Be-ing Is What It Is

Often people attempt to live their lives backwards: they try to have more things, or more money, in order to do more of what they want, so they will be happier.
The way it actually works is the reverse. You must first be who you really are, then, do what you need to do, in order to have what you want. - Margaret Young in the Zen Calendar (July 5, 2009).

All things in the world come into being from being. Being comes into being from non-being. - Lao-Tzu in the Zen Calendar (October 15, 2006).

Lives based on having are less free than lives based on either doing or on being. - William James in the Zen Calendar (August 13, 2003).

If there is to be any peace, it will come through being, not having. - Henry Miller in the Zen Calendar (April 14, 2009).

Being is what it is. - Jean-Paul Sarte in the Zen Calendar (August 26, 2006).

Being, not doing, is my first joy. - Theodore Roethke in the Zen Calendar (August 10, 2009).

If you want to be happy, be. - Leo Tolstoy in the Zen Calendar (August 31, 2009).

Day 331. The college sophomore leaves soon to drive to Dallas to catch a plane to fly to Buffalo to visit the girlfriend. She doesn't know he is coming. Fortunately, her mother does. A surprise visit to ring in the New Year. Ah, young love. Attachment at its finest. Do we ever love as fiercely as when we were 20?

The day was chock full of trip preparation. Next to the seven loads of laundry (this child's clothes are incredibly large), our most challenging task was cramming a week's worth of apparel sized for his 6'3" frame into his allotted piece of carry-on luggage. My budding accountant of an offspring stubbornly refuses to pay Delta a fee to transport a more reasonably sized suitcase. Oddly, mysteriously, and against all odds, his carry-on zipped. Many clothing items were sacrificed to the bedroom floor (nothing new there; the floor has been a permanent residence for most of his possessions for most of his life). My son has always been gifted at math, but in all honestly I never dreamed he would actually approach the simple arithmetic of scarcity. Maybe there is hope for my "suit" after all!

I was going to write about Be-ing tonight, but after typing out the quotes on the subject I had accumulated over the years, I am not sure there is much left to say. When James, Miller, Sarte, Tolstoy, and Roethke have all reached essentially the same conclusion, and are on record as saying so, I doubt there is anything I can add. One would think that when brilliant minds such as these agree on something, the rest of the world would take it to heart. I see no evidence of that. The masses seem more fixated on having than ever before. Doing is a not-so-distant second, while being seems to remain allocated to the poets, songwriters and philosophers. Alas. It is Be-ing to which I aspire.

The colossal paradigm shift required to replace capitalism as our societal foundation seems about as likely as the Oklahoma School Board providing funding for new textbooks on evolution. Not likely to happen in the imminent future. Ah, well, I shall continue to remain steadfast in my conviction that there ARE alternatives. Zazen has taught me nothing if not patience.

If you look closely, there are promising seedlings beginning to sprout. Five years ago, the word "sustainability" certainly wasn't in the cultural zeitgeist. There are thoughts, words and actions generating energy around concepts such Recycle, Reuse, Reduce. Things are wrapped in thinner plastic and more pliable aluminum. You can get 68 loads of laundry out of the container that used to give you 34. Major companies brag about their various community projects and volunteer opportunities before the commercial segment advertising their product. Norman has curbside recycling, and a lot of people actually set out their bins. Give us another decade, and we will be as "Green" as Pullman, Washington was when I lived there in 1988. Progress. Better at a slow pace than none at all.

I am unclear about the complexities of it all, but I have deduced enough about economics to recognize that"being" poses a serious threat to capitalism. It doesn't cost a thing. Doesn't generate jobs or decrease the national debt. Can't be traded, bought, sold, or directly influence the DOW. Doesn't use anything up. Doesn't dip into precious reserves of natural resources, nor does it generate much waste. Isn't competitive, and doesn't lend itself very readily to the unequal distribution of it. It carries the risk of peacefulness, happiness, satisfaction, contentment, acceptance, and inclusiveness to those who practice it. Clearly, something that so spectacularly fails to generate need states that can only be satiated with goods or services cannot be good for society. No wonder it hasn't caught on.

At the risk of upending civilization as we know it, I'm going to press on with my quest to Be. From a look at the authors of tonight's quote, I will be in good company.

Gassho,
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