The Most Dangerous Time

A long time has passed since the Cold War, and a lot has changed in the world. Now, Russia and the West, in particular, the United States, find themselves at odds with one another in a situation that seems to be escalating. In these circumstances, as a lay observer, I would ask the following questions to a knowledgeable person:

1. Because it's been such a long time since the Cold War, is the United States 'out of practice', as it were, in preventing an accidental nuclear exchange between itself and Russia?

2. Because it's been such a long time since the Cold War, is Russia 'out of practice', as it were, in preventing an accidental nuclear exchange between itself and the United States?

3. Both the United States and Russia seem to have experienced at least relative decline in the past 25 years. Is it possible that such decline has created gaps, weak points, or other shortcomings--for example, in the form of less diligent or less capable personnel, or less effective systems--devoted to preventing an accidental nuclear exchange between the United States and Russia? 

4. Have the weapons or equipment, or any devices and installations associated with the weapons degraded over time in such a way that an accidental nuclear exchange between the United States and Russia has become more likely? 

5. If the answer to any of the above is 'yes', are we living in the most dangerous time since the Cold War? 

Every Day New Start

Every day a new and fresh start--this is a good way to live. Bad things or wrongs that may have happened are deliberately set aside, put out of one's mind, or, as far as possible, forgotten. Everyone is treated as if you're seeing them for the first time in a long time. This approach works to preserve & renew the freshness of things, people, and relationships.  A new day becomes a new day in fact and in deed.  

Jangseung

A photo of Korean jangseung, the 'totem poles' that represent protector deities for villages and other sites. I took these photos on Sunday. The two smudge marks are my photo editing, covering the name of the city and district. A little anonymity is good. 

The writing on the left one says, "Abundant [name of city district]." The writing on the right one says, "Love of ecology, environment, and [name of city]."  

Hiking through a ravine on the way up the mountain:

Good Night

Good night world. I pray to Janus that this day or night starts well and ends well for you.

Error

I left out the fact that Buddhism was suppressed at the beginning of the Joseon era (which started in 1392) in favor of Confucianism. 

My blog is especially amateur today. 

Religion in Korea

As you can see, I didn't keep the plan I made the other day. Which isn't good.

In any case, I quit coffee and found out that I don't have osteoporosis. Which is good. 

With the Pope's visit to Korea, religion has been in the news here.

This is my simple framework for thinking about Korean religion. There may be errors:

(1) Animism/Polytheism. Korea's original religion, and the predominant religion prior to the Three Kingdoms period which survives to this day. The Three Kingdoms period was from the beginning of the first millennium A.D. until the unification of the country under the Silla kingdom in the latter half of the first millennium. 

(2) Buddhism arrives in the early part of the first millennium A.D. It spreads throughout Korea during the Three Kingdoms period, finding its most advanced expression in Unified Silla, and immediately after, during 700s, 800s, and 900s. Buddhism does not attempt to extinguish Korea's animism/polytheism. Hence, even to this day, one can find animistic/polytheistic shrines near or outside of Buddhist temples. Buddhism splits into many different schools, but a theme of unity prevails despite this. 

(3) Catholicism arrives at the end of the eighteenth century and the beginning part of the nineteenth century, although, as I understand it, Koreans were aware of Matteo Ricci's presence in Beijing, and a Catholic priest accompanied Japanese troops during the Hideyoshi invasion.

(4) Protestantism arrives in the form of American missionaries at the end of the nineteenth century and the early part of the twentieth century. It reaches its apex during the 1970s and 1980s. 

I split Catholicism and Protestantism into two categories because they are regarded as separate religions in Korea, whereas Buddhism, though having many different schools, perhaps because of the overarching theme of unity that has been insisted upon within it,  is by contrast regarded as a single religion. 

I think of these as strata, with Korean animism being the deepest and most ancient layer. Note that Korean animism is popularly referred to in English as "Shamanism", but this seems as inaccurate as calling Tibetan Buddhism, "lama-ism". To call it "Shamanism" is to identify it by its human priestly expression, rather than by its theological taxonomy. 

I encountered a beautiful twin set of Korean 'totem poles' on a hike the other day. I was going to get some pictures of them today for this blog, but I am going to meet someone, and have no time to go up the mountain. The Wikipedia article about them is good, and has pictures. They seem to serve a very different function than Tlingit and Haida poles. 

