Obama, Buddhism and Taxes.

With great respect and admiration of John McCain I am elated that Senator Barack Obama will be the next President of the United States of America. Of course mainly this comes from my political views but I do want to speak of his ability to unite America and the world.

Barack Obama seems uniquely positioned to be a political leader able to unite people of all races, religions and citizens of the world. He may not know of the Buddhist teaching of interdependence but that is exactly what he has cultivated. He has been able to inspire people from all over America and the world with many different political views that we have more in common than not and that we have a responsibility to help each other. He has reminded us that the division of the past 8 years has caused a lot of suffering both here in America and in the world.

In reality he reminds us that we are dependent upon each other if we want to increase happiness, success and peace in this world. He reminds us that we aren't America being the world but America being apart of the world again. In many ways his election surpasses politics and speaks to a greater hope and vision for America and the world. It is a historic moment that despite your politics you can't help but rejoice for what it means to overcoming our differences and barriers in regards to race. We took one step further in America last night in realizing the true oneness of all beings that is our reality.

His domestic vision is nothing short of an understanding of the interdependence of suchness. In other words if certain Americans have been financially successful in this country it is not simply because of a person's hard work. It is greatly dependent upon the efforts of others that have helped position them into the place where they reap great success. Perhaps they were born into a wealthy family that enabled them to go to university and earn a degree, which helped them earn a lot of money. Or perhaps a certain teacher inspired them to be interested in learning and If it wasn't for them they probably would not be in the position that they are in. Just the very fact of being born in America where opportunity abounds requires sharing of ones good fortune.

Maybe their karma has given them great opportunities such as being born with a gift for a profession that is highly valued in society. However, it is that very same karma, which demands that they give back to others through (for example) paying more taxes so that others might be able to better care for their family. Or so that even more people will be able to afford the health care that all beings deserve. How can we stand by and watch people suffer from sickness when we perhaps can afford to pay a little more in taxes to ease the suffering of sickness for our fellow beings? Yes karma blesses us but if we greedily do not want to share our fair share of that good karma with others then that good karma will undoubtedly disappear away from our next birth.

If one is took look mindfully at money we can not help but realize that in reality it is not ours--nothing is ours. There is nothing that we can say that we did independent of others. In some way we are all effected for better or worse by others. This is not to say that I believe in a communist society because I don't but it does say that to whom much is given, much is required. We only need look at the sharing of resources that occurs in monasteries to understand how sharing a certain amount of wealth is a value greatly shared by Buddhism. Especially if we believe that Buddha and monks are our examples of how to improve our karma to achieve liberation from samsara.

Being in a higher income bracket and therefore paying more in taxes is also a way to guard against the power of the ego-self. Money often causes more problems then not as it is an attempt to rid ourselves of suffering through things that do not last nor grant lasting happiness. The ego-self then says, well we're not happy because we don't have enough money, we need more!! How often do see the rich celebrities of the world suffer greatly despite their mountains of money? They become hungry ghosts. In the end money is nothing more than another attachment and I personally find that I get more happiness from giving money to the needy than buying another t.v.

~Peace to all beings~

Read More

Sarah Palin: No Friend to Animals.

"For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love." ---- Pythagoras (c.582 - 507 BC)

James: I don't get too political on this blog (I have another one for that) but animal welfare is something that I feel strongly about. If the wolves are too high in numbers than repopulate some of them to different areas of wilderness. There are plenty of wild place still left in Alaska, Canada and other parts of the other American states that could take them. Or at least give them to animals refuges and/or zoos. Although zoos don't always treat the animals with the best care but it is better than killing them.

However, Alaska governor and now vice-president selection of Republican Senator and presidential hopeful Senator John McCain doesn't seem to mind engaging in barbaric practices of what can't be called another other than a massacre of a beautiful and important animal to the eco-system. They keep the moose population in check but the governor and her supporters want to upset that balance because the citizens of Alaska like to eat moose up there and need high numbers of them. All this killing so that humans who don't have to eat meat can consume flesh:

No friend to wild animals, Palin has offered incentives for people who kill wolves in an effort to boost Alaska's predator control program which so far has failed to meet expected numbers. The incentives include offering 180 volunteer pilots and aerial gunners $150 in cash for turning in gruesome legs of freshly killed wolves. Outraged by Palin’s predator control program, environmentalists have argued that bounties have no place in modern wildlife management.

Alaska Governor and GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin is a strong promoter of the aerial hunting of wolves and bears, a practice that has been condemned by conservationists, scientists and many hunters alike. It involves shooting wolves and bears from the air or chasing them to exhaustion and then landing and shooting them point blank. The animals, shot with a shotgun, usually die a painful death. The hunters involved in the program keep and sell the animals' pelts.

In a region west of Anchorage, she authorized the killing of up to 70% of all bears (1400 bears) including mothers and cubs.

She supports drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), an extremely sensitive region where millions of animals could be harmed or killed. Senator McCain has long opposed this drilling as do most energy experts who see it as useless.

• The Board of Game, which she appoints, has approved the killing of black bear sows with cubs as part of the program and expanded the aerial control programs.

• The media is currently looking into reports that state officials implementing one of the aerial wolf killing programs illegally killed five-week old wolf pups just outside their dens.

James: She also advocates taking the polar bear off the endangered species list was believe it or not done by Bush to protect the animal. We all know that the polar bears rely heavily upon the ice shelves to hunt and raise their young but thanks to global warming there territory and thus numbers are disappearing.

She also opposes the listing of certain whales on the endangered species list of animals to protect. Not sentient being's life should be put put ahead of our lust for cheap energy:

Alaska's Cook Inlet beluga whales are a unique group of white whales whose numbers have dramatically declined in the past two decades due to pressures ranging from pollution to increased ship traffic. Governor Palin opposes the listing of the Cook Inlet beluga whales, citing the listing as a threat to oil and gas development, despite their genetic uniqueness and the fact that their numbers have decreased from 1,300 in the 1980s to about 350 today.

James: If you are an American, a vegetarian and/or a lover of animals and want to protect them in the wild than this is information that you should know before voting in November. I for one will not be voting for the McCain/Palin ticket for this and many reasons. Animals are voiceless and can't defend against whole sale slaughter and so it is up to those of us who love all sentient beings to stand up for them and fight against their abuse and murder.

~peace to all beings~

Read More