Hack the Buddha?

I admit it. I like stringing words together. I like little phrases that sound catchy and easy to remember. Hacking the Buddha. Manifest Destiny. Tribalpunk Theater. I like the rhythm there. I like the beat. But there's something else there that I haven't mentioned yet. Meaning.

Now, I've been a teacher for quite some time. Middle school, elementary school, gifted, remedial, one-on-one or up in front of the room. I've done it all. I've learned a lot. I know a secret.

Little kids are brilliant.

I used to be a little kid. I remember. We went to school, and the teachers told us that we were the Future of America. We went home, and our parents told us we were geniuses, young leaders. At least, mine did.

Not too long ago, I was sitting with a fifth grader named Azusana. She came to me because someone thought she needed practice reading. I soon learned that she loved to read, and saw for myself that she did it quite well. So I started her on Alice in Wonderland, and on the odd days, taught her creative writing. There was nothing wrong with her - nothing wrong with any of my "remedial" students. So I taught them like they were geniuses.

One day I asked her what she wanted to be. She said a teacher. I asked her if she meant that she wanted to be the best teacher in the world. She laughed. I told her I was serious.

Then it hit me. No one had ever told Azusana that she could be the best at anything. No one told her she was brilliant, the future of America, or a young leader. So I did. I told her all of that. I don't think she'd ever heard anything like it, and I don't think I'd ever felt anything like it.

Children are born brilliant. Look at a baby. Their eyes are open wide, they're looking at everything. They're curious about everything, and they love to learn.

But give 'em twenty years, and where are they? Behind a cash register? Sitting in a cubicle or at a computer screen? Maybe at school. Somewhere along the time-line, most people have gone from being these cute little bundles of infinite possibilities to confused, drifting, insecure machines.

Perhaps that's harsh, but it's how I see it. I also see something else, though, when I look at people. I see brilliance. I see creativity, power, genius. I've even seen it in use. What I don't see is these powers being used enough.

I started learning about hypnosis and NLP because I wanted to make some changes in myself. I wanted to learn how to use my brain so that I could make it do what I wanted. I've learned bit by bit, and I believe I've finally come to the last piece of the puzzle - context.

It reminds me of Don Juan, in one of the Carlos Castaneda books. Juan tells Carlos that to change, he must leave everyone behind. If Carlos stays near the people he has known before, they will expect him to behave a certain way, and that will weigh him down.

But I think Don Juan was wrong. Change happens all the time. It's part of nature. People change, and other people get used to it.

So if I find myself sitting across from a person - whether that person is a fifth grader or a fifty year old, I have to ask myself: am I communicating to this person in a way that could help them become a better person? To help them realize, as they say, their buddha nature?

Sometimes I just don't care. Sometimes I think about myself and realize that I need to make changes in myself. I make them.

I left the world of teaching not too long ago. I moved halfway across my country to step into a new life. I left people behind, and I changed. And you know what? There are people here, too. They're just as quick to file me into categories that I'd like to outgrow.

So here's the trick. It's a stretch, perhaps. Beginner's Mind. Walk up to a friend, and pretend you've never met them. Go into the state. Make it real. Learn again. Be like a little baby.

Quite a state, isn't it? To look around you, and not know the names for things. To suspend belief. And as you imagine what that's like, I'd like you to consider that you can bring other people here. Update. Start fresh. Start with unlimited possibilities.

That's what I mean by hacking the buddha. Find it - find the glory and genius and power and love inside the people you meet. It's there. Burried, perhaps. But there. It's all around. It fills the world. It fills each of us. We were all little babies once. Little buddhas.

It comes down to a string of words. Ideas. The order in which things work. Because through all of this, most people ask two questions:

What do I want to do with my life?
Of all those things, what is possible?

Two powerful questions. And utterly backwards. What does hacking the buddha mean? It means finding stuff like that within people, and making it better. Flip it around. Do it backwards for once.

Think of all the things in the world that are possible for you at this moment.

Now, of all those things, which ones do you want?

Update

For those of you who have asked me about my relationship models from issue two: I've found one I like, at least for now. Rather than create or rely on some symbolic representation of a relationship, I've started to create mental scrapbooks. After all, what can give a better picture of a relationship than pictures? I'll write more about that if I get a huge response, but I almost want to leave it up to your imaginations.. :)