to give and to take
American masculinity is a distillation of American values.
conquest, consumption, consumation.
it is explicit in its value of "stockpile".
hoarding, accumulation, thrones.
it is a violent mode of existence.
built around the idea that one is a man when one takes.
or when one acquires a position of taking as much as one can.
stockpile is the stockpile of status.
of notches on the bedpost.
of wealth.
of image.
of opinion.
of notches on the walls inside.
stockpile cannot fulfill one's need to be human.
what is human is constantly suppressed.
denied, stolen, threatened, forced into hiding.
what is human is residual..
it cannot exist in any practical sense.
only as a performace, soulless and insincere.
power as violence, as rage, as the ability to take without hindrance.
American Business Lunch.
the Nigrodha Jataka is a beautiful story.
it's such a wonderful animal tale.
one's masculinity is not rooted in taking.
not in denying.
not in force, in vile displays, in a need to be important.
one is strong because one is willing to do what it takes
to protect what one cares about.
one is strong because one is compassionate.
that understanding is a human understanding.
that compassion is human compassion.
such a heart is of a strong, virile, brave young animal.
such a heart is a human heart.
to be human is to discover what makes one humane.
and such a task is strangely difficult.
because to share, to teach, to care, are not seen as male
by americans.
but to be male is to be a human male .
to be strong enough to care in a world that punishes you for doing so.
to be strong enough that others can lean on you, in their
moments of hopelessness, in weakness, in difficulty.
in their times of need. in their times of prayer.
when they reach out for a hand to lift them back up.
the bravest man in the unviverse
is the one who forgives first.
the strongest amongst men, is the one
who cares enough to give without expectation
in a world that only takes.