainly the invasive Ocinebrellus inornatus, or Japanese oyster drill. I'm told the pink ones have died before hatching.)

Appearing also on My Corner of the World.