In response to those of you who've wondered where I've been, and for those who have asked, I got tired of words for a bit and decided to go live in a place where actions speak louder. Actually, I went for the ten-day free trial of World of Warcraft® and instantly became addicted, so I've spent my off-time for the last ten days or so developing a Dark Elf Warrior named Kwanyin in the Realm of Onyxia to a level 13 (gamers may laugh, but I'm doing it the slow, hard way as a solo act). She's about to take the Ferry to Darkshore, and I'm very excited.
Seriously, words do get old. I have to live in them all day at work, which is expected, but they have been getting in the way, otherwise. I've begun to concentrate on my workouts again; I can get more "spiritual awareness" from one good Yoga class or even a Step class than any dozen Buddhist Festival Board meetings, or listening to any more canned words after a session of zazen. Why is it that we feel the urge to talk, talk, talk after we sit? Wouldn't this be the best time for some silent physical activity? Will I ever get the time and resources to put together the Zen/Yoga workshop I've been thinking about for a month or two, to counter the talky talky crap from every other Buddhist activity I'm involved in? Stay tuned.
So if you must read about Zen, instead of just cutting to the chase and doing it (which is the only path that's ever going to get you anywhere/nowhere), at least read something real; I can heartily recommend Gudo Nishijima's To Meet the Real Dragon. No pansied crap there; if you see a giant pink lotus anywhere, run, run, run.
And if you want to watch something, the Witchblade TV series is out on DVD, finally.
Or come and join me in Azeroth. Very little talk (if you ignore the chat feed), lots of action. No screaming babies. Seriously, a few hours of this stuff makes me feel like I've had a real vacation. Make sure you hang in there through the map stuff at the beginning, to see how the characters look and move. So although millions of people are already doing this, I'm going to give you their trailer to watch. Maybe this'll hook you.
And don't worry, I'll find something to yak about again soon, I'm sure. I'm just as addicted to words as you are.
3 comments:
Holy Sh_t!! I thought my after-zazen talks were penetrating, witty, and inspiring. You mean...it's all just stupid WORDS? Criminy- I just KNEW I'd fail at this Zen gig, too!! Bah Waaaaaaah! sob...sniffle....
If you want to set up a workshop...Check out Zen Yoga
www.artofzenyoga.com
That's interesting. I don't know who you are so I can't respond to you personally, but my concern would be the authenticity of the Zen in such a thing. I have little doubts about the validity of the Yoga; there are a lot of qualified instructors now. The founder of ZenYoga (and I only know what I found in looking at the website just now) seems to have studied in Japan (where Zen is now pretty dead) and studied martial arts, which could be helpful, or not.. probably so, though usually more associated with Rinzai. It appears likely to me that the ZenYoga thing is just applying Zen principles to Yoga, rather than actually doing zazen in combination with Yoga; worth checking out, though! Thanks, Masked Person!
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