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Cradle of The Universe: What is it?
In 2009 I started using this web host to build my blog–Wordpress.. Before that I used Geocities.
It was an exciting time. I was living over the Han River in a 15th floor apartment provided by my boss at a Reggio Method Kindergarten in Seoul, where I sang, danced, drew, chanted–and painted with children.
© Chang-gyu Park 2008 – 22023/All rights reserved®
I was moving up in surroundings and comfort…. It was a great time for creativity. I had recently become a Buddhist–formally–made new friends and visited Insa Dong, often–the beautifully cultural art district of Seoul, with its great galleries, museums and brush shops…. I went to Dharma talks, meeting my Zen teacher and Dharma brothers….
© 2009-2023 Carl Atteniese & AP
/ All Rights Reserved ®
I had a wonderful girlfriend, and life seemed promising. It always seemed to get better in Korea, year after year. It had–arguably–been hard for a year, before, when I broke up with someone else and had to leave our awesome abode overlooking the mountains of Chooncheon….
Times always change. Can we? I had–but it was finally good, again; my new girlfriend was an artist (we had met in a gallery)–a thinker, a poet, a vegetarian, a humanitarian and cat-lover, as I was–and she was a musician–and an English teacher to boot. And she was a blogger. We even started a blog together. We had virtually everything in common, except “religion”–age, and nationality and while I no longer played the saxophone, I could–and can–whistle and & sing–carrying a tune. What could go wrong? Well, with that much right in paradise, only one thing ever triumphs over such sincerity and goodness: evil–in the form of prejudice: our differences bothered her father–and I don’t mean that he took issue over my not accompanying her piano-playing on a saxophone…. But I digress…. About the website:
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I named my blog Cradle of The Universe. This was because I was building on an idea I had come up with years before, and which was validated in words, in the Steven Spielberg film Schindler’s List–a concept that was deeply personal to me, as I had taken human life more seriously since learning about certain wars in my reading and in having become an Urgent Action Letter-writing-activist for Amnesty International, and developed a multi-point thought, which I shall delineate here:
I. Life to me was–and is:
The result of long, arduous and incrementally slow–epochal …
evolutions…. (notice the ‘s’, there, please);
evolutions that were (and are when not interfered with by us):
stellar-
galactic-
solar-
geological-
and biological-
That’s not news to anyone who is remotely and scientifically literate–but how many of us think of that on a daily basis–especially when considering the treatment of others, day to day–or when choosing a candidate, or whether or not to support one or another policy in health care, police or military issues–or when choosing a car, for that matter?
This, to me, is at the core of a most monumentally grand realization–that life–especially sentient life–taking billions of years to become… is so much more staggering, impressive and realistic an idea worthy of appreciating–far more than the lazy and archaic notion of a god making life–in a few days or even a few millennia–which to me contributes to the adoption & validation of prejudice, fiat, overlord-ship and cruelty….
And stemming from this idea is the notion–that if we and all life–so far scarce in the universe–in terms of our communicating with it—developed over billions of years, incrementally–and resulted in our able and industrious consciousness and bodies (which should leave the average person capable of abstract thought, gobsmacked with a whiplash in awe over how fortunate our species is–and how through the battle for survival our existence was not-guaranteed), then we should consider ourselves and all complex life—“sacred”–and not ‘“‘unworthy‘“. And that all life should thus be considered so–especially–sentient life; all life–especially human–thus, should–never be disrespected, neglected, abused or worse…snuffed out–for each one of us, thinking and seeing differently, in essence, holds different perceptions of everything–even the universe itself. We hold and create these perceptions in the mind–our minds–or in us, as we are our minds.
II. Each sentient being cradles his or her version of ‘life, the universe–and everything‘ (as Douglas Adams coined the phrase) in our cerebral cortex–generated in our conscious experience and cultivated in our heads.
III. And a similar thought–akin to the one I witnessed in my mind–as expressed above was that our minds and ourselves are part of the universe (yes, I thought of this before it was popular to say); we are a conscious part of the universe, itself.
And finally: The cradling-of -the-universe-in-our -minds-idea which is mirrored and suggested at in the Talmud, and this is what I heard in Schindler’s List–a phrase that had been inscribed on the ring given to him by his grateful holocaust survivors:
“If you save a single life, you save the world entire.“
This is from the Mishnaic tractate of the Sanhedrin, tradition–I have learned–as follows:
‘Therefore, Adam [from whom all humanity descended] was created singly, to teach us that whoever destroys a single life in Israel is considered by Scripture to have destroyed the whole world and whoever saves a single life in Israel is considered by Scripture to have saved the whole world.‘*
For each mind, in its seeing not just life, not just “the world” (our tiny pale blue dot, as Carl Sagan called it, witnessing it in an image made by the Voyager–at the far end of the solar system)–but the Universe itself-–possesses a potentially different view of the universe, making it a different universe, in each mind! This is to be cherished as a defining quality in human consciousness and a capacity never to be taken away for any reason, in the destruction of a human being–by anyone— ‘meaning, we should never kill anyone–anyone human….
