More Thoughts On Pie Fights and Politics

Brazilian footballer Gérson

More than a few years ago, a film I dearly love "Moon over Parador" was filmed mostly here in Ouro Preto. It is one of those very silly-everyone-is-in-it over the top films with a message - mostly how the CIA messed up much of Latin America by supporting some very nasty dictatorships. For those of us who have lived and worked in Latin America it is a very poignant parody of the 80’s.

I recently wrote a posting here about the current pie fights and shenanigans in politics  and how I am morphing, spiritually speaking. The political stress here has been giving me not a few nightmares about things that I saw and experienced living under martial law in Guatemala.

Yesterday on our way home from work, M & I stopped off at the farmácia, and with out thinking, stepped into a lively discussion re: the impeachment proceedings going on. One guy in line told me “You know the CIA is behind it.” 

And I thought, with a big sigh, oh no, here we go again... 

Steady as she goes, gringo.

Milton immediately, and very, very calmly began to talk to him… tactfully showing him that he was off by quite a few meters. I finally entered into it, and said, 

"Look, its 2016, not 1980… and unfortunately no one in the States really gives a damn about Brasil… most people I know haven’t even bothered to ask me at all what is going on down here. And most estadounidenses are preoccupied by basketball, ISIS and spring…”

Everyone laughed. And I think it all ended well…

I shared this incident with a colleague and he reminded me of the Lei de Gérson (Gérson's law) which is, and I quote Wikipedia,

In Brazilian culture, Gérson's Law (Portuguese: Lei de Gérson) is an adage which reflects the way Brazilians behave towards themselves, immortalizing concepts such as jeitinho and malandragem. In short, Gérson's Law is taking advantage of every thing and every one and having no concern for ethics. This expression came into use since a TV commercial for the cigarette brand Vila Rica, starring Brazilian footballer Gérson, was aired around 1970. While he is a very well known football player in Brazil and worldwide, Gérson had always been a source for controversy. In the commercial, that particular cigarette brand was portrayed as advantageous for being better and cheaper in comparison to other brands, and at the end of the commercial, Gérson says "I like to get an advantage in everything". Later, the player resented having his image connected to the ad, since all kinds of unethical behaviors were linked to his name with reference to the law. (obrigado Charles for the remind!)

The Vila Rica brand uses the old name for Ouro Preto, btw.

To those of my two deeply beloved and dedicated readers, the Lei de Gérson is a big and very obvious part of Brazilian culture, but to be honest, it applies just about anywhere. But we here have made it a true art form... all the way to the current political scandals happening in Brasília at the moment. Rarely do we want to take responsibility for any of own actions, it is far easier to blame the other… it applies in many of the diverse places I have lived, but I digress.

Yesterday's farmácia incident reminded me as well of living in Guatemala or "Parador" in the 80’s. And how I was often approached by locals in a café or market and was asked something like,

“What do you think of our problem?”

Since it was early 80's Guatemala and we were smack dab in the middle of a very, very violent and often scarry US supported military dictatorship, one never really knew who you were talking to. I soon learned to avert disaster with a,

“You know you don’t really need a foreigner’s opinion about the situation. Guatemalans are clearly able to solve this problem. If you came to my house and told me to move the furniture and paint the room a different color, I’d be offended. This is the same thing.”

I always, I mean always got an offer of a free beer or drink or coffee after this. And I used the  opportunity to  tone up my español around lighter subjects related to art, music or futebol.

So maybe, just maybe its time to dust off that old pre Powerpoint presentation, translate it from español to the world’s most beautiful language aka “português mineiro”… uai!

So I leave you dear ones, with the the Paradorian National Anthem here sung by Sammy Davis Jr. with the over the top ending filmed in our Praça Tiradentes of  "Luar sobre Parador":

Via Ram Dass:

April 13, 2016

Which reality do you dwell in? If you stand anywhere, you’re missing part of the show. Don’t stand anywhere. I have no idea who you are or who I am. Then I am free. The minute I get trapped in a label, I have just imprisoned myself. No matter how well I furnish the prison, it’s still a prison.

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día - Flower of the day 13/04/2016

“Quando, através da auto-observação, conseguimos apenas testemunhar o fluxo compulsivo de pensamentos, podemos interromper o mecanismo de projeção, através do qual reagimos a tudo com base nas nossas experiências do passado. Assim como reagimos aos pensamentos que passam por nós, da mesma maneira reagimos diante das situações da vida. Ao aprofundarmos nessa prática, percebemos que a maioria das nossas ações é, na verdade, o resultado de uma projeção.”

