The invisible skull on the desolate hills of every california town opens its jaws or arranged imprisonments and decapitation. But who listens?" (Herrera 83)
I think this means the invisible skull who represents people from california opining its jaw which means opens its arm for different people but then makes them suffer. The skull also represents the darkness of California and the Jaw/ mouth of the skull is the sentiment of prison that the imigrants or counter culture people live when they live in california.
"a few lefty wanna-be Latinos dissipates and re-emerges."Herrera 86"
This short quote shows herrera's proudness of his county. He talks about how certain americans imitate their habits and language to be like real latinos. It's the same thing as people trying to be black... that start talking like them and all. It is very explicitto todays society I think.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Friday, May 18, 2007
INTERVIEW
1. How is living a Zen life counter cultural?
2. What lead you to this lifestyle?
Louis—I’ll take the second of you questions first. I would ask what led me to zen practice since zen and all of Buddhism is a practice. Lifestyle makes it seem like the lifestyle advertising that is so predominant out there. Indeed, that is exactly how zen is marketed these days as a lifestyle—serene, peaceful, minimalist, lots of green tea, maybe some shakuhachi flute in the background over $100 sushi. But very little actual sitting. Buddhism is a practice—it very practical and pragmatic. I came to practice from 2 angles
1) art and aesthetics—I was blown away by Japanese haiku and scroll painting. Later—Chinese poetry as well. The attention to daily life drew me in and seemed to connect with the works of WCW whom I was reading voraciously at the time. So because I was figuring what it meant to be a poet and what poetry was etc. the Japanese conception of art as a “Way” led me naturally to zen. Basho after all was a practitioner—I recall Robert Aitken Roshi’s book A Haiku Wave being instrumental in making this connection for me and clarifying how writing could be a form of practice—an extension of (but never a substitute for) formal meditation.
2) Suffering—my life was a mess and I wanted to find a way to sort it out. My traditional Christian upbringing offered little in the way of guidance besides kumbiyah around the youth group campfire, so I looked elsewhere. My religion prof at McGill—Victor Sogen Hori—was a zen monk as well. That helped a lot. I checked out the local zendos and started sitting daily when I was 19 or so.
In terms of how zen is countercultural, I would as instead IF zen is countercultural, and that clearly depends on what you mean by culture. In terms of Shambhala Enlightened Society, practice is anything but countercultural—it is the vehicle to creating a kinder, more awake, compassionate society that eases of suffering of the greatest number of people. But sure, in one sense, practice goes against the grain of our current speedy, consumerist culture. I’m wary tho of the “world-denying” implications of countercultural. The biggest misnomer about zen is that it means dropping out of society and going to live in a monastery—a kind of fuck it all approach that in the end amounts to a lack of courage to face and deal with one’s life just as it is, warts and all. Real practice isn’t about dropping out of society, it’s about entering more deeply into it and helping others. I also don’t think that we need a counterculture right now—I think the current system of liberal bourgeois capitalism through welfare state democracy is the best idea of how to structure our lives we’ve come up with so far. The problems (more equitable distribution of wealth, global warming, species extinction, AIDS, genocide) are matters of refinement, not fatal flaws in the system. I don’t think the whole thing needs to be scrapped—the situation as we Buddhists say is workable. A lot of the counterculture focuses on how bad America is and how hopeless the system is—I think that’s a poisonous attitude to take. Don’t play the America Sucks Sweepstakes.
From my point of view enlightenment is a moment of clarity where
everything becomes obvious. Can you explain if this statement is true or
false?
4. Why is enlightenment so important for Zen Buddhists?
5. Have you ever reached enlightenment?
6. If yes, how was it like.
I don’t have much use for the question of enlightenment. Too often people take this idea of getting enlightened and turn it into a goal to pursue. The problem with that is twofold—one you already are what you are pursuing, and two it’s an aggressive, acquisitive approach to spiritual practice. Enlightenment becomes just another commodity on the spiritual marketplace—what Trungpa Rinpoche termed spiritual materialism. And people who practice in this way frequently become arrogant and prideful assholes who think that they’ve got something the rest of use mere mortals don’t. This is especially true of Rinzai zen koan practice. Having done that practice for a while and “passed” koans, I can tell you that so-called enlightenment experiences aren’t much different from bad gas or a blood sugar low. They are impermanent states of mind that, if clung to, become just another source of suffering. Better I’d say to cool off and not worry too much about enlightenment. I prefer the “no gain” approach to practice which assumes that we are all already Buddha—intrinsically enlightened—and