Technology

Reflection on the course

There have been many experiences this semester that caused growth in me. When I am in my future carrier, as a physical therapist, I will want to create documents for my patients covering health and ways for them to fell better. Essay #3 has given me great experience in researching good sources to surround and support my ideas. This class has given me the ability to think, compose an outline, and create a well formed document.Many of the reading have affected me. For starters, the poetry assignment inspired me to look deeply into my own poetry and annalys my past thoughts. I also know that the poetry we read was considered “good,” and I am now  questioning if my poetry is as well. I have started writing more on a daily basis, composing poetry, and reading more analytically. Reading Frankenstein was eye opening. I knew the story but never really understood the depth of writing genius contained within the book. I feel that I have certainly selected and applied my voice to the papers I wrote for class. Also, I feel like my interpretation and analysis has improved greatly this semester. As the class comes to an end, and I look back on my writing, I can say that I have taken my writing more seriously toward the end. The blunt instructions of what Ms. Cline expected for each assignment has been instrumental in my writing. As far as challenges go, PROCRASTINATION has by far been the most prevalent. I have felt unaccountable because of the online environment. If I took this class years ago, when I was less mature and not a father, I know I would have had to drop it. I could not afford (literally $$$) to wast any more time with my schooling. I know now that I need to be on campus for courses such as this, all because of my personality.

Image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8011986@N02/2707571409/in/photostream/

Final Presentation

A Fun Summary

The zombie article was entirely fun to read. I though it to be a great analysis. I did not know that the zombie was born in Haiti and from voodoo origins. The Zombie monster has been addressing the social and cultural anxieties from terror attacks, wars, Hurricane Katrina, and other events affecting society as a whole. This culture of Zombie makers and viewers as arisen in just under a century, by passing Vampires, ghosts, and aliens as our cultures direct reflection of current ailments.

The article has pointed out to me some things I had never before considered. One point being that in Zombie movies it is not even the Zombie that poses the biggest threat. Since Zombies cannot think or rationalize, they actually are more like slow moving, avoidable antagonists. The real threat is the surviving humans, thta will do anything to get what they want, not too different from reality, since there is no longer a governmental infrastructure left in most of these Zombie flicks.

Another thing that resonates with me is the thought of our desensitization to violence, which are show statistically. Every video game, T.V. show (even cartoons) depict some aspect of violence. Making us used to all the war and killing that goes on. Now a days its pretty much the norm, it would be more surprising to see a day go by without images like those shown/ talked about in media.

Image source: http://burnsidewriterscollective.blogspot.com/2009_07_01_archive.html

Untitled

When your playing I almost forget to breathe

It’s like I don’t need to

The tones become my life energy

My ears are most important

Five senses and only one matters

I hear you

I don’t need to see you

I feel you

I don’t need to touch you

You are touching me, from over there

The music stops

Oh yeah, I have lungs

Maybe it’s time to fill them

Ah…but still…I like it better when I forget about them

Final Draft

Ramos 1

Emiliano Ramos

Laura Cline

ENG102

5 Nov. 2011

Can We Coexist?

An Authors View on Social Change

            War, peace, hate, and love are the extreme behaviors of human kind. There have been books after books attempting to unify us on these themes. Thich Nhat Hanh is a Buddhist monk and author who has overcome great challenges. In his book, “Together We Are One,” the theme is mindfulness of the moment as a peace practice to overcome the anger and hate that surrounds us. I would argue that Nhat Hanh’s book is a direct rout to accomplishing happiness in life. With practices such as mindfulness, nondiscrimination, impermanence, and inter being there is hope for transformation in our society.

As you read Nhat Hanh’s book it becomes impossible not to notice the direction in which the book is leading you. Different from other books you may have read and unlike the television shows and newspapers that are constantly reporting what went wrong yesterday. Although the television can be transformed into a positive product, as John Lennon and Yoko Ono demonstrated with their bed-in, non-violent protest to the Vietnam War in 1969. “Marching was fine and dandy for the thirties. Today you need different methods- it’s sell, sell, sell. If you want to sell peace, you’ve got to sell it like soap. The media have war on everyday, not only on the news but on the old John Wayne movies and every damn movie you see, war war war, kill kill kill. We said ‘Let’s get some peace, peace, peace on the headlines, just for a change’…” (qtd. in Norman).

