To all who thought I was trying to create a crypto-Romney-support thread by fronting a crypto-Buddhist-support philosophy, I say, thanks for the laugh. From now on, when I think I’m getting too paranoid, I’ll use this as a reality check (yes, Toto, there really ARE people more paranoid than I am!).
It just didn’t seem that I could start talking about koans without talking about where they traditionally came from, that’s all. And yes, in the West, paradox’s have long been acknowledged. But koans are personal paradoxes, imposed by a leader upon a volunteer. So it seemed more appropriate to use the concept of a koan for what’s going on here.
As for the “answer” to the koan? Frogs don’t vote. It’s a story. But the clotted cream that enabled the frog to jump out represents the unpredictable change that happens when people refuse to give up despite apparently hopeless odds. Determination itself creates new conditions, new clarity, and new understanding, that are otherwise not visible to those who don’t “draw the line in the sand.” And that, ultimately, is what I think is going to happen in America. On the one hand, the bad girls got us trapped. On the other hand, America ain’t going down. So... something will change.
A tip of the hat, though, to FReepers who decided the one frog murdered the other frog, and then used his body as leverage to get out and the clotted cream as a cover story to hide the crime. I’ve known this story for many years, and have NEVER heard that answer. I love it! Next time I hear it referenced by a meditation-type-person, I’m unleashing it!
Till then, remember God is in every story, whether visible or not.
The answer is that rough frogs defend freedom's watch!