I went to the cat corner
Where Maureen was waiting
She was sipping her Hendricks
Gin and Tonic
She looked up me
And smiled
Her eyes dully gleaming
Like an angel who is dreaming
Come sit with me she implored
And I complied
And we sat together in the gloaming
until the evening
Grew dark.
Greetings from Galveston! Each morning I rose just before dawn and headed for the beach to catch the stellar event unfolding on the horizon. I was not disappointed. Most mornings Buddha stayed in bed, but this glorious morning he accompanied me out to the beach.
Today I wanted to ride around Galveston to look at some of the buildings. Galveston is home to some interesting old historic buildings and to some newer more modern ones.
This building is being converted into condos.
The Rosenberg Library is the oldest continuously operating library in Texas. I visited this beautiful library with the hopes of finding a clean well lighted place to study in. But, alas, it wasn’t meant to be. Due to covid the study rooms were closed. I was free to roam the stacks but not to study. I did come away with a book however, so all was not lost.
The Strand Historic District, also known as the Strand District, in downtown Galveston, Texas, is a National Historic Landmark District of mainly Victorian era buildings that now house restaurants, antique stores, and curio shops.
Later in the day we headed back to the motel for a dip in the pool. We were staying at Gaido’s Seaside Inn, which according to their own testimony boasts of having the best pool on the island. Who am I to argue?
We ended the evening at a Mexican Restaurant. Buddha’s friends hadn’t heard from him in a while so I posted this picure to prove he was still alive.
Stay tuned for day 7 of the exciting adventures of Ghost Dog and the Buddha.
“In Africa a thing is true at first light and a lie by noon…”
-Ernest Hemingway
Photo: Benn Bell
OK, I guess I’ll weigh in on this. My two cents are worth about the same as anyone else’s, I reckon.
What we have here is an intersectionality. Where cancel culture meets book burning and freedom of speech meets banned books. Now, for the record I am against burning books and it seems like everyone has a match these days. And I have always enjoyed Dr. Seuss and even read these books to my kids when they were growing up….
But! There is no book burning going on here, no cancelling of Dr. Seuss, just a recalibration. His own estate has made the decision to not publish six books that contained overtly racist images. Six out of hundreds. And these books are still available. As a matter of fact, they are flying off the shelves!
We are living in strange times. The culture has evolved in many good ways in some bad ways. There is no question we come from a white supremacist patriarchal past. But that is not what we look like today. We are a multicultural, multiracial society and everyone deserves a seat at the table and everyone deserves to be included. It is important what books are put in front of children as they are the most impressionable among us. Reinforcement of white stereotypes and racial tropes is inappropriate. White children don’t need the reinforcing of white supremacy and children of color don’t need to be exposed to the hurtful images that remind them of their second-class citizenship.
This is a publishing decision, just like any other, but this one reflects the willingness of the estate of Dr. Seuss to learn and try to do better. It is not part of the so-called cancel culture, which I question really exists anyhow.
The Three Doors of Liberation:
Emptiness or shunyata:
Emptiness always means empty of something. A cup is empty of water. A bowl is empty of soup. We are empty of a separate, independent self.
Emptiness does not mean nonexistence. It means interdependent co-arising, impermanence, and non-self. Emptiness is the middle way between existence and nonexistence.
Everyone we cherish will someday, get sick and die. If we do not practice the mediation on emptiness, when it happens, we will be overwhelmed.
Signlessness or animitta:
The second door of liberation is signlessness. “Sign” means an appearance or the object of our perception.
Signs are instruments for our use, but they are not absolute truth, and they can mislead us. Wherever there is a sign, there is deception, illusion. Appearances can deceive.
If you see the signlessness of signs, you see the Tathagata. Tathagata means the wonderous nature of reality.
Everything manifests by means of signs.
Life span is the period of time between our birth and our death. We think we are alive for a specific period of time that has a beginning and an end. But when we look deeply, we see that we have never been born and we will never die. And our fear dissolves. With mindfulness, concentration, and the Three Dharma Seals, we can unlock the door of Liberation called signlessness and obtain the greatest relief.
Aimlessness or apranihita:
The Third Door of Liberation is aimlessness. There is nothing to do, nothing to realize. The purpose of a rose is to be a rose. Your purpose is to be yourself.
Be yourself. Life is precious as it is. Just being in the moment in this place is the deepest practice of meditation.
According to the Heart Sutra there is “nothing to attain.”
Aimlessness and Nirvana are one.
Present Moment, Wonderful Moment
Waking up this morning, I smile
Twenty-four brand new hours are before me.
I vow to live freely in each moment
and to look at all beings with the eyes of love.
-Thich Nhat Hanh
These twenty-four hours are a precious gift, a gift we can only realize when we have opened the Third Door of Liberation.
The practice of aimlessness, is the practice of freedom.
Based on the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh
Photo by Benn Bell
The Golden Globes show last night was pretty much a disaster. It was technologically challenged, there was no chemistry between the hosts, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, possibly because they were bi-coastal, not to be confused with bi-polar. The writing was poor and most of the jokes fell flat, marring the event beyond any possible recognition. I did agree with a lot of the picks and enjoyed some of the acceptance speeches. Jane Fonda’s was exceptional. Some of the others were just plain dumb. Speaking of dumb, I stuck for the entire show. Sigh…
Ghost Dog 