Nascar Nature

The following is a letter I sent to National Public Radio:

Listening to the February 18 Weekend Edition Sunday, Arlynda Boyer's description of Dale Earnhardt conveying the essence of bodhicitta strained deeply my own buddha nature.

This is like saying Ronald McDonald conveys bodhicitta--sure he has a kindly demeanor and people feel happy in his presence--he even gives millions for families of chronically ill children. But he is also the smiling face behind enormous suffering, only one small part of which is to inspire addiction in children leading to skyrocketing rates of obesity and diabetes.

NASCAR embodies the antithesis of Buddhist compassion for all living things. It generates divisive triumphalism and negates interbeing. It teaches children to delight in the massive plunder of our planet brought on by the automobile.

Coastlines and wilderness, ecosystems on which millions of animal and plant species depend, are poisoned by the oil drilling, metal mining and chemical manufacturing that feed the speeding monstrosity worshipped at the asphalt temple.

Earnhardt may indeed have shown a humility and even a love towards others uncommon to sports celebrities--moments of the divine found in us all--but why not look for bodhicitta in a woman who rides the bus three hours each day so she can live with her daughter, son-in-law and three grandchildren in a one bedroom East L.A. flat and dust furniture in a Westlake Village office park. This life of less means her smile reflected in the bus window blesses us all.