Happy (Chinese) New Year!

It's the year of the dragon

Put some fire in your belly!
Don't let things "drag on"...Don't smoke! Break from the past. Start anew.

Boars don't get along with dragons (maritally), the chinese restaurant placemat says.
Dragons fight, and slither, and have sharp claws, and wings

"do not pick fights with dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!"
the bumper sticker says.

maybe you can tame a dragon, and ride the dragon, like in the movie Avatar
a dragoon is an armed cavalryman

what number year is it for the chinese, you ask?
4710,4709, or 4649 (because scholars can't agree)

Politics

why I'm disappointed with Barack

He sent me an email titled 'what would you ask Barack?', but there was no method for sending your questions...it was rhetorical. ugh. So I'm going to use my blog as my question forum. That was disappointment #1. Also, he had an online apparatus to submit recommendations during the 2008 election, but it was discontinued. That pissed me off, although I know anyone can just send him an email...anyway:

-Have you used your status to find out if space aliens exist? Do they? Have you seen one (or a cadaver of one)? That would be one of the first things I would do!

-Why do we have (any) nuclear weapons? Is it for a potential retaliation? Or is it for threats from space (e.g. asteroids/comets, or space alien invasion?) Isn't it hypocritical to have them, and then attack other countries for developing them?

-what are we doing to help the less developed countries meet the Millenium Development Goals?

-Can you dunk (a basketball)? I looked on youtube, but didn't find any video.

-Did you quit smoking? I think you should have publicized it, and made it a public process (i.e. quit with me!)

-Another disappointment is that he is not pro-life. He should at least go public to support a preference for adoption, in my opinion. Why not?

- In a related vein, the U.S. should join the ranks of other progressive nations who have abolished the death penalty. We all have the right to live, in liberty, and pursue happiness. No? Which brings me to my third point regarding life and quality of life:

-prisoners should have access to libraries, or maybe kindle-type readers with a pre-approved corpus of literature available to them. Prisoners should not be slaves, as the constitution says, but rather the constitution should be changed. You're the constitutional law expert; git 'r done! Just do it! Yes we can! (or are we saying prisoners just can't?)

aside
wikipedia says about Obama on religion, "Obama stated: "I am a Christian, and I am a devout Christian. I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life."

I want to say that I'm fairly certain that Jesus is dead, and sin is virtual (aside from deviating from one's own morality), and eternal life is just a pipe dream, and I suspect (and actually hope) that this is merely rhetoric and not a truly held conviction of the "leader of the free world."

But that's just me.

I feel for Barack (and Mitt). Poor deluded souls.
Show some spine, profess your belief is jessology!
in which case, you should say "poor deluded minds"
(I don't believe in souls)

greed, hatred, and delusion

aka craving, aversion, and ignorance

attachments
(positive)craving-passion, hunger, thirst for what is pleasant,
and seeking the causes of happiness

(negative)aversion-hatred for what is unpleasant, i.e. dukkha or suffering,
and severing oneself from its causes (e.g. sadists)

enlightenment, lasting happiness and contentment, nirvana
from right thoughts, words, and deeds
or just deeds (your thoughts and words are themselves actions), as is your job/career
with a view toward loving-kindness and compassion
(actions are karma...what comes around goes around)
i.e. helping others overcome suffering and find happiness
and knowing (from experience or instruction or meditation) what the causes of suffering are, and also what the causes of happiness are (what floats your boat, and also extinguishing gh&d)

buddhism is itself conditioned by attachment to peace, tranquility, wisdom, discernment, equanimity
(all part of Happiness)

although there are different strokes for different folks...

Personally, I don't buy the whole package.
I don't believe in rebirth/reincarnation (except as hypnosis for the cyclical nature of days and years...we can be reborn, psychologically. Even if you don't believe in the christian born again business. You can always start fresh, or as led zeppelin says, there's still time to change the road your on) Tomorrow is...another day!

