Good morning!
A few days ago I found a white morning glory on our hedge, which I’ve never seen. This morning I found abundant white glories on a stony slope on the way to here. We have day glories and night glories, whitish with a small flower variety, which are usually invasive and treated as weeds. Anyway these are all varieties of the same species. Modern genomic sciences have revealed that all living beings share the same genomic patterns with shared DNA, not only among animals, but also plants. Plants produced oxygen and changed the atmosphere for living beings that live on oxygen, sharing the one life system.
We now have a big turmoil over the white supremacists – racial supremacy. We are having the Islamic State – religious supremacy. We are facing nuclear crises – bombs and power plants – national supremacy. Supremacists are ignorant of the interconnected, interdependent, inseparable lives and life system – no supremacy, racial, religious, regional, or whatever. We must change sinful (= separating) self-view to holy (= wholly wholesome) world-view to make all harmonious, healthy, and happy. All systems are in the law of interdependent origination without self-same, self-sovereign, self-substance.
Human history shows the man-made pyramidal system of nationalism, racism, and religionism, causing discrimination, exploitation, and destruction. At the time of globalization, democratization, and an information revolution, we must have a paradigm shift from this artificial unidirectional pyramidal system to a natural cyclical Indra-net system, from sin to holiness, ego to eco, civilization (= urbanization for power/matter with 5 calamities) to culture (cultivation for life/heart with 5 bliss), tribalism to universalism, national system/ethic to global system/ethic, war to peace, etc.
A legend says that Gotama Siddhatta was predicted to become either a universal king or the Awakened One. He became the Awakened One, Buddha. He saw the suffering of living beings and foresaw the destruction of the world, and he strived for the solution and salvation, providing a way for us to become awakened in nirvana (= no wind, of karma), living with all to save all. He said, “Better than conquering thousands upon thousands in the battle field is conquering oneself. This is the true conqueror.” Conquering oneself is conquering sinful, selfish sickness and suffering through awakening in nirvana.
8/19/17
Note: The fivefold calamity of civilization for power/matter is delusion, bondage, discrimination, exploitation, and extermination.
The fivefold bliss of culture for life/heart is awakening, freedom, equality, love, and peace.