Independence Day

 

A reflection on the Dharma of Liberty.  

It's been 250 years since the Declaration of Independence was proclaimed.  When I was a teacher 20 to 30 years ago, I would celebrate this holy day alone.  I would backpack deep into the Allegheny National Forest, far from any humans, at my secret spot I named Dharma Point.  There, I would mourn the failing of America's libertarian promise as citizens allowed government to become obscenely powerful, and I would read Jefferson's Declaration.  

It is even worse now, with both major political parties worshipping Power and ignoring the sanctity of Individual Rights to "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness".  As a student of history, I shouldn't be surprised.  Independence must be earned.  

I think of those annual retreats to Dharma Point and it gives me some serenity.  The spot was off the trails and hidden.  On a high ridge, it has a big rock upon which I built a fire circle, and there is a nearby spring with a perennial flow of cool water coming out from under a boulder.  I could meditate there in sublime quiet.  

The concept of "Independence" is close to that of Liberation or Emancipation, which reminds me of the core lessons of Gotama the Wanderer.  

Gotama (aka, the Buddha) was troubled in his youth by 3 Questions:  1. "What is the Delight of life?"  2. "What is the Tragedy of life?"  And, 3. "What is the Emancipation of life?"  

His hard-won answers:  

"The happiness and joy arising from the conditions of life, that is the Delight of life."  

"That life is impermanent, difficult (dukkha), and changing, that is the Tragedy of life."  

"The removal and abandonment of Grasping for life, that is the Emancipation of life."  

So, today, the Fourth of July, is a great time to declare independence from futile grasping to avoid life's difficulties.  Embrace life and all that goes with it.  I can't always get to such peaceful spots as Dharma Point, but I can try to find mental spaces that approximate it wherever I happen to be.  

-Zenwind. 

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Vesak

   Today is Vesak, the Buddha's birthday and also commemorating his Enlightenment.  These landmark events of his life are said to have happened on Full Moons of May.  It is a high holy day in this culture.  

   I am re-reading The Odyssey by Homer before the July release of the film by Christopher Nolan.  I chose my favorite translation, a prose one by E.V. Rieu.  Great story.  

   I saw a couple of my favorite Kubrick classics at my Bangkok movie club this last month, Dr Strangelove and A Clockwork Orange.  

   I am still doing my Roadwork three times a week, walking and stair-climbing with dumbbells.  It kicks my butt, but it does make me feel quite fit (for my age) after long regular practice.  

   The Rains have come, and we don't feel the unrelenting hellish heat as much, although the humidity is always lurking.  I have my big umbrellas ready.  

-Zenwind. 

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Beltane

 

   It is Beltane, the Eve of May, in the Northern Temperate Zone, when the vegetative world comes back to life and farmers put their flocks and herds out to pasture after the long winter.  My father would let the cows out to grass in the first week of May, after being in the barn since Halloween.  

   It's not the same here in the Tropics at 14* North latitude.  We do share the same "cold" season, but that's all.  Coldest temperatures in December and January might get down to 65* F here in the Central Plains, but it is quickly followed by the Hot Season of April.  I look forward to the Rainy Season and its blocking of the Sun.  Today we had a brief hard rain, but then the Sun came out and the steam rose.  Sauna!  

   My Zebra Dove friends have not come back to nest under the roof of my veranda.  They had successfully hatched four chicks in four consecutive nestings this year, but I think they didn't come back because of the noisy construction work next door, which has scared off a lot of wildlife.  

-Zenwind. 

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My Neighborhood

 

   I have lived in this neighborhood for 20 years now.  I have so many friends here, even though no one speaks English and I am unable to learn Thai due to an auditory disability.  (Even Tuk speaks English poorly, not practicing it enough with me since she never has been one for conversation.)  

   My neighbors know me well enough because I had a very short introductory note translated into Thai by a rare Thai friend who once studied in America.  I made copies of the note and give it out to neighbors.  It explains that I cannot learn Thai but that I thank everyone for making me feel at home here; and also that I am a retired teacher, a farmboy, a veteran combat Marine, and a fellow Buddhist (who meditates while walking in the neighborhood).  I feel that I am accepted by the locals:  the store clerks, street vendors, security guards, taxi drivers and motorcycle-taxi drivers, as well as the folks along "China Row" (the stretch of street going to the river, which I stroll frequently).  

   My nightlife has been significantly curtailed in recent years.  Maybe I'm getting old.  Fifteen years ago, I was out regularly exploring music venues, especially the excellent Blues bars that were everywhere in Bangkok until the Covid pandemic closed things down.  The Rock Pub still flourishes, and I try to stop by and say hello to my old friends there once every few months (they play Zeppelin's "Rock & Roll" for me).  I belong to a private movie club in the city and try to see some of their rare films.  I haven't been a regular at my Libertarian meet up very much, since member attendance has fallen off a bit.  

   In other news, my Zebra Dove friends successfully hatched a 4th chick on their old nest up under the roof of my veranda.  Before this new one could fly, it sat with its mother looking down at me as I went about my daily routines.  I would do the Tai Chi form "The Crane", standing on one foot, and looking up I would see two pair of eyes watching my every move!  I miss them now that the nest is empty.  

-Zenwind. 

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Roadwork

 

   Early 20th century boxers called one of their essential conditioning exercises "Roadwork".  It was simply running on the road while shadow-boxing.  My variation is marching and high-stair-climbing with a 2kg dumbbell in each hand.  It works my legs and core, and it's a great aerobic workout.  Three times a week.  

   I do an hour of prep before marching.  First a micro-dose of C sativa, then Tai Chi, Yoga, stretches, and calisthenics.  I recently added a second round of TC and cals using 1kg weights.  Then I hit the pavement with the 2kg ones.  

   I have been constantly pushing it, swinging the weights, twisting, pumping them, especially focusing on working my core.  I am exhausted by the end of these workouts and need a rest day between them, but I am feeling stronger.  My sciatica pain is mostly gone, although I still get twinges of a reminder of it if I move carelessly.  

   Views: 

   From the top of the stairways up to the Rama 7 Bridge, I can watch the river traffic, eg, tugboats pulling long trains of barges, and express boats.  Looking north, up-river, I can see six Buddhist temples and one new mosque, which is very beautiful in white and light green.  

   At home, from the corner of my veranda, I have a view of a couple of the only trees left out back.  I keep my binoculars out there for watching the squirrels and birds.  My pair of Zebra doves came back and nested a 3rd time on the veranda, successfully hatching another chick.  The doves were a bit disrupted this time because of major demolition of a building just across the wall on the side of the electric company.  

   This disrupted other creatures as well:  a big Monitor Lizard was perched on the fence at the top of the wall, evidently flushed out of his underground home.  His body was two feet long, with a very long tail, and he had muscular arms and huge claws.  

   I am reading Stephen Batchelor, *After Buddhism: a re-thinking of the dharma for a secular age* (2015).  Batchelor and I are on the same page about Siddhartha Gautama.  

-Zenwind. 

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