The Tao of Pooh

Benjamin Hoff's The Tao of Pooh was an interesting take on teaching people about Taoism and the ethical views that go with it. I have always felt that Winnie the Pooh was pretty wise in a mellow way. The owl and the rabbit were a bit overbearing in their intelligent ways. The owl was obviously a scholar, but it all seems to be a waste because he does not share any of his wisdom and education with others. If he does, it's usually with a select few. The Tao of Pooh talkes about P'U (the uncarved block), which is essentially the simplest that something can be. Winnie the Pooh is the epitome of an uncarved block because he is extremely simple and lacks any type of complexities. When you try to expand your knowledge like Owl and Rabbit then your happiness and satisfaction decrease. Rabbit may have a brain, but is proved to be limited in the passage of time. It is funny how piglet said that pooh doesn't have much brain but everything that he does comes out right. Keep things simple and go with the flow by following Pooh's Way (Wu Wei), which says that things are as they should be. All in all, I liked the book.

The Blizzard: Shinto Blog

I saw three segments, but I chose to write on The Blizzard, because it seemed a lot of people weren't writing about it and it seemed confusing. So here is my analysis of The Blizzard. There were four hikers climbing what seems to be a mountain and there is a terrible blizzard which was making it incredibly difficult for them to see which way they are going. The men were visually tired and made grunts for the first few minutes of the segment, until one of them said that it was getting darker and they should rest. Another man, who was seemingly stronger and more experienced told the rest that they still have a ways to go and they shouldn't rest because there's a major storm coming. He reminded them that it's only been a couple of hours since they left. The rest did not listen to him, so he continued to be on his way leaving them behind him. In the second part of the segment, the man fell from being worn-out and was almost unconscious when a strange woman approached him and covered him with a warm blanket. She kept saying that "the snow is warm" and "the ice is hot" and continued to push him back down whenever he tried to get up and leave. She was obviously trying to kill him by the use of the forthcoming storm and icy weather. After some struggle, the woman disappears and he gets back on his feet to continue hiking to his place of destination. He soon realizes that he was not far away from his destination as he thought he was.
    The woman represents the evil demons that exist in the Shinto religion. She is known as "yuki-onna" and she tried to distract the man from his goal. He told the other hikers to "get up" and strived to remind them that they are "mountain-men" and this is what they do and to not let the blizzard defeat them. He resisted the temptation from the demon woman and managed to remain pure in his objective to accomplish what he came to do. I read an article on shinto sins and one of them was "to avoid things which disrupt the group of which one is a member." I feel like he did not succumb to the demon's temptations to rest and lie down in the snow rather than continue on his journey. He fulfilled his personal duty as a "mountain-man" and he was rewarded by reaching his destination in such a short while.

Buddhist Misconceptions, anyone?

I have to confess that I thought that Buddha was the fat guy that seems to be ever present every time someone shows an image that is related to buddhism. I also thought that Buddha was believed to be a God. It's not my fault, because that was what I was conditioned to believe without any further research. So, when I was thinking about common misconceptions about Buddhism, the "fat buddha" was first on my list.

 I am happy to denounce any misconceptions that deem buddha as an oversized God. The fat guy that is always depicted as Buddha was just some Chinese monk who lived circa 9th CE. The buddha is not a God, but as mortal as any of us. He attained enlightenment but he was born a human.

   

A classic misconception is the stereotype that buddhist teachers are all bald and serene and spend their time sitting in their mountain temples, sipping tea and as Brad Warner puts it "dispensing cosmic wisdom". This is not always true because not all zen teachers live in isolated temples in Asia.

There are lay zen teachers who dress in regular dress and sport unshaven heads. However, followers tend to view their zen teachers as supernatural beings that should be looked upon as if they are God-like figures. When they find out exactly how human they actually are, followers resent their masters and feel duped. Zen masters, as Warner said "are no more supernatural than any catholic priest, rabbi, minister, shoe salesman, or fishmonger." We've all heard of all the news surrounding horrific accusations and trials against these types of religious figures. Yet, people continue to believe that their is someone out there who is divine and free of any human flaws that would help them reach enligtenment without any disappointments.

