...since I wrote anything here.  It's not because I haven't been kind of busy.  In the last few weeks I've:

• re-interviewed for my job at Microsoft (it sounds a lot more harsh than it necessarily is)
• driven down to Fairfield, CA to visit my friends from Budapest
• driven down to Concord CA (separate trip) to attend the Integral Theory Conference
• Attended the Microsoft TechReady 7 conference

    I mean, obviously, I've also had personal stuff going on, but it's been a hectic and tiring few weeks.  I'm looking forward to a little bit more of a steady flow, although based on the new job definition for this fiscal year, I have a feeling I'll be traveling quite a bit more.  We'll see how it goes...

    Anyway, lots to write about, and I'll try to get lots of stuff posted over the next few days

    I was at the Integral Theory Conference last weekend, and noticable in his absence was Ken Wilber.  I have a few words for him... I don't personally know him, but I know a lot of people with a Ken Wilber Number of 1 (mine's 2, I'm afraid), so maybe one of them could pass this on to cheer him up.

    Ken, I understand why you would have chosen not to come... your presence would have changed the focus of every room you were in.  Certainly, if I had been presenting, I would have found it difficult to do so with you sitting there.  Kind of like trying to teach something about physics with Stephen Hawking sitting in on the lecture.

    But many people I spoke to didn't give that for the reason you didn't attend.  They suggested that your health was failing.  The crucial sentence usually looked something like this:

    She had been laughing just a moment ago, but suddenly her eyes changed mood, her mouth pursed, and as she looked at the floor she said, "You know, Ken's health is declining."

    Or something like that... I saw a few variants, but they were all around the same thing.  The thing is, we all know that you had grand mal seizures last year, and there was that overblown scare over the Internet a few months ago where we all thought you were going to die soon but it turned out that you just weren't feeling well at the time.  And we've heard for years now that you were really sick and were about to depart this world at various times.  It's getting to be like the boy who cried wolf, wrapped up in a strange game of Telephone where someone repeats something that someone else said, and who knows what's even true anymore?

    It seems like your health is a fairly large issue in terms of people believing that the Integral world is moving forward.  It's as if things seem stalled while we're all waiting for you to get well, or, well, transcend and include this lifetime.  Given that, I'd like to propose the "Ken Wilber Health Status" graphic on the front page of IntegralLife.com.  It could be something simple, maybe like the Smokey the Bear signs outside of parks that tell you whether the fire danger is low (green), medium (yellow), or high (red).  Perhaps we could do it like the United States five-color warning system... you know, green, blue, yellow, orange, red.

    Ken Wilber Health Advisory: Yellow -- Elevated threat of Ken kicking the bucket.

    I guess we could do the Red, Amber, Orange, Green, Teal, Turquoise thing.  Clear Light would be, you know, clear light.

    Oh, wait, I was going to do a eulogy.

    So, in the middle of all of this, I remembered your heartbreakingly beautiful Letter to Huston Smith and I, too, have lost those I loved suddenly, so if you're going, before you go, I just wanted to say a few things to you.

    Ken, I love you.  As James Taylor sometimes says when someone in the audience shouts that, "Good.  I think it helps us not to know each other."

    But it's true.  You have been the inspiration that has moved my life from the gray wanderings of post-Existential confusion into the full acceptance, faith in, and finally direct knowledge of the mystic truth that lies at the heart of all spiritual traditions, and along the way I've learned an enormous amount about so  many topics like philosophy, psychology, spiritual knowledge beyond my own culture, systems theory, post-modernism, and how often 20-somethings have their thought-streams interrupted by thinking about sex.

    I've read every word you've ever released to the public.  Because of you, I've taken much deeper dives into many of the writers, thinkers, and areas that you highlight in your brilliant syntheses.  My life is enriched by their work.

    I have also taken up a meditation practice, rendered so much more important by the week I spent in retreat with Dan Brown, with whom you co-wrote Transformations of Consciousness.  He is a powerful teacher transmitting only the clearest of awareness, and my life would not have been blessed with his wisdom were it not for you.

    As I spend more and more of my time relaxed from my defense mechanisms, able to be simply and to see everything around me as Emptiness (although not all of the time, yet), I see directly that which you have pointed all of us to for decades; not as mental constructs of what I think you mean, but as direct perception which allows me to share in the One Consciousness that underlies all of our experiences.

