Monday, July 13, 2009

The Diamond Sutra of BoH



If you have been reading the comments on the “I got the blogger blues” post you may have noticed some very interesting questions our friend Mickael raised.
Questions like “why do you punish yourself?”
So in the old tradition of Zen Buddhism I will attempt to answer him via an anecdote:

An old man is sent to a retirement home.
After a couple of days, at the diner table he complains to another old man sitting in front of him:
- God damn it! This food tastes like shit! I wouldn’t feed it to a pig!
- You damn right! – Sais the other man – And the portions are so damn small!

He, he, he!
Aren’t we all just like the old man?
No matter how shitty our lives are.
No matter how many heart breaks we get, how many financial disasters we go through or how many health problems we might have, we keep coming back and ask for more!

Since I have started socializing on the internet, I have meet people battling AIDS and cancer, handicapped people, people that have been mentally and physically abused.
I have met people that have such horrendous problems that make my complains sound like trivial whining.

Yet, I have never met one person that complained that life it is too short.
As a matter of fact no matter how shitty our lives are we always want more, and if we could buy time I am sure that we would spend our last dime just to get a year or two more of it.

So here is the “Diamond Sutra of BoH”:
Contrary to what you have been taught, the value of a diamond is not given by its brilliance, hardness or purity.
If roads would be paved with diamonds, diamonds would be sold at cobbler stone prices.

What you are seeking for, be that; love, wisdom, self esteem or health is valued by how hard it is to get.
The easier something is to get the less value it has – no matter how vital that thing is for us!
Think - Air is free!
Diamonds; although not as essential to us as air, are so damn expensive because they are so rare, so scarce and so hard to find!

That is my diamond sutra not to be confused with the real “Diamond Sutra” (which I totally recommend if you have never read it :)
So now to get back to answering Mickael’s questions:

I love “The Art of War” (I even dig Machiavelli’s “The Prince”) and I agree with Sun Tzu’s wisdom that a true general wins the war before any battle is fought.
But I am not a general :)
For me, a win when you are 100% of the outcome is just a win.
A win, when you are against all odds, it is not just a win: It is a VICTORY!

So my blogging – and my life – can be at times a maddening frustrating experience, true!
But I hope that somebody out there will read this and think:
“This shit is not that bad at all”
And that he or she, will write me a small comment “Great post BoH!”
That small comment, will put a smile on my face and it will make my effort of writing my blog worth while.

So paraphrasing J.F. Kennedy.
I don’t do it because it is easy –
I do it because it is hard!

Namaste my friends and may you find the diamond you are looking for no matter how hard it might be!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I admire your blogs and the honesty you maintain and the effort that it takes to write it. Sharing one's innermost struggles are not easy. Of late I've got past the blogging with meaning stage as I've been doing it just a bit too long. So keep up the good work. May you find great diamonds every day.

Flight said...

This shit is not that bad at all

mbxx said...

Very good, I like how you write. One to follow. I hope you check my blog too

This Brazen Teacher said...

Great post BoH!

Unknown said...

@ Aggie – I realized – as I was getting older – that the only way to be honest to myself is to be honest with everybody else.
And that – being honest to yourself – is as important as loving yourself.
Thank you for being my friend!

@ Flight – He, he, he!
We all need some good shit :)

@ Jigsoak – Thank you for stopping by.
Checked your blog. Way to go!
PS: You don’t need to put a link in your comment.
Your name has a link to your profile already.

@ Brazen – Thank you for being my friend.
It makes the journey less scary :)

mickael said...

hi Buddha,

in soviet union there was an organisation named communist union of youth. participant of this organisation was called komsomolets. here's anecdote:

a komsomolets mows on the countryside. a country girl passes by seeing him and likes him much. so, she approaches the komsomolets and offers him sex. the komsomolets scratches back of the head for few seconds then says:
- allright. but let's do it in a hammock.
girl, shocked:
- why in a hammock?!
- a komsomolets does not seek easy ways.

we have it the way we want. we want it hard - we have it hard. we want it easy - we have it easy. we don't want - we don't have. what do you want?

good luck.
mickael