My tryst with Zen

I have been hooked onto Zen for the past week or so. Here are some titbits which may interest you.

Enso, which is 'cirlce' in Japanese is closely associated with Zen. It stands for expression of enlightenment, experience of completeness. The circle is unique for each individual each moment, just as it is unique each time one draws a circle.

For beginners like me, the book titled Essential Zen, by Kazuaki Tanashi and Tensho David Schneider is probably a good way to get introduced to this concept. Most of the stuff in this post is picked from this book.

The most important thing in Zen philosophy, the one thing which stands out clear and loud is that the emphasis laid on nowness, not the past, nor the future, its just you and the present moment. Each one of us is born every morning and die every night.There is no past baggage that you carry. You start every moment, every day afresh. Some (humorously) say that Zen is nothing but Mahayana Buddhism plus a few Chinese jokes. The word Zen (Chan in Chinese) is derived from the word dhyan in Sanskrit.

One of the best ways to appreciate Zen is by reading some of its koans (spiritual puzzles). To quote John Daido Loori :
"A koan is a non-logical statement, question or anecdote most often between a Zen master and a student from the Zen literature. A koan is a means for the student to confront the self, to bypass the logical and conceptual thinking and becomes an object of concentration. "

The first koan has many forms. It could be, "Show me your original face, the one which you had before your parents were born." or "We know the sound of two hands clapping, now, what is the sound of one hand clapping. Dont tell me, show it." :)

Here is a nice one.

Nanquan was on the mountain working. A monk came by and asked him, "What is the way to Nanquan ?" The master raised his sickle and said, "I bought this sickle for 30 cents."
The monk said, "I am not asking about the sickle you bought. What is the way that leads to Nanqan ?"
The Master said, "It feels good when I use it."



And this is my current favourite (not a koan) but a thought from Zen philosophy.

It is hard to even begin to guage, how much a complication of possessions, the notion of "my and mine" stand between us and a true, clear, liberated way of seeing the world. To live lightly on the earth, to be aware and alive, to be free of egotism, to be in contact with plants and animals, starts with simple concrete acts. The inner principle is the insight that we are interdependent-energy fields of great potential wisdom and compassion - expressed in each person as a superb mind, a handsome and complex body, and the almost magical capacity of language. To these potentials and capacities, "owning things" can add nothing of authenticity.

"Clad in the sky, with earth for a pillow".

- Gary Snyder

Book reviews

And now about books:

1. Tuesdays with Morrie: A good read. Lacks the punch tho. I had seen this book on the stands a couple of years earlier. After hearing many a people go ga-ga over this, gifted this to rash.
Wish Mitch had recorded more of Morrie's words. I mean, he should have started the Tuesday sessions much earlier. Morrie's words are truly wonderful. Lot of meaning in them. It does moist your eyes.

2. Quicksilver: I am short of superlatives to describe this book. Gets a little dragged in between but its one helluva ride, littered with treasure and am waiting to read the next volume of the Baroque Cycle.

3. Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, by BKS Iyengar. A gift from an old friend of mine. Each sentence is so loaded, makes you read those sentences again. This book will be more of the reference kind. Cant start this book with a mission to finish it off in one go. Will take a while to assimilate the essence of this book. As my friend describes, its certainly a 'Manual for Life'.

Have picked up a few books on Zen Teachings from the National Library in Singapore. 43$ for a yearly membership is not bad for the access to the books we get here. And have reserved' Herman Hesse's Siddhartha in the college library. Have read it earlier, but want to read it again.

I am somehow drawn to the Buddhist teachings off late. Maybe, I will have to give a serious try to understand their philosophy.

movie time

I have been watching quite a few movies ever since I came to this island. Here are some noteworthy ones, which I definitely recommend. I am damn sure will watch them again in the near future..

In a reverse chronological order:
1. Good Will Hunting (9/10) -> simply amazing..the best part of this movie, apart from Matt Damon is Robin Williams and Will's english girlfriend. I have suddenly started a liking towards the Brit accent.

2. 7 Years in Tibet (9/10), Brad Pitt stars here. Its about Tibet and the Dalai Lama, based on a true story. Don't miss this one. Saw this movie listed in one of my friend's fav movielist. Should thank her big time.

3. Pulp Fiction (8.5/10), seen it before. Will see it again

4. Fight Club (9/10), seen it before. Will see it again

5. La Vie en Rose (8/10). Awesome performance by Marion Cotillard. For a good review of this movie read my wifey's post
I also liked 'A good year' or was that 'A great year', Russell Crowe and his vineyard in France. This is was my first Of Marion's movies. She is an absolute stunner. Also watch the movie numbered 9 in this list if you have a crush on Marion.

6. Spring-Summer-Autumn-Winter-Spring (8/10), (A Korean movie).
Superb. About a buddhist monastery, the master and the disciple. I am truly stunned by the simplicity of the message one gets from this movie. Atleast for the locales of where this movie is shot, watch it. Will watch it again.

7. 2 Days in Paris (7/10), didn't enjoy it the first time. Have to see it again.

8. Husbands and Wives (8/10), Woody Allen's movie as always quite different and realistic, atleast the movies which deal with relationships. I watched his 'Everything you always wanted to know about sex.....to ask', but didn't quite like it. It was funny and bizarre in parts.
I think Annie Hall still scores better than these.

9. Love Me if You Dare (7.5/10). This is a French feast. Stars Guilame Canet and Marion Cotillard. The lead also happen to be an item in real life. Lucky ass.

10. Into the wild: watched in parts. Will see it completely next time around. This one too is based on a true story. I guess this is Sean Penn's movie.

And there is a score of other movies which you can afford to give them a skip.
Wanted-Kung Fu Panda-....err...well I don't even remember the names. Ya and one Japanese pink movie..all not worth talking about.
And of course a few Katrina's movies. Even though her movies are not worth remembering, she definitely is refreshing :)

Theory of Colors

Newton pierced his left eye, underneath his eye ball with a blunt needle. He had read Boyle's Experiments and Considerations Touching Colors and wanted to check how the instrument with which one observes colors, work. In this case, the human eye.

He asked his master,Daniel (Newton was supposed to be Daniel's sizar) to hold an image at different distances from his eye. He made and noted down observations with one hand as he moved the needle up and down with his other, distorting the shape of the perfectly spherical eye ball. The experiments were carried out all through the night. By dawn, Newton had been the one who knew more about the human eye than anyone else in the world.

An astronomer who did not understand his lenses would be a poor philosopher indeed. Am sure this applies to all those who are inventing something or embarking on some field of research.

For a more enriching experience, go read the book. There are more such interesting incidents.
Will try post some of the good ones.