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I'm a writer and creative director. I make things, collect books, write fiction and don't understand Zen. I'm Vegan.

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On Curiosity

I’ve been enamored with the writings and films of Alejendro Jodorowsky lately. This also rekindled my interest in Surrealism and Andre Bretón.

The intellectual improvisation of mind, following it’s natural curiosity, has led me to some of my greatest discoveries of music, film and culture. Any time I encounter an artistic form that speaks to me, I listen intently and let myself meander and traverse whatever path the Daemon wants me to take. I am always astonished where I end up.

Years ago Trane led to Miles. Miles led to Bird. Bop led to Sonny Rollins and back to Trane which led to Mingus, Monk, Rouse, Blakey, Clifford Brown, Dolphy, Ornette Coleman and scores of other jazz giants. The same has been true in literature and philosophy, even spirituality which went through paths of Buddhism, Zen, Tao, Gnostic, Alchemical, Western Esoteric, Vedic, and on and on and—

To never limit the possibilities of what might be just around the next curve is infinite in its potential for growth and self-discovery. That curiosity is the greatest gift. The illuminative. Even the most shattering and paradigm shifting. But, that’s the idea, right?

What Zen Is

“Vast sky transparent throughout;
a bird flies like a bird. ”
- Dogen

olivia

Mu

A monk asked Joshu,
“Has the dog Buddha nature or not?”
Joshu said, “Mu.”

Take the backward step and turn the light inward.

- Dogen

To study the Buddha way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be enlightened by the ten thousand things.

- Dogen, from the Shobogenzo, the new complete version from Shambhala Publications, translated by Kauaki Tanahashi.

zen_reads

Ten Zen Reads

While there are seemingly more and more books on Zen every day—so much so that Daido Loori called it a glut—there are books that shed great light on Zen.

These are the ones that have most inspired me and my thinking.

  1. Bringing the Sacred to Life by John Daido Loori
  2. The Treasury of the True Dharma Eye by Dogen
  3. The Eight Gates of Zen by John Daido Loori
  4. Moon in a Dewdrop by Dogen
  5. The Heart Sutra by Red Pine
  6. Path of Enlightenment by John Daido Loori
  7. Invoking Reality by John Daido Loori
  8. How To Cook Your Life by Dogen
  9. To Meet The Real Dragon bu Gudo Nishijima
  10. One Robe, One Bowl: The Zen Poetry of Ryokan
blogisattva

The Blogisattva Awards

This is cool. I just saw that a post I wrote for Elephant Journal has been picked as a finalist in the annual Blogisattva Awards for excellence in Buddhist themed blogging.

My post “Pizza: My One Obstacle To The Pure Land of Veganism” is a finalist in the category Best Achievement with Humor in a Blog or Blog Post.

Give the post a read over at Elephant Journal.

Thanks, Blogisattva judges. That’s really cool.

shobogenzo

The Complete Shobogenzo

Wow. The complete master work of Dogen Zenji translated by Kaz Tanahashi.

The Treasure of the True Dharma Eye is 1616 pages of writings, commentary and notes on one of the most profound documents ever written.

I can’t wait to read this. Thanks, Kaz.

kaz

Kaz Tanahashi Article

Check out this fantastic article on the acclaimed Dōgen translator, brush artist and calligrapher Kaz Tanahashi. I love his treatment of Dōgen Zenji’s writings. In the article, in reference to Dōgen, Tanashi says,

“He challenges us with an urgent question: How do we live each moment fully and meaningfully? He makes us feel not confined and tiny, but free and enormous.”

The new edition of Dōgen’s spiritual masterpiece is a true gift, as is Kaz Tanahashi.

Whitman, Dogen & the Essential Path

I find this passage from Song of Myself by Walt Whitman to be so very connected to the beautiful non-dualty of the great Zen mystics. Dōgen wrote at length about the intimacy that arises when the separation between the self and other fall away.

Whitman wrote this:

Stop this day and night with me and you shall possess the origin of
all poems,
You shall possess the good of the earth and sun, (there are millions
of suns left,)
You shall no longer take things at second or third hand, nor look through
the eyes of the dead, nor feed on the spectres in books,
You shall not look through my eyes either, nor take things from me,
You shall listen to all sides and filter them from your self.

Likewise, Dōgen wrote that: ”To hear sound with the whole body and mind, to see form with the whole body and mind, one understands them intimately.” This is the essence of Zen. It’s also as ordinary as taking a breath, walking, eating. It is this very life, this very moment.

Simple. Beautiful.