골다 공증

제가 한국어로 표현력이 낮아서 완전히 답답해요. 뇌 안에 생각이 있지만 정확하게 그 생각을 표현을 하지 못해요. 

잘 말할 수 있도록 더 많이 한국어로 쓰인 책을 읽어야 돼요. 더 많이 많이 쓰기 연습을 해야 돼요.

지난 주 골다 공증에 걸렸다고 생각 했어요. 지난 일년 동안 비슷한 증상이 있었어요. 뼈 마디에 이상한 느낌이 좀좀 생겼어요.  증상이 처음 생길 때 심각한 병이 아닌다고 생각하니까 그걸 무시했어요.

골다 공증 증상은 뭔지 알게 되서 걸린가 봤어요. 

그래서 수요일에 뼈 검사 하러 병원에 갔었어요. 검사 결과는 골다 공증이 없어요. 

*      *      *      *      *      *      *      *

재미있는 것을 발견했어요. 1814년 영국 런던 '그린 파크'라는 곳에서 템플 어브 콘코드가 있었어요. 

2014년 8월 12일 화요일

죄송합니다. 두 달동안 한국어만 말해야 합니다. 안하면 한국어 실력이 안늘을거에요. 계획을 세우면 지키기 힘들어도 끝까지 그 계획을 지키기 위해 노력해야 해요.

오늘은 일이 잘 되었어요. 그래서 제가 정말 만족하고 행복해요. 일이 잘 안돼면 잠 자는 것까지 못해요. 저때문에 우리 회사가 피해를 당하면 안돼요.

오늘은 했던 일 잘 됐지만 걱정 하나가 있어요. 그거는 인터넷으로 어떤 사람이 (제 올린 글을 읽는 사람 중에서) 오해 받을 수 있는 거에요. 인생의 복잡보다 인간의 표현력은 부족하기 때문이요. 가끔식 안좋은 것이 없어도 제 표현력이 부족하니까 안좋은 것인 것 듯해요.

카페인 끊어서 하루 종일 어지러웠어요. 정신도 없고 힘이 없이 음직이었어요. 원래 카페인은 제 힘입니다. 가페인 없으면 제 힘도 없는 느낌이 들어요.  모든 걸 느리게 했어요. 느리게 일했어요. 느리게 돌아다녔어요. 느리게 일어났어요. 중독되어서 갑자기 끊으면 처음에 어려워요. 시간이 갈 수록 좋아질 거라고 봅니다.

더 많이 쓰고 싶은데 왠지 갑작스럽게 하고 싶은 것을 생각 안나요.

오늘은 모든 사람 위해 촛불을 지켜볼게요. 모든 사람 위해 좋은 기도와 종은 생각 보냅니다.

Two Month Goals

Some goals... starting today. I wrote these at first as 'I will try', etc. But I rephrased them as rules. Haha, gosh. Anyway, here they are:

1. Coffee. I had been drinking five cups a day. I went cold turkey on Saturday. For bone health. Instead, two cups of green tea. Without coffee, Saturday and Sunday were pretty foggy. I want this to be a permanent habit.

2. Money. Cut my daily spending by 1/5. Keep a budget book. I want this to be a permanent habit.

3. Language. In order to develop foreign language skills, no speaking English or consuming English media, except where necessary, until October 11th, two months from now.

4. Food. No foods with excessive salt, sugar, or oil. I want this to be a permanent habit.

5. Religion & philosophy. (a) Vipissana meditation for twenty minutes in the morning. (b) Keeping a flame on behalf of the world for ten minutes every evening. (c) 'Negative premeditation' each morning. (d) One offering of incense to a god or goddess each day. I have found that keeping a flame for the whole world before you go to bed is an effective and lovely way to grow your compassion for all people. All of these things for two months.

A man asked me to marry him yesterday. He is not a native speaker of English or Korean. The word for 'nun' in Korean sounds a little like the word for 'tired'. I kept objecting, "I want to be a nun." He kept saying, "No, you won't be tired!" 

How to Deal with Adversity

I'm reading How to Deal with Adversity, by Christopher Hamilton. The book draws from and analyzes examples from literature, history, and philosophy. He addresses adversity in four areas: the family, romantic love, sickness, and death. 

Here he is giving a talk based on the book. The conclusion of the talk is particularly good. 

