Does it still count as Altruism when there's free beer involved?

This week's "Moment of Altruism" was when Bethany, her mom Glee, Grant, Brenda, and I competed in a charity trivia contest to benefit St. Jude's Children's Hospital. Johnston Paint sponsored our team which also had three of its employees on the roster. When I asked Grant if he wanted to participate he said, "Well, as long as it's for the kids." Of course he said that right after I mentioned that Johnston's paid our entry fee and the Knights of Columbus provided free beer. So we gladly did our part to help the kids. As icing on the cake, we finished second out of 36 teams, missing victory by one point. The winners donated their winnings to St. Jude's, which we all agreed we would have done, too.

So let's review. We drank free beer, made someone else donate their money to the kids, and claimed that we would have given our prize money to them as well. Giving never felt so good.

My Dogs' Cyclic Existence

According to Buddhism, each living thing has a mindstream that is infinite. We have all lived an infinite amount of lifetimes- not necessarily as humans! Its all about Karma which means good or bad actions. If one has sewn enough seeds of good Karma, he or she could expect a better re-incarnation in the next life, perhaps even attaining the status of a Buddha, or Enlightened One, destined to exist in a blissful state of Nirvana and thus ending the cyclic existence of perpetual birth and rebirth in a reality filled with unhappiness. If they have lived negatively, then they have sewn more bad seeds and will likely be reborn as a lower form of life in the universe, doomed to work their way back up through the ranks of more enlightened lives. I believe I have figured out where my dogs Jake and Princess fit in that overall Karmic scheme.

Jake is our 12 year old, Jack Russell/Corgi mix. He was three when I rescued him from the pound and he was decidedly different from the other 20 dogs in his kennel. He refused to go near any of them as though he were "better than them." When I got him home, he did not play with toys, go fetch, or lick me on the face like most other dogs do. Instead, he was moody, expected me to wait on him hand and foot, and enjoyed "humping" anything he could wrap his stumpy little legs around. After he was neutered, his life became a routine of sleeping 20 hours a day, laying on the couch, and flatly ignoring anything I said in an effort to control him. This leads me to an alarmingly clear conclusion: In his previous lifetime, Jake was likely a white male human who was the boss of a large corporation where he expected everyone to bow down before him and cater to his every whim. He was a man who had it all, but did not appreciate it nor did he do anything to make the world a better place. He abused his status and is now paying the Karmic price by being reduced to the status of a dog. That's why he doesn't wag his tail, he doesn't fetch, and he doesn't show affection toward anyone. He feels degraded by being reincarnated as a dog and has decided to just ride it out until the next incarnation as a human. But I aslo think he is finally happy. Since animals are neither good nor bad, he will most certainly advance back up to the status of human in his next life and hopefully will do a better job of preparing is mindstream for cultivating the positive energy necessary for entry into Nirvana, or the state of everlasting happiness.

Princess, our two year old St. Bernard, on the other hand is the same life form level as Jake, but is coming from the opposite direction. She loves to play fetch, lick your face, and chase her tail. She is in love with being a dog. This leads me to conclude that in her previous life, she must have been an insect or some other lowly creature devoid of the capability to play and appreciate life. She clearly did not have a tail before, because it is her favorite thing to play with. She has an unfettered love of being alive. She loves playing with people, cats, goats, and other dogs. I have never seen a creature before who could love so unconditionally regardless of what form the beloved took. In her next lifetime, she will almost certainly be a human who is charitable, fun-loving, and good. She may be closer to reaching Nirvana than me.

So Princess and Jake are both living as dogs for the first time in their spiritual lives. One is on his way down from being a human, the other is on her way up. Wouldn't it be interesting if they met in their next life as humans? Perhaps that explains why certain people forge an instant bond when they first meet- as though they had met in a previous life. Maybe the term "soulmates" really means "two people whose Karmic paths have finally converged after an eternity of near-misses and common experiences." Could that explain the love you feel for your significant other? Maybe you should ask your dog.

P.S. Princess has gained 40 pounds since this picture was taken and is now enjoying "the Good Life" at our house. Now she and Jake are both fat and happy.

Separated at Birth?

Osama bin Laden: Terrorist Leader. Responsible for the deaths of thousands of Americans and others. Believes killing Americans is justified because the U.S. is a state of infidels who support Isreal. Believes Muslims are God's chosen people.

Ariel Sharon: Isreali Prime Minister. Ordered indiscriminate slaughter of Palestinian protesters including men, women, and children while serving as commander of Isreali Army. Believed killing Arabs was justified in order to protect Isreali occupied territories that were taken from Palestinians after WWII (although recently he made huge strides toward making peace with them). Believed Jews to be God's chosen people.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: President of Iran. Accused of taking part in 1979 kidnapping of Americans. Believes the Holocaust never happened and has vowed to wipe Isreal of the face of the earth while his supporters cry "Death to Americans" for supporting Isreal. Believes like many terrorists, that a Holy War or Jihad is justified because Muslims are God's chosen people.

