My Zen teacher, Doshin Mitch Cantor, asked me to read an article by Tsoknyi Rinpoche that he was using in our November Zen Prison Ministry Newsletter and to write the opening comment for it. As I read the article from “Open Heart; Open Mind” by Tsoknyi Rinpoche I read these words:“What is the mind?” he asked. “Where is it? Does it have a color? A size? A shape? A location?” And as I continued on Tsoknyi wrote, “But I suppose, even at thirteen, some of us begin to wonder why we think the things we think, why we feel the way we feel-what, to use an American expression, makes us ‘tick.'”
What makes us “tick” as Tsoknyi queries in the article is an age old question that humans have been asking since, well, maybe even before time began. Whenever that thought gets into my mind I think of the 1966 movie “Alfie” with Michael Caine, Shelley Winters, and Millicent Martin and the theme song by Burt Bacharach sung by Dionne Warwick “What’s it all about Alfie?” I just wanted to share a few verses with you but as I read them through I thought no, I could not have choosen one or two or even three that left the whole feeling. So I decided to share them all with you.
What’s it all about, Alfie?
Is it just for the moment we live?
What’s it all about when you sort it out, Alfie?
Are we meant to take more than we give
or are we meant to be kind?
And if only fools are kind, Alfie,
then I guess it’s wise to be cruel.
And if life belongs only to the strong, Alfie,
what will you lend on an old golden rule?
As sure as I believe there’s a heaven above, Alfie,
I know there’s something much more,
something even non-believers can believe in.
I believe in love, Alfie.
Without true love we just exist, Alfie.
Until you find the love you’ve missed you’re nothing, Alfie.
When you walk let your heart lead the way
and you’ll find love any day, Alfie, Alfie.
Tsoknyi writes “It’s not enough to be aware. We also have to be alert. We have to ask ourselves, when we experience discomfort, trouble, or pain, ‘What’s going on here?’” Lack of love is what’s going on here because love, love is what makes us tick. Find love and you’ll find out what makes you tick. Begin your search today, everywhere, all day…and let me know what you’ve found.
unlockthedoortolearning 
With Romney’s and the far right’s rhetoric implying the need to take action that most likely will result in war, I can not help but thinking that if one is truly aware, he or she would understand that the last several wars did not achieve the desired outcomes but rather further energized the terrorist element and placed a devastating financial burden on the middle class pushing much of the lower middle class into poverty – mostly women and children – All at the same time while the promoters of this ill conceived ideation enjoyed unprecedented prosperity by wrecking companies for a quick profit and crashing the economy for a personal gain for a very few.
If we were to add the element of love these undesirable outcomes would and could not happen. Because love means reaching out to people rather than using heavy handed intimidation as seen with the constant threat of war. Love means a more equitable sharing of the tax burden . Love means growing the economy in a real substanitive sense – in a way that benefits all not just a few selfish speculators ( Bain Capital-emphasis added). Love means not crashing the economy for personal gain creating a situation where the poor and middle class have to pay the price.
The rational answer clearly visible after other remedies have repeatedly failed, seems to be to try something truly revolutionary and the only other course of action available – LOVE.
Al, you have a great mind and a great heart and the outcomes you see are ones that just may help us save humankind…you are a perfect demonstration of that love for the planet and its health along with its people. I am proud to be able to call you “friend.” KB