50 Things You're Not Supposed To Know: Religion

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Authors: Daniele Bolelli

BOOK: 50 Things You're Not Supposed To Know: Religion
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Copyright © 2011 Daniele Bolelli
Published by The Disinformation Company Ltd.
111 East 14th Street, Suite 108
New York, NY 10003
www.disinfo.com
Managing Editor: Ralph Bernardo
[email protected]
 
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2011940996
eISBN : 978-1-934-70876-7
 
 
 
Distributed by:
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The opinions and statements made in this book are those of the authors; the publisher has not verified any of their statements, theories or conclusions and no warranty or fitness is implied. The publisher shall have no liability or responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage arising from the information contained in this book or from the use thereof or reliance thereon.
Table of Contents
 
 
 
 
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
 
To Elizabeth Han:
In over a decade by your side I have known more happiness and more pain than most mortals could ever dream possible. Our love kicked open the gates of heaven for me. And it thrust me in the deepest pits of hell. Given the chance, I’d do it all again in a heartbeat. Being with you has meant tasting life to the fullest, since you are/were too damn intense to have it any other way.
 
Nothing, absolutely nothing in this world is more beautiful than your laughter. From the second I met you to when you died in my arms, you were the beating heart of my universe. My passion for you knows no bounds. In this life or in any another, you are my love.
 
To Isabella Han Bolelli:
If it weren't for you, I may not have survived all the heartbreak that a fucked up destiny has decided to throw my way. But you are my hero, baby girl. Your one-year-old smile chases away all the horror, and gives me the strength to move mountains. From the moment you skydived out of your mother's womb into my arms, you have been my reason for living. Looking into your beautiful
eyes inspires me to be the best human being I can possibly be. And let's not forget that every one of your burps makes this world a better place.
 
To Gloria Mattioni:
My fellow samurai, you taught me how to love and how to kill. Whenever the doors of hell break open, and hordes of demons come out of it screaming my name, all I need in my corner is you.
 
To Franco Bolelli:
No one has ever loved me more than you have, and no one ever will. You are my sun, my home, my oxygen. My notoriously verbose self is at a loss to find words doing justice to how much you mean to me. You are the earth under my feet. You are my blood and my very bones.
 
To the one and only Zina Bolelli.
 
To the memory of Marina Mattioni.
 
A big thank you to those who selflessly rushed to Elizabeth's side when she was fighting for her life: Marlon Mercado, Geshe Lobsang Tsultrim, Jose Camacho, Sumati Bonsai, Bryan Kest, Belle Andrade and Annie Esposito.
 
Thank you to my partners in crime: Emilie Nguyen, Julio Perez, Rick Tucci, Michele Dalai, Tom & Alexa Robbins, Thaddeus Russell, Mike V., Giancarlo Serafino (I’m still very, very sorry about breaking your nose …), Ale Rossi (I’m not that sorry about breaking your ribs …), Anthony Formoso, Tim Lopez/ Brian Carr/Eddie Martinez and everyone at CSULB BJJ, Will Ford, Brenda De River, Adonis Puentes, Alex Rueda, Shawn Brennan, Li Schroeder, Gary and Ralph at Disinformation, Lorenzo Cherubini, Tatiana Molinar, Jason Yaselli, Joseph and Elizabeth Morales, Joey Calmer, Luciano Palermi, Rachael Pugh, Melinda Martinez and Jorge Ojeda, Amy and Wes Tang, Kriszanne Napalan, Dee, Roberto Bonomelli and Lory, John Evans, Scott Czerniak, Roberto Banchini and his tribe, Francesca Fogar, Giorgio Presca, Jenaveve Jolie, Jeff Hendricks, Shannon Seta, Barbara Bersche, Federico Giordano, Cavan Cox, Daniel Guedea, Jack Clark, Jack Carter, Liezel Legaspi, Litty and Melkon, Emily and Jamie Ludovise, Axel Hernandez and Adriana Yanez,
Mike Esposito and Michaela, Diana and Jeff Gordon, the Andrade clan (Jonathan, Dan, April, Lisa and Matthew,) Maria Ramas, Bruno Dorella, Aronne dell’Oro, Rocco Attisani, John Torres, Troy Johnson, Nancy Quam-Wickham, Viva Guerrero, Chris and Lynn Stiles, Jane Dabel and Harvey Stromberg.
INTRODUCTION
 
Religion is one of the big taboo topics that many people are terrified to touch: too afraid that others will question their religious loyalties and just as afraid to step on the minefield that is the overhyped sensitivity of some believers.
 
And this is precisely why it is so much fun to talk about it.
 
People, after all, live and die in the names of religious values, so the stakes of what we are playing with couldn't be any higher. And yet, few fields can make many human beings as unwilling to face the evidence as religion. It is exactly because these ideas are so central to their lives that they don't want anyone to plant doubts in their minds.
 
If this is you—if you are afraid of tackling contradictions, if you believe that without blind faith you would be prey to senselessness and desperation, if dealing with complexity sends you running for the reassuring arms of dogma—then this book is not for you. It will confuse you, anger you and ruin your digestion.
 
But if you feel like taking a weird, dangerous journey through world religions and running into some of the very odd characters populating them—if you have a taste for paradox and think that questioning authority should be an Olympic sport—then hop on board. I had a hell of a lot of fun writing this book. If you can have at least half as much fun reading it, I’ll be happy.
 
AUTHOR’S NOTE:
To those readers who wish to contact me, [email protected] is my e-mail address. Depending on the number of messages that will come my way, it is very likely that I will not be able to reply with long, thoughtful answers since I still enjoy having a life away from the computer screen. But what I do promise is that I will reply with at least a quick note to let you know I appreciated reading your message. If you do not receive a reply within a week, it means I never received your e-mail.
01 ZEN AND THE ART OF CHOPPING YOUR ENEMIES’ HEADS OFF
 
One of the key principles that good, old Buddha constantly emphasized was non-injury: making every effort to avoid causing pain to any sentient being—whether they be other humans, or animals, or anything in between.
 
During much of Japanese history, the samurai trained day in and day out to become more effective at slicing and dicing their opponents on the battlefield. The punch line in this is that most of them were devout Buddhists. Yeah, … I know … nothing screams Buddhist compassion like making a living by decapitating your enemies…
 
So, the obvious question is: why would warriors be attracted to a non-violent religion like Zen Buddhism in the first place?
 
The answer is simple. Well, kind of … if the samurai could just conveniently overlook the pesky pacifist piece of Buddhist theology just mentioned, Zen could actually help them tremendously in battle! Still not clear how that works? No problem. Here we go: the odd path that turns this particular school of Buddhism into a weapon for professional killers goes something like this.

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