“Cuando a través de la auto-observación conseguimos tan solo atestiguar el flujo compulsivo de pensamientos, podemos interrumpir el mecanismo de proyección, a través del cual reaccionamos a todo con base en nuestras experiencias del pasado. Así como reaccionamos a los pensamientos que pasan por nosotros, de la misma manera reaccionamos delante a situaciones de la vida. Al profundizar en esta práctica, percibimos que la mayoría de nuestras acciones son, en verdad, el resultado de una proyección.” 

“When we are able to simply witness our compulsive flow of thoughts by using self-observation, we can put an end to our projection mechanisms. Our projections cause us to react to everything based upon the past experiences we have had. Just as we react to our own thoughts that pass through us, we also react to the situations we encounter in life. As we deepen in this practice of self-observation, we begin to perceive that the majority of our actions are, in truth, the result of a projection.”

Via Daily Dharma / April 13, 2016: Transforming Obstacles into Objects

Learning to transform obstacles into objects of meditation provides a much needed bridge between the stillness of the concentrated mind and the movement of real life.

—Mark Epstein, "Stopping the Wind"

Via Equality House / FB:

Via Daily Dharma / April 12, 2016: Looking Inward, Holding Forth

Meditation looks inward, poetry holds forth. One is private, the other is out in the world. One enters the moment, the other shares it. But in practice it is never entirely clear which is doing which.

—Gary Snyder, "Just One Breath"

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día - Flower of the day 11/04/2016

“Precisamos focar na educação das crianças. O autoconhecimento precisa tornar-se política pública, ou seja, ele tem que chegar em larga escala para a população. Essa é a única chance que temos de trazer uma nova consciência para esse planeta, caso contrário seguiremos assim: um ou outro desperta do sonho ruim. Porém, para promovermos uma mudança de eixo na consciência planetária, precisaremos trabalhar em larga escala com as crianças. Isso não é trabalho para um homem só - é trabalho para todos nós. A mudança só acontecerá se unirmos nossos dons e talentos em prol dessa meta.”

“We need to focus on our children’s education. Self-knowledge needs to become public policy; it needs to reach a large-scale audience. This is the only way we can bring a new consciousness to the planet. Otherwise, there may only be a small number of people who awaken from this bad dream. In order to create a real shift in the axis of our planet’s consciousness, we need to work on a large scale with the children. This is not one person’s job; rather, this is a task for each one of us. This change can only happen if we unite all our gifts and talents in order to achieve this goal.”

Via Daily Dharma / April 11, 2016: Our Dangerous Romance with Anger

As a culture we swing from being afraid of anger to romanticizing it. I try to see anger for what it is, in myself, and neither fear it nor idealize it.

—Sharon Salzberg, "The Deluding Force"

How Will NC 'Bathroom Law' Be Enforced?

Via Ram Dass:

April 10, 2016

There’s no clinging to that which dies. For who we are, was, is and will be, these are just processes of transformation. Just like it’s hard for a pre-pubescent to understand that a time will come when his baseball cards aren’t that relevant; so the time will come when even our mortal coil is not that relevant.

Via The Christian Left / FB:

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día - Flower of the day 10/04/2016

“Precisamos nos harmonizar com a natureza e resgatar a nossa naturalidade. Porque, em algum momento, nós perdemos a naturalidade e nos tornamos artificiais. Isso ocorreu porque fomos contaminados pelo medo e deixamos de confiar na vida. Então desenvolvemos máscaras através das quais nos protegemos e fingimos ser algo que não somos para agradar alguém; para conseguirmos alguma coisa em troca. E o que nós queremos em troca é amor. Este é o grande medo: o de não sermos amados.” 

“Necesitamos armonizarnos con la naturaleza y rescatar nuestra naturalidad. Porque en algún momento, perdimos la naturalidad y nos volvimos artificiales. Esto ocurrió porque fuimos contaminados por el miedo y dejamos de confiar en la vida. Entonces desarrollamos máscaras a través de las cuales nos protegemos y fingimos ser algo que no somos para agradarle a alguien, para conseguir algo a cambio. Y lo que nosotros queremos a cambio es amor. Este es el gran miedo: el de no ser amados.” 

“We need to become more in harmony with nature and rescue our own naturalness. At some point in time, we lost our naturalness and we became more artificial. This happened because we were contaminated by fear and lost our trust in life. Consequently, we developed masks to protect ourselves and pretended to be something that we aren’t in order to please the other and to get something in return. What we want in return is love. Our greatest fear is not to be loved.”

Via Daily Dharma / April 10, 2016: Let Go of Your Ego

Liberation does not come when you conquer your ego, silence it, or through repression and denial get it to behave “properly.” Liberation comes when we release our attachment to the habitual conditioned nature and structure of our temporary egos.

