the indian wind along the telegraph lines

Have you been following events in Iraq, particularly Najaf? I have, and have been moved deeply by the words and deeds of Grand Ayatollah Sistani. His return to the country turned off the Najaf meat grinder, not simply by his presence, but by his direct action. He saved untold suffering, ensured hundreds of Shi’a civilians and American soldiers would live to be old men and women and gave the world a real example of how Islam is a religion of peace, knowledge and understanding. And, being trigger-happy myself, I sent him an e-mail.

I think it’s important to recognize people that are working to improve the world through peaceful means, as well as support them in their efforts. So I sent the Grand Ayatollah an e-mail thanking him and the Marjaiya for publicly disavowing themselves of violence. Not just on my behalf, but on behalf of a grateful world.

Not more than 48 hours later I received a hand-written reply that had been scanned and e-mailed. I was stunned. First, this man is too busy to concern himself with the likes of me. Second, although he knows I am a Buddhist, he was reverent and wished me well. No proselytizing. No admonition to examine my faith. Just his thanks and wishes that all beings find the right path.

As I say, I am not a Muslim. My knowledge of Holy Qu’ran is not deep. But I do get the sense that Holy Qu’ran encourages peace and discourages suffering. And that prophet Muhammed through Allah understood that the real enemy of spiritual people (be they Jew, Christian, Muslim or Buddhist) is ignorance. As long as we live in fear or distrust of our brothers and sisters, no matter their creed, our spirits can never walk freely.

The Grand Ayatollah, I think, understands this. And his note to me, while perhaps not making me less ignorant, has drawn my heart closer to my Shi’a brothers and sisters. I say here, and publicly, that Grand Ayatollah Sistani is a holy man. As a Buddhist, I believe he is walking the Eightfold Path described by Sakyamuni Buddha. To Muslims I say this man is truly a follower of prophet Muhammed and Holy Qu’ran.

Included in my e-mail to the Grand Ayatollah was a favorite quote of mine by An Wang:

We must not contradict, but instruct him that contradicts us; for a madman is not cured by another running mad also.

If any of my Muslim brothers or sisters sees an error in my statements, please instruct me. And I encourage all Muslims to listen to the words of the Grand Ayatollah, and ask themselves if the path of violence so many of their brothers and sisters in Islam have chosen is more “instruction” or “contradiction.” And ask themselves if the Jews of Israel and the Christians of America are the real enemy, or is perhaps the greatest enemy today the ignorance of spirituality; ignorance most recently displayed by the Chinese in their treatment of the Tibetan people and practitioners of Falun Gong?

Don’t listen to the anger and frustration. It is temptation. Americans love peace. Israelis love peace. Sometimes our leaders have trouble remembering they are the cart and not the ox. But things change. You can be assured that Americans will not tolerate an Iraq where Muslims are not allowed to worship as they please. Someday the bullets will stop, the Americans will leave and the imams will call the faithful to prayer. This did not happen in Tibet. So, look at the world, and let us, as brothers and sisters in spirit, try to instruct those that contradict the idea that there is more to life than mere physical reality.

Again, my deepest gratitude and heartfelt best wishes to Grand Ayatollah Sistani. My he find shelter in Allah, Islam and Holy Qu’ran from the flame of ignorance now burning so brightly in Iraq. May he be kept safe from harm; and may all my brothers and sisters that seek peace through peaceful means.

May all beings be free from suffering. And in these times, especially in Iraq. Namo tassa bhagavato arahato sammasambuddhassa.

Squeeps is our pet cinnamon pearl cockatiel. She’s a little treasure. Very affectionate, very gentle and truly a part of our family. But she’s demanding of our attention. Kristine and I are the only “flock” she has ever known, and when we leave her line of sight she gets quite agitated. And noisy. A bit too noisy. It’s not her fault, this is her genetic programming. But something had to give.

This weekend the Rose City Exotic Bird Club had one of their frequent shows at the Hillsboro Fairgrounds. Kristine and I have been to them many times before. We decided that it was time to consider getting another bird to keep Squeeps company and give her other members of the flock to dote upon.

