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holy fucking hell.
Do these Christians ever stop with their utter nonsense? They’ve raised $300K on the Christian version of GoFundMe (yes had to have a Christian version - makes perfect sense) for a kid that illegally owned a gun and killed protesters. Just read a few of the comments. They would be entertaining if they weren’t so fucking sad and terrifying.
“Prayers for this warrior who loves god, family, and country. I pray I have the courage to act like Kyle, protecting the innocent when the time comes. I believe the time will be soon. god speed. will try to send more if budget allows.”
“Philippians 1:28 ---without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will destroyed, but that you will be saved- and that by God.”
“God bless you Kyle, you did everything right by helping people to keep their livelyhood. You were helping people in the street & in their businesses & homes. You did everything right & nothing wrong.”
Yeah I just say fuck a lot these days.
Fuck.
powerless power.
“With great power comes with great responsibility.” It’s one of those rules of nature. It might as well be gravity. It’s an undeniable truth.
But, it’s much more fun to have power without responsibility. But, it’s also hard to deny. So, what I’ve noticed is a tendency to limit the power.
God. The great omnipotent force of the universe. The most powerful being to ever exist.
Yet, I grew up with the thinking “give god credit for the good things but don’t blame god for the bad things”. Well, what kind of all powerful being is that? This being can’t prevent rape, murder, torture, pedophilia, genocide… hell, not even a hurricane?
Okay, so this being isn’t that powerful. And so, it doesn’t have to have that much responsibility for the state of the world.
Trump. The greatest president to ever exist in the greatest country to ever exist.
Yet, all I hear is that Trump can’t be blamed for COVID, for unemployment, for racial injustice, for the unrest in Democratic cities, for much of anything, honestly. This president can’t prevent all the things that he says we should be scared of…. unless he gets more power.
Okay, so this president isn’t that powerful. He needs more power.
And this is the scary thing with both gods and presidents - they will always claim the need for more power, not more responsibility. It’s a rather amazing branding and propaganda job, really. Yes I’m in charge but when I’m in charge other people are really in charge and so I need to continue to be in charge to prevent these other people from being in charge even though they are always in charge…
Well how about this: let’s talk about the power you have, what you’ve done with it, and go from there, before we start handing out more power? Oh, I think there’s some parable about this too.
anger zen.
The proceeding poem is from my second "single" Anger Zen. Volume 2 from my conversations with "the teacher" this one is exclusively about “religion”.
Available on Amazon now! Easy to read. Easy to think on.
Paperback and Kindle. $2.99 and $5.99.
The newly released second "single" from Ryan Miller and "the teacher". Given the racial turmoil and general state of the world, Ryan managed to spend another day with the mysterious "teacher". He took notes on their conversations and tried to soak up as much wisdom as he could. In this second volume of some of their conversations "the teacher" talks through a variety of topics related to religion from "anger" and "guilt" to "sin" and "zen". Each of the 26 chapters is short and concise - perfect for the times - but packed with wisdom, especially needed, it would seem, in 2020. Read them in 20 seconds but think about them for 20 days.Relax and learn with the teacher.
I can't breathe.
I can’t breathe
The world watched
This blue take another black life
His knee representing millions more
George, another link in the chain
Suffocating the breadth of history
Didn’t even seem to phase the man who swore
To protect and serve
But it’s never bothered most of those
Who benefit from these old ways
But all lives matter they say
I can’t breathe
The ventilator is doing its best
To replace her COVID lungs
Another virus spreading and stealing
Spreading ignorance, stealing unity
No more masks they chant
Because, ironically, they can’t breathe
At least not like they are used to
And they have rights you know
But all lives matter they say
I can’t breathe
Were the last words
That slipped from his lips
Hanging from the rope
Clinging to his rainbow flag
And equally colorful heart
His dad forbade him from using
Because the Bible does too
He preached the only thing worse
than slavery Is being gay
But all lives matter they say
I can’t breathe
Trying to keep the water out
Trying to keep his head up
While the boat sinks
Along with his dreams
On the way to the land of opportunity
That told him he wasn’t welcome
Because it’s already full of people
Too different and too needy
And it wants to be great again
But all lives matter it says
I can’t breathe
She cries from under him
I know there’s a lot to see
But don’t forget about me
Bearing the weight
of his toxic masculinity
In my bedroom
You like it he lies
and my boardroom
You can’t be CEO he sighs
But all lives matter he says
I can’t breathe
the poor plead
Under the weight of corporate greed
I myself can’t breathe
Under the weight of ignorance and pride
And I feel guilty because
I can
In privilege and fragility and
supremacy that I abhor
And benefit from at the same time
I can’t breathe
It’s Jesus this time
If he’s somehow alive
he must be living in hell
Constantly begging for life
while his followers steal it from him again.
