Smokey the Bear Sutra by Gary Snyder

Once in the Jurassic about 150 million years ago,
the Great Sun Buddha in this corner of the Infinite
Void gave a Discourse to all the assembled elements
and energies: to the standing beings, the walking beings,
the flying beings, and the sitting beings — even grasses,
to the number of thirteen billion, each one born from a
seed, assembled there: a Discourse concerning
Enlightenment on the planet Earth.

“In some future time, there will be a continent called
America. It will have great centers of power called
such as Pyramid Lake, Walden Pond, Mt. Rainier, Big Sur,
Everglades, and so forth; and powerful nerves and channels
such as Columbia River, Mississippi River, and Grand Canyon
The human race in that era will get into troubles all over
its head, and practically wreck everything in spite of
its own strong intelligent Buddha-nature.”

“The twisting strata of the great mountains and the pulsings
of volcanoes are my love burning deep in the earth.
My obstinate compassion is schist and basalt and
granite, to be mountains, to bring down the rain. In that
future American Era I shall enter a new form; to cure
the world of loveless knowledge that seeks with blind hunger:
and mindless rage eating food that will not fill it.”

And he showed himself in his true form of

SMOKEY THE BEAR

A handsome smokey-colored brown bear standing on his hind legs, showing that he is aroused and
watchful.

Bearing in his right paw the Shovel that digs to the truth beneath appearances; cuts the roots of useless
attachments, and flings damp sand on the fires of greed and war;

His left paw in the Mudra of Comradely Display — indicating that all creatures have the full right to live to their limits and that deer, rabbits, chipmunks, snakes, dandelions, and lizards all grow in the realm of the Dharma;

Wearing the blue work overalls symbolic of slaves and laborers, the countless men oppressed by a
civilization that claims to save but often destroys;

Wearing the broad-brimmed hat of the West, symbolic of the forces that guard the Wilderness, which is the Natural State of the Dharma and the True Path of man on earth: all true paths lead through mountains –

With a halo of smoke and flame behind, the forest fires of the kali-yuga, fires caused by the stupidity of
those who think things can be gained and lost whereas in truth all is contained vast and free in the Blue Sky and Green Earth of One Mind;

Round-bellied to show his kind nature and that the great earth has food enough for everyone who loves her and trusts her;

Trampling underfoot wasteful freeways and needless suburbs; smashing the worms of capitalism and
totalitarianism;

Indicating the Task: his followers, becoming free of cars, houses, canned foods, universities, and shoes;
master the Three Mysteries of their own Body, Speech, and Mind; and fearlessly chop down the rotten
trees and prune out the sick limbs of this country America and then burn the leftover trash.

Wrathful but Calm. Austere but Comic. Smokey the Bear will
Illuminate those who would help him; but for those who would hinder or
slander him,

HE WILL PUT THEM OUT.

Thus his great Mantra:

Namah samanta vajranam chanda maharoshana
Sphataya hum traka ham nam

“I DEDICATE MYSELF TO THE UNIVERSAL DIAMOND
BE THIS RAGING FURY DESTROYED”

And he will protect those who love woods and rivers,
Gods and animals, hobos and madmen, prisoners and sick
people, musicians, playful women, and hopeful children:

And if anyone is threatened by advertising, air pollution, television,
or the police, they should chant SMOKEY THE BEAR’S WAR SPELL:

DROWN THEIR BUTTS
CRUSH THEIR BUTTS
DROWN THEIR BUTTS
CRUSH THEIR BUTTS

And SMOKEY THE BEAR will surely appear to put the enemy out
with his vajra-shovel.

Now those who recite this Sutra and then try to put it in practice will accumulate merit as countless as the sands of Arizona and Nevada.

Will help save the planet Earth from total oil slick.

Will enter the age of harmony of man and nature.

Will win the tender love and caresses of men, women, and beasts.

Will always have ripe blackberries to eat and a sunny spot under a pine tree to sit at.

AND IN THE END WILL WIN HIGHEST PERFECT ENLIGHTENMENT.

thus have we heard.

(may be reproduced free forever)

“I have a friend who feels sometimes that the world is hostile to human life – he says it chills us and kills us. But how could we be were it not for this planet that provided our very shape? Two conditions – gravity and a livable temperature range between freezing and boiling – have given us fluids and flesh. The trees we climb and the ground we walk on have given us five fingers and toes. The “place” (from the root plat, broad, spreading, flat) gave us far-seeing eyes, the streams and breezes gave us versatile tongues and whorly ears. The land gave us a stride, and the lake a dive. The amazement gave us our kind of mind. We should be thankful for that, and take nature’s stricter lessons with some grace.”                                        - Gary Snyder 

 

John Muir on Mt. Ritter…..by Gary Snyder

After scanning its face again and again,
I began to scale it, picking my holds
With intense caution. About half-way
To the top, I was suddenly brought to
A dead stop, with arms outspread
Clinging close to the face of the rock
Unable to move hand or foot
Either up or down. My doom
Appeared fixed. I MUST fall.
There would be a moment of
Bewilderment, and then,
A lifeless rumble down the cliff
To the glacier below.
My mind seemed to fill with a
Stifling smoke. This terrible eclipse
Lasted only a moment, when life blazed
Forth again with preternatural clearness.
I seemed suddenly to become possessed
Of a new sense. My trembling muscles
Became firm again, every rift and flaw in
The rock was seen as through a microscope,
My limbs moved with a positiveness and precision
With which I seemed to have
Nothing at all to do.

