culture
Consumption of the easy pleasures of popular culture, made available by the mass communications media, renders people docile and content, no matter how difficult their economic circumstances.[
existentialism
tao / hinduism / one mind
“Simplicity, patience, compassion.
These three are your greatest treasures.
Simple in actions and thoughts, you return to the source of being.
Patient with both friends and enemies,
you accord with the way things are.
Compassionate toward yourself,
you reconcile all beings in the world.”
meaning
when i was active in a buddhist group (some might call it a cult), we spent a lot of time chanting the lotus sutra.
"namu myōhō renge kyō"
we would chant that sutra over & over again, until the words lost all meaning & we were participating in a song together. it became a sort of hypnotic drone. we would spend 20-30 minutes chanting at the beginning of each meeting.
the chanting was more than auditory - it connected us in a way that i couldn't see or understand. as we synchronized our voices and harmonized the chant, it would intensify. we all felt a very real, very powerful force lashing us together, connecting our hearts, and cutting us open. we unraveled together in that room.
after we finished, i would be vulnerable. my anxiety was replaced by warmth and trust. i could speak openly to total strangers, and i felt genuinely connected to them.
this experienced forged the foundation of how i feel about meaning.
meaning is an invisible force that connects us all. i personally believe that meaning is external, & we can tap into it & explore it together. i want to create as much meaning as i can, and share in it with others.