    I lead with the cognitive, and without the bridge you provide, I don't know how I could have made it to this other shore which is not-other at all.  No one has explained the spiritual and mystic in such logical terms before.  No one has made it this obvious to anyone paying the slightest bit of attention that East and West, Being and Thought, Meditation and Action all stand not in opposition to each other, but simply as different areas and perceptions of the same map.  For this incredible act of both creativity and genius, I bow deeply, in awe of that which you have created, in awe of the unfathomable blessings it will bestow on humanity for generations to come, as far into the future as we can imagine.

    Even with everything you've done, one thing stands out to me as the most amazing example of your Boddisatva vow: your decision to throw yourself into the public sphere and be at the center of Integral Institute to get it running.  As an introvert, I know what an unbelievable burden it must be to have to act like an extrovert for so many hours every day, day in and day out, for years.  The energy it takes to do that, the stamina, the mental strength and stability... they're too great to comprehend.  So many forget that you were the one who more or less locked himself alone in his house for three years writing a book... for someone who is capable of that kind of lifestyle to suddenly become the center of a swirling mass of people and attention is a sacrifice I will never forget that I witnessed.

    And for doing it all while not taking yourself too seriously, and for doing it with a sense of humor and deep love, I thank you for modeling the behavior that I aspire to and that I expect all those who follow in your footsteps will want to model as well.

    For all of this and so much more, I offer my deepest gratitude and love.

    And I wasn't kidding about the Ken Wilber Health Status graphic... c'mon, help us out a little.

Yours always,
Scott

    P.S. Have you gotten the healing energy I've been sending?  I'm not sure if I'm doing it right, but I'm trying, anyway.  If your dog seems to be acting funny... maybe that's me.

    Andrew Sullivan discovered this news story from the authors of the Left Behind series.

LaHaye and Jenkins take a literal interpretation of prophecies found in the Book of Revelation. They believe the antichrist will surface on the world stage at some point, but neither see Obama in that role. "I've gotten a lot of questions the last few weeks asking if Obama is the antichrist," says novelist Jenkins. "I tell everyone that I don't think the antichrist will come out of politics, especially American politics."

"I can see by the language he uses why people think he could be the antichrist," adds LaHaye, "but from my reading of scripture, he doesn't meet the criteria. There is no indication in the Bible that the antichrist will be an American."

    I know we're not supposed to point and laugh at Amber religion, but we're going to have to do multiple punchlines here....

• I thought for sure that any candidate who seemed that intelligent and sophisticated had to be the Antichrist...
• A black guy becoming president doesn't signal the End Times?  Damn... what's it going to take?
• C'mon... we all know that Tom Hanks is the Antichrist, anyway.
  

    Yesterday, I went to do some light hiking with a few friends near Mt. Rainier.  One of them used to have a cabin in this area, so she knew some cool spots to check out off the beaten path.

    I'm from New Jersey, and the untouched forests in the parts of the country I'm familiar with are pine forests.  They're not large trees, not very tall, but it sure does smell nice. and when I think of "the woods," that's what comes to mind.

    So yesterday was my first experience with tall trees and mountain streams and the kind of thick stillness that Pacific Northwest forests are expected to have.  We walked past groups of mountain cabins that I would love to have one of... give me a small one room, running water, electricity and an Internet connection and I could spend weeks there at a time.  The winters up there must be absolutely incredible.

    We went up one trail along a large stream coming down from the top of the mountain to a waterfall... absolutely beautiful.  The waterfall sat in a crevass that, on a hot day, threw off cool air from the water and from the breeze coming down the mountain.  As I stood in front of it, I could feel alternating currents of warm and cool air.

    We walked back down, drove a little bit to another spot, and began walking up another trail along another stream to where we might have a picnic.  As we walked, I just started feeling uncomfortable... I can't tell you why, but it just didn't feel lilke somewhere that I wanted to be.  I had a strange sense of just wanting to go home.  Of course, I'm with three friends, and we're all adults, so I just assume that I have a lot on my mind and I'm not going to say anything... I'll just try to relax and enjoy the food and the company.

    Two of my friends walk ahead across a long log that I didn't feel like trying to cross, and two of us stay there.  We start setting up blankets and taking out food, and we wait for the other two to return for a few minutes.  I decide to take out a can of smoked almonds and a bottle of Gatorade to snack a little, and I'm about to sit on a fallen log, and then I decided that I'll sit maybe six feet up the log, a little closer to my friend so we can hear each other a little better over the sound of the stream next to us.

