When I was young (a work in constant progress)

When I was young...just a kid, I dug in the dirt. Now, I need to keep my children out of the dirt because it contains Radon gas and landfill waste. When I was young...just a kid, I played football in the street. Now, I need to keep my children off the street because danger is ever present. When I was young...just a kid, I drank water from the garden hose. Now, I buy bottled water because tap water is a health risk. When I was young...just a kid, I delivered newspapers after school. Now, I need to pry my children away from video games after school. When I was young...just a kid, I played army, because that was how the Government groomed kids for war. Now, I stand against everything army, and everything war, and realize that it is just another business. When I was young...just a kid, I watched a green car pull up to my neighbor's house and deliver the news. Now, when a car pulls up I peek out the window with paranoia as to who could it be. When I was young...just a kid, there were not many strangers. Now, everyone is a stranger, and you had better run. When I was young, I answered the phone with a 'hello'. Now, when the phone rings, I check caller-ID first. When I was young, a call placed from a phone booth cost a nickle, and was seldom needed. Now, everyone carries a cell phone and is on 'a plan'. When I was young...just a kid...music had meaning. Now, music is just a pounding, metronomic rhythym played loud enough to blow a speaker cone...or an eardrum. When I was young...just a kid...

The Second Noble Truth

For the aspiring Buddhist:

What is the Noble Truth of the origin of suffering? It is craving, which renews being and is accompanied by relish and lust. Relishing this and that; in other words, craving for sensual desires, craving for being, craving for non-being. But whereupon does this craving arise and flourish? Wherever there is what seems loveable and gratifying, thereon it arises and flourishes.

There is this Noble Truth of the origin of suffering: such was the vision, insight, knowing and light which arose in me about things not heard before. This Noble Truth must be penetrated to by abandoning the origin of suffering...This Noble Truth has been penetrated to by abandoning the origin of suffering: such was the vision, insight, wisdom, knowing and light which arose in me hearing about things not known before [Samyutta Nikaya LVI, 11].

The 'Second Noble Truth' with its three aspects is: 'there is the origin of suffering, which is the attachment to desire. Desire should be let go of. Desire has been let go of. The Second Noble Truth states that there is an origin of suffering and that the suffering is attachment to the three kinds of desire: desire of sense pleasure (kama tanha), desire to become (bhava tanha) and the desire to get rid of (vibhava tanha). This statement of the 'Second Noble Truth', the thesis, the pariyatti, this is what you contemplate: the origin of suffering is attachment to desire.

Scared Straight

oh young ones, you dare lurk in my shadow?
let me break it all down so I can scare your asses straight,
because I don’t want you to be…like me
you think you are the coolest cool and the baddest bad...I did too
you roll one, smoke one, toss back your vodka and bull, snort that line of pure…
all you young dudes, you who think you are invincible,
you think you are so sure
you don’t even consider the meaning…
chicks and bad cool, the next buzz your main goal...
hell man, even at some point the chicks don't matter any longer,
only the high
yeah, this old man knows the play and how it plays out...
far more than I want you to ever know
see man, I was a young dude too, long, way long before you were you…
keep on this track and you will be me long after I was you…
see young one, I was the coolest of cool, and baddest of bad...
I capped the reefer buzz with a couple Kool's and a beer, or three
and then more; Mescal chasers to boot
wasted more than straight, and straight only when times were dry...
and it never really did run all that dry
Angels and Outlaws I knew them both well...
whores smoking fags, and junkies all around…but I thought I was beyond it all…
I was called the G-man ‘cause I had the good grass;
then Thunderbird was my name as the crystal T fried my ass…
yeah, there was mesc and shrooms, pyramid and barrel…
pane and 25…more than anyone could handle
horse, crank, scag and mud, all that I knew
and I did them all…and I did them all too well too…
I was a walking pharmacy young dude, and knew every pill and every thrill…
I ran fast and I walked slow; walked on snakes and saw Satan glow…
Saw Jesus on a blanket hanging in a mushroom mine,
and George Harrison playing sitar too...
Hell young dude, I even crawled into a crypt of the dead to prove I was true…
yeah young dude, I heard the color and I saw the sound
~ medical science, they call it synethesia, I called it far out…
that was then man, and this is now ~ those days are gone...
you're better off to put them behind...
you walk a long walk going dead…and so now am I…
see young dude, I stuck a needle in my arm and now I am sick
the doctors say the have done what they can…
there is no cure for me now, there is no fix
the chemo has failed…my liver has paid the price
for the two-bit thrills...yeah, I rolled the dice
with a wife and three children I fight to stay alive…
stay on this track young dude and you will see it too
hard young man…all you young dudes
hard young man…all you young dudes
and yeah, I’m running scared, the dude that ran with Angels…
yeah man, I’m just a burned out Outlaw and life is closing in...
and I’m running scared…
See young one, I’m not the coolest of cool or the baddest of bad...
and neither are you...you are just a young one, young dude
I run scared now like a white rabbit…the cool has long since gone…
my life hangs in the balance waiting for time...hoping for a miracle
if you are smart young dude, you will run scared like that rabbit
before you see it too...
run young dudes, run scared straight like a white rabbit