Also, I'm skeptical of the reality of karma. Things can be random. Good things happen to less deserving people, and bad things happen to good people.

speaking of boats, Buddha said the tears from suffering in our past lives is greater than all the water of all the oceans..

and that cruise ship just went down off the coast of Italy

and people get dunked in rivers in the symbolism of being born again

we are mostly water..

anyway,
severing yourself from attachments (rather than relying on good relationships, or money, or things, like food/drink or "toys" i.e. computers, cars, books, music) is the only sure way to avoid the suffering that comes with their inevitable impermanence), but don't deny yourself simple pleasures! Create your own world! Be happy!

We are just blips in eternity, bubbles that pop in the froth of reality, all of us destined to cease/die, and decay back into the matter that is the food we eat, that comprises us, without consciousness or afterlife.

We are 99.999999999999% empty, already. And we were dead for an eternity before we were conceived and will be dead for another eternity after. Enjoy your substance and fleeting time. Be glad you're alive.

My philosophy is a bit different from buddism & other religions.
Am I creating a new religion, like L Ron Hubbard? jessology

Basic Needs

what every human being on earth should have

life, liberty, pursuit of happiness
health, strength, wealth (enough for survival and comfort)
food, shelter, clothing, clean water, sanitation
safety, security, peace
equality, human rights

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights

(from the american constitution):
-things like the rights to speech, petition, assembly, religion, and press (sparp)
-to not have slavery or involuntary servitude..
-no cruel punishment (e.g. torture)

I, personally, appreciate education and the access to a library and the internet...

I also think it should be a fundamental human right to refuse to kill; i.e. to be a conscientious objector.
Likewise, there shouldn't be a death penalty.

Sopa and Pipa are bad!

I uphold my right to share/produce content

Wikipedia has an (english language) blackout today, to protest this bad proposed legislation.
I watched the Ted lecture about it, too.
(not that I've actually read the legislation..)

Creativity feeds on other people's content, and we live in a hive mind, anyway.
Lawmakers shouldn't outlaw human nature.
And my name, too, is all about sharing (Teshara).
Go ahead, copy my blog...I want you to!

-Jesse

My latest reads

some library books

they are:
1) A Blue So Dark, by Holly Schindler
2)Welcome, Silence,by Carol North, M.D.
3)The Cloud of Unknowing, by Thomas H. Cook
4)Me, Myself, and Ike, By K.L. Denman
5)Inside Out, by Terry Trueman
6)Cage of Stars, by Jacquelyn Mitchard
7)Crazy, by Pete Earley
8)Divided Minds, by Carolyn Spiro and Pamela Spiro Wagner

They all deal with schizophrenia, some way, some how.
good stuff!

Mirror in the sky, what is love

I heard this on the radio, recently
it goes on to say, can the child in my heart rise above?

It's originally by Fleetwood Mac, but I heard it by Billy Corgan
Fits my theme, I think. I really like it.

Some other contrasts:
nogoola vs. elf:
No one gets out of life alive vs. everyone lives forever

"If I claim to be a wiseman, it surely means that I don't know"
-Kansas (carry on my wayward son)
which also says,
"surely heaven waits for you"

Transportation options

I've been here, and I've been there, and I've been in between
(hats off to King Crimson)

all the transportation options I can think of:

stroller, shoulders, piggyback
walking, jogging, sprinting (barefoot or shoed),
pogo, swim, rocketpack, hang glide, parachute
roller shoes, razor scooter, motorized scooter
skateboard, rollerskates, rollerblades
unicycle, bicycle, tricycle, go-kart
big wheel, pedal-chain tricycle, motorized trike
segway, moped, atv (all-terrain vehicle)
motorcycle, car, truck, van, bus, motorhome
train, tram, trolley, tank
plane, glider, helicopter , dirigible, hot air balloon
boat, waterski, parasail, jetski, hovercraft
snowshoe, snowboard, ski, ice skate
toboggans, snowmobile, sled, sleigh, luge
surf, windsurf, boogie/bodyboard
rocket, space shuttle, rickshaw, chariot
motorized unicycle (they exist!)
tube-car (faster than flying), -wikipedia 'ETT'

this is my 666th post. I almost forgot the beasts.
like burros, horses, elephants (and dragons!)

and, if you want to get philosophical, there's also:
womb, casket, imagination

Buddhism

I'm trying to reduce, if not eliminate, my own personal dukkha

via http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism

maybe it can help you, too.