And for me, this also meant no one who was non-human, but also sentient (Obviously, this idea becomes complicated when considering diet, for many people–and the consumption of other species.)
I was an activist against the death penalty, and a human rights activist in general, since I had been a teenager–so I had thought for years about the horrific, torturous details involved in the information I received from Amnesty International each month–about people thrown in prison around the world--for speaking their minds–people often ill-treated, neglected, poorly fed, refused medical care and legal protection, beaten and tortured–and “executed”–killed with the taxes taken from the common people–like you and me–(all working people: children with paper routes, young clerks, waiters and waitresses, old people on pensions–even from priests and monks)–and the death penalty, itself (hardly a penalty—but rather an act of political vote-garnering finality that can’t teach a practical lesson and only exacts expensive, useless kith & Kin -fear, -suffering, -mourning, -horror-producing dread, -depression and -shame--as well as justifying state-killing)–which… is called “Capital Punishment” in the United States, and which has been proven to betray a staggering 40% incidence of constitutional error–where it was at its worst–and especially in the The South, disproportionately meted out–often unfairly and via corruptions of justice–against populations descended from slaves… the African- and Caribbean- American groups of people.
So–I was staunchly–and still am–vehemently opposed to ending an existentially conscious and sentient, ‘walking, talking, breathing human life’ under any circumstances wherein that life could be made better–through giving it a chance to be found innocent, or where guilty, rehabilitated, adding what it lacked and subtracting what abuse and neglect and ignorance it suffered….
Every dossier I received, detailing the lives of death row inmates, spoke of childhood neglect, mental illness, poverty, abuse–both drug and physical–horrible guardianship–or brain damage and low IQ. ‘Who expects model behavior from such victims?’ I thought: ‘An idiot–and/or vastly thoughtless and corrupt people- themselves steeped in cognitive, intellectual and moral ignorance. And the politicians who profited from this machine of horror and death: they were evil ones.
When such parties–those accused and convicted of murder–were found guilty–they were not champions of society living in the lap of luxury benefiting from the best food, shelter, clothing and accessories to the good life; they were the ones beaten by life–from birth–and such lives could be improved, made to thrive and be safe–as well as safe for others–and productive–where mental health, esteem and opportunity was restore-able and possible. It’s done in other countries. And in my dossiers I saw it done in prisons.
I took a particular interest in the prison-life of a man named Gary Graham, whose story so touched me that I drew his portrait; he had been accused of murder in the South and in a situation where he was accused of stealing food for himself and his sibling in a market altercation; and if that is not tragic enough, there were witnesses saying he was not there that night–in that place. And in prison he became a journalist, a father and a productive man. But he was later executed, anyway.
To me the tragedies of moved-trial-venues–to accommodate all-Caucasian juries–with under-paid and sleepy public defenders and evidence-free cases employing “eye witnesses”, incurred on our economies expensive death row budgets–just so we could pay to torture people like Gary Graham with an arranged and future death at the hands of the citizen taxpayers–which usually was far from painless; and this continues until today–in one Western Democracy: the United States of America–where the pharmaceutical chemical cocktail of death is hard to come by, because its manufacturers in Europe have been banned it, and its former makers will no longer furnish it to the Americans. And so makeshift replacements administered by mostly grieving henchmen and women in America, who botch executions, so men suffer horrible, painful and prolonged & embarrassing deaths on tables not unlike a crucifix–in front of witnesses, including family, watching through glass. Is it better than people catching fire in electric chairs–as used to happen? The whole business rivals medieval torture, and in my opinion makes monsters of us–we who should know better; but can you do with a country that worships Bronze & Iron-Age religions: “Eye for an Eye”. Why can’t these theists embrace the Talmudic call to save lives–or the words of their own Jesus–to “love thine enemy”?
Thus–in my view (then and now)–of course, no life should be taken by corruption or by accident–meaning taken from even a person diligently and fairly found guilty--let alone from an innocent person. This has happened in the United States many times in the machinery of our justice system. And if it has happened in the United States, it has happened and continues to happen elsewhere–in many other places–especially where there are theocracies, a lack of democracy (or in flaccid ones, where the people do virtually nothing to be politically active)–and it happens where there are dictatorships–some of which the United States has and still supports, diplomatically–in the interest of economy and national security.
So–that long explanation–which I thank you for reading (and listening to)–is part of why I call my blog and website the Cradle of The Universe, once again. It’s been a hard few years in Japan–where the people seem to exhibit such a concern for etiquette and in some cases, here and there, go out of their way to be kind–but largely, I have met with more difficulty of a dishonest, cowardly and cunning type, than I have ever before–in work places, especially; however, I don’t become prejudiced and I don’t blame the Japanese people. Indeed, some of the thoughtlessness has come from those who once assisted me and were kind to me–and a couple are from both my one culture and a variation of it. But they are human, so I understand–even if I can take no comfort in speaking with them any longer. Some people will not change; they just bounce like a ping pong ball between good and bad actor and a net (you or me).