LIberation and Success

I had a hard time finding songs that relate to liberation so I went ahead and chose songs about peace and just finding you. I feel like that’s something that can be reached once one gains liberation. Many, not all, Hindus believe that liberation is that ultimate goal in life.  Moksha, the sanscrit term used to describe this ultimate goal frees a person from samsara. Samsara is the continuous cycle of death and rebirth and is to be avoided by any believer of Hinduism. If I was a follower of Hinduism, I probably would also want to avoid this never-ending cycle of switching bodies. One of the ways to reach liberation is to renounce earthly desires. One must overcome the fear of death as well. Westerners are infamous for being greedy and desiring mundane things like wealth, popularity and fame. Therefore, finding songs about fame and success was very easy. We want more than we need; I suppose is what I’m trying to get at. If we begin to limit our desires to things that are actually important and live off of those, then we begin to understand the mindset of a Hindu that is trying to attain moksha. We can learn from Hinduism that it is indeed more humbling to do things in moderation that to drown in constant self-indulgence.

What is success according to dharma? In worldly terms, success is measured solely by looking at a person’s professional and personal life. Well-paying jobs, educated spouse, and intelligent children are considered to be good signs of a successful life.  According to Sri Swami Sivananda, there are ten tips that one must consider to achieve success. I can’t list all of them, but one of them is to “Live in the present. Forget the past. Give up hopes of the future.” Another one says, “Life is thy greatest gift. Utilize every second profitably.” If you’re interested in knowing about the remaining eight tips, you can visit this link:  http://hinduism.about.com/od/gurussaints/a/success.htm  J

SUCCESS SONGS

Fergie, “Glamorous”, other, 2007

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2ZmWlTZ5p0   

Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston, “When you Believe”, R&B, 1998

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kfpE8xYBmY 

  Drake, “Successful”, Hip-Hop, 2010

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnBiVj5HXNQ

Lady Gaga, “The Fame”, Pop, 2008

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClRllGprQ7M 

Turn the Page

Liberation( peace)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-KAvPbO8JY  George Harrison, “Give me love”, Rock, 1973

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqOU2ox_tk8  Eagles, “Peaceful Easy Feeling” Rock, 1972

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXCSxLIJD9k  Billy Joel, “ River of Dreams”, 1993

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5kmCgVhADY  The Who, “Who are you”, Rock, 1979

Elvis Costello

Summary of first two aims

I found out that Seva ( pronounced sewa) means selfless act of service towards the benefit others.  It seems like finding songs that relate to community service appear to be harder to find than songs that relate to pleasure. I can understand because westerners are used to sexual or love songs that are more upbeat and fun to listen and dance to. However, It was really easy for me to find community service songs because I listen to them more than sex songs. My favorite singer is Michael Jackson and he has multiple songs that relate to doing good in the world. Especially famous songs of his include, We are the world, Heal the world, Earth Song, and Man in the Mirror. Needless to say, the songs that I chose are mostly from the 70s, 80s, and early 90s. Hindu tradition differs from the Pop culture influence in American tradition in that seva is a major aim that citizens need to participate in along with pleasure if they want to reach liberation in the end.

Favorite Aim: Seva (Community Service)

I found out that Seva ( pronounced sewa) means selfless act of service towards the benefit others. Some songs that relate to selfless deeds that I thought of are:
 Collaboration of Artists, We are the World, Pop, 1985
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xy1gp3F5NhY
 Ben Harper, "With My Own Two Hands". Indie/Reggae, 2003
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6zt3pVPoJM
U2 Feat. Mary J. Blige, "One", Rock, 2006
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpDQJnI4OhU
The Beatles, "With a Little Help from my Friends", Rock, 1967
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBDF04fQKtQ

An awesome example video is below:
Michael Jackson, "Heal the World", Pop/Soft Rock, 1991

AIM #1: Pleasure: Warning. Sexual..

Pleasure Songs. Five songs:
     1. Ying Yang Twins and Pitbull, "Shake", Rap, 2005
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZ9SioGG0BQ
     2. Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, "Let's Make Love", Country, 2001
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fw1aDkr2Z5E
     3. Rod Stewart, " Tonight's the Night", Rock/Pop, 1976
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZr6AE-u2UM
     4. Exile, "Kiss you All Over", Alternative Rock, 1978 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awRvajwDa0Q
     5. Ludacris, "Fantasy", Dirty Rap, 2000  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mq-Ru6kQhE4
I think the best example would be...