Gandhi, Value, Lyotard, Craig’s Lost Addiction

Today is Mahatma Gandhi’s 140th birthday. Gandhi is an amazing man who changed the lives of many people and single handedly spearheaded the Indian Independence Movement. He did this by pioneering a social revolution he named Satyagraha which is a resistance against tyranny using civil disobedience in a non-violent way; as an emodiment of compassion. This is amazing if you think about it. He rallied a nation to disobey what they’ve been told was the right way to live thereby giving them better rights and more freedom, and to top it off, he convinced them to do it nonviolently, sometimes staring directly in the face of violence.

Civil disobedience is awesome. It’s done a ton of good for nations (like India) and civil rights movements (MLK used it extensively) and it was even recommended by Al Gore for environmental issues. Just the thought of disobeying to make your situation better sounds like a good time.

Although Gandhi didn’t create the theory behind traditional civil disobedience he’s one of the most widely known activists to employ it. This is a man who was of tremendous value to his country and the world. He started small and got huge. Crazy huge…like Obama huge, but he didn’t have any money, and he didn’t have any primetime spots before the primaries. It was the definitive grass-movement movement. So of course I have to ask myself, can I be that valuable? Where the hell is my value? Can I make more of it?

Value is just as important today as it was 100 years ago, and once you have your ears open to it, it pops up more and more. How can we bring value to our lives? How can we be valuable to communities? How do companies create and distribute value and at what costs? Marx worried about value for almost his entire career.

But here’s the point, will our own personal civil-disobedience movement, personal as in the one happening inside you, give you more value? Will disobeying social norms in regards to what you have to do with your life (how you’re suppose to live, who you’re suppose to work for, how you’re suppose to earn your money, etc.)make you more valuable? I would argue it does.

I like to view value as possessing and being able to give something that is in short supply. Sure, there’s a ton of drummers in NYC, but I doubt any of them are exactly like me, just like I’m not exactly like them. My product is incredibly personal and by definition, one of a kind. When I was a bank teller there were hundreds of others just like me and most were probably better at the job than I was. Now that I have more time (a lot more time) to devote to this, I like to think that I, my product, my life, am/is more valuable. It may sound weird to call my music and passion a product, but if I want to do this professionally, it’s what it has to be. People don’t buy passions, they buy products, and I’m trying to get paid.

By breaking away from or breaking down certain ideologies that have perpetuated in our culture we can better free ourselves to speak more clearly what we wish to say. Becuase nobody can be us, nobody can put it just the way we can. That makes us valuable.

But back to me making money; that’s short-term value. If I’m hired for a gig and paid $100, once the gig is over that value is gone. To keep getting paid I need to create more value on other gigs. Gandhi had long-term value. That’s what I’m looking for. Not just the value you see in monetary returns (I’m looking for that too), but the value you can create in other people’s lives. It’s good to note that Gandhi started out as a lawyer, he got paid for cases, and he had a hard time finding rates he felt comfortable charging (something my friends and I are having to deal with a lot lately).

Of course, value judgements are sticky judgements. They’re like views on truth and beauty; all we know these days is that they are pretty much completely relative. (But the fun doesn’t stop there—poststructural critical theorist Jean Lyotard said that if all truth is relative than in return doesn’t that make the statement itself become relative? hmmmmmm.) But what we do know is that we’re in need of thinkers and creators; not just artists, but people who can create their own lives, people who aren’t afraid to go on their own to make and create their own long-term value.

Roommate update! Craig is now completely addicted to LOST.

GIG UPDATE! I’m playing upstairs at Pianos tomorrow night with Adam Shenk at 9pm!

Craig’s Karma and David Byrne’s Book

Craig IS David Byrne

Last week, my roommate Craig bought a stolen bike in front of a restaurant here in Bushwick. He bought the bike for $40 and upon his return home, after doing some research, discovered that the bike was worth somewhere around $1100. That’s bad Karma. Craig felt bad and decided to put the bike on craigslist (no relation) to try and find the rightful owner. That should be good Karma.

Lo and behold the rightful owner was found and he came to pick up the bike. Apparently he was rude and short with Craig. That seems like typical Karma. Also noteworthy, he gave Craig the 40 smackeroos back (that may be bad Karma?). But, nevertheless, Craig went to bed with a clear conscience.

Now, Karma is a sticky subject. So sticky that many modern Buddhist teachers fail to mention it at all. Traditional Buddhist teachings use Karma to explain why you are in the shitty situation you’re in right now and how you may be able to get into a better one with a joyful rebirth. It pins the Karmic cycle upon the victim, and rarely gives praise to the person trying to perpetuate good Karma. For instance, David R. Loy speaks of a memory he has of a Buddhist teacher speaking about the Holocaust and replying “What terrible Karma all those Jews must have had…” Clearly this type of understanding is unacceptable (I’d like to note that Loy also found the reasoning unacceptable). But it raises a good point: Who inherits all of the bad Karma and how do we reap its effects, or, why do good people suffer horrible shit? And is there any merrit in doing a good act and looking for a good act in return?

So fast-forward the next week and Craig is out at a bar celebrating his 24th birthday. He steps outside for a phone call, comes back, and his wallet is stolen. That night, with what im sure was a hefty buzz, he cancelled all his credit cards and made plans to go to the NYC DMV and get a new license.

