Today, at the risk of becoming an annoyance, I pause once again to invite those of you who read The Buddha Diaries--especially those who live and vote in the United States--to join me over at (the newly redesigned) Vote Obama 2012. The values that we share as followers of the Buddha are very much at stake in the November election, most particularly the fundamental value of compassion.
I started my "Vote Obama" blog with the intention of eschewing the negative in favor of good, positive reasons for voting for a man who has certainly not managed to fulfill all the expectations he awoke in me, but who pursues goals that I share with the kind of Middle Way good sense that I aspire to. Despite that intention, I find so many things to criticize, oppose, even condemn on the other side that it has become impossible not to mention them. I'm glad that "Vote Obama 2012" now has my friend Jason to accentuate the positive in his "50 Reasons" to vote for the President.
Could I ask you to please visit the site and join us as a subscriber, follower, "liker"... ? Could I ask you to send out the link to friends and associates? To spread word via the social network? While the campaign seems to be swinging Obama's way, we can't afford complacency. Nor can we pass up on the opportunity to do what we can to provide him with the support he'll need in the House and Senate, if we want to provide him not only with a desk in the Oval Office, but with the power to overcome intransigeant opposition and get done those things we originally elected him to do.
Personal responsibility is not exclusively a Republican value, it's a Buddhist value, too. But not one to be wielded as a stick with which to beat those less fortunate than ourselves. It behooves us to share our good fortune, not to hoard it; and to extend our good will to every other living being. And that's not merely generosity, it's also self-interest: how is it possible for me to enjoy my own good fortune, if I purchase it at the expense of others?
So... please switch on over to Vote Obama 2012. It has a whole new look, designed by my colleague, Jason Brush. And it's only a click away.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
2 comments:
For the tree that grows strong it is the middle of the tree that feeds its arms and legs or branches and roots.
The tree that the Buddha sat under sheltered him from the sun and rain and represents the world. Obama is like this tree. He is steady in the wind but flexible enough to bend so as not to break. When animals piss on his base he is large enough to continue to grow. When fire attacks his limbs he is resilient enough to continue sending out new leaves. When birds of prey nest in his limbs and peck at him he continues to grow.
Miff Grifter continues to shoot off his mouth despite having a brain and therefore has foot in mouth disease. He is not a tree. He is a parasite.
Go home Miff and expand your too large home.
nice article about in today's Tmes about Zen Monk...
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0921-zen-monk-20120921,0,445916.story
Post a Comment