Repeatedly killing this poor guy.
Who probably wonders why
They still don’t listen to anything he ever said
Too busy worshiping the dead
But don’t worry they pray.
Dear god show us the way
Jesus come back soon
They plead in the most ironic way
It’s hard to see
When you have your eyes closed
But all lives matter they say.
This poem appears in the book Anger Zen.
attention zoo.
Things have been a little more important than a new book lately so, a little late, here’s the announcement for my new "single" called “Attention Zoo”.
It’s the shortest book I’ve ever released (though it’s only Volume 1) and it’s about as easy to read as they get. I managed to spend a day with the "teacher" not too long ago. I took some notes on our conversations and this is the result. Concise to the point wisdom.
Available as paperback and kindle. $6.99 and $2.99. Enjoy!
universe.
“How do you think the universe was formed?” I asked.
“In a way, I will never discover.”
“What about why the universe formed?”
“To keep me searching for an answer my entire life.”
“Not very satisfying.”
“Pride and certainty are toxic to humility and wonder. The mirage of control creates chaos. The universe knows this and will make sure to never poison us with too much of either, so that we wake up every day and find a reason to smile.”
yes.
“Can I hit you in the head with a stick?” he asked.
“Not this time,” I answered. “I’ve learned.”
“What have you learned?”
“To use the word no.”
“And how did you learn that?”
I had to think for a second.
“Have you ever wondered how it is that three little letters can be so powerful as to give us the key to open the doors of our prisons of fear? To teach us all that we must learn? How is it that we refuse to use them just because we carried a sting for a few seconds?”
“It’s sometimes risky,” I answered.
“For every yes, there is a no. For every no, there is a yes. There were two men. Each had ten coins. They both loved peaches. One man bought 100 peaches. He ate them every day for three months while the other man salivated at the sweet juice and nourishing flavor. But he had a bought a tree instead. So he watered it and took care of it and waited. For three years. After the first man was long out of peaches the other man had so many he did not know what to do with them all.
They each said yes and they each said no, just to different things. I will say in your culture you much prefer the peaches to the tree. I’m not sure that is always most helpful for you.”
quit.
“How do I know when to quit?”
“To stop?”
“Sure . . .”
“Never when it is hard. Never when you should. Never when you must. Never out of fear. Never because someone tells you to. Stop when you are able to stop.”
“When I”m able?”
“When you are able to stop, the end has already begun, in order to make way for whatever new and better thing is on the horizon. You might as well finish the job.”
jealousy.
“Can you help me with my jealousy?”
”No, but I can prevent you from killing,” the teacher answered.
“No, no, my jealousy isn’t that bad—not like that.”
“Hmm . . . so what is it? You believe you would be better rich than poor? You believe you would be better with hair? Living in another city? Born in another country? Better if you had not made that decision? If you had made another choice? Had the one you love not behaved in a way that you did not agree with?”
“Well . . .”
“Each time, you kill the reality that exists in favor of some alternative that does not.”
“Are you saying I can’t change my life? I’m helpless?”
“You did not ask how to change your life. You asked if I can help you with your jealousy. The two are not related.”
virus.
“We are in the middle of a pandemic. You know this, right?”
“We are always in the middle of a pandemic,” he answered.
“But not like this.”
“It is not seen. It evolves. It passes from one person to another even if they do not know it. It does not recognize man or woman, American or Chinese, black or white, or any label that humans have been known to invent to divide our species further. It kills us if we let it.”
“Right?”
“I understand that some are afraid of becoming sick. Maybe I am. But we must not let it distract us from the other diseases we already carry to which the only immunity is love and mystery: primarily fear and a lack of nuance.”
fortune.
“Do you think we determine our future?” I asked.
“I am no fortune teller,” he answered.
“Okay, but do you believe our actions shape our destiny?”
“The one who asks such things is looking for some kind of prediction. Or control. I cannot give you either. But I will say those who try to amass a fortune to protect their fortune will soon find themselves miserable and desperate to guard both from those who want to take them.”
“Money doesn’t buy happiness?” I asked.
“You can not purchase a future.”
gravity.
