7/5/20 ^^^Wisdom of Wesak

Let's write something to Els.

Dear Els,

Today is Wesak Day.  So I guess I'll make it as nice as possible.

Honestly speaking, I had been wanting to detach myself from you.  But whenever I did that I started having panic attacks.  I am not ready to lose you.

At the same time when I write to you, it is [] (like) writing into deep space.  I don't know if you read [] (my) mails...

Nope...  Not good.

I need to make it casual.

Dear Els,

In the spirit of Wesak, I'll write something nice.

I like Zen Buddhism a lot.  As a matter of fact I can relate to the teaching since it is full of paradoxes.

Zen is talking about being.  In order to be you need to become.  So I am taking your concept of "If you cannot find a kind person, be the kind person" one level up.

I am a solitary being.  Very rarely I interact with people on regular basis.  So naturally I hardly find a person to talk to, let alone to be kind.

The only people I interact with are Lizzie and the kids.  On top of that I listen to you twice a week.  Are these kind people?  I like to think so.  In this case I am among kind people all the time.  What happens when you are [] (among) kind people?  Well, naturally you become kind.

The challenge is when you deal with people who are not kind.  What do you do then?  Do you maintain being kind?

I put this philosophy to test recently.  I decided to be kind to this person who had not been kind to me.  

I know this highly opinionated guy since the IBM days.  We used to talk and discussed about many things.  This is a very smart guy.  He majored in Chemistry and Biology.  He even rewrote the translation of the Quran based on his understanding of the Quranic Arabic which he studied for 2 years.

Based on the knowledge, he spent 12 years retranslating the Quran; which is pretty amazing.  However like me he is a heathen. 

So we talked a lot about many things.  We talked about the Quran and science as well.  One day we were talking about the subject of Evolution.  He said based on his reading of the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin, evolution will lead to mutation and that is not a good model.  I defended Evolution as said that natural selection and mutation are not the only reasons for Evolution.

He said, "Are you saying that everything originated from one single organism?"

I said, "Yes."

Then he said, "Are you saying that animals and plants are of the same origin?"

I said, "Yes."  Remembering what I read in The Greatest Show on Earth by Richard Dawkins.

Then all of the sudden he blew his top.  He said, "You think you are pretty advanced in your thoughts but in reality you are pretty backward.  I had explained that Evolution is not possible."

Then before I could explain myself, he got up and left.

I then deleted his phone number and decided to forget I knew him.  Years passed and one day I met him at Lembah Kiara exercising.  So we reconciled our differences and we became exercise buddies.

While walking we talked.  When he talked I listened.  Of course he talked about his discovery of how great the Quran is.  Although I listened, I told him that I don't believe in the Quran.  I told him I believe we are gods and as Suzuki Roshi mentioned in Zen Mind Beginner's Mind, we all have the potential to be the Buddha.

Now when I said that, he became angry at me.  He said I am no better than Ayah Pin who declared himself as God.  I said this is different.  To me I don't believe that God want us to worship Him.  All around us are the subsets of God; all the animate and the inanimate objects.

Then he asked me, "Who decide to choose you to be God?"

I said, no one.  If you search within you too will realize that you are a god too.

One day I told him I had reached self-actualization.

He said, "Then I feel sorry for you.  You have nothing more to look for in life."

I felt hurt by his remark but I held back my reaction.

For the second time this person had verbally insulted me.  Well, that's what I thought he was doing.

In normal situation, that will be the end of our friendship.  I however let him simmered down for a while and contacted him again.  Turned out he didn't hold any grudges.

From there on before I decided to be vengeful, I decided to walk in that person shoes for a while.  In this case it is worth to reconcile a misunderstanding rather that lose a friend who is as eccentric as me LOL.

That's my Wesak Day anecdote.

Till next time, love you always.

Sine cera,

SJ
7/5/20
Day 51 Movement Control Order

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