While I had no expectations, I really wanted to find an albino ‘tiel. I think they’re gorgeous. We walked around the show, but the only bird that reacted really strongly to me was a dusky Pionus parrot. US$400. No way.

I briefly entertained the idea of a green-cheeked conure (great birds), but it would be unable to share Squeeps’ cage. When I went to the Bird Club’s booth to ask about conure behavior, I mentioned in passing to one of the women that I was really looking for an albino ‘tiel. Cue kamma.

This woman, a charming and knowledgable lady named Susan Hahn, said she was a ‘tiel breeder, and was liquidating her aviary prior to her move to Panama. She had an albino. Not only that, I got a much better vibe off her than any of the other vendors.

Kristine and I went to her home this evening to meet “Deedle,” her albino ‘tiel. Gorgeous. Simply gorgeous. Bad news? Deedle has a lifelong cage-mate named “Little Hawk” that would have missed her terribly. Good news? “Little Hawk” and Kristine took to each other instantly. Or faster.

Welp, short story long, we’re now a three ‘tiel home. Kristine says she wanted to get Little Hawk because, “she couldn’t bear to break up the cage mates.” Umm … BS. She wanted Hawk because she stole Kristine’s heart in about .0005 nanoseconds.

Both Deedle and Little Hawk are females, so we don’t have to worry about becoming breeders. My first impression is that Deedle is a little more stand-offish, but probably bonds more deeply than Hawk over time. Little Hawk is just a gregarious flirt. And loves Kristine. Hawk is definitely her bird. We’ll see how accurate my assessment is soon enough.

Susan gave us a great price on the birds, and was almost weeping as we left, which makes me feel good about the treatment her birds have received. She obviously loves them very much. And it also makes me feel good that they’re coming to our home, where birds own monkeys instead of vice-versa.

Welcome Deedle and Little Hawk! Without further ado, let proud Daddy show off!

Deedle

Little Hawk

In this life there is the family into which you are born and the family you later choose. Almost 20 years ago I met one of my chosen brothers, Christopher Cook. Chris is intelligent, funny, caring and deeply committed to his beliefs. All qualities I look for in a friend.

Last year Chris honored me by asking me to serve as best man at his wedding. Being unwilling to meet for the first time the woman he had chosen as his mate at their wedding, Kristine and I visited Chris and Judy at their home in LA. After meeting her, it’s hard to decide who got the better end of the deal. If there is a woman worthy of Chris, it’s Judy.

Yesterday Chris phoned me to inform me that Judy is pregnant with their first child. They have been trying for a child for some time, so this news is more than welcome; it is, indeed, somewhat overdue.

Congratulations to the Cooks. And, seeing that Judy is only a few weeks into her pregnancy, I want to send them some positive kamma. This is a delicate time in a woman’s pregnancy cycle, with nothing being assured. Please join me in sending them heartfelt best wishes and positive energy to ensure this little soul successfully joins the best parents one could hope for.

Buddhism has been a religion and philosophy open to change and modification. I believe it’s one of its real strengths. Adaptable, malleable and able to reach people on their own terms. It’s one of the things that made me become a Buddhist. And every once in a while, I am reminded of just how open to modernization Buddhism truly is. And this new prayer wheel technology is just too cool. Amazing. I’ll take ten of them, please.

My sister and her family arrive today for a weekend visit. So a housecleaning was in order. This being summer, the cats are, of course, shedding. With a few recent 100F-plus days, I think the process has sped up. A lot. The amount of cat hair I removed from the house would easily qualify as a third cat. The sheer amount was really something. Both impressive, depressing and icky. Bye bye third kitty.

So I stopped by Wells Fargo today to ask them to remove me from all their mailing lists (I still get “As a selected account holder..” mail, even though I closed all my accounts there more than a month ago). While waiting to be helped and perusing the product brochures, I was shocked by something I saw.

