Prop 13: Taxes and the Importance of an Open Mind – LA Progressive
Posted: September 13, 2020 at 11:54 am
How Tibbetan Buddists Helped Me Seek Enlightenment at Howard Jarviss House
Want to stop worrying so much about the future of California? Go and say a prayer at Howard Jarviss house.
No historic plaques mark the five-bedroom home at 515 N. Crescent Heights Blvd., which sits between West Hollywood and L.A.s Miracle Mile. But this is where the famed anti-tax activist Jarvis lived, held meetings with Gov. Jerry Brown and other California players, and organized Proposition 13, 1978s tax-limiting ballot initiative that still dominates California politics.
Another fall fight over Prop 13 is underway. The November ballots Proposition 15 proposes to lift Prop 13 caps on taxing commercial properties, thus creatingdepending on whom you askeither billions of dollars for education or new burdens for businesses. So, recently, I went over to check on the historic houseand got an unexpected lesson about how California and its homes keep changing, even if its initiative politics never do.
The recognition that I have more questions than answers is OK. Because uncertainty about what comes next, for me or for a proposition or for a house, might be the most powerful answer we ever get.
Jarviss undistinguished gray house is nowNechung Dharmapala, L.A.s Tibetan Buddhist Center. The home has been painted a distinguished shade of orange associated with Buddhism. Above the front windows, two deer surround a wheel representing the Dharma, and a small stupaa hemispheric structure representing the enlightened mindrests outside the front door.
Inside, bedrooms are occupied by two monks, one an administrator, and the other the centers spiritual director. The large, high-ceilinged living room where Jarvis once conducted the angriest California politics of the 20th century has been turned into a 21st-century sanctuary for lessons on the renunciation of ego, the development of compassion, and the possibility of enlightenment for all beings.
At first, the homes political past and religious present seemed discordant, but the more I contemplated the place, the more I began to see the continuities and connections. Indeed, 515 N. Crescent Heights Blvd. has become a double-monument to both the perils of revolutions and the paradoxes of protection. The houses history asks: Why do humans suffer so much in their search for the safety and stability that this world only fleetingly provides?
Prop 13 was a great victory of a conservative California revolution that promised protectionagainst rising taxes, especially the property taxes that raise the cost of homes and thus displace people. The paradox is that the protector Prop 13 hasnt protected us from Californias high taxes or extortionate housing prices.
Protection is also Nechung Dharmapalas reason for being. This Buddhist center is associated with Tibets centuries-old Nechung Monastery, which is the headquarters of the State Oracle of Tibet, who embodies the deity Pehar, also known as The Protector of Religion.
Of course, the protector Pehar couldnt stop Chinese communists from destroying Nechung Monastery and Tibets other religious sites after the 1949 revolution. But therein lies the paradox. The communists attacks on religion actually protected the faith. Tibetan Buddhists fled, spreading their teachings and establishing centers around the globe, eventually reaching Howard Jarviss front door.
Jarviss Tudor-style house was built in 1925, according to county records. Jarvis, a Utah native and jack Mormon (he drank cheap vodka he carried in his briefcase), bought it in 1941 for $8,000. He stayed there for the rest of his life, through at least one renovation and three marriages, the last to Estelle Garcia.
During the 1970s and 1980s, Jarvis held court in a big comfortable chair, smoking a cigar and eating Estelles corn soup, while distinguished visitors sat on simple sofas. The house was filled with energy and the conviction that a handful of people, without holding office, could upend the world.
There were some curses, but no prayers, recalls the Jarvis aide Joel Fox, who also served for a time as president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, which remains a force, leading this falls campaign to fight Prop 15, and thus protect Prop 13.
Prop 13 governs modern California because it controls the money: Specifically, it requires a two-thirds popular vote to raise local taxes, and a two-thirds vote of the legislature to raise state taxes. But most Californians associate it with its property tax provisions, which cap overall taxes and allow for the reassessment of properties at market value only when they are sold.
