Chicago – Day One

Sometimes we can look into a dew drop or a blade of grass and see how small and interconnected the world is. For me this trip has already given me two reminders of this truth of reality. The first came when my plane to Salt Lake had to turn around mid-flight for mechanical repairs. So instead of Salt Lake, I wound up flying to Seattle and not just to Seattle, but because of the air traffic congestion at Sea-Tac airport, we flew out over Pugeot Sound.

I found myself thinking: I just drove 3 hours west to Spokane, to fly another hour west just to get the quickest/cheapest flight four hours east. Not only is the world (of air travel) vastly interconnected, but it is so in ways that go well beyond simple comprehension.
The second lesson was in meeting up, at last, with Danny Fisher (that’s him), a guy I’ve ‘known’ only through the blog-world and email (and most recenly facebook) for perhaps a couple years now.

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The world is getting smaller. (or perhaps it’s just the Italian wine, or the fact that Moby (not really) just walked by!)

But at the same time many of us feel it growing less ‘deep’ as well. Danny told me of a paper given last night in which the woman presenting spoke of the damaging effects of such online networking sights as facebook. Does our mobility wither our roots? Is it more within our roots or in this new sense of interconnectedness that spiritual practices and awakening are to be found? Is a small world necessarily a (psychologically) disorienting one? Was there ever a ‘golden age’ back when real social fiber held communities and individuals together in a way it no longer does?

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Perhaps the golden age of 1942, when Edward Hopper painted Nighthawks?
Or the even more golden age of 1930 when American Gothic was painted by Grant Wood. (yea, those two look happy)
No, I think the golden age must have been around 1890, when Vincent Van Gogh painted The Drinkers. Or was this one of my photos from the AAR party? Easy to mix up… That might be Danny in the middle recovering from a bum knee and me, looking a bit weary from my travels on the left. The little guy is a to-be-unnamed famous Buddhist scholar.
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Today’s first session was on Buddhism in the West – more of which I’ll blog about later. But for now, I’m in Chicago and really ought to be taking in this wonderful city!

* the above paintings are in the Chicago Art Institute Museum. Definitely worth a visit if you’re in town.