    A few minutes later, as the other two rejoin us, I start to hear the sound of something falling through the trees.  In a forest like this, sometimes branches pop off, and at first it sounds like that, something light.  One second later, one of my friends screams, and I realize that something very large is falling behind me.  I figure that, based on the much louder sound I'm now hearing, that I don't have time to get up, decide what's happening, and adjust to it, so I just sat there and figured I'd either die or not.

    A 60 foot long section of tree landed about six feet from us, right on the spot that I almost decided to sit on a few minutes earlier.  The tree was about two feet in diameter, and fortunately any branches it would have had on it were sheared off during its fall, so none of us got caught with any collateral damage.

    So, yeah, we were a few feet from being killed by a very large falling tree.  Later, one of my friends went up there and found that there was about 50 feet left of that tree still standing, so it split in the middle, on a day with not much wind, and just fell.

    What blew my mind, however, is that my friends didn't take this as a hint that we should maybe not be sitting there, so we shook off the blankets, and proceeded to have a picnic, with the fallen tree sitting right next to us.  I feel weird again right now just writing about it.  If I had the feeling earlier that I didn't quite want to be there... I sure as hell didn't want to be there anymore.

    So we sat for a little over an hour, and finally, finally, got the hell out of there.  It took me hours to feel better.

    Some of you know that I was among the people who was at The Station nightclub fire in Rhode Island where 100 people died... my friend and I walked out completely unhurt.  After that, I was pretty freaked out for a few days.  This time, it's not quite like that, but, you know, it's not every day that a tree falls on the spot I almost sat on a few minutes earlier.  It's just weird.

    I don't have any big life lessons off of it that you're not all aware of already.  But it was a very strange day, and I'm glad to be alive and unhurt today.

    A friend and fellow practitioner passed these lines on to us... I hope you find them as inspiring and clear as I do.  They are taken from Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche's book Songs of Naropa, who also says, "The basic nature is in itself the state of realization of all buddhas. To fully awaken to this natural state, it is not necessary to go to some other place to reach enlightenment. The state of enlightenment is not extrinisic to ourselves. Buddhahood is not something that will appear suddenly in the future, but exists inherently within ourselves right now."

Our nature does not go or stay anywhere since it is always with us. It does not become more present by going to the mountains and living in a hermitage. Our nature does not change according to circumstances. Therefore, moving about, staying somewhere, going or not going to the mountains – all these are superficial attributes that are not found in the basic nature itself.
 
As you know, Jetsun Milarepa sang many songs, which were very pithy and beneficial to those who listened and understood. Among those songs is one he sang for a woman called Paldabum. In the song she is referred to as being a female lay practitioner. In those days, there were women who would practice a lot but still led the life of lay people. They took vows to do intensive practice on the 8th or the 15th or the 30th day of the Tibetan month, and in between they would carry on their normal work. Milarepa had many such disciples. Paldabum was very bright and devoted, and she asked Milarepa many questions. (…) She asked questions about how she herself, being an ordained woman, could combine Dharma practice with her daily life. As she related, "In the daytime I have to work, at night time I sleep, in the morning and evening I need to cook. I am a servant to all these tasks that fill up my life. In spite of this, I still want to practice. How can I do this? Please give me some advice?"
 
In reply, Milarepa sang a song of four analogies and one meaning, five points. First he said, "Look at the mountain. The mountain is unshakable. Like that, train in being like a mountain, always steady and stable." Then he said, "Look at the sun and moon. Though sometimes covered by clouds and haze, the sun and moon in themselves never change; their brilliance doesn’t increase or decrease, they’re forever the same. Train yourself in being constant, without waxing or waning." The third analogy he gave was: "Look at the sky. Space is not made out of anything. Its nature is empty, and has neither centre nor edge. Train yourself in being free from centre and edge." Then he said: "Look at the great lake: Though its surface ripples, the body of water remains unwavering. Train yourself in being unwavering." Finally he gave the fifth point, the meaning, singing, "Your mind is the most important. Simply settle into yourself and look into your mind. Without being carried away by thoughts about this and that, be totally steady and meditate. That is the heart essence of meditation."
 
