Tending Water Buffaloes (Part II)

-- December 15, 2025, 7:52 to 9:00 pm

5. Just as a buffalo boy protects his buffaloes from mosquito bites by building fires to create smoke, the bhikkhu uses the teaching of becoming awake to show those around him how to avoid the afflictions of body and mind. 

Beautiful—from smoke shields to smoke signals. Spreading awareness, consciousness raising, building theories and detection systems about … the psychosomatic effects of gaslighting, as a “random” example of the noble work I’m already doing? I guess that was more grandiose than humble, so let me widen the frame and separate it from my own considerable (though still within the range of healthy, all things considered) ego:  Here is an opportunity to humbly align my ongoing work with the path of the Buddha, I’ve been preparing for this journey without even realizing it and probably have some of the key tools developed, in some form, already. Maybe the work begins with identifying those preexisting skills and tools—more of the affirmative world-building vibe—that illuminate the solidity of my foundations. Something I can build on, what do I already have focus rather than what am I missing or where have I failed, you get the picture. A platitude, maybe, but it feels slightly sharper here. 

Another highlight: becoming, rather than being awake or waking up. Becoming-awake, we’re back in the processual, the motile, the impermanent, and the unfinished, incomplete, imperfect nature of reality as it exists. Becoming awake= installing anti-gaslights. I like the sound of that, mostly because it sounds entirely achievable. Becoming Awake > Being Woke. 

6. Just as the boy finds a safe path for the buffaloes to walk, the bhikkhu avoids those paths that lead to desire for fame, wealth, and sexual pleasure, in places like taverns and theaters.

No can do on the “taverns and theaters” at this point but I’m open to the rest. Looping back: yes, finding a safer path to walk, beyond the desire for a volatile, fraudulent form of recognition, constellations guaranteeing hollow and ephemeral performances approximating but never approaching intimacy. Key here is “the desire for fame, wealth, and sexual pleasure” — that is, being more driven by and oriented toward an idealized or imagined narrative, often associated with increased social visibility, legibility, and affirmation. But these are not “safe paths”, ie. they are unsafe, insofar as they are inherently unstable, reactive. 

SIDEBAR/TANGENT re: safe vs. unsafe paths and “choice”– This is the shadow of impermanence, its underside: where things change not according to the gradual and sometimes inexplicable rhythms of the universe, but due to structural volatility. Who would stay inside a burning house refusing to accept that it’s burning; or step outside, put out the flames, and rebuild from whatever usable foundations are left? To be honest, I repeatedly, stubbornly did the FORMER, like an idiot, all throughout my 20s until I nearly died in that burning house. 

But—and this is a sobering realization—What if you tried as hard as you could to get out of the burning house, but every door was sealed and no firefighter could get in to pull you out? And in that framework, with that backdrop, how then does the bhikkhu choose the safer paths, where safety is not a choice—or, at least, becomes possible only within a significantly limited set of circumstances? Drew as fugitive signal in a burning house—a phrase to which I’ll return. 

7. Just as a buffalo boy loves his buffaloes, the bhikkhu cherishes the joy and peace of meditation. 

If “meditation” means writing, then I’m putting this Point into practice right now, and have been for every hour I’ve spent working on this blog. Knitting: an even deeper, rhythmic, repetitive, almost incantatory meditative experience, with the added benefit of a scarf. Cooking, another activity where humility and sensory texture, rhythm, discernment, all reign. 

8. As the boy finds a safe, shallow place in the river for the buffaloes to cross, the bhikkhu relies on the Four Noble Truths to negotiate this life. 

9. As the boy finds fresh grass and water for his buffaloes, the bhikkhu knows that the Four Establishments of Mindfulness are the nourishment leading to liberation. 

Eleven Points, Four Noble Truths, Four Establishments of Mindfulness. I don’t think we’ve been introduced to the latter two just yet, but I trust Hanh’s pacing. I don’t want to over-research. Negotiation and nourishment seem like keywords; filing that away. 

10. As the boy preserves the fields by not overgrazing them, the bhikkhu is careful to preserve relationships with the nearby community as he begs offerings. 

11. As the boy lets the older buffaloes serve as models for the younger ones, the bhikkhu depends on the wisdom and experience of their elders. 

Community relationships, thinking about the broader ecosystem, reciprocal flows between figure and background, Point 10 makes a lot of sense. How do I dive deeper? Find the wrinkle, hopefully the seam. Preserves by not overgrazing = replenishing resources received, letting things grow back (sometimes, grow back differently, but that’s a whole other tangent for another day). This feels like ecofeminist ethics right here. As for Point 11, a maxim of respect for elders is nearly universal, and mostly inarguable as a guiding principle, but one that this text has already complicated (in a good way). Recall the decoupling of age from wisdom in the Rahula-Svasti dynamic, for example. So there’s a sense that context, complexity, and nuance matter, which I always appreciate. 

O bhikkhus, a bhikkhu who follows these eleven points will attain arhatship in the span of six years of practice” (15-16). 

SIX YEARS OF PRACTICE. Six. Years. This is the path Drew walked. Six years battling melanoma, six years from his diagnosis at 25 to his death at 31. And, as Drew himself said, another six: OPWC was the book that guided him through the last six months of his life. That one stings. Oof. 

Notes to self: look up arhatship (no idea what the hell that is). Track any spiritual significance or recurrence of the number 6.

-- Dianna

PS: The post about cruel optimism may be delayed until tomorrow. We'll see how much more steam I have tonight. Since it's directly linked to my work on structural gaslighting and atmosphere, this topic is of particular interest to me and I'll probably return to it several times.