Shitty things happen to good people. Buddhism says that to do a good act to get a good thing in return doesn’t earn you as many points as doing a good act and forgetting about it (selflessness). But what about when something you don’t deserve happens to you? Who do you blame? Is it your Karma or somebody else’s? Do these questions matter at all when your faced with a shitty problem? Even if you had the answers, could you get the wallet back?

Buddhism works for me because it makes the most sense to me, but it doesn’t make complete sense. It usually causes more problems than it answers, but it asks some good questions.

So the day after the bar, Craig was on his way out to the bank to take out his cash and order a new ATM card, and wouldn’t you have guessed it, the bar called and said someone dropped his wallet off. I SHIT YOU NOT!!

Good things also happen to good people. One thing is for sure, while you may not be able to see around corners to ease your own situation there’s a shit ton you can do to help somebody else’s. It’s amazing how it works that way. I know people who can’t get rid of any of their own problems but they do wonders talking to me about mine. Being responsible for Karma doesn’t mean it’s yours, but that you can help alleviate somebody else’s. What’s good for you is probably good for me, and the greater good is best. And you know what? The more you push others ahead of you, the more the whole line moves forward. That’s the point, right?

In other news, I bought David Byrne’s “Bicycle Diaries” book. I talked a lot about bikes today! I don’t even own one! I’d like to have a review of it up here soon. The man is a highly influential musician, composer, and designer of sounds, technologies, and other materials…I really don’t want to be disappointed. He’s too cool to suck.

Lama Yeshe: “Check Up”, And Sting’s Awesome Beard

I’ve recently been reading a lot of Lama Yeshe’s work and although I don’t believe he’s the greatest Buddhist teacher for modern America (check out Chogyam Trungpa if you want the old stuff or Ethan Nichtern’s ID Project for the modern versions), he had a really good grasp on our psyche as a culture (mainly our materialistic, consumption-driven suffering). There’s one phrase that he uses really often that I’ve really come to love. He say’s, almost 3 or 4 times on every page, “Check Up!”. It usually comes after he makes a bold statement, like: “All the evidence we need (to end our suffering) is available in our own life and in the lives of others. CHECK UP!”

In our culture we’re use to hearing “Check it out”, but “Check up!” not only brings to mind the act of not just passively reviewing the given material but actually following through with what we’ve learned, it also reminds us of a doctor’s appointment, a check-up. I would bet that a lot of the things we do in our lives and things we take for granted as our daily actions and beliefs could use a doctor’s appointment.

How better off would we be if looked at each taken for granted thought and action we make throughout the day? This can apply to everything. I practice a lot of things in my daily life (drums, meditaion, cooking) and although I feel I may understand whyI choose to practice them or the benefits associated with them, when I really check up on the subject it deepens my practice and gives more meaning to it. Sometimes I realize that I don’t benefit from the given practice at all, or at least in ways that I wish to benefit from them. I’m an ardent supporter of Obama, so much so that I’ve been in some very loud and intense debates, but I can’t say that I’ve really checked up on all of his policies and decisions.

Thich Nhat Hahn says that when we really look at the value and benefits of everyday actions, even the ones we really take for granted like breathing, we become more aware of the beauty of it and in return we become more grateful. I think it’d be awesome to be honestly grateful that you can breathe. It can’t hurt, right?

I think it’s time we bring the Check Up philosophy back. Why just go with the motions when you can understand how they work and what benefit it will make for you and the people around you? I’m going to try and check up at least 3 things I take for granted every day, I suggest you do the same.

In other news Sting is in an awesome video for saving the rain forests.

This video is awesme for 4 reasons-
1. He’s way cooler than Alec Baldwin talking about being a vegetarian.
2. You can hear a live version of Message In A Bottle in the background.
3. Billy Connoly’s face at 1:30.
4. That beard is DOPE!

 

You can see the video if you scroll down on the right side of this page–>

It’s the first on the list.

What can I leave behind?

As I’m writing this blog, I’m watching my iPhone crash and burn due to me trying to update it with the newest software. It’s literally flashing lights and pretty much guaranteeing me an awesome trip to the 24 hour apple store on 5th avenue and a $200 bill for a new phone. Oddly, I’m not as freaked out as I feel I should be, although pretty much my entire life is on it. You know how it goes, all of my calendar dates, bills, contacts, pictures, etc. What will happen when I lose all this? How badly will my life be altered if I have to call all my band leaders and ask them to restate the dates I’m booked for? And as for contacts: would it kill me to strip down to only the people I really call? Do I really need all my high-school buddy’s numbers? Guys who I haven’t talked to in over 5 years? We’ll always have facebook, right?

This might just be what I need. Cutting down on one’s life seems to be a big trend these days and more recently I’ve had to open my eyes to people who are truly living the minimal, stripped down life. A life that I’ve admired/been too afraid to attempt myself. I’m reminded of and wish to bring your attention to a few amazing blogs that live and breathe the stripped down, no frills lifestyle.

So here are a few to check out–

zenhabits.net
mnmlist.com

and I’m pretty much in love with this woman, Gwen Bell

In other news, Saturday was a great night. Got to give a special thanks to Tim Yusef for coming to BOTH gigs and accompanying me on the train from the first to the second. Quite the gentleman. Should have some audio from the Austin Bats gig up here soon.