Paldabum connected her next questions with the analogies Milarepa had just given. She said: "I can at times train in being as stable as a mountain. However, on the mountain various plants, shrubs and trees grow. What should I do? I can at times practice in a way which is unchanging like the brilliance of the sun and moon. But occasionally the sun and moon are eclipsed. When that happens, what should I do? I can at times train in being as steady and unchanging as the sky, but sometimes many clouds gather. At that time, what should I do? I can train in being as stable as the ocean, but sometimes great waves appear. At that time, what should I do? In the same way, when I’m simply looking into mind, sometimes many thoughts occur. At that time, what should I do?"
 
Milarepa’s reply continued with these themes. He said: "When you practice in a way that is like a mountain, remember this: shrubs, trees and plants grow naturally on the mountain, sprouting, growing and perishing there. This arising, dwelling and ceasing of growth does not change the mountain in any way whatsoever. It is merely different expressions that don’t affect the stability of the mountain at all.
 
"Sometimes you are able to practice in a way that is unchanging, like the brilliance of the sun and moon. However, remember that the eclipsing of the sun and moon is not real and constant; it’s a momentary event that does not have any concrete substance in itself. It vanishes. It’s only the different expressions of the sun and moon, and does not affect the inherent nature, as they continue to shine naturally.
 
"Sometimes you are able to practice in a way that is unchanging, like the sky. Remember this: when clouds gather, they do not change the sky itself, no matter how dense or dark they are. The many different types of weather are a varied display, but the sky remains beyond change.
 
"Although you can practice like the ocean, remember this: when the surface is in turmoil with waves, there is no wave that exists apart from the ocean. It’s the ocean itself that manifests different expressions. No wave has a separate identity from the ocean."
 
Milarepa continued: "When different thoughts crowd your mind, remember that no thought has any existence apart from the empty cognisance of the mind nature. It is empty cognisance itself that takes the form of a thought, and is like varying facial expressions or moods, without any separate identity." This is Milarepa’s instruction in sustaining the nature of mind.

    Over the past week or so a wonderful debate has sprung up over the national legal drinking age in the United States of 21 years old.  The truth is that it's not a national law at all... rather, there are clauses in some transportation bills in Congress that say that the states are free to do whatever they want, but funding will be cut off if they don't comply with the 21-year-old minimum.

    Over 120 college presidents have signed on to the Amethyst Initiative, which states essentially that people under 21 drink anyway, and, based on the evidence compiled since the new higher legal age came into effect, "specifically, that it has created a culture of dangerous binge drinking on their campuses."

    These are serious people with serious concerns about campus safety and the maturing and well-being of the students who attend their institutions.  They generally don't curry any favor from alumni by taking this issue on.

    For my part, I think placing the limit at 21 is just stupid.  Young people find ways to get intoxicated.  On the Jersey Shore in the 1980's we got high mostly because it was a lot easier to get weed than it was to get alcohol, and once I got to college finding alcohol wasn't all that difficult, anyway.

    This is a position that reflects a sober, realistic look at the impact of this law over the last 20 years, and a call for a serious debate about what the evidence seems to show.

    As I favor less government in general, and greater personal responsibility, I'm all in favor of seeing the drinking age go back down to 18.  Just look at how much more healthy the attitudes in Europe are about drinking (except for the Brits... christ!) and judge for yourself.  Either way, please do get involved in the debate... this one is important and worthwhile.

    I'm truly dismayed at the lack of critical analysis of the Georgia-Russia situation going on right now.  Let's quickly recap:

• Georgia more or less invaded South Ossetia, killing hundreds of civilians and some Russian peacekeeping forces in the process.  They did this despite assurances from the highest levels in the Russian goverment that any such actions would bring a military response from Russia.
  
• True to it's word, Russia responds forcefully by taking on Georgian military forces in South Ossetia, and then following them fairly far into Georgia.
• Russia occupies Georgian territory for a little while afterwards to make the point that it's in charge if military action is required.
  

    Yes, Russia is pulling out of Georgia more slowly than they originally promised, but they are pulling out.  Sure, the Russian leadership would really like to have Mikheil Saakashvili out-of-office, but we'd also love to see the douchebag in Venezuela dead, too.  In short, they're doing what makes a lot of sense for them to do, and it's difficult to argue with it.

