Random stuff

Although I haven't finished the Red Pine commentary on the Diamond Sutra, I picked up Thich Nhat Hanh's commentary on the same writing.

His version was published in 1992, originally written in Vietnamese and intended for an expatriate Vietnamese audience. It includes his own translation of the Diamond Sutra, retranslated from Vietnamese into English. For me, it's more readable than Red Pine's translation.

So here I am, the book-taught Buddhist, gleaning more wisdom from the Barnes & Noble Sangha.

As I read the sutra and commentaries – no concepts and no no-concepts – I find myself more and more struck by the general silliness of our everyday life. I find myself again drawn to the idea of a simpler, almost Spartan lifestyle, just to rid myself of baggage.

I wish I could not work. My work environment is still a source of drama and distraction, and one from which I can not easily distance myself.

There is a quote in the Red Pine commentary from a Zen monk who, writing his own Diamond Sutra commentary centuries ago, said something like, 'You must get rid of the mind first, then the world will follow. People who try to get rid of the world without first getting rid of the mind end up deeper in confusion.'

That's sort of where I am. If I were more successful at 'getting rid of the mind,' I wouldn't be so caught up in the drama and stress of my job. But at the same time, it would be easier to 'get rid of the mind' if I didn't have the sometimes ridiculous demands of my job and the demands of coworkers who seem to be checking in from a different planet than the one on which I live.

(Did you see the article in TIME magazine about the 'personal branding consultant'? This is some guy who does research on your 'personal brand,' then gives you advice on how you should live your life, the kind of clothes you should wear and the kind of car you should drive, all with an eye to strengthening your 'brand,' ie, giving you a higher profile in the 24-hour consumer suck-up-a-thon that we all want our lives to be.

It's not an option; it's a necessity, just like food, clothing and shelter. You're no different than an iPod, Mini Cooper or upmarket vodka: you simply must develop a comprehensive, proactive, strategic personal brand initiative to have a decent life.

I'm getting started on that immediately. My own brand will be based on the 7 Habits, which see.)

Tomorrow is election day. It won't be straight-party vote for me, because of a single race.

This is something else for which I have not much enthusiasm.

I won't be voting for the best candidate, in most cases; I'll be voting for the one I think is least likely to make things measurably worse. I would prefer to skip the whole thing and simply live – physically, intellectually and emotionally – beyond the reach of government and our society. Let the beings/not-beings who want that kind of world have it for themselves (and don't forget to work on that personal brand!), and let those of us looking for something else have the world we want.