Car Crash

So. I figure I should write this down before I forget any of it. I might be getting a call from the cops in a day or two.

I was returning from Corries house at 12:45. Right after passing Lauras Memorial Tree Spot an oncoming car going around 60mph came into my lane. At the point it passed me about 50% of the car was in my lane. Just after it passed it quickly swerved back into its lane then back into the opposing lane. From my rearview mirror I saw the Cars headlights spin twards me and back away while the car bounced in the air. I began dialing Emergency and another car was about to pass me. I flashed it then hit my Emergency lights to give it more warning.

When I turned around and got out of the car I could see tire tracks hitting the side of the dirt hill and the car about thirty or fourty feet from that point. The driver was alright but he had the nerve to be throwing beer cans across the nearby fence. He also said on his cellphone that he wont be able to go to work the next day because his car was wrecked. The other driver who pulled over with me (The one I signaled) said that he saw the guy running off for a bit.  

Well thats that. It was interesting. Everything turned out well for me.

Wu-Men

When I saw the introduction to this section I was very excited.  I enjoyed the story about the monk asking the Zen Master if the dog has a Buddha nature.  Later on I realised that it wouldn't go into detail about the story and I was a little disappointed.  I always used to think that those Koans were just ways for people to make themselves sound smarter than they may be.  Kind of belittling those around them.

I didn't realize that the Koans wasn't litterally ment to be answered.  Instead the true lesson is in the pursuit of the answer.  It's very enteresting.  The further on I read into the section the more confused I got.  I didn't quite understand the connection of the Gateless Barrier.  I'll be reading through it again when my head has time to rest.

The Buddha

I'm surprised that this section is so short.  It seems like there would be a lot more that could be writen about The Buddha and his teachings.  I really enjoyed going over Siddarthas life in class on Wednesday.  I found it rather amusing that he was so sheltered even when he was around thirty that he didn't know what aging was.  What I find really impressive is the sudden change in lifestyle he started with.  That alone would be pretty tough. I don't even think I could go without drinking soda for a day let alone giving up a life like his.  Then there's how long he lived.  Back in his days it seems like it would be a rarity for anyone to live past fifty.  

Anyways, one portion of the section stood out to be pretty well.  I enjoyed the first teaching where he says that if you find out something is bad for you then you should stop doing it, and if you find something thats good for you you should do it.  It's really simple, straight forward, and can be considerered to be common sense.  The thing that makes this idea so much more powerful is because there are no 'but's in it.  He doesn't say, 'If something is bad for you doing do it... But if you really enjoy it you might as well continue.'  We all do stuff that we know is bad for us but in our mind we justify the bad behavor.  I drink copious amounts of soda and I know I shouldn't do that but I love the flavor and the feeling so I still do it.

Shmelke of Nikolsburg

This section was absolutely amazing. I have a very large problem reading and understanding and remembering what I read. This section though had sucked me in on the very first few words. The imagery and metaphor was very clear and and clean cut. I can't remember any reading that was this much fun since I read Enders Game over five years ago.  

The message in this section is very clear which is something I appreciate very much. If it wasn't then I wouldn't feel inspired enough to write about it let alone remember it and in the future read it again. The section is about a disciple that asks a Rabbi how he can love another person who has wronged him in the past. Everyone has someone who has wronged them and everyone has wronged someone else even if they are unaware of it. I certainly know that I've hurt someone in someway even without knowing it. It's unavoidable but if everyone held their grudges and refused to help or communicate with everyone who has wronged them, then society will break down in a matter of days.

The metaphor used in this section was fabulous. It really shows how each person can be connected to one another and with god. It also gives you a sense of how when you punish someone who has wronged you that it will come back to hurt you and perhaps even God himself. It was very clear cut and I really enjoyed this section.

Bakhya Ibn Pakuda

This was an interesting read. I enjoyed the authors notes at the beginning of it. It summed up a good portion of the section very well. I believe that if there really is no real god or anything, the teachings and beliefs within most religions were essential for human survival. The only thing that we had over the rest of the animal kingdom is a more advanced brain. We learned to make tools, we learned to communicate, and we learned to gather and become organized societies. Each person in a community is there for survival but each person wants personal gain. If we had no morals and beliefs each person who lie, cheat, steal, and murder to gain a safer and more prosperous position in the community. Religion gives everyone a standardized set of morals and beliefs which makes the society grow.

This reading seems to talk about how no matter what your status in society is you'll always be with God. If you have no wealth or positions you have a gift from God. If you have a lot of wealth and positions then you shouldn't let that get in your way of being with God. However if you are rich you should use your wealth to help and protect those around you who are more needy. This idea probably helped a lot of civilizations prosper in their earlier millennia.  

Shankara

I really enjoyed the concept of the Brahman.  Wednesdays lecture on it was very interesting.  When you look at any object on the timeline of eternity everything exists for a single small instant.  Even the earth will be broken down and turned into something else.  (Although the connection to the String Theory was unsettling for me.  I tend not to beleive theories I can't easily test myself.  I feel like our generation are trying to push the limits of science beyond our grasp which can have devistating consiquences.  Death, Destructions, and even a setback in our knowledge and understanding of the universe.  I admit that I am not well educated in Einstines theories but I do beleive that it is a little too early to say there is no real way to travel faster than light.  If you look back in the early 1900s it was widely beleived that no one could travel faster than down.)

Some of the thought behind the Brahman is pretty interesting.  I like how it makes people beleive they have a connection to everything around them.  I tend to feel this when I'm getting better from being sick.  I'll suddenly get the idea that I can touch my walls with my eyes and that I can swim through the air.  I don't know what in me gets me to feel this way but its always been something that lets me know beforehand that I will be getting well again.  

I got off on a few tangents but while I was reading this section these were the things I was thinking about.  Also I faced some confusion while reading this.  What is an Atman.  I got the impression that it is like a soul but I have a poor understanding of what it is.

Upanishads

The main part of the Upanishads that I really enjoyed was the understanding that they can't truely know or understand god.  That understanding seems to bring them closer to realizing what a god is.  It is a very neat concept.  It seems so counter intuitive but when you sit down and think about it, it really makes sense.  How do you see god or talk to god or understand god.  All religions have teachings and scripture and stories about when their gods walked the earth but none of that happens now.  We can hear those stories and read the scriptures but in the end they are just words.  Unless one of these gods can come into existence on earth no one will ever be able to truely understand god.  Until then we can only beleive.

The part that says, "...those that claim they know, know nothing." is something that I will be thinking about when I am approached by those who are so religous that they look down on others.

The section of the Upanishads mostly seems to describe what a soul is.   It talks about how your body is just a vessle for your soul.  Your soul will control your body like a rider controling a horse or how we control our computers.  Every letter that is here isn't put here by me but rather by the computer, I just control the computer so it aranges the letters where they should be.  So according to the Upanishads concept of the soul, you are the being that controls your body.  You feel as though you are the body but the body can not have any action on the soul.