When Prop 13 passed, Jarviss 3,000-square-foot home, on a 5,900-square-foot lot in a desirable part of L.A.s westsidewhich hed bought nearly 40 years earlierwas assessed at less than $60,000. Its annual tax bills, based on that low base, would stay below $1,000, even as neighboring homeowners paid 10 times that. In 2005, the home assessed value for tax purposes was $75,854; in 2006, after Estelle died (Jarvis himself died in 1986), it was reassessed at $1.25 million.
The house was sold in 2008 according to county records, and put up for sale again in 2013as Tibetan Buddhists were growing desperate in their search for an L.A. headquarters.
The Nechung Kuten, who is also the Chief State Oracle of Tibet, had visited L.A. in 2007 and 2009 and called for the establishment of a center where Tibetans, Mongolians, and Westerners could study and practice Buddhism in a non-sectarian way. A donor stepped forward to fund a center, but finding the right placewith both a big gathering room and small bedrooms quiet enough for monkswas hard. Until a real estate agent took them to 515 N. Crescent Heights Blvd.
They bought the house in 2013 for $1.38 million. It took more than a year to redecorate the home in a Tibetan style, construct the shrine, and install the Buddha statues. In 2014, the center opened, and the space is often full.
In Jarviss old living room, resident teacher Geshe Wangchuk now presides. He became a monk at age 12 (with ordination at the Nechung Monastery in Dharamsala, India) and arrived at Nechung L.A. in 2016. Hes skilled not only in explaining Buddhist philosophy but in the creation of sand mandalas and butter sculptures.
During the pandemic, Geshe Wangchuk shifted his daily practices and weekly teachings online. On Saturday mornings this summer, I watched him instruct, via nechungla.org, Zoom, and Facebook, a highly diverse group of Californians. The lessons leaned on a text, The Three Principal Aspects of the Path, by Je Tsongkhapa, a 14th-century teacher of Tibetan Buddhism. One passage presented a particular puzzle:
Furthermore when appearance dispels the extreme of existence, And when emptiness dispels the extreme of non-existence, And if you understand how emptiness arises as cause and effect, You will never be captivated by views grasping at extremes.
I wondered if a mind could really be that open. Does avoiding extremes require feeling empty and uncertain about whether you actually exist? And how, I asked, might I apply such enlightenment to 515 N. Crescent Heights Blvd. or any of the extremes of todays California?
The team at Nechung L.A. had no idea of the houses history and knew nothing of Jarvis. In a conversation with Nechung L.A.s board secretary, Tenzin Thokme, I found myself starting to explain Prop 13, and then why Prop 15 is in the news. But my explanations were mostly just questions. Might Prop 15 pull a few billion more dollars out of commercial property and into the schools? Or might the initiatives many exemptions be exploited by wealthy property owners? Might this measure at the very least make a symbolic strike against Prop 13or will the whole exercise just reinforce Prop 13s power?
But if I understood Geshe Wangchuk, the recognition that I have more questions than answers is OK. Because uncertainty about what comes next, for me or for a proposition or for a house, might be the most powerful answer we ever get. Je Tsongkhapa taught it best 600 years ago: If the entire object of grasping at certitude is dismantled, at that point your analysis of the view has culminated.