—Jun Po Denis Kelly Roshi, "Liberation"

Via FB:

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día - Flower of the day 09/04/2016

“Com as brutais mudanças a que já estão ocorrendo no planeta, talvez até mesmo algumas das nossas tradições sociais e culturais precisem ser revisadas, porque elas deixarão de fazer sentido. Se a natureza passa a funcionar de outra maneira, isso vai gerar um descompasso ainda maior entre os nossos hábitos e os fenômenos naturais. E isso é uma das consequências da nossa total desconexão com a natureza. É a nossa falta de naturalidade se manifestando nela.”

“Con los brutales cambios que están sucediendo en el planeta, tal vez hasta algunas de nuestras tradiciones sociales y culturales necesiten ser revisadas, porque dejarán de tener sentido. Si la naturaleza pasa a funcionar de otra manera, esto va a generar un desajuste aún mayor entre nuestros hábitos y los fenómenos naturales. Y esto es una de las consecuencias de nuestra total desconexión con la naturaleza. Es nuestra falta de naturalidad manifestándose en ella.”

“In lieu of the brutal changes that are already taking place on our planet, it may be time to revise some of our social and cultural traditions as they no longer make sense in this era. Nature is acting in totally unprecedented patterns, due to our habits that treat the environment as something entirely disconnected from ourselves. We disregard our inner nature, and that gets reflected all too clearly in Mother Nature herself.

Via Daily Dharma / April 9, 2016: One Thing, Then Another

You may say, "I must do something this afternoon," but actually there is no "this afternoon." We do things one after the other. That is all.

—Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, "Breathing"

Via Thich Nhat Hanh - Pema Chödrön - Dalai Lama / FB:

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día - Flower of the day 08/04/2016

“Estando perturbado, você atrai mais perturbação; e isso vai se transformando numa bola de neve. Ação gera reação e as consequências podem ser infinitas. A única maneira de parar esse processo é identificando onde a sua mente ficou presa. Isso é feito através da auto-observação e da presença. Sente-se, alinhe o corpo, feche os olhos e permita-se observar os pensamentos e emoções. Aos poucos você verá que existe uma canção psicológica, um fluxo de pensamentos repetitivos. Isso significa que você está identificado com esses pensamentos pois eles te dão um senso de identidade. Mas, ao observar-se a identificação começa a perder força, pois você se dissocia dos pensamentos.”

“Estando perturbado, atraes más perturbación; y esto se va transformando en una bola de nieve. Acción genera reacción y las consecuencias pueden ser infinitas. La única manera de detener este proceso es identificando dónde quedó atrapada tu mente. Esto se hace a través de la auto-observación y de la presencia. Siéntate, alinea el cuerpo, cierra los ojos y permítete observar los pensamientos y emociones. Poco a poco verás que existe una canción psicológica, un flujo de pensamientos repetitivos. Esto significa que estás identificado con estos pensamientos porque te dan un sentido de identidad. Sin embargo, al observarse la identificación comienza a perder fuerza, pues te disocias de los pensamientos.”

“When we are disturbed, we attract even more disturbances, and so the snowball effect continues. One action generates a reaction, and the consequences can be infinite. The only way to halt this process is to identify where our minds got trapped. This is done through self-observation and presence. We can sit down, align our bodies, close our eyes and allow ourselves to observe our thoughts and emotions. Slowly, we will see that there is a psychological soundtrack, a flux of repetitive thoughts, playing in our minds. This means that we are identified with these thoughts because they give us a sense of identity. But, as we continue to observe, the identification begins to lose its strength and we can begin to disassociate from these thoughts.

A Statement from Bruce Springsteen on North Carolina

 Friday, April 8, 2016

 

As you, my fans, know I’m scheduled to play in Greensboro, North Carolina this Sunday. As we also know, North Carolina has just passed HB2, which the media are referring to as the “bathroom” law. HB2 — known officially as the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act — dictates which bathrooms transgender people are permitted to use. Just as important, the law also attacks the rights of LGBT citizens to sue when their human rights are violated in the workplace. No other group of North Carolinians faces such a burden. To my mind, it’s an attempt by people who cannot stand the progress our country has made in recognizing the human rights of all of our citizens to overturn that progress. Right now, there are many groups, businesses, and individuals in North Carolina working to oppose and overcome these negative developments. Taking all of this into account, I feel that this is a time for me and the band to show solidarity for those freedom fighters. As a result, and with deepest apologies to our dedicated fans in Greensboro, we have canceled our show scheduled for Sunday, April 10th. Some things are more important than a rock show and this fight against prejudice and bigotry — which is happening as I write — is one of them. It is the strongest means I have for raising my voice in opposition to those who continue to push us backwards instead of forwards.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’s Sunday April 10th show is canceled. Tickets will be refunded at point of purchase.

 

brucespringsteen.net