Wells Fargo probably decided to try to accentuate a multicultural corporate image. Nothing wrong with that on face value, but be careful, people.

On a brochure for their “Prime Rewards Program” is a cover photo of three seated Buddha statues. Doesn’t strike you as a big deal? How would you feel about a picture of a crucified Christ being used to sell credit card bonus programs? As an active Theravada Buddhist, my reaction was much the same a Christian’s might be to seeing Jesus used to hawk goods.

Goodness, people. How did this ever get past review, never mind into the bank branches? Simply appalling.

Especially so as the product is distinctly contrary to Buddhist ideals. “Have more stuff! Get more things! Become attached to self and property!” Great.

The Japanese maple that was pollarded to the point of being unrecoverable has finally been terminated, and its successor is taking root in a pot for spring planting.

Last fall Kristine asked a guy that does landscaping at VGTI (where she works) to come by and trim back some shrubs near our windows and a Japanese maple that was beautiful, but had a few branches that overhung the driveway that needed tending. The deal was he would be here at 2pm, and she’d show him around.

She ran some errands, got home just before two to find the Japanese maple gone. No exaggeration. It now stood about six feet from the ground and had no leaf-bearing branches left. Just trunks. Pollarded to death. Argh.

So this week, hearing tree work in the neighborhood, I got the remaining trunk brought down. Saved enough for a Yule log, and the tripartite lower stump for a table base. They’re curing on the patio. Enough of the maple.

The replacement is here; a lovely Ginkgo biloba “Saratoga” clone. It’s about a meter high, and just today I got it into a very large container to encourage rootball development and growth. It is, of course, male, as the female ginkgo produces a smelly, mushy fruit. I love ginkgos, and am thrilled to have a chance to start one off. The Saratoga variant apparently is not as tall as the standard ginkgo, which is perfect for this spot next to the driveway.

We’re working on adding stump-removing chemicals to the exposed stump of the maple. In a few months it should be ready to be covered for the winter, saturated, and the ginkgo set about four feet from the old site come spring. At which point an English walnut I have will go into that big container as an ornamental.

I’m Tom Bombadil.

Years ago I worked for the Group Actuarial unit at CIGNA. Actuaries are the people that determine rates and risk. They’re big players in insurance, and becoming a full actuary instantly makes you an officer of the company at most places. Needless to say, I am not an actuary; I supported their efforts with my systems skills. I got to speaking about actuaries with an IRC chum today. If you want to know what distinguishes actuaries from statisticians in my mind, read on …

Actuaries use statistics. Actuaries need to be good statisticians. But there’s a “real world” aspect to actuarial science. It looks something like this:

ai: I wanted to be an actuary for a while.

ai: I really like statistics a lot.

strex[a] considers what he should do to be “productive” with the rest of the day

ai strex[a]: I strongly recommmend masturbation.

mneptok: and statistics.

mneptok: “4 out of 5 cumshots missed my eye”

mneptok: “7 of 10 were not blanks.”

mneptok: now

mneptok: this is where we separate statistics from actuarial work

mneptok: statistics would say that if 1 of 5 cumshots hit the eye, and 3 of 10 were blanks, that statistically eventually you would get a blank that hit you in the eye.

mneptok: actuaries know better.

I simply do not understand what is going on with the lack of ability of many adults to comprehend simple, clear information. A posting I made on Craig’s List leads to this rant.

Need a freezer? We’re getting rid of one that we got with the house. Here’s the listing on Craig’s List and in case that disappears, here’s the text:

FREE Freezer and Puzzle!
It’s a stand-up full sized (i.e. “refrigerator sized”) Manitowoc freezer for FREE! You haul it.
We inherited this item when we bought the house. Looks to be in good condition, but the interior needs a cleansing. This being the case, we haven’t plugged it in.
Comes with free puzzle, “Does this freezer work or not?” Won’t you find it in your heart to give this nice unit a home?
this is in or around Beaverton, OR

Best e-mail thus far:

Do you have a picture or can you send me one pls.