Gagafesto, "Love. Buddha, and Gaga", gagablog 16

I've been focusing on what it can mean to embrace evil, in response to evil current events and the need we all have to overcome evil in our own lives, but let me repeat quickly that Love is the good that overcomes evil. We may not all suffer from prejudice in our own personal lives, but we do all suffer from it in society. With love all people can be happy, if we truly love others as we love ourselves. Gaga's message of tolerance and acceptance, so beautifully crafted in the Manifesto of Mother Monster at the beginning of the Born this Way video, encourages this change of perspective, encouraging us to look beyond boundaries and care for each other, calling us to greater love. One of the greatest expressions of Love I know is in the story of a life of the Buddha in which he meets a hungry tiger. The tiger is a mother with cubs, she is starving, they are all starving. The Buddha lays down and gives his body and life to the tiger so that she may live and feed her cubs.

This story is so beautiful to me and makes me cry because it is Love, not just for ones family or people, but for Life. I feel like tragedies in the world are only good in the sense that they can provoke Love - it's terrible that anyone is starving or suffering, it's terrible how animals and other life are suffering and dying when we could all be living more harmoniously. The key to harmony, what we can all do to reach it, is self-sacrifice. The Buddha's example, or Jesus's, are of ultimate sacrifice, but as we see in worldwide response to tragedies, from Haiti to Japan, every little bit helps and we can all sacrifice something to help those who are hurting. This is important because we really can make a difference working together, but we can also make a difference in shifting the perspective of all humanity. These days more super-rich people are doing more for charity than ever before, once we get the curmudgeony ones over their greed and onto this side, things can really improve quickly. But look what can be accomplished when good people inspire us to do good things, as Gaga has done in response to the tragedy in Japan: I've read how in the first two days of selling bracelets to benifit relief efforts there she raised 250,000 dollars. Another article mentioned a Google executive, I think, who started a fund for Japan that had raised 3,000 dollars, then Gaga linked to it on her website and it had raised 70,000 dollars when the article came out. He called it "the Lady Gaga effect".

Gaga is having a great effect, both because she's giving people a good reminder that they can make a difference and in a larger sense reminding us all what is possible. As an affirmation of democracy I love how it shows how a good person can inspire others to work with them for a good outcome. I want to give a shout out to the Obama administration, and the spirit of the people who elected Obama, for recently putting a motion to the U.N. to denounce violence against people based on sexuality or gender identity. Gaga has always been at the forefront of important causes - of human rights, animal rights, and protecting the planet. She does it all, and so wonderfully, with such art and power. Some might say its because she can, because she is rich. But to this I say there are many others who are rich who don't have this focus, who even have the opposite intention than helping people, and they could learn from her. But more importantly, the reason she has the power, Fame, and fortune that she does is because she is a good person, doing good things  - with the best intentions and highest expectations of herself and humanity - and good people are responding to her and together we are making things happen, changing this world for good. She has spoken about sacrifice of the idol, in a Fame context, and I hope the Paparazzi video / message is how she fulfills that myth - I want her here with us forever, she has already sacrificed for us. She can mythically do it many different ways without ever dying for this message of Love. I know its because I find her so attractive, but I like to think it was a "major sacrifice" that she was celibate for a long time on tour when she said she did not have the time to be close with anyone because of the tour demands. I want to emphaize that I am so appreciative and respectful of Gaga for working so hard for what she does - it is what makes me really value working hard to reach my own dreams. Instead of typing so much, I will focus on writing better. And do more art. Because I want to be like Gaga and reach my full potential so I can help the most people, too.

Thanks, little monsters, for making Gaga and all the good she does in the world possible. Thanks, Gaga, both for inspiring us and doing all the work to make it all happen. I love you, you rock, I can't wait for the new album!