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Inter being is a topic that is revisited throughout Nhat Hanh’s books. There is a story told in the book about a time in which Nhat Hanh was hammering a nail and accidently struck his left thumb. His right hand immediately put the hammer down and comforted the left thumb as if it were comforting itself. There was no thought of retribution from the left hand and there was no superiority complex shown by his right hand. They exist together as part of a complete being. Insights such as these allow a connection to be seen in all aspects of ones life. We are all interconnected with one another. Nhat Hanh goes as far as to show our connection with the universe around us. Elements such as the sun and the rain are integral to our present life. Many people would feel it impossible to touch the sun. After all it is so far away and so incredibly hot that we would disintegrate upon approach. But we can touch the sun at the very moment we touch the pedals of a flower. “Without the sunshine, without the rain, without the soil, a flower cannot be” (Hanh 57). The same goes for us, we cannot exist without the service of our fellow man and the ecosystem constantly providing for us. This should serve as a great model to establish our actions towards other people and nations.

Violence is a truth to human nature. As far as history has been written down there have been wars and fighting among people and tribes, between nations and coalitions. But Nhat Hanh‘s book explores solutions to such atrocities and examines the root causes of these actions. “Returning violence for violence only multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that” (qtd. in Hepner 1). “We may make a particular person or group of people into our enemy, we think they are the obstacle to our happiness” (Hanh 79). This is not true, our only obstacle to happiness is our own ignorance and unwillingness to have compassion for the other person or people. Nhat Hanh demonstrates that when you have true compassion you allow yourself to listen deeply to the other person. When you listen deeply you

Ramos 3

gain an understanding that you have had misconceptions of that person and that person has misconceptions of you. Through this simple practice you can overcome anger and resentfulness in your life.

The behavior of governments and armies signify the opposite view in such matters. Carol Urner, co-chair of Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, has written a powerful article about our very own governments plans for Globalization. “Globalization should be a good word. It should signify our inter-dependence and inter-relationship with the one earth that sustains us all.” There is a disturbing document that was crafted by the Project for a New American Century. The paper, titled Rebuilding America’s Defenses, “has become the blueprint for U.S. foreign and military policy. This document that, long before 9/11, promoted pre-emptive war and identified Iraq as a primary military target.” The lure to go into a rant about the human beings in power and their obsession with increasing that power is hard to deny. Urner goes on to say, with great hopefulness, “The United states can ‘rejoin the community of nations’ and actively support the disarmament, human rights, environmental and sustainable development treaty process through the United Nations.” This is where it is beneficial to understand that the U.S. is made of non-U.S. elements. “If we have the wisdom that the U.S. is made only of non-U.S. elements, we will do everything to protect non-U.S. elements” (Hanh 58).

The ideas of military domination are so completely alien to Nhat Hanh and his writings. I know it was vital to my complete understanding to investigate them. “War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn how to love together in peace by killing each other’s children” (qtd. in Pratt). The themes in Nhat Hanh’s book are essential to overcoming these ideas of superiority. “If we use the eyes of compassion to look at the world, we can see that even those who oppress and exploit others, those who instill terror, or those who cause harm, can be our beloved ones” (Hanh 80).

Ramos 4

Another concept in Nhat Hanh’s book is that of impermanence. The easiest for me to grasp as I find it obvious to see that everything is changing at all times. Nothing is exactly what is when the next moment comes around. There are times in which we feel like our present situation will never change. We say to ourselves, “I’ll never be done with school” or “I’m so tired I cannot make it through the day.” Inevitably you take all the steps while in school to guarantee that one-day you will graduate. Somehow you walk, and drive, and end up at the end of the day, able to lie down and rest. Nhat Hanh stresses the power of the moment as and understanding of impermanence. When you are able to be, breathing and smiling, in the moment, you are able to touch the true nature of your being. Right now, heaven exists, as you create your happiness. “Once in Hawaii I was taken to see a Buddhist temple. In the temple a man said, ‘I am going to tell you something that you will never forget.’ And then he said, ‘To every man is given the key to the gates of heaven. The same key opens the gates of hell” (qtd. in Pratt). Be careful with your mind and the life that you create for yourself. As Nhat Hanh writes, we are the creators of our own suffering and we are the creators of our own happiness.