    If you missed it, Mikhail Gorbachev wrote a brilliant op-ed piece in the New York Times, basically stating the Russian party line, but what was interesting about it was the tone.  It was fairly strongly worded, and what's important about it is to try to understand things from the Russian point-of-view.  We need them as a partner in all of the parts of the world that are going to be difficult to reform over the next century, and they're not feeling the love... mostly because U.S. leadership has utterly failed to treat them with the respect they deserve.

    Why do they deserve that respect?  Because they're geographically enormous, and can serve as a partner in helping us get many issues resolved, both in Europe and in Asia, as they have interests in both places.  Because they have a lot of money, and are growing a middle class now... and that middle class will want more freedom as time goes on.  Because they still have a significant military... nowhere near a true threat to the United States (there isn't a threat to us militarily on the planet right now), but enough to get the job done when required.

    At any rate, let me quote a few important parts of the op-ed piece:

It is still not quite clear whether the West was aware of Mr. Saakashvili’s plans to invade South Ossetia, and this is a serious matter. What is clear is that Western assistance in training Georgian troops and shipping large supplies of arms had been pushing the region toward war rather than peace.

.........

Those who rush to judgment on what’s happening in the Caucasus, or those who seek influence there, should first have at least some idea of this region’s complexities. The Ossetians live both in Georgia and in Russia. The region is a patchwork of ethnic groups living in close proximity. Therefore, all talk of “this is our land,” “we are liberating our land,” is meaningless. We must think about the people who live on the land.

The problems of the Caucasus region cannot be solved by force. That has been tried more than once in the past two decades, and it has always boomeranged.

.........

These are empty threats. For some time now, Russians have been wondering: If our opinion counts for nothing in those institutions, do we really need them? Just to sit at the nicely set dinner table and listen to lectures?

Indeed, Russia has long been told to simply accept the facts. Here’s the independence of Kosovo for you. Here’s the abrogation of the Antiballistic Missile Treaty, and the American decision to place missile defenses in neighboring countries. Here’s the unending expansion of NATO. All of these moves have been set against the backdrop of sweet talk about partnership. Why would anyone put up with such a charade?

There is much talk now in the United States about rethinking relations with Russia. One thing that should definitely be rethought: the habit of talking to Russia in a condescending way, without regard for its positions and interests.

Our two countries could develop a serious agenda for genuine, rather than token, cooperation. Many Americans, as well as Russians, understand the need for this. But is the same true of the political leaders?

 

 

(title stolen from Washington Post humorist Gene Weingarten)

    Well, now we have our complete national tickets from both parties.  From McCain's point-of-view, he knows that this is his only shot at winning the presidency.  Who would you pick if you were in his shoes?

• Mitt Romney? Empty suit and doesn't win any swing votes.
• Mike Huckabee?  Cultural conservative makes the base happy but doesn't win any swing votes.
• Tim Pawlenty? Not enough experience, but at least he's young.
• Tom Ridge?  Imagine McCain-Ridge standing together... yeah, no.
• Joe Lieberman? Agrees with McCain on military, but not much else, and choosing him means that he loses a lot of votes to Bob Barr, and doesn't win very many swing votes.
  
• Who am I forgetting?  Yeah, exactly, I'm forgetting them, so who cares?

    And that brings us to Gov. Palin.  She makes the conservative base happy.  She's attractive.  She's young.  She's everything Tim Pawlenty is, except that she has breasts, and there actually are enough Hillary supporters who valued her "experience" so much that they're thinking about voting for McCain.  And then he picks an unexperienced woman.  Well... she's a woman (yay!) but she doesn't have any national or international experience (boo!) but she's a woman... and McCain (who has experience) chose her... hmm....

    He doesn't have to pick off that many Hillary Democrats in that many states to win this thing.  And make no mistake... if you're reading this, you probably think that Obama is going to roll over this election, but it's definitely winnable by McCain, and he's going for it with this pick.

    No cultural conservative will vote against him, he loses no one with this pick, and he just might gain enough swing votes to make it interesting.  He doesn't have to win the popular vote... he just has to win enough votes in those key states where it's actually going to be competitive.

    If you're not at home keeping score on that math, then you're not following the election closely enough.  Time to wake up.

    I don't think choosing Gov. Palin is a mistake in this case.  There was no other good choice, and she has the potential to bring new votes in, and to change the perception of the Republican Party just a little bit.

    I still think Sen. Obama will win, but I'm going on record as saying that McCain will see some benefit from this pick.

   And if I'm wrong I'll just edit this later.  :-)