“It seems like your answers are always meant to keep me confused,” I said to the teacher.
“In the same way that the planets and the stars spin wildly throughout the universe and around each other, and yet we do not float, so should our beliefs be full of wild doubt and questions in order to keep us grounded.”
kings.
“What do you think of politics?”
“The main trouble with kings is that most people want to be one, even though so few actually like them.”
“Kings?”
“You can call the leaders anything you’d like. The trouble with kings is that they continually perpetuate a false hope of control. The trouble with kings is all that we give up trying to attain power like them. That is the true danger.”
spectrum.
"Is the sky blue?” the teacher asked.
“Yes,” I answered hesitantly.
“But not at sunset or sunrise, not during a storm and not at night.”
“But, during the day it is,” I argued, for some reason.
“Is the grass green?”
I didn’t answer.
“Not in the winter, of course.”
“Okay.”
“Are the holy books true?” he asked.
“I think I get it.”
“What color is light? Now that is a question.” He smiled. “Beware of the questions that limit the answers. It will leave you in a very black and white, and dangerous, world.”
no.
“Can I hit you in the head with a stick?” he asked me.
“Why?”
“To teach you.”
“Okay, I guess so.”
So, he slapped me across the head with a thin branch. Hard. It hurt like hell.
“Have you ever wondered how it is that two little letters can be so powerful as to prevent us from drinking every kind of poison? Have you ever wondered how two little letters carry such power over our future? How is it that we refuse to use them more?”
“It’s hard sometimes,” I answered.
“For every yes, there is a no. For every no, there is a yes. There were two men. Each had 10 coins. They both loved peaches. One man bought 100 peaches. He ate them every day for 3 months while the other man salivated at the sweet juice and nourishing flavor. But he had a bought a tree instead. So he watered it and took care of it and waited. For 3 years. After the first man was long out of peaches the other man had so many he did not know what to do with them all.
“They each said yes and they each said no, just to different things. I will say in your culture you much prefer the peaches to the tree. I’m not sure that is always most helpful.”
terra.
“Do you think we will be able to save the planet?” I asked.
“Not without humility.”
“What’s humility then?”
“Humility is not the ability to give up your selfishness,” he answered. “It is the ability to see that you do not exist apart from all other things. It’s the ability to see that your selfishness is dependent on all other things. You do not need to throw away your selfishness. You only need to direct it to all the things that actually determine it.
“We will be able to save the planet only when there is more humility.”
attention.
“I’m here, paying attention,” I said to the teacher.
“I do not care about attention.”
“Really?” I asked.
“The dog will forget whatever he is doing to chase the squirrel. And the squirrel will provide some momentary entertainment. For a while. Attention is too fragile and temporary. It too easily captures us and then lets us go. For this reason, it’s an excellent tool to keep you in control—swallowed by the machines and systems and powers that will do anything for your attention. I will enter no war for attention.”
“Then what?”
“Devotion. The dog is devoted to its master. And the master feeds it, cares for it, provides a relationship. The squirrel provides entertainment and momentary significance, the master provides life. Do not confuse the two.”
“Do you want devotion?”
He laughed. “There are only two things worthy of your devotion: mystery and love. All others are only deeper manifestations of attention. I have no desire to manipulate you and I hope you are able to resist your desire to be manipulated.”
opinion.
“Is there truth? Is it all relative? How can I even know?” I asked.
“Is it true I am not moving, at the moment?”
He was, in fact, very still. “Yes.”
“Then why does the man on the moon tell me I am moving 220 kilometers per second?”
“So you’re saying it’s all relative?”
“Truth is sometimes a prism. Never let that stop you from spinning it or from searching for evidence. It is only those who believe truth to exist in the simplest dualistic ways who stop searching because they believe they have found it.”
right.
“What is freedom?” I asked.
“Something you do not have.”
“Excuse me?”
“A person can taste a gourmet meal and talk of its flavors, and yet never taste its ingredients. A person can sleep with as many people as he or she desires and talk of ecstasy and energy, and yet never fall into the safe abyss of another’s soul. A person can travel over land and sea and talk of different cultures and attraction, and never speak with another in the common tongue of smiles and laughter.
“And so a person can talk all day about rights, and chat about liberty and sing about freedom and yet live in a cage.
“Each knows that whenever one tries to describe these things, there are no words. And so they do not ask what it is, they only enjoy the moments of experiencing it. When you have found such a thing, you will no longer ask, or even talk as much about it.”