“With mindfulness, we see that the way of life in our society is one of separation, fear, discrimination, and hatred, and we want to transform this” (Hanh 159). The possibility of peace in the moment is one that Nhat Hanh stresses us to seize. Through mindfulness and deep looking we can see the beauty and interconnectedness in our lives. The books by Thich Nhat Hanh are strikingly similar to each other as they embody themes of a healthier earth for us all. There is no greater path; there is no greater life than a life lived in peace.

 

 

Ramos 5

Works Cited

Hanh, Thich Nhat. Together We Are One, Honoring our Diversity, Celebrating Our Connection. Berkley: Parallax Press, 2010. Print

Hepner, Lisa. Peaceful Earth: Spiritual Perspectives on Hope and Healing Beyond Terrorism. Hold the Vision, 2001. Print

Norman, Philip. John Lennon, The Life. 1. New York: Ecco Press, 2008. Print.

Pratt, David. The Impossible Takes Longer, The 1,000 Wisest Things Ever Said By Nobel Prize Laureates. New York: Walker & Co, 2007. Print

Strength

Power exists in your behavior

not in your action

your present situation births power

When you stand in a hurricane

When you breath during the deluge

you have the power

The power of parents with a Tay Sachs child

with knowledge

brings sight

but not always foresight

just because you have eyes

does not mean you can step aside

Will the Genome Project prevent or save a Tay Sachs child?

the parents of one hope so

Annotated Bibliography

Hanh, Thich Nhat, Larry Ward, and Sister Chan Khong. Together We Are One, Honoring Our Diversity, Celebrating Our Connection. Berkley: Parallax Press, 2010. Print.

This is the primary source for my paper. The author’s writings bring light to many core issues facing our society. He is a man who has endured hardships few can understand and has found a way to live his life without suffering. The examples in the book, such as finding a home, inspire true hope for the world. I will most likely be using the information indirectly as the practices and stories speak personally to each of us.

 

Pratt, David. The Impossible Takes Longer, The 1,000 Wisest Things Ever Said By Nobel Prize Laureates. New York: Walker & Co, 2007. Print.

In this source the author has compiled what he considers to be the wisest things ever said by Nobel Prize Laureates. The topics are many and the phrases and quotes are poignant. The chapters on Human Qualities and War and Peace will give my ideas strong support. The amazing people who have won the Nobel Prize are considered experts in thinking. These experts will support the central ideas throughout my paper. It will also help me to not take my citations out of context, as the quotes are so direct.

 

Urner, Carol. “Globalization and Militarization; the U.S. Reach for Empire.” Peace and Freedom 64.1 (2004): 16-. Alt-PressWatch. Web. 2 Nov. 2011

This is the source that I am most excited to use, as it provides my central idea with a contrary opinion. The author of this article has investigated the PNAC (Project for a New American Century), which proposes a global economy, military, and political dominance by the United States. I am completely open to understanding these types of thinking, as I know they will give my paper a strong emphasis on balanced ideas.

Final Project Proposal

I have decided to choose OPTION 1 for my final project. The idea of writing about monsters was tempting, as I love the topic of Aliens, but my want to cultivate a personal and collective view on how we can actually transform our planet won out. I want to be be the kindest husband, father, and friend. I feel I need to look deeply into the opposing views of non-violence, compassion, and kindness. I would also like to understand why the military acts with out communicating with their potential adversaries. Finally, I feel the need to create a document (essay) that I could insert into a cycle that would bring knowledge to others.

My primary text will be – Together We Are One by Thich Nhat Hanh, whose biography cam be found here. I will also be using an audio book by the same author, True Love. As for my secondary sources I am going to use the government document “Principal for a New American Century” (PNAC), I am also going to use Rumi’s poetry as well as some paintings that depict war and love. For my research methods I will surely access Proquest as well as Yavapai’s wonderful network of libraries.

Image source: http://www.layoutsparks.com/1/245093/war-and-peace-nature.html

Centered

I love this weather or not

I choose to be or not to

enter inside of the same

place renewed

The interior specific to that

location houses only rejuvination

calm breath arriving with each 

Step closer to now

Walking from the past and into the

future it is necessary to 

complete the moment