2001.06.08
When the Chinese Zen master Ta-mei was on his deathbed, he gave these last words to his students: "When it appears, don't try to avoid it. When it disappears, don't go chasing after it." At that moment, a squirrel scurried across the roof. "There's only this, nothing else," said Ta-mei. Then he died.My current thought is that I'm one of the most or one of the least enlightened people I know. Intellectually I feel I'm very in tune with the ideals of Zen-- it seems very much in tune with the "die-hard materialist" stance of books such as Dennett's "Consciousness Explained"-- but I find myself slow to adopt the rituals. Perhaps I should begin sitting meditation.
Links of the Moment
I'm not sure which is funnier.
Landover Baptist Church
is the Onion.com of Souther Baptists, but unlike most sites that take up the Onion style, it's really funny. On the other hand, in the "funny because it's true" category,
the radio show Truths That Transform had an
interview
with evangelical missionaries to far off foreign lands. In this case,
France. Mais Oui!