In Praise of 'Thingz'
Hamsaka
goosewhispererPolishing the 'just so' Veteran
You know, thingz like the red metallic toaster I just got in the mail today. It is gorgeous, and in perfect keeping with my house-wide 'redo' (inspired by Buddhism, of course) where I am going to enjoy my favorite colors however unfashionable.
That would be the color red, of course. The red metallic toaster, the red faux-down comforter on my daybed, the Chinese red shade on my front window (gasp!), my favorite red redneck cotton shirt that says God Bless America, 9/11/2001, and the possibility of many more red thingz I've yet to discover.
In the mail today, I also received non-red things, such as tools and gizmos with which to pursue some veneer and marquetry interests I've had for years (the veneer came in the mail Friday).
So there is a glut of NEW thingz in a semi-circle around me, and I am thoroughly enjoying them to the max, for their promise of future creative endeavor and a perfectly crisp bagel (I hope).
I do not intend to glue my hand to my forehead and pronounce over my new thingz their eventual decay and existential uselessness, nor their ability to distract me from the fact that they and what I create with them are not-self or empty of inherent value. I intend to celebrate my temporal, infinitely irrelevant new thingz for exactly what they are. Like the purple flowery bush thing outside the front door (no idea what it is, and I've lived here for four years lol) which will soon wither and fall, to be tracked into the house for a month as irritating filth. Like the dogwood trees furiously blooming and losing their blooms when April changes her mind from sunny warmth to wind and hail. Like my adult children, alive and well and prospering in their lives, and my outdoor critters, healthy in their yearly mating agite', free for now of sickness, predators, loss, tragedy, rot, and death.
I won't lie . . . in my growing understanding of the Buddha's 'prescription' for the human life, I intend, for now, to love my thingz and even proliferate more of them if conditions arise.
And when they break, are ruined, or are shredded by the parrot; or fail to please, or mirror back to me the ugly truth of my arrogance, delusion, lack of skill, lack of foresight, lack of understanding, lack of purity of heart: I will grieve. What else?
In praise of thingz . . . in praise of beautiful lies we mustn't believe!
Comments
Wow I'd like to thank@ Hamsaka for the gift of 'red and impermanent new and broken thangs' (Sorry if my English accent sucks; It is what it is; tap tap tappetity tap tap tap)
hallelujah
Very interesting post. If your toaster was on your shrine as a symbol of arisings or to make toasted cereal for visiting ephemeral Boddhisattvas, how wonderful and praiseworthy . . .
Instead the metta of formal veneration has been brought into the Sacred Dining area.
Seems like a plan.
Sacred and profane. Extend the circle of metta. :clap:
Exactly @lobster. Why not?
The previous toaster was almost ten years old. It still looks great, but it's two remaining functions are burn or steam, toaster's choice, neither of which are pleasing to visiting venerable ones, especially me.
Maybe it's OK (shhhh) to enjoy thingz. As long as you remember what they really are, and one's actual relationship to them. I can't help but believe, based on how I see, that the great proliferation of thingz is having fun with itself. We are the confused ones, and blame the thingz as if they cause confusion.
People want to give away or throw away all their thingz, which seems like it is missing the point. If one realizes their true relationship to thingz, which I am incapable of writing out much less understanding, thingz just go away.
I've drastically pared down the thingz I still clamor for, that is me being completely honest. What I don't clamor for (like a working toaster) I don't want and therefor, I don't have. I live in a garage, actually, much to most people's astonishment. The kids have the house. I don't WANT to live in a house. No, that's not right. I don't NEED to live in a house. A house-house, that is, as opposed to a garage-cum-house. That's one example. This happened before I got real about meditating and all that. It's been happening for years. Probably a lot of people going over the mid-life hump that are no long enamored of appearances can say the same. Yep, got a little ego-boost from that LOL but hey, I appreciate the positive feedback, it helps push through the shit I do not understand and still hate.
You REALLY don't get out enough.
To be independent of material existence is about independence from their presence or absence. The Middle Way for the Lay(person) is about extending kindness to others, to our breakfast toast even.
We can understood feeling metta to beautiful forms but essentially they are projections. We have preferences in terms of experiences, activities, simple or ornate living and so on. How can we be kind to a toaster? By treating it with attention and gently adding bread. People think that emotional relationships are only something we have with people, pets, perhaps our plants . . .
I would suggest people as we know, get very emotionally attached to their belongings. I tell family to throw me in a compost bins when my life as a life toaster is gone. However most of us are not able to be happy when the transient changes. In short we have, rightly, stronger bonds to the higher sentients. Attention to details? Metta to all?
It is red. It is a toaster. It toasts. Joy.
Just don't expect it to be eternal but for now . . . enjoy . . . well that is my plan . . .
I don't think there is anything wrong with having nice things and appreciating them. Those little things like a shiny new working toaster, and enjoying it, well, why not!? If one needs a toaster, they certainly shouldn't be upset about it, just enjoy it. Then one day when it catches fire, or kids put crayons in it, or it just stops working, your replace it again. Having stuff doesn't have to mean clinging to it.
I have come full circle.
When I got into buddhism I gave nearly everything away in a material catharsis. Made me feel good for a couple of days, but desiring and having things wasn't my problem I realise. I have regretted giving away my entire book collection to a hospital library when I was 25, because all those stories I wanted to share with my children has meant I have had to re-purchase them again.
I like having things which give me pleasure, and which I have worked hard to buy, and enable me to express some creativity - like my work tools (drills/saws/screwdrivers etc). I really enjoy playing with them; in fact I am currently designing an arbour for the garden patio area which is on a number of levels, with planters at the base of each support.
Can't wait to see the end result.
So having things is not a problem in my view.