I'M THAT VOICE UR HEARING IN DA NIGHT

MADRE DE DIOS! I haven't expressed positivity on this website in almost a week! I had to write a paper on William Blake plus go to classes plus stay in shape and eat right plus watch the longest movie I've ever seen (4 HOURS!) plus see the Dalai Lama speak in beautiful Low Library. My friend Matty C saw that dude speak too. COINCIDENCE? I THINK NOT! People from New Jersey are naturally inclined to the spiritual. Let's discuss this:

1. NJ is almost the same size as Israel. NJ is 8722 Sq. Miles. Israel is 8463 Sq. Miles. The CIA World Factbook describes Israel as "slightly smaller than New Jersey". For Americans to think about Israel, they must first think of their own holy land: NJ.

2. Robert Thurman, father of Uma and Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University, first studied Buddhism at a monastery in NJ. His chance meeting with a Tibetan monk living in the Garden State led to a lifetime of devotion to the MIDDLE WAY. He was the first Westerner to become a Tibetan Monk. He is also buddies with HIS HOLINESS, the Dalai Lama.

3. My mom used to study Yoga at an ashram in Upstate New York. One of her YOGA-BUDDIES was an Indian dude named Roop. He firmly believed that he had lived in New Jersey in a previous life. THIS IS NO JOKE! HE'S PROBABLY RIGHT, BTW!

4. This summer in Haridwar (see VAY-KAY BLOG), Monica's grandfather kept telling us about how one of the other guys on the ashram used to live in New Jersey. He would crack up every time he mentioned it.
Some of you haters might think "NJ is a joke. This is why Grandpa laughed." You would be wrong to think that. The Buddha laughs because he has achieved SUPREME HAPPINESS. Grandpa laughs because NJ is an ENLIGHTENED STATE.

SPEAKING OF ENLIGHTENMENT:
I recently came to a new conclusion about Internet Vibes:
As the past fades into obscurity, our ability to discern between vibes is GREATLY COMPROMISED. Just as a 14th-Century Chinese Buddha statue and an 18th-Century Japanese Buddha statue compromise a single vibe to the average 20th-century non-scholar, so will Outkast, Lincoln Park, Animal Collective, Devendra Banhardt, Gorgot and Chopin all morph into a single vibe for the children of the future. I DON'T think this is a bad thing BUT I do believe that while we still can celebrate and understand the subtle differences between the vibes of our world, WE SHOULD.
All of this must be approached in the spirit of positivity. In the end, these divisions will help us to understand THE BIGGER PICTURE. They should not force us to CONFINE or DESTROY the bigger picture. We cannot be haters.

I can't think of an MP3 to go along with this post. However, to get ready for a future post on Billy Joel I recommend that you go out and listen to his song "The Longest Time." Think about the chord changes. Then think about Long Island. First think about your feelings about Long Island. Then think about a native Long Islander's feelings about LI. Then think about Billy Joel's feelings about LI.

I WILL CONCLUDE WITH A PICTURE:
This is a restaurant Monica and I saw in Delhi. It is indicative of a vibe that I may never understand.