Today is the day I start making my epic journey via PT Cruiser across the United States. Most of my stuff has already been sent ahead. I still have to get together the junk that remains in the house and figure out how to shove it all in the car. Suffice it to say, I really, seriously do not have the time today to write a blog post and really, serously should be doing a whole butt-load of other far more pressing things.BUT there were 279 comments last time I looked under a posting about a couple clips from a movie shot in Akron in the early 80s. Those of you looking at this on Facebook can go to http://hardcorezen.blogspot.com if you want to see what I'm referring to. Personally, I think it's a big waste of time, so I don't recommend bothering with it.
But in the midst of all this, Gniz, a frequent and often contentious contributor to the comments section, asked the following question:
"People like watching the drama, the soap operas (including me, I'm sorry to admit). I would be curious about your take on why we are SO drawn to these things....I've written about it from my perspective, but it might make a good blog post sometime when you get a free minute!"
This is, of course, the real key question. The specifics of the various arguments going on in the comments section are incredibly trivial. I'm not even sure precisely what is under dispute. But, then again, I have not had the time or the inclination to read the comments in detail. I made a single observation somewhere around comment 210 or so that the whole thing was utterly inappropriate for this blog, though it would be very appropriate on a different internet forum where such things are apparently not permissible to discuss. That is all I have to say about the specifics of the arguments.
But gossip itself is very interesting. If I had time I'd go look this up. But I don't, so I won't. But there is a piece of writing by Dogen that I was introduced to very early on in my practice that gives a list of rules for monks. I was fascinated by the fact that one of the rules was not to gossip. This was right up there with don't kill and don't steal and all that -- if memory serves (and it probably does not). (I may even have included this in Sit Down And Shut Up, I can't remember)
I just finished this very interesting book called The Red Queen, all about the evolution of human sexuality. Or, more specifically, how sexuality has influenced our evolution. Among other things, the author postulates that the human brain may have developed in part as a very efficient gossip processing machine. Meaning, there are areas of the brain that may be specifically geared towards receiving and creating gossip.
The reason for this is that we are highly social animals. Our interaction with our society is key to our survival. Those among our ancestors who were among the biggest gossip-mongers left more descendants and we have inherited this. That's why we love all those magazines and TV shows about celebrity scandals, and also why we are such avid consumers of fiction. Fiction satisfies our need for gossip to a great degree (though, obviously not completely).
From a Buddhist standpoint, following various soap operas and what not that involve other people is a terrific way to ignore what's going on within ourselves. We ignore the crucial matter of examining our own shit by examining and commenting upon other people's shit. In terms of practice, this is a shameful waste of precious time and energy, of which we do not have infinite amounts to waste (sorry, bad grammar, writing fast).
Ultimately what all of this gossip is, is just our brains running through their various programs. That's what they're built to do, so it can't really be helped all that much. But we don't need to play with it and wallow in it. To do so is a bit like scratching a wound instead of leaving it alone to heal as it should. This, I suspect, is why Dogen thought it was so important to avoid.
And that's all I got time for. I suspect the drama in the comments section will not subside for a while. But for the time being I am sticking with my policy of not censoring anything or even screening the comments before they go up. You're free to discuss whatever you like in whatever tone you wish. I'll be on the road for the coming week and unable to even look in on them very often even if I were interested.
