Tuesday Afternoon

...for lack of a better title. Above, that's a giant Buddha (obviously) located in Xumishan, China, somewhat southwest of Beijing. I've also heard it referred to as simply Xumi, but am not sure which is correct. At any rate, this was listed recently in Smithsonian magazine as one of the great cultural treasures of the world to see before it becomes extinct. Judging from the picture above, I would guess the statue has been carved from a sandstone-like material, and according to some reports, is in an earthquake-prone area, and also will suffer the erosion common to exposed stone.

Although this is truly a remarkable structure and a tribute to human ingenuity, I think its destruction has its funny side, too. One of the core ideas of Buddha's teachings was that all things are impermanent- the only constant is change. Without getting too philosophically involved, Buddha said that all things pass away, nothing remains forever. So when we are happy, we should be happy, but not worry constantly about holding on to the source of our happiness, and when we are miserable, we should not constantly be thinking how to avoid misery. The basic idea is take what comes, and don't spend all your time thinking about what will come, as you can lose the present moment. So hence the funny side of this- even such a massive structure can pass away. Although I do think preserving the past is important, too. It's important to let great works stand, if for no other reason as a reminder what we as a people and a planet can do.

So where, you doubtless are asking yourself, is this going? Well, life has thrown a lot at me lately, and it gets so easy to do two things- one, complain and be generally pissed off about stuff, and two, to lose perspective on things. I find that the best way to be in the world is to take a calm and open examination of the world around you. Nothing lasts forever- the trials and tribulations you go through are temporary. Either that, or they kill you, but perhaps that's for the best, too. The universe serves its own ends, and its ends are sane ones, although we may not fully understand them. It's easy, especially for me, to lose the sense of calmness. This has been described (mainly in the Zen schools, but of course other places as well) as Buddha-mind. It means being open and reflective to whatever happens in life. Not to cling to the good and try like hell to avoid the bad, but to simply be open to the experiences the world shows us. It's not be deliriously happy all the time, but rather to simply be. And this is not to say be passive, either. The highest virtue, I believe, is compassion. We're all in it together, as they say in Brazil. But to just put things in perspective, to get out of my own head and my own point of view, that's sometimes the hardest thing in the world. But it can be done. I find meditation to work- sometimes sitting down and concentrating on your breathing is the last thing in the world you want to do, but concentrate long enough and a break will come- perspective regained.