[Buddha-l] "Free and Easy" Vajra song

[Franz Metcalf]

Gang,

Joanna wrote

> Franz your conclusion about someone trapped in life-support (it  
> wasn't a
> coma was it) was identical to what I said as well. If you're in that  
> state,
> what's wrong with contemplating this poem? I still think so, after the
> discussion.

Joanna, sorry I misinterpreted your reaction. Dan did mention a coma,  
but perhaps he was using the term loosely. I learned during my  
father's last weeks that medical folks use the term to describe a  
situation where a person can't move rather than can't think or  
experience. I think the poem doesn't really apply to a non- 
experiencing person. But its intention is to apply to anyone who  
experiences, including us. The current pop culture example would be  
the author/protagonist in "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly." If your  
body is going to be a permanent diving bell, why not let your mind be  
a butterfly? (Ah, there's Zhuangzi again.)

I doubt Dan disagrees with us on this point. But it seems to me this  
coma/life-support situation is a very narrow set of circumstances. For  
the rest of us, with rather broader opportunities for right action and  
right livelihood, I think the bar should be higher. Perhaps we all  
agree about that, as well.

Irenically,

Franz