Joe Mathews Zcalo
Visit link:
Prop 13: Taxes and the Importance of an Open Mind - LA Progressive
- A few words of enlightenment | Letters To The Editor | ncnewsonline.com - New Castle News - December 5th, 2020
- 'Finding the Heart Sutra': Alex Kerr finds humor at the heart of wisdom and enlightenment - The Japan Times - December 5th, 2020
- The enlightenment of Guru Nanak, and a glimpse into his global Udasis - The Indian Express - December 5th, 2020
- slowthai, punk prophet of Britain's austerity generation, is on a strange trip to enlightenment - Document Journal - December 5th, 2020
- How cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad mark a return to the propaganda of the Middle Ages - Middle East Eye - December 5th, 2020
- You Go Girl!: The Commercialisation of Feminism - Mediummagazine - December 5th, 2020
- Conservatism and Liberalism: Two Books on the Great Divide - The Wall Street Journal - December 5th, 2020
- Introduction to The New York Times' 1619 Project and the Racialist Falsification of History - WSWS - December 5th, 2020
- The Composting Costumier talks The Planet - A Lament with Garin Nugroho | Columns - Aussie Theatre - December 5th, 2020
- Why Is It Important to Remember What Came Before? > News > USC Dornsife - USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences - December 5th, 2020
- The Not So Negative Dialectics of Post-Secondary Education - The Bullet - Socialist Project - December 5th, 2020
- We say America is a 'Christian nation.' Here's what that would look like if we really meant it | Opinion - Pennsylvania Capital-Star - December 5th, 2020
- Ball: The garden at the end of the tunnel - Amarillo.com - December 5th, 2020
- Interview with Lisa Williams, founder of the Edinburgh Caribbean Association and creator of its Black History Walking Tours - bellacaledonia.org.uk - December 5th, 2020
- Off the Grid: Maladaptive coping and quarantine pie - The Spokesman-Review - November 27th, 2020
- Critical Care Products Market Enlightenment on Future Scenario by 2027 - The Market Feed - November 27th, 2020
- MY FAVOURITE THINGS: Amazed at the amount of home-grown talent in Sheffield - Sheffield Telegraph - November 27th, 2020
- New book about change and transformation follows woman's journey to find herself - GlobeNewswire - November 27th, 2020
- The Old Guy: Remembering a beloved Staten Island restaurant that did not survive 2020 - SILive.com - November 27th, 2020
- The Crown's learning disability storyline highlights painful lack of progress - The Guardian - November 27th, 2020
- Trump's war with America itself | Opinion | washtimesherald.com - Washington Times Herald - November 27th, 2020
- Many exalted western values rooted in Christian tradition - The Irish Times - November 27th, 2020
- Explore the Enlightenment with Ayn Rand Scholars - New Ideal - October 30th, 2020
- Time's Monster by Priya Satia review living in the past - The Guardian - October 30th, 2020
- How to Be a Luminary - Torah Insights - Parshah - Chabad.org - October 30th, 2020
- The politicisation of civilisations and ideologies: Macron, Charlie Hebdo and blasphemy in France - Middle East Monitor - October 30th, 2020
- Apollo 13: The Dark Side of the Moon review survival and enlightenment - The Guardian - October 14th, 2020
- Does the world still need the West? - Al Jazeera English - October 14th, 2020
- Jess Keiser explores the Enlightened psyche, "nervous fictions" in new book - Tufts Daily - October 14th, 2020
- Alejandro Jodorowsky Reflects on 'The Incal,' 40 Years Later - Hollywood Reporter - October 14th, 2020
- Ethnic studies teach Latino kids to hate the US. It is dangerous for Arizona - The Arizona Republic - October 14th, 2020
- 'Biden or Trump?' is a question that signifies the age of decay - GlobalComment.com - October 14th, 2020
- The New Enlightenment, and what it means for us - The Daily Princetonian - September 24th, 2020
- Tantra: Enlightenment to Revolution review, British Museum: this serious-minded show proves it's time we stopped tittering - Telegraph.co.uk - September 24th, 2020
- Car Buying is Changing and All It Took Was a Pandemic: The Enlightenment - Car and Driver - September 24th, 2020
- 'Electric Jesus' will take you on a metal-fueled journey towards enlightenment - Document Journal - September 24th, 2020
- Yom Kippur in recovery | The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle - thejewishchronicle.net - September 24th, 2020
- Phil Jackson Sent Lakers Governor Jeanie Buss A Photo Of Him In A Team Sweatshirt To Cheer Her Up - Sports Illustrated - September 24th, 2020