Pat Robertson: Evangelist TV station owner. Has repeadedly called for the assasination of non-Christian world leaders, claimed that liberal control of the government is worse than what Hitler did to the Jews, and recently suggested that God smote Ariel Sharon for dividing God's land by ordering a withdrawl from Gaza to make way for peace with the Palestinians. Believes Christians to be God's chosen people.

These men have two things in common: They have all publicly professed their hatred for anyone unlike them and all claim to be men of God. Have you ever seen a "WWJD" bumper sticker on a car? "What Would Jesus Do?" Correct me if I am wrong, but I think Jesus preached peace and tolerance and "turn the other cheek." I don't think he would have approved of the Crusades, the Inquisition, or Pat Robertson's hate speech. "What Would Muhammed Do?" By all accounts, the teachings of this man were of peace and compassion as well. He ascended to leading Medina and the Islamic world, and occasionally resorted to violence, but only in defense of his people or to unify a region. (No worse than what America has done over the years).

Religion is fine. It guides the majority of people in the world to live good and peaceful lives. The majority of Muslims, Jews, and Christians love peace and do NOT hate each other. However, a few outspoken men have betrayed their religions by commandeering them and twisting them to support their personnal agendas. Don't condemn a race, a nation, or a religion based on a few very bad apples. Remeber that the true leaders of those religions advocated tolerance and compassion toward all of God's creatures.

I hate to sound preachy, but this post is in response to a couple of conversations I've had with churchgoin', God-fearin' folk who have said some shocking things to me. The first guy was an Army man and said, "We should nuke the whole middle-east. They all hate us anyway." My response was, "Including innocent women and children?" To which the guy said, "All of 'em." When I disagreed, he offered to take me outside and "teach me a lesson". (Which was very thoughtful of him.) The other unenlightened soul who wore a crucifix around his neck, served as a youth pastor in his church, and had strictly Christian music saved on his i-pod said, "John McCain is anti-American for getting this no-torture law passed. We should torture more of 'em if it will stop 'em from dropping a nuke on New York City." To which I replied, "John McCain knows a thing or two about the moral acceptabilty of torture, to call him un-American after being a P.O.W. for 5 years in Vietnam is un-American. Besides, torturing a terror suspect in a secret prison will not stop a terrorist cell determined to do us harm." To which he questioned my patriotism and basically blamed people like me for the problems in this country. I stopped just short of asking him if he thought Jesus would approve of torturing people because I knew that I would soon recieve another offer to be "taught a lesson" if I persisted.

And I thought the purpose of religion was to ease human suffering and live a moral life. What was I thinking?

Resolution Update

You may recall that one of my New Year's vows was to perform one altruistic act per week and blog about it to inspire the masses. Well, I haven't done anything on a grand scale yet, but I have done a couple of little things. Today I wrote to the adorable 11 year old Brazilian girl we sponsor through Christian Children's Fund. Her full name is Francisca Mayara de Silva Gomes or "Baba" as she told us she likes to be called. We send CCF a modest amount of money each month which goes to education, sanitation, and a library of books and toys for the kids in her town. Also, we send her a little cash for Christmas and her birthday that she gets to spend however she wants. (She buys new clothes and is very grateful.) Alex colored a picture for her and included it with the letter.

Something that has come to my attention about the other New Years Resolutions I wrote are how most of them are tied together. I never realized it before I started working on resolution #6: Become more spiritual by studying different religions. In Buddhist practice, one strives to be selfless or to give up the idea of an isolated self (resolution #1: Not being self-conscious and worrying about what other people think of me. In other words, don't take everything so personally thinking the world is conspiring against me.) Another main feature of Buddhism is abandoning negative actions and emotions (resolution #2: Have a more positive attitude when bad things happen to me, and resolution #5: be honest and fair while controlling my temper). But the real kicker is this: The three-fold essence of the Buddhist path is: the determination to be free (from our confused perception of our problems and their causes), the altruistic intention (recognizing that other people also have problems and that we can help them through love and compassion), and the wisdom realizing reality (understanding the true nature of ourselves and other things so that we can focus on eliminating the real causes of suffering). So altruism (resolution#9) goes hand in hand with Buddhism.

It is interesting that half of my New Years Resolutions relate directly to the principles of Buddhism. (Drinking dark beer and spending money on cars and new suits do not, however.) I am no Buddha yet, but I may have stumbled upon something that merits further investigation. At any rate, finding true happiness while helping the world be happy is the goal of both Buddhism and my blog, so maybe I am on the right path afterall.

Tabla Rosa

As I sat down to blog just a moment ago,
What I would write I really didn't know.
It had to be funny, insightful, or lewd,
Anything less would be incredibly rude
To the fans of my efforts who read everyday,
The people who can't wait to hear what I'll say.

I have a reputation for inciting a reaction,
From readers who crave some blogging satisfaction.
It's usually praise, but on occasion its not,
Once in a while they may even call it rot.
I never want to let the good people down,
It's because of them that this blog's world renown.

I started this poem with my mind a blank slate,
I spent half of my life in a similar state.
Writer's block can't stop a good blogger from blogging,
Like a salad couldn't keep my dad's arteries from clogging.
Heartattacks notwithstanding, he is doing well,
So cholesterol and writer's block can both go to Hell!