Nagasiva at 09:00, 28 May 2020

2020-05-28T09:00:43Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 09:00, 28 May 2020
Line 1:		Line 1:
	[[Image:1984-Social-Classes.png\|thumb\|300px\|left\|Social Classes, 1984]]		[[Image:1984-Social-Classes.png\|thumb\|300px\|left\|Social Classes, 1984]] <br clear = "all">

	safe in my tower,<br>		safe in my tower,<br>
Line 123:		Line 123:
	then let me find out how to respect those with whom i disagree,<br>		then let me find out how to respect those with whom i disagree,<br>
	let me have the courage to refuse to become my nation's murderer,<br>		let me have the courage to refuse to become my nation's murderer,<br>
	let me see the wisdom of remaining barren and living simply.		let me see the wisdom of remaining barren and living simply.<br>
			<hr width="75%">
			copyright 2018, a taoist city monk (nagasiva yronwode)

Nagasiva: text

2020-05-28T08:59:04Z

text

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:59, 28 May 2020
Line 1:		Line 1:
	[[Image:1984-Social-Classes.png\|thumb\|300px\|Social Classes, 1984]]		[[Image:1984-Social-Classes.png\|thumb\|300px\|left\|Social Classes, 1984]]

			safe in my tower,<br>
			small cares occupy my mind.<br>
			outside weapons are firing,<br>
			conflict is raging,<br>
			the struggle,<br>
			ceaseless,<br>
			over what i have, use, and want.<br>
			this way of life, they say,<br>
			is guaranteed by blood and courage.<br>
			I want no violence, no coercion,<br>
			can i give it up and stop the guarantee?<br>
			then it will have been for naught, they say.<br>
			someone must live this life,<br>
			and so it might as well be me?<br>
			I pray to my God about it. She says<br>
			• Every moment is an opportunity,<br>
			• to bring peace into the world,<br>
			• sometimes close and sometimes far away.<br>
			• This peace is guaranteed by blood and courage,<br>
			• and takes a form of refusing to engage violation,<br>
			• opposing it with rage and tears, futility and pleading.<br>
			• Sometimes such opportunities are for naught or missed.<br>
			• Even then they are valiant as embraced,<br>
			• for they demonstrate the primacy of compassion,<br>
			• do not dwell on revenge or hatred,<br>
			• and yet acknowledge them as real,<br>
			• sitting in fear or anger.

			safe in my tower,<br>
			large cares intrude as a discourse about<br>
			the struggle for dwindling goods and recreations.<br>
			I am not someone who put down a weapon,<br>
			I avoided them, spoke against them,<br>
			asked for the clamour and harsh words to stop.<br>
			I am weak and insignificant compared<br>
			to the standing armies of power.

			when the banners of war are flown, i lament.<br>
			when my way of life is protected by waterboarding,<br>
			and drone missiles, safely operating at a distance,<br>
			i want my leaders to be held accountable,<br>
			yet even their warcrimes are excused as necessary,<br>
			their terrible deeds an urgent necessity,<br>
			and the country they serve largely looks away,<br>
			explaining that violence is the way we keep safe.

			will there come a time when violence will be required?<br>
			shall i persist in this privilege without being honourable?<br>
			are the valiant deeds of violence laudable?<br>
			is the choice to meet coercion with pleading courageous?<br>
			didn't i have enough pleading and begging<br>
			when the violence of my treatment for my transgressions paused?

			safe in my tower,<br>
			just a tender fleeting moment while i am allowed<br>
			to continue the happy chance of luck and birth,<br>
			alive in a peace zone,<br>
			but this safety, this peace, is just another facade,<br>
			the shifting miracle of blasting furnaces in the sky,<br>
			a dramatic pause of held breath,<br>
			contained tension while rats and ants chew their way in,<br>
			and the civilization taxes us to make sure we know<br>
			who is really in charge, who controls and will manage<br>
			the munching, killing maelstrom happening all around.

			towers are yet plentiful here.<br>
			in a newly conquered land,<br>
			fresh from diseases wiping out the indigenous people<br>
			who weren't put to death for nonconformity.<br>
			the party is far from over,<br>
			and it is predictable that far away,<br>
			where these values have persisted for centuries,<br>
			the meritorious courage<br>
			is occasioned by more war, more violence,<br>
			waves of instability and strife,<br>
			as each successive generation<br>
			strips off another layer for food and bears more children.<br>
			oblivious of both the larger consequences of breeding<br>
			and the increasingly violent basis for what is called peace.

			George of the Orwellian Jungle nods, sagely:<br>
			war is peace, freedom is security, and hope is futile.<br>
			what can Mr. Smith ever really do against Washington?<br>
			how can the tools of torment<br>
			ever bring the same level of fear and panic<br>
			to the Machine as they can and will to the lone dissenter?

			trapped in my tower, war banners flying around us,<br>
			it will be too late to bring sense, peace, security, or hope into being,<br>
			while drums sound and peace officers are militarized.<br>
			as long as development and economies flourish<br>
			we can rest assured that our futures are sound,<br>
			our values are pursued with the best of intentions,<br>
			our violent leaders are trustworthy,<br>
			and the violent protectors of our stuff won't turn on us,<br>
			until we can be demonstrated not to have been born<br>
			with the right family connections,<br>
			with the proper colour of skin and length of hair,<br>
			or fail to furnish the right people with something they want.

			the Crying Buddha sighs,<br>
			war planes with Wheels of Destiny are constructed in factories,<br>
			and when the Lord of Dharma knocks on our door<br>
			and alerts me that it is now my turn to serve,<br>
			my duty to slay others in the defense of our future,<br>
			our children, our economy and development,<br>
			i must say i want no part of this violence,<br>
			will pick up no weapon,<br>
			do not believe violence ever helps resolve anything,<br>
			and oppose those who promote and sustain it,<br>
			though i be subjected to the very torments<br>
			against which i am warned<br>
			by my guardian captors.

			if this life is founded on the blood of countless generations,<br>
			if this peace is brought about<br>
			by thanking past warriors on Veterans Day,<br>
			if this freedom is earned by agreeing to slay other human beings,<br>
			if this hope is gained <br>
			by supporting endless childbearing and development,<br>
			then let me find out how to respect those with whom i disagree,<br>
			let me have the courage to refuse to become my nation's murderer,<br>
			let me see the wisdom of remaining barren and living simply.

Nagasiva: graphc

2020-05-28T08:57:55Z

graphc

New page

[[Image:1984-Social-Classes.png|thumb|300px|Social Classes, 1984]]

Wisdom Courage Insight - Revision history

Nagasiva at 09:00, 28 May 2020

Nagasiva: text

Nagasiva: graphc