Click here to view the embedded video.

“Wherever human beings have been around and done their thing, you find rectangles.”

YouTube Video by markwatts02

Vine maple’s first blood

Signals the unstoppable -

Summer’s fine demise.

I’ve been thinking about that movie a lot the last several weeks – not about the resolution of the mystery, but about the many vagaries of snow – the varieties, moisture content; how it falls, lands, rests, melts, refreezes, compacts; how snow impacts what it rests upon and a lot of other variables I have not previously had the opportunity to observe.

I’m not a big snow sports person (too many people funneled into a small area). What skiing I have done involved a series of cross-country day trips; and although the quality of snow, terrain and potential avalanche danger made big differences in my cross-country pleasure (or lack thereof), I was always unfamiliar with areas I was traversing, so I was more focused on getting from point A to point B, less consciously focused on the snow itself.

My newly developed sense of snow comes from watching it and shoveling it (repeatedly) on this landscape which I know very well in all seasons. It’s been a sometimes arduous, but revealing adventure – a new opportunity to learn something about nature by being in it.

We still have 5 inches of snow in open areas with some potential for more this evening before warm temps and solid rain move in to send us back to normal.

It will take the plow piles a week or more to dissolve. Many of our non-indigenous shrubs are emerging from the snow weight looking worse for the experience. But now we get to watch (and maybe help) the recovery.

And as much as a sunny respite appeals right now, I’ve actually been reminded of why I make a lousy tourist.  It’s more than just my reclusive nature. I’m not a person who enjoys hitting the highlights of a locale – seeing the stationary thing you’re supposed to see and moving on to the next thing you’re supposed to see.  I prefer to stay, work, play – even reside in an environment – long enough to observe and attempt to understand  – to, in some way, become a part of the process.

But I don’t consider myself a “city girl” – I’m more of a hybrid.  My father was a Seattle firefighter during a period when one of the job qualifications was city residency (a policy long abandoned), so I grew up in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood. But when I was 6 years old, my parents purchased  40-acres of forest 5 miles from my grandparents’ farm (70 miles south of Seattle). Our family called this property simply “The Acres” and my parents ultimately retired to it after my father’s 25-year firefighting career. When I was growing up, our family spent nearly all available weekends and vacations on this property. I was closer to my first-cousins who lived in this rural area than I was to many of my Seattle schoolmates.

My sister and I spent many happy hours at my grandparent’s farm, and ultimately each had a horse of our own at “The Acres.” We were comfortable with farm animals and chores. We knew various breeds of cows, and learned to milk cows by hand; we could identify many crops before they arrived packaged at the grocery store; we played comfortably with reptiles and bugs, and knew which plants and critters “bit.” We knew mud and manure well – no innate country fear.

But if I had to choose the best location for growing up, especially for those breakaway-from-the-parents, formative years, I’d have to choose the city. It’s the time of life when cultivating the city skills is easy if you don’t already have them – and it’s those city skills that tend to get you a better education, a higher salary, a more impressive resume and comfortable global mobility. I don’t want to live in the city anymore, and I’m fortunate not to have to, but everytime I travel or visit the city, I’m glad I’m still comfortable (a) driving in city traffic (especially on the interstate); (b) standing in line to get what I want or need; (c) using public transportation if necessary; (d) dealing with a broad diversity of people; and (e) knowing how and from whom to get information or help if I need it.

If you grow up in the city, you naturally understand that a city is not one big sea of unknowns, but actually a collection of smaller towns (neighborhoods) which are manageably-sized encampments from which you can explore other neighborhoods and take advantage of all the city offers. My cousins who never did “city” when young rarely leave the country – the city’s just too scary for them. They miss a lot by this.

Of course, I also know some city people who never visit the country and they miss a great deal, too. Everyone should spend enough time outdoors, away from city lights, to see how dark it can really be; to discover how much light even a sliver of moonlight provides once your eyes adjust (without flashlight); to hear the quiet “noise” of an engineless environment. Anyone who has not looked up on a starry night and actually seen the “milk” of the Milky Way is deprived of a profound exercise in perspective.

I am not a parent, but I am an observer of parents and an admirer of good parents. The best country parents I see get their kids into the city and expose them to the city’s advantages, the best city parents get their kids out into the country and nature – camping, hiking, boating.  These best parents don’t pass along their own fears to their children, but rather expose their kids to as much as possible, creating fearless, autonomous individuals who can go forth into any environment when they come of age, deciding for themselves what locale best suits their needs. I don’t know how the good parents do it – but they deserve the admiration of us all.

And whatever locale you choose to settle in, it’s best to play in the other exteme at least on occasion. On long sailing cruises, Griz and I used to get out of practice at driving in traffic. You have to give yourself time to readjust to the pace of any new environment, but that doesn’t mean you should avoid the change.  If you’re a country dweller who resists going into the city, or a city dweller who resists going out into country, it’s a good indication it’s time to kick yourself in the butt and jump back out of your comfort zone. You’re getting out of practice. You’re chopping yourself off from all that’s available. This is a particular risk for us country-dwelling hermits – there’s just so many people in the city and it’s so comfortable for us out here in the woods.  But ya gotta do it. 

You’ve got to keep your skill level up – maintain your universality.