Buddhist Poetry Reading

I went to a Buddhist poetry reading last week not knowing what to expect but was definitely excited about it. I have been very interested in Buddhism since my senior year in High School when we were told to read Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse. The idea of being on an unwavering search for enlightenment and happiness throughout life until it is achieved and/or constantly present is so amazing to me. People often forget what we are put on this Earth for, or perhaps they are simply too ignorant to believe that it could be something as simple as living a life filled with happiness and experience in which we attain not only the knowledge of how to treat others but how to treat ourselves as well.

Sitting in Country Bookshelf, listening to the poems selected and the words of those who though not all practicing Buddhists are inspired in some way by this religion was sensational. It was especially moving because I am at both my happiest and unhappiest moment in life right now, gaining and losing something in this life every day.

Listening to the music, the speakers and the poetry I think to myself, “I want so badly just to be happy. How on Earth do these people attain this happiness? When will I be enlightened? “ I went through moments of great inspiration to moments of disbelief and confusion throughout this short lecture. It’s like we constantly challenge ourselves to be happy when in fact there really is no challenge.

I was both intrigued and troubled by this next passage:
“The past no longer exists and the future is not yet here.” I wanted to believe this, take it simply as a “live in the here and now” sort of statement, but instead of thinking so simply, I read deeper into it. I wanted to get up and challenge this and decided to write out my thoughts instead. For me, the past exists in memories, photos, or even in places themselves; the past is constantly with us and therefore exists. Right? Eliot was also in the back of my mind saying “time past and time future all point to present”. This then led me to recall Eliot’s connections between time and remembrance of past moments in The Four Quartets. The idea of remembrance is something I will not even begin to address right now.

Lately, I have heard “kill with kindness” quite a lot. But why does it now have to be that kindness kills, it’s like a mix of good and evil right there, the positive in a way becoming negative. The idea (practiced in Buddhism) that “hate does not conquer hate, love conquers hate” sounds so…how do I put it…trite but I cannot help but think that same thought to myself every day. This comprehension between good and evil, the duality is so interesting to me. So many questions go through my head as I write this and I cannot help but wonder is there evil in this world, pure evil? If so, what creates this evil? Again, this is something that I could continuously create questions about. A to reflect the evil of power: “Sell out Crow” Written by Greg Pape.

Many poems were read, thoughts shared and connections made. I walked out of the bookstore feeling like I was in a completely different world from the power hour pre-gamers (most of us know that power hour is the pre-game). I felt inspired to “kill with kindness” if you will and open my eyes more to not only differences in cultures and religions, but take something from them that would inspire or benefit me.

Wallace Stevens:
“A man and a woman 
Are one. 

A man and a woman and a blackbird 

Are one.

I do not know which to prefer, 

The beauty of inflections

Or the beauty of innuendoes, 

The blackbird whistling 

Or just after.”