Pureheartedness

From an essay on Hayao Miyazaki and Shinto values:

In Shinto an individual must have kokoro, a condition where the individual demonstrates a pure heart and mind, in order to interact with [a god or spirit].

Listen to this utterly gorgeous composition called, 'The Tree Spirits'.

Countdown to Zero

A thorough and chilling documentary from 2010, called Countdown to Zero, on the risk of nuclear war from intentional and unintentional causes. 

Noam Chomsky on the Nuclear Era

An essay by Noam Chomsky on nuclear weapons and the nuclear era.

I perceive this essay as one-sided, in a tritely partisan way that undermines the gravity of the topic--all the malefactors being human, surely there's enough irresponsibility to be apportioned to everyone? 

Others may not think so. Nonetheless, it's an important read. 

Offering of Incense for Peace in Ukraine

Offering of incense and prayer to Concordia that peace will prevail in Ukraine between all the participants, both direct and indirect.

The Goeben and the Breslau

A clipping from the August 3, 1914 edition of the Denison (Iowa) Review. 

In fact, the French fleet did not capture the Goeben or the Breslau. Rather, the ships escaped to Constantinople and were instrumental in the Ottoman Empire's entry into the First World War. The human story is rather dramatic. Here's an account from History.com. Here's another account from Wikipedia. There is also an amateur YouTube video describing the ships' entire histories, with lots of pictures of the people involved. I can't say how accurate any of these accounts are. 

The beloved chocolate shop in my hometown in the United States was founded by a German veteran of the First World War. 

Roll in My Sweet Baby's Arms!

Roll in My Sweet Baby's Arms. I feel like dancing!

"My name is John Hartford, and I didn't win a darn thing. But I'm gonna have a ball tonight and I'm in fast company."

Prayer to Fortuna for Central American Children

I made an offering of incense to Fortuna for the Central American children who came alone, without their parents or other adults, to the USA's southern border.

Their countries were unable to provide for them safely. When they reached the USA, they were met with hostility.

How unlucky they were!

My offering is that better things will happen to them in the future.

Can't find a...

My extension of the Facebook meme:

Can't find a nice person? Then be a nice person yourself.

Can't find an honorable person? Then be an honorable person yourself. 

Can't find a fair person? Then be a fair person yourself.

Can't find a person who knows how to assess evidence properly? Then be a person who assesses evidence properly yourself.

Can't find a person who realizes that large groups of people within the same nominal category don't speak with a single voice? Then be a person who realizes that large groups of people within the same nominal category don't speak with a single voice yourself.

Don't like the garbage on the ground? Then put on some gloves and help pick it up. 

Don't like the cruel mockery in the world? Then refuse to participate in creating more of it.

Don't like hypocrisy? Then refuse to be a hypocrite yourself. 

Can't find a compassionate person? Then be a compassionate person yourself, so at least there will be one compassionate person in the world.

Changing My Way of Thinking

I want to change my way of thinking from what the world can do for me to what I can do for the world. 

I don't mean something as simple as getting rid of an outsized sense of entitlement, although that would be important, too, if you had one. 

Detail

I forgot a detail from my last post: There was a meeting last night, so I couldn't go to bed till two in the morning.

Good

We don't have a Toastmasters club in this city. I could start one, but I don't know enough to make it work well. 

In order to participate in the club and carry out all my duties, therefore, I had to leave the house at 5:30 this morning, to go to the adjacent city. I just got back, at 10:00 tonight. I carried out my club officer duties and gave a speech. Of course it wasn't easy, but I'm completely fine.  

I am sure that earlier in my life, I would not have been able to do this. I would have been angry that there was no club in my city. I would have felt put-upon and resentful about having to go to the other city to participate, so I wouldn't have gone.  I wouldn't have had the emotional wherewithal to start a club myself. 

Studying philosophy and religion seems to have been very helpful to me. I promise nothing for the future. Only because that seems the surest way to trip oneself up. 

I don't regard this as strength. I regard it as simple avoidance of a set of self-defeating thought patterns and behaviors. 

Children

After working with children for a long time, my feeling is, what I like the most is feeding them. I like arranging their plates and utensils and making sure they wash their hands properly. I like finding them good tasting nutritional food and telling them to brush their teeth afterwards. They always look happy when they eat, and that makes me happy.