Jupiter Jim

Today, 420, is a special day. It's Jim's Jupiter Day. I've been taken to calling it one's 9upiter day lately. Some interesting syncs you may not know is that 36 years ago it was also the year of the Tiger, but not only that--the Chinese years also have an associated quality, and 36 years ago it was a "Wood" Tiger, or a Tiger Wood. For some reason, it is more than a little mind blowing that Jim, A Tiger Wood, is the one who uncovered all the Tiger Wood syncs, The Dominoes, and the Jupiter associations--like Jupiter Eyeland.

Anyway, happy birthday Jim!

About a week ago I caught a sync that I knew I would have to share w/ you today. I've been listening a bit to a Vietnamese Buddhist Monk named Thich Nhat Hanh. I found an audio version of a retreat he did on the Avatamsaka Sutra, called The Ultimate Dimension.

So, last week, when I hit Track number 24 on the audio program, Thich read from Chapter 36 of the Avatamsaka Sutra. My ears perked up. (I looked and looked online for his text, but had no luck--he might have made his own translation for all I know.) Because the monk's english accent is slightly difficult, he pronounces the word "Worth" like "Wood". I thought he kept saying, Chapter 36, the practice of universal wood--and immediately I thought of Jim. (Did you folks know that it is also the 36th G8 Summit this summer in Canada? I think this will be a better party, though, in the Peg even!)

The Teaching of Universal Worth has to do with the idea of universal penetration, of universal entry--basically it is the Buddhist version of "as above, so below", that the micro is in the macro and are one and the same. At the beginning of the the talk, Thich quotes the famous Hamlet line, but changes it to reflect truth: "To be or not to be--that is not the question."

"Once great enlightening beings are established in this knowledge, they realize 10 kinds of universal entry: All worlds enter one point. One point enters all worlds. All beings' bodies enter one body. One body enters all beings' bodies. Untold eons enters one instant. One instant enters untold eons. All bodhi principles enter one principle. One principle enters all bodhi principles. Untold places enter one place. One place enters all places. Untold faculties enters one faculty. One faculty enters untold faculties. All faculties enter non-faculty. Non-faculty enters all faculties. All perceptions enter one perception. One perception enters all perceptions. One utterance enters all utterance. All utterance enter one utterance. All past, present, and futures enters one time frame. One time frame enters all past, present, and futures."

It is a beautiful chapter, and Thich Nhat Hanh has built his whole teaching on this idea--the idea of interbeing, the interconnectedness of all things. Thus the meaning of life, the universe, and everything can be 42. Another image Douglas Adams, author of Hitchhikers Guide, liked, was attempting to show the entire universe in one crumb of a piece of sponge cake. Thich Nhat Hanh explains that you don't need to know all of the Buddha's teaching because you can get it all from just one teaching. (I See You) Everything is available to you now in just one point. In Joy!

Starfucker:

"Medicine" from the Jupiter E.P. on Badman Recording Co. and DDD records.