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One More Try at This One...
Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...
Okay, so imagine there's no God. No Allah. No Buddha. No higher power. Imagine that there's just us, here, on this planet. We got here by accident, no planned design. We just occurred and grew. Like trees, like water, like everything else. We just happened, and there's no judge who's going to judge us when we die, and send us either up or down, depending on whether we believed, or didn't believe. Or on whether we went to church on Sunday and sat in a Confessional booth and then went home to sin some more for a week. Imagine that we just.....do what's right throughout the day. See a person drop their wallet, pick it up, and then tap them on the shoulder and say, "Hey, you just dropped this." See a person sleeping on the sidewalk and walk into a diner and buy a cheap plate of scrambled eggs and a glass of OJ and then walk outside and leave it next to the sleeping person on the sidewalk, and then walk away. Is that so hard?
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...
Okay, so imagine that America and Great Britain and France and Russia and EVERYBODY under the sun decided, one day, for the hell of it, to forget that we have "countries" that we "own" and "manage" and "live on" and remember that we all are fortunate to inhabit this incredible little globe called Earth. This incredible little blue and green ball that has air and water and dirt and plants and life forms up the wazoo. And look around at all those other little balls up there in the sky, otherwise known as our universe as we know it, and realize we're the only one that is - SO FAR, knock on wood! - life-sustaining. And then ask yourself, why oh WHY do we even CARE about boundaries and borders and languages and differing religions and differing laws, when some day one huge rock could come hurtling down from outer space and take us ALL out?! Will the rock care what language we speak, or what god or gods we think are out there? Is that so hard?
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
See? I'm not alone, and neither was Lennon. There are people out there who are able to stand back and look at this planet and it's inhabitants as a WHOLE, and not as individuals of one certain race, or inhabitants of one certain country, and say, "Hey! We're all here and this isn't a dream. So let's get together and take care of us!". What a concept!! Is that so hard?
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...
No possessions. Once you lose those, you certainly lose greed. Why be greedy when you have nothing to hold onto anymore? Once you lose money, of course, hunger will strike in. But if there's a brotherhood of man who no longer has possessions, and no longer has greed, I'll bet we'll see a whole lot of communal gardens and good neighbors cropping up. Would that be so hard?
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one
People laugh, to this day, over John Lennon's lyrics. They say this song's lyrics are unrealistic and that he dreamed too much about an unreachable utopia.
Me, I think he just knew how to let the stupid shit go, and look beyond it, to what we need. We are one planet, not one country. We are one earth, not one people. We are one small piece of a great universe. It's time we started acting like it.
Is that so hard?
I once tried to take this song apart, verse by verse, here at TPM, and was laughed at for being naive and a dreamer. I guess some things will never change. But....we have to start somewhere, and thinking about and then eliminating some of the boundaries we draw might not be a bad start, eh?
Is that so hard?
Please tell me it's not. Because, for me, it's not so hard. And if I'm one person, and you're another, and we find another, and yet another....then it's not so hard.
Is it?
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Just because I'm still up....
:-)
August 23, 2009 3:06 AM | Reply | Permalink
Shame on anybody who laughed at you before for discussing Lennon's song. Your vision of his song is real...there is nothing naive about it.
We're all dreamers, LisB. Some of us just won't admit it. :o)
August 23, 2009 8:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
Exactly, flowerchild. Cynicism is the easy way out. For some reason it brings with it the illusion of sophistication. This is common knowledge. It reminds me of a song from South Pacific:
I could say life is just a bowl of jello
And appear quite intelligent and smart.
But I'm only a cockeyed optimist
and I can't get it out of my heart.
I think most people learn to ignore the cynics.
Great post, Lis.
August 23, 2009 9:40 AM | Reply | Permalink
The way I see it, we are all dreamers and creators and those who would diminish your dreams have a preference for nightmares. I've never enjoyed terror movies, or understood them, but I have to accept, given the countless movies out there, that there are those who do. Me? I'ld prefer to live in Willie Wonak's Chocolate Factory. Now there's something worth creating. Endless War? Not so much.
August 24, 2009 2:28 AM | Reply | Permalink
Lin Chi Zen Master said, "If you meet the Buddha, kill the Buddha. If you meet a Patriarch, kill the Patriarch." Zen Master Seung Sahn says that in this life we must all kill three things: First we must kill our parents. Second, we must kill the Buddha. And lastly, we must kill him! This kind of speech is sometimes perplexing to people raised in the Judaeo-Christian tradition since we would never say this about Jesus or one of the Prophets. But the meaning here is very interesting and goes far beyond the martial language of the metaphor. Buddhism is quite unique in that its founder never said, "Believe what I say." Buddhism means find out for yourself.. i.e., kill the Buddha.
