thenatureofmind

Gitmo: A National Disgrace

From the New York Times Editorial Page...

The Guantánamo camp was created on a myth — that the American judicial system could not handle prisoners of “the war against terror.” It was built on a lie — that the hundreds of detainees at Gitmo are all dangerous terrorists. And it was organized around a fiction — that Mr. Bush had the power to create this rogue system in the first place....

Gitmo: A National Disgrace

Like an Illusion

  Like an Illusion 
  Originally uploaded by waywuwei

Whirling in the ocean of samsara
Are the myriad thoughts of love and hate.
Once you know they have no nature.
Then everywhere is the land of gold, my child.

If on all things, like an illusion,
One meditates, like an illusion,
True Buddhahood, like an illusion,
Will come to pass, due to devotion.
- The Dakini Naguma

Phenomena appear and yet have no true nature.
Immature beings take them for real
And are confused.
Appearances do not truly exist!
E MA HO!
- Khyungpo Naljor

But what does it mean to say that phenomena are like an illusion?

The Tibetan word for 'like an illusion' (sgyu ma lta bu) occurs frequently in Buddhist writings. It has become the norm to translate the word sgyu ma as 'illusion' as I have done here for poetic feeling, although that is perhaps not a completely accurate translation. 'Illusion' in English suggests a fancy, something imagined, nothingness. In Tibetan, however, sgyu ma is closer in meaning to 'magical scene'. A magician, given his skill, the right tools, and and a certain environment, will create a 'magical scene'. This magical scene is like an illusion in the sense that it has no inherent nature and simply arises in dependence upon causes and conditions.... The appearance arises in dependence upon his mental preconceptions and other causes and conditions. However, his 'fall' is not to be judged too harshly because his tendency to grasp at appearances has developed into a habit over many lifetimes. He fails to see the lack of inherent existence in appearance and thus believes in their reality.

From Like an Illusion by Nicole Riggs