“The truth about the world, he said, is that anything is possible. Had you not seen it all from birth and thereby bled it of its strangeness it would appear to you for what it is, a hat trick in a medicine show, a fevered dream, a trance bepopulate with chimeras having neither analogue nor precedent, an itinerant carnival, a migratory tentshow whose ultimate destination after many a pitch in many a mudded field is unspeakable and calamitous beyond reckoning. The universe is no narrow thing and the order within it is not constrained by any latitude in its conception to repeat what exists in one part in any other part. Even in this world more things exist without our knowledge than with it and the order in creation which you see is that which you have put there, like a string in a maze, so that you shall not lose your way. For existence has its own order and that no man's mind can compass, that mind itself being but a fact among others.” ― Cormac McCarthy Listen; It is simple. What makes you different is what makes you interesting. Revel in that thought What you think makes you a freak, is what other people will find interesting about you. Too often we try and hide our differences, we hide what is truly us. We often try to hide our eccentric thoughts and actions that are not the common "norm." We should highlighting our uniqueness. Look st the fasmous, they are seriously a wonky bunch, and it is exactly that sbout them that is interesting. Like fish in water, it is hard for us to understand the culture around us, as it is deeply psrt of our psyche, but when we all buy the same clothes, watch the same television shows, we all read the same books, there is an innate pressure to conform. Everyone feels it, but not many admit it. We work hard to blend, we work hard to not be different, but listen, different is what works. Different is what makes this world better. Those that do not conform, that ignore the common culture are the ones who shape our society for the future. Those who simply fit in are not doing anything but existing. They simply consume. Those who do not fit in, us freaks, we are creating and building and making. Like a lighthouse on the rocks, those that are different shine a light on the "rocks" that could sink our culture within our society. People want to be different, and they are afraid to show it. People may not always show their admiration, but they truly admire those that walk their own path. Society may not appreciate it openly, and society may try to attack you and make you conform, but deep down, you have their respect. Your goal then is to be yourself. Be yourself so naturslly, be yourself in such a true way, that people cannot view you any other way. Be real and true. Naturalness of movement snd thought, with you being you, is what also fascinates others about you. Be as radically freaking different as you can be, please, our society need it. D There is a Buddhist term “fragrance learning,” which means a kind of unintentional absorption.9/22/2011
In other words, discipline at Eiheiji has nothing to do with attaining supernatural powers or doing special meditation, nor does it entail harsh penance or mortification of the flesh. Rather, it is to be found in the everyday practice of Zen rules. There is no differentiation between means and end. Monastic discipline is not something done in order to gain enlightenment; rather, the faithful observance of monastic discipline is enlightenment, in and of itself. It cannot therefore be left to others, but must be performed with one’s own body and mind.
Zen discipline is not a staircase or a means of getting somewhere; it is rather about the successive moments of life—of existence itself. It means being fully aware in body and spirit of the fact of your life, and continuing to cultivate and practice the best way to live as a human being. This is the meaning of Dogen’s words, “Dignity is itself the Dharma. Propriety is itself the essence of the house.” There is a Buddhist term “fragrance learning,” which means a kind of unintentional absorption. Just as passing by an incense burner can imbue clothing with fragrance, so we are affected unconsciously by the atmosphere of a place, just by happening to be there. But for Zen practitioners, work has inherent spiritual value and is integral to the life of discipline. Before my eyes, time moved in a way I used to know well. In a scene that might have played out anywhere, people were freely crossing the street or lingering to chat and exchange a laugh. All around them time flowed, so clear and transparent that its very existence was forgotten, just as it had once flowed around me. Like air, it had been pervasive and invisible, so natural a part of life that I never gave it a thought. But now from the time I got up till the time I went to bed—no, even while I was in bed—I had not a moment to call my own.Eat Sleep Sit : My Year at Japan's Most Rigorous Zen Temple by Kaoru Nonomura, Juliet Winters Carpenter I did not want to live out my life in the strenuous effort to hold a ghost world together.9/17/2011