Humans, in the wrong conditions, resort to such–after all; for as great as we can be, we still primates and have primate brains, which have not evolved since we have–to match the power of the machines we make. And–more to the practical point: the last decade has been–and the time going forward may be–extraordinarily difficult–in some ways (the ways that matter, not in rocketry and AI–but in human ways of trust, kindness, generosity, communication & honesty) tested to their limits.
The conditions have worsened this: an unequivocally collapsing Eco-system (yes, the very spacesuit sustaining us in the cosmos is failing, filled with pollutants and leaking–as it were); a degrading world-order and respect for international borders, an increase in despicable litigiousness over words, declining security in healthcare, pandemics–likely leaked from labs in horrific accidents of hubris and negligence–killing millions–and in war, with Russia acting like my country had in its illegal invasion of Iraq–the second time around–and the cause and justification, lies and campaigns–ad campaigns–for the first invasion were not stellar in justice or morality, either–or our actions in Vietnam, or like Japan in China and South East Asia, or like England in India and elsewhere) now threatening the world economy and deteriorating the rule of law; China–as usual–acting like a smiling bully, abusing their people and people in places they promised they would let democracy thrive among, the increasing risk of nuclear exchange, and the rise of populist fascism in the US, Latin America and Europe.
We seem–as we are poised to return to the moon and create artificial humans smarter than us and physically more capable–to be going backward. It is estimated by people more expert than Elon Musk in areas of economy, government and development (and he is a genius) that the populations of several economic giants are crumbling–such that there will not be mature people of reason to continue the growth that has sustained our species…. And the massive layoffs are starting now. So this–all this and that in the aforementioned–makes some people less generous, more desperate–and cruel–because they are scared.
A Roman philosopher is said to have theorized that the greatest evil is ignorance. This was a wise saying–but it is wrong:
Ignorance is the most pernicious disease; cowardice is the greatest evil.
You thought I was going to say that fear was the greatest evil. This, too, is wrong:
Fear is natural; what one does with it is either benevolent or belligerent–
the latter stemming from cowardice.
And yes:
Ignorance and belligerence or—awareness and benevolence––depend on
our growth in a plethora or dearth of love & cognitive development.*
*You could read “spiritual development”–and by that I don’t mean believing in fantastic phenomena and saviors.
There are plenty of kind ignorant people. All the evil people are cowards. But the answer is not to hate them. Cowardice is created, by us, in our behavior and institutions–religions and philosophies….
Thus, I have found it helpful to return to a deeper, more intimate practice of meditation–or at times, when I don’t meditate, to powerful mental methods of control I have developed and adopted over decades–and especially since becoming a Zen Buddhist and learning Stoic thought experiments from the likes of Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius.
And, finally to the point of this essay–about The Cradle of The Universe: I want my influence–here and elsewhere–to reflect that freshness and maintenance of a cultivated mind–awareness, well-being and love–excitement and benevolence, which I felt in Korea (for a time)–and a continuation of the love I had and still hold within, which was pouring from me–surviving–and cultivated from childhood–whereupon it was poured in… to me (and which survived some kinds turmoil, itself)–by friends and family, beginning back in Brooklyn, New York and in Lynbrook, Long Island–from childhood, through living in and working in New York City–out to the mountains of Colorado and its wonderfully open, progressive and friendly people of Boulder… traveling on through the Mojave Desert… and on to Korea…now in Japan.
I need that love, kindness and anti-violent benevolence my life has always been about–and which most Korean hosts showered on me in Seoul, and some offer in patience and generosity in Tokyo–today–to be available to all I meet. But I hope for it to emanate from everyone–you, too–and I want its resurgence to be showered on the people of Japan–and the world, where it is needed, respecting and cherishing life… every human life.
And if we are really mentally advanced, I want that love and well-being–stemming from this awareness of the cradle of the universe in all sentient life, to be afforded other sentient creatures, because, come on, dear reader–or listener, you know other mammals are just like us; be honest with yourself (the foundation of honesty with others-and the base of your mental health)–those other creatures we share the Earth with don’t belong to us (what a sick idea); they feel, think, wonder, socialize, care for one another, dream, play, rejoice, and betray in their actions narratives in their heads; they are conscious! And they suffer… and die… as we do–and in far worse ways–thanks to you and me. It’s not natural; it is unnecessarily man- and woman -made suffering, like the suffering we mete out on one another–because we are scared, and cowardly.
It’s time to wake up and love–for every sentient mind is a cradle of the universe–because–we, Earthlings of all types–are sentient minds, seeing the universe differently from every single other sentient mind.
Thank you for reading. I wish you love, peace, joy, enlightenment… and courage.
Sincerely,
- Source for the quote from the Talmud:
https://mosaicmagazine.com/observation/history-ideas/2016/10/the-origins-of-the-precept-whoever-saves-a-life-saves-the-world/
CΔRL ΛTTΞNIΞSΞ: 