Icon Re: go on then fire me up
S
stark raving brad (view)

that video was weird. those guys'll never make it.

i know what you mean about the whole 'leader/follower' thing, but dictionary.com has a definition of leader as 'one who rules, inspires or guides', and, minus 'rules', that's how i perceive the term.

here, try this on for size. i may have posted this before, but it's a beaut, so here it is again:

(from Brad Werner's Hardcore Zen)

The world is changing. Things are getting better. I know that's hard for lots of people to believe, what with terrorism and war and the price of Doc Martens.

It was hard for me to really see, too. For most of my life I've been the darkest, bleakest, most misanthropic pessimist anyone could want to meet (or avoid, for that matter). I was utterly convinced the world was on the fast track to hell. When I first encountered Nashijima's grinning, sunny optimism I wanted to smack it right off his face.

You can convince yourself that your pessimistic outlook is 'correct' or 'realistic' or 'justified' - and any newspaper will give you plenty of evidence. You can wallow darkly in your certainty that anyone who sees things in a positive light is an unrealistic empty-headed ninny.

Spend your time doing that and you'll be miserable, which you believe is your right, a personal choice that affects no one but yourself. But it's not. It's an inexcusable way to live because when you live that way you won't do anything about any of what's wrong with the world because, of course, if you succeeded it would prove that you were wrong that nothing could be done.

Does letting go of your committed pessimism mean you ignore what's wrong in the world? No. Far from it. Seeing what's wrong and pointing it out is a big part of how you make things better. It is vitally important that you do this (and I do mean YOU). With weapons of mass destruction within reach of nearly anyone who wants them, you have a duty to make certain that no one in this world ever has any reason to want to use such a thing. This is very much your own personal responsibility. To shirk it isn't just wrong, it's dangerous.

If the world is to change in any important way, that change will come from individual human beings who have the courage to discover who they truly are. And in making this discovery, they will find out what humanity truly is, what the universe truly is. Only people who understand their own nature thoroughly will be able to bring about the changes that must occur if humanity is to survive.

You can transform your life, and it is imperative that you do it. Because only you can do it. No guru can make your life right. No Zen master can show you the way. Only you have the power to make this place you're living in right now a realm so beautiful that even God himself couldn't dream of anything better. And doing this will transform the universe.

It's up to you.

It's not just your right, it's your duty.

Only you can find the path and only you can walk it.

Your life is yours alone, and to miss your life is the most tragic thing that could ever happen.

So sit down, shut up, and take a look at it.
posted 2008.03.22
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