Jewish Buddha

Well, my friends, I witnessed the end of another chapter in my life last night. After four-and-a-half years of working in retail sales at the window counter for the Postal Service I closed out my cash drawer for the last time Thursday evening. You see, I recently interviewed for and was awarded a job in the Data Collection department which will start on Monday.

It will be better for me in many ways that are too boring to go into details about here, and it may also have an impact on my post publishing schedule, so I'm telling you about it. Instead of sending out the post in the wee hours of the morning, it may end up being sent out in the heat of the afternoon (Eastern Standard Time ... it may arrive late at night or even the next day for my international readers). We'll see how I adjust to the new work schedule. If I plan things right, you may not even notice a difference.

Coincidentally, the new job begins on the 24th anniversary of my employment with the USPS. Two milestones with one flip of a calendar page.

But enough about me, on with today's post. Some of you may have seen this as I suspect it's been around for awhile, and I did some research but could not find the original author. Please let me know if you do.

It was forwarded to me by list member and bandmate Kerry M., and it's a delightful answer to the question: "What happens when Oriental wisdom meets the wisdom of Old Testament people?"

Enjoy.

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THE WIT AND WISDOM OF THE JEWISH BUDDHA

If there is no self, whose arthritis is this?

Be here now. Be someplace else later. Is that so complicated?

Drink tea and nourish life. With the first sip, joy; with the second sip, satisfaction; with the third sip, peace; and with the fourth, a Danish.

Wherever you go, there you are. Your luggage is another story.

Accept misfortune as a blessing. Do not wish for perfect health, or a life without problems. What would you talk about?

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single Oy.

There is no escaping karma. In a previous life you never called, you never wrote, you never visited. And whose fault was that?

Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkes.

The Tao does not speak. The Tao does not blame. The Tao does not take sides. The Tao has no expectations. The Tao demands nothing of others. The Tao is not Jewish.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Forget this and attaining Enlightenment will be the least of your problems.

Let your mind be as a floating cloud. Let your stillness be as a wooded glen. And sit up straight. You'll never meet the Buddha with such rounded shoulders.

Deep inside you are ten thousand flowers. Each flower blossoms ten thousand times. Each blossom has ten thousand petals. You might want to see a specialist.

The Torah says, "Love your neighbor as yourself." The Buddha says, "There is no self." So ... maybe we're off the hook?

[submitted by list member Kerry M; some small edits by Mark Raymond]

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Well, it's time for the second Men's Conference in Lansing for which my band is providing the music. Plus it's time to get another union newsletter done. Plus the new job on Monday. One good thing about all this is I never have to worry about having nothing to do.

Hey, I'll see you on Monday. Probably no blog entries this weekend. We'll see.

Mark

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WEB SITE of the WEEK: Wall Stats has published a gigantic poster of the 2009 U.S. Federal Budget, with breakouts by department and project of where all our hard-earned money is being spent. I found the easiest version to use at http://www.linkydinky.com/images/budgetgraphics.jpeg. Click anywhere on the poster you want to see enlarged. Click again to zoom out. The amazing thing - at least to me - is that every figure listed has the word "billion" next to it. Wow.

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WORDS for YOUR WEEKEND: "I would like to start from scratch. Where is scratch?" (Elias Cannetti)