Apparently today is the Feast of Trumpets. Some numerologists on TikTok got excited because they’re predicting the end of the world. Again. Having been raised Lutheran, then converting to Buddhism in early middle age, this end of days myth has never been part of my personal beliefs.
As a Buddhist, I’m not allowed to intentionally interfere with the spiritual path of others. I am permitted to discuss the path I took when I grew weary of the coercive evangelical pressures in my life, back at the turn of the century. There isn’t really a teaching that covers what to do when the spiritual beliefs of others endanger all sentient beings. I would take skillful action, but I know not what that would be.
This is a problem that occupies a lot of my time, and I’ve come to understand it as my being attached to the notion of perpetual advancement of our capabilities. We went to the Moon when I was a little kid, why are we not already examining samples collected on Mars, while astronauts living at our Moon colony prepare for the first manned mission? Why are we still digging coal when we could have transitioned to renewables over the last decade? Closer to home, why are we still #1 in medical expenses but dead last in results among 33 industrialized nations?
My writing is fresh enough, fluid enough, that this Substack would never be mistaken for an AI slop outlet. Even so, there are people who are more inclined to watch and listen than to read. I do not think that is my audience, but this seemed like a good day to test a long form video and see what you guys think of it.
Here’s the Parkrose Permaculture video that made me aware that the world is going to end AGAIN today.