- PLU French professor receives a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities - The Suburban Times - September 24th, 2020
- Bodh Gayas Mahabodhi temple to reopen from September 21 with restrictions - Hindustan Times - September 24th, 2020
- CULTURE Autumn 2020 exhibitions at the Uffizi and Palazzo Pitti - The Florentine - September 24th, 2020
- Interview: I like to be reminded that literature has the power and mystery of a dragon, says Australian-Iranian... - Hindustan Times - September 13th, 2020
- Akwa Ibom to partner royal fathers on COVID-19 protocol enlightenment and enforcemen - Daily Sun - September 13th, 2020
- Karen Burnham Reviews Short Fiction: Clarkesworld, Lightspeed, and Tor.com - Locus Online - September 13th, 2020
- This isnt the time to forget Benjamin Franklin - Grand Island Independent - September 13th, 2020
- Joe Rogan's 'Inner Voice' Hack Could Be The Secret To True Workout Zen - DMARGE - September 13th, 2020
- Meera Sodha's vegan recipe for Shaoxing and soy braised tofu with pak choi - The Guardian - September 13th, 2020
- Pakistan sees its face in the mirror and doesnt like what it sees - The Indian Express - September 13th, 2020
- When Monuments Fall | by Kenan Malik - The New York Review of Books - September 13th, 2020
- 17-year-old junior hockey player hopes his coming out will inspire others - CBC.ca - September 13th, 2020
- In the beginning...the important things - The Hillsdale Daily News - September 13th, 2020
- FRSC partners Health Foundation on drivers certification The Sun Nigeria - Daily Sun - September 13th, 2020
- LIVING HISTORY: Keeper of the Books at library of the ages - The Courier - September 13th, 2020
- The Revolution Is Upon Us - Heritage.org - September 8th, 2020
- Author Introduces a New Age of Consciousness Through Reincarnation - Marketscreener.com - September 8th, 2020
- What Movies To Expect This Fall - NPR - September 8th, 2020
- Hajj 2020.. The ticket to board Hajj 2021 flight - The Nigerian Voice - September 8th, 2020
- Q&A: Jeff Okudah, on how reading sparked a 'Quest of Enlightenment' - The Athletic - September 7th, 2020
- Terence Corcoran: You are not you, and other truths of the new world - Financial Post - September 7th, 2020
- Hercules, Marvel Boy Bi-Sexual In Guardians of the Galaxy - Cosmic Book News - September 7th, 2020
- Forrest Hubbard Jr.'s newly released "Dreydens" is a riveting novel of a trio of curious individuals on a quest to unveil their world's... - September 7th, 2020
- Mathews: Meditating on Prop 13 with the Tibetan buddhists in Howard Jarvis' house - The Bakersfield Californian - September 7th, 2020
- Lilian Visinoni: Young And Ready to Save the Earth - THISDAY Newspapers - September 7th, 2020
- Islamic world at decisive point in history: Will it take the path of Emirates or Turkey? - Firstpost - September 7th, 2020
- Antiheroes and the 'American' Experience in Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man - Varsity Online - September 7th, 2020
- An Interview With Kosovo's Prime Minister and Other Top Weekend Reads - Foreign Policy - September 7th, 2020
- The role of desire in the religious life - Monroe Evening News - September 7th, 2020
- Guardians of the Galaxy #6 Review (2020) - Cosmic Book News - September 7th, 2020
- Toronto's Bata Shoe Museum Explores Footwear in the Age of Enlightenment in New 18th Century Exhibition - PRNewswire - August 16th, 2020
- Enlightenment and its discontents - Frontline - August 16th, 2020
- The Bata Shoe Museums Latest Exhibit Focuses on 18th Century Footwears Influence in the Age of Enlightenment - Footwear News - August 16th, 2020
- How This Technology Sales Leader Is Guiding Teachers Toward Instructional Enlightenment - Forbes - August 16th, 2020
- The 'woke' will lead us to enlightenment and more letters to the editors - Chattanooga Times Free Press - August 16th, 2020
- Freemasons: Behind the veil of secrecy - Livescience.com - August 16th, 2020
- 2 BR 0 2 B and the current situation of the world - newagebd.net - August 16th, 2020
- Nepal, India in war of words over Buddhas origins - The Hindu - August 16th, 2020
- Following and learning mumbo-jumbo - The News International - August 16th, 2020
- Top 10 books about the Grand Tour - The Guardian - August 16th, 2020
- Review: "Culture and the Death of God" - NBC2 News - August 16th, 2020
- Faust Announces September 4th Grand Opening of the Faust Haus - wineindustryadvisor.com - August 16th, 2020