At one time, the citizens of Kesaputta asked the Buddha what they should believe. They were very confused by the many religions in vogue at that time. The Buddha said, "Do not accept anything by mere tradition. Do not accept anything just because it accords with your scriptures. Do not accept anything because it agrees with your opinions or because it is socially acceptable. Do not accept anything because it comes from the mouth of a respected person. Rather, observe closely and if it is to the benefit of all, accept and abide by it." This Sutta - the Kalama Sutta - is the root of Zen-style inquiry into the true self.
The Buddha says in the Diamond Sutra that in his whole teaching career he never spoke a single word. In Zen, we are admonished that understanding cannot help us. The wind does not read. So, what are we left with? just before he died the Buddha said, "Life is very short, please investigate it closely." We are left with the great question: What am I? What is a human being? In his great compassion the Buddha leaves us only with footprints pointing the way... in the end he cannot help us; we must find the answer ourselves. Zen, too, asks the question but does not have the answer. But you do, if you look inside.
C
August 23, 2009 8:58 AM | Reply | Permalink
If you are thinking about Buddha, this is thinking and delusion, not awakening. One must destroy preconceptions of the Buddha. Zen master Shunryu Suzuki wrote in Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind during an introduction to Zazen, "Kill the Buddha if the Buddha exists somewhere else. Kill the Buddha, because you should resume your own Buddha nature." Línjì Yìxuán
C
August 23, 2009 9:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
Have there been any female Buddhas, or Zen Masters?
August 23, 2009 10:22 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yes...they were called Nuns. In this country there have been many. Charlotte Joko Beck - a Zen Master and the head of the San Diego Zen center for many years. She is now retired but still gives session on special occasions.
Books include Everyday ZEN - Love and work
and Living Zen.
C
August 23, 2009 11:09 AM | Reply | Permalink
Have you really considered the implications of no possessions? No internet, no radio, no tv, no commerce, no economy. Everyone would have to be small subsistence farmers. Life expectancy would drop back to 40 like it was before sewers and medicine. Without possessions to strive for, there is no incentive to produce anything, and nothing would be produced.
August 23, 2009 10:43 AM | Reply | Permalink
There is a difference in being 'possessed by things' attached and fighting over ownership and control. I would call this attachment 'possession'.
There are many meanings for the word 'possession':
pos⋅ses⋅sion
–noun
1. the act or fact of possessing.
2. the state of being possessed.
3. ownership.
4. Law. actual holding or occupancy, either with or without rights of ownership.
5. a thing possessed: He packed all his possessions into one trunk.
6. possessions, property or wealth.
7. a territorial dominion of a state.
8. Sports.
a. physical control of the ball or puck by a player or team: He didn't have full possession when he was tackled.
b. the right of a team to put the ball into play: They had possession after the other team sank a free throw.
9. control over oneself, one's mind, etc.
10. domination, actuation, or obsession by a feeling, idea, etc.
11. the feeling or idea itself.
I agree CBD that we could not exist without 'things' in this dualistic world like the internet, food, etc. but I do not agree that these 'things' must be viewed as 'possessions'.
August 23, 2009 1:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
Great comment, Synch. Thanks.
August 23, 2009 2:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
Great post.
August 23, 2009 11:00 AM | Reply | Permalink
Nothing wrong with dreaming! Love the song and love your post........perhaps if more people followed dreams instead of anger, retaliation, blame, or fighting, we would have a world like John envisioned.........of course, I do believe in a higher power but that doesn't make dreams impossible.
August 23, 2009 12:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
Geeeeeeeeeez you are a busy one. A little John Lennon might remind us of what could be.
If we do not imagine how on earth can we come up with cogent aims.
We must think outside 'the box' once in awhile.
August 23, 2009 12:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks. Yeah, I was on quite a roll last night. I won't post again for the rest of the year, hahahahaha.
August 23, 2009 2:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
I thought I commented here Lis, I must have recommended and run.
Good to come across your thoughts.
August 23, 2009 4:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Beautiful, Lis. The BullDog doesn't get it because he simply can't "get it." The language doesn't exist to help him understand, and that is why we have the problems that we do now. This was a very good lesson, and I'm glad he commented.
His comment is a perfect example of the screaming people who are enraged at our President because he simply wants all of us to have reasonable health care. What is wrong with that? How is that being a Nazi? If you can't understand what John Lennon was saying, and also the way you so masterfully added to it, then you probably can't understand the concept of the "common good," or even more basically, "Public Health."
If I believed in prayer, I would pray for the Rapture to come soon -- take away the selfish and self-righteous, and leave the earth to the rest of us.
August 23, 2009 5:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
This discussion reminds me of the unofficial list that some ClearChannel program directors were circulating just after 9/11. It was of songs that might be considered "inappropriate", and "Imagine" was on it.
Funny that a song speaking out against the twin madnesses of religion and nationalism would be considered bad at that time...
August 23, 2009 7:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Anyone who would laugh at what you're trying to do here LisB has a heart that has been hardened to the truth. I've always taken great solice in the lyrics to this song particulary "but I'm not the only one..." Never forget that because you're not. I think there're more of us dreamers out there than anyone suspects.
August 23, 2009 8:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
One good dream song deserves another.
http://www.reelclassics.com/Actors/O%27Toole/impossibledream-lyrics.htm
I can dream some of Lennon's dreams, but not all of them. I think I'll leave it blank which ones are not dreams or imaginings of mine.
But then that's maybe the point. No rule says we have to imagine the same things, or dream the same things.
This might give a hint about one of the dreams I do share with Lennon
.http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Goldman/Writings/Anarchism/patriotism.html
August 23, 2009 8:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks for this, amike.
August 23, 2009 9:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
You are a dangerous woman LisB.
August 23, 2009 10:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Heh.....dangerous in a good way? Or a bad way???
August 23, 2009 10:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
In a good way...you rawk, lissy! We need to keep imagining a better world.
August 23, 2009 10:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
In board rooms all across America the cognoscenti are looking to see if they can have you deported like John Lennon. They know they can't so they writhe in their silk sheets at night fruitlessly trying to sleep. Lack of sleep makes them irritable and stupid. That leads to mistakes, gaffes and such, that get published in the media. Pretty soon their whole edifice of lies come crashing down.
August 24, 2009 12:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
LOL!! If I get deported, at least I'll have better health care!!
August 24, 2009 12:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
I was at a family gathering this weekend and was goaded into a political discussion (as the token liberal, I usually try to avoid them, but I was on a tear this weekend, so I ventured into the fray.) Although we didn't solve all the world's problems, the discussion was polite (for a change) and I was able to score some points. One thing we pretty much came to consensus on was that we would be a lot better off if we could get rid of the "Ds" and "Rs" and just do what needed to be done. I thought that was progress.
August 23, 2009 10:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's an interesting proposal, to lose the "D"s and the "R"s. They both come with a lot of baggage. But I remember how each 3rd party candidate enticed the Left to leave the "D"s and the "R" usually managed to stick together. It was disingenuous. On the one hand they invited others to consider leaving their party, and the other hand, it seemed they never really considered leaving theirs.
August 24, 2009 2:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
I SOOOOOOOO would love to see a party that embraces the middle (not that I don't embrace a LARGE part of the liberal cause - I just don't see how to get there all at once - incrementally I see a good chance...) but in today's world I just don't see how it can happen. Voting for anyone other than a D or R contributes to a win for the opposite side, and I am not willing to let the Rs have the top slot or a majority in either house again anytime in the forseeable future.
August 24, 2009 1:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Me neither. Only if a party completely disintegrates, like the GOP may be doing as we speak, is there any possibility of a 3rd party, and even then, that party would only become the second, and it's predeccssor would have to be no more.
August 24, 2009 2:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Great post, Lis. I think if you were among people who called you naive before, you were in the wrong crowd. Aren't you glad you found the right one?
I think you're so right. It's the boundaries and the borders and the possessing of it all that gets the world into trouble.
Imagine.
August 23, 2009 11:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Good un...enjoyed reading it.
LisB, have you ever Ursula Lequin's "She Unnames Them?" An epic short story - incredibly short. It's online here:
http://www.wfu.edu/~zulick/341/leguin.html
Terrible background on that web page - copy and past it into a text file for better reading.
When I first read it it knocked me clean off my saddle. What got to me was I actually picked up in a flash of realization what living is like without language. Little jolts of some kind of superconsciousness, I thought.
Well, that's what I imagined...the suspension of language.
August 24, 2009 1:25 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks! I loved it! It reminds me of a long poem I wrote about Adam and Eve naming all of the animals in Eden. I called it, aptly enough, "Naming Names."
This is somewhat the opposite of that, isn't it?
August 24, 2009 12:47 PM | Reply | Permalink