Mirror of Zen Blog

Search
Close this search box.

The Fitful Short Birth of Pure Genius

638EAA60-B2BF-4332-9DA9-BB449F668EC0

I am so grateful to encounter this fresh new record of the coming-to-be of a song which was (along with so much of their sacred souls) so omnipresent, ubiquitous in the firefly-filled years of my childhood. Their music literally shaped my thoughts, emotions, and imagination forever.

Now, if we could just have a camera full of the gestation of “I Am the Walrus”, “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”, or “A Day in the Life”, would that be asking too much? (Though I know full well that all those eternal works of song craft were immaculately conceived on earlier albums, without the cameras of history. Just sayin’.)

As Andrew Sullivan commented on Twitter:

And someone else:

And this:

And this:

We’re No. 1! We’re No. 1! We’re No.1!!

C05E6FD6-9138-491A-814D-246D7597AF86

In dubious honoring of the inconclusive conclusion to the recent COP26 global climate conference in Edinburgh, this well-worn teaching (though unsettling to some) seems appropriate, however gutting.

cop26 #cop25 #cop24 #cop23 #cop22 #cop23 #cop22 #cop21 #cop20… #climatecrisis #climateemergency #climatechangeisreal #climatejustice #climateactionnow #zen #zenretreat #hyongaksunim #zenmasterseungsahn #zencenterregensburg #doh_an #현각스님 #gretathunberg #foxnews #foxnewssucks

In Zen, Too

242E1BAB-10A0-4A00-969E-BB640D3DCC7D

Some people attend just the three-day retreats, and most of what’s left with them is the memory of the somewhat jarring experience of getting up at 4:30 AM to practice every day. Several good souls have repeatedly told me to push back the wake up hour so that people don’t need to sleep so early the night before.

Then I want to show them this little bit of helpful neuroscience on the matter:

Working on the “Authentic Temple Zen” Meditation App in Athens

About six hours of this work with Christina, our user interface expert/designer, and already our brains are totally fried. We will hook up and resume the design of this “meditation ecosystem tool“ tomorrow. I have extended my stay here to really grab the opportunity.

Reflections from a note to my Patreon family:

With Christina in Athens. Building in all sorts of simple, intuitive user interfaces for people to bring the technology of “authentic temple Zen” into their own homes. I’m starting to get really, really excited about this! And also dreading the work and attention that it might yet bring. Still, not resolved inside about that, to be perfectly honest…

But it just seems more urgent, now more than ever, to produce the tools that can help new Dharma friends — and people unseen — the opportunity to build a structured practice through these addictive machines (and their app-tools), in these ever-so chaotic times.
Hence, the headache (and the constant backache). Need to do more Ashtanga (or mileage on the Peloton at home).

All of these tools and means to do this work, and to pay good professionals, comes from you, my Patreon supporters.

Reinvesting your generosity back into the development of tools of Dharma.

Thanks again for everything!

Sunim (& CB)

Πάντα ρει

62FA575A-66D0-4013-8F56-9606B741FF29

Everything flows.

Everything is always constantly, changing, from Heraclitus o (535-475 CE), one of the five wise men of Ancient Greece. The father of “Becoming” — everything flows like a stream; nothing is ever static. The basic law governing the Universe. Impermanence is its Buddhist cousin. Ever-present change, or flux and becoming: change. He uttered, “No one ever steps in the same river twice.”