“I did not want to live out my life in the strenuous effort to hold a ghost world together. It was plain as the stars that time herself moved in grand tidal sweeps rather than the tick-tocks we suffocate within, and that I must reshape myself to fully inhabit the earth rather than dawdle in the sump of my foibles.” ― Jim Harrison, Julip “I seek the substantial in life.” ― Jim Harrison, Just Before Dark “I've often thought there ought to be a manual to hand to little kids, telling them what kind of planet they're on, why they don't fall off it, how much time they've probably got here, how to avoid poison ivy, and so on. I tried to write one once. It was called Welcome to Earth. But I got stuck on explaining why we don't fall off the planet. Gravity is just a word. It doesn't explain anything. If I could get past gravity, I'd tell them how we reproduce, how long we've been here, apparently, and a little bit about evolution. I didn't learn until I was in college about all the other cultures, and I should have learned that in the first grade. A first grader should understand that his or her culture isn't a rational invention; that there are thousands of other cultures and they all work pretty well; that all cultures function on faith rather than truth; that there are lots of alternatives to our own society. Cultural relativity is defensible and attractive. It's also a source of hope. It means we don't have to continue this way if we don't like it.” ― Kurt Vonnegut How many of us live our lives on our terms,how many live the lives we want? Listen. There are groups of people in this big beautiful world who have managed to live design and choose how they live so that it is true and interesting and theirs. They are what they chose to be, and how many of us can say that? Too often we create lives which are, at best, sad attempts at raising our material status, bettering our standard of living, so we buy things, we choose things, and at the worst, we simply let things happen to us without making any choices. I know I spend too much of my life not choosing, accepting whatever floats my way, and not doing all I can to mke my life mine, and to do those things I have always wanted to do, but have always pushed back. I do things. I am busy. I do well. But there is a risk of crossing the line and becoming a simple cog. I make other things function, but cogs do not make, they do not create. It is time to make something. I have waited too long, we all have, but not too late. It is time to get building, writing, fighting, creating, struggling, kicking up to the light, and we have to use all our heart, leaving none out, fighting dirty if we have to make it real, and to make it now. To not choose a path is to let the world choose for you, so you can be what they want you to be, not all you can be. Time to take risks. What I like about literature is that it shows the potential of a person can be, the infinite choice, the potential. Time to write large. I once read somewhere letting the world know you too well, is to let them define, to create expectations. It is better to unexpected, ill defined, messy, and awesomely great. Allow yourself not a life, but to live. Today; Make choices Take Risks Go the next step Repeat. D "Let us toast to animal pleasures, to escapism, to rain on the roof and instant coffee, to unemployment insurance and library cards, to absinthe and good-hearted landlords, to music and warm bodies and contraceptives... and to the "good life", whatever it is and wherever it happens to be." — Hunter S. Thompson Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
I’m not crazy about reality, but it’s still the only place to get a decent meal. —Groucho Marx Just simply a great fun read, and I just couldn't read it fast enough. Literally a roll call of the 80"s mixed with with all the video games, rock and roll, and snow crash you can take. Quotes; :"The laptop served as my portable research library, video arcade, and home theater system. Its hard drive was filled with old books, movies, TV show episodes, song files, and nearly every videogame made in the twentieth century." Just a few of the authors mentioned; Douglas Adams. Kurt Vonnegut. Neal Stephenson. Richard K. Morgan. Stephen King. Orson Scott Card. Terry Pratchett. Terry Brooks. Bester, Bradbury, Haldeman, Heinlein, Tolkien, Vance, Gibson, Gaiman, Sterling, Moorcock, Scalzi, Zelazny. "Technically, this wasn’t part of my research, but I had a serious cute-geeky-girls-playing-ukuleles fetish that I can neither explain nor defend." Could be my favorite quote, maybe of all time; "Each word appeared on my display as I said it. “No one in the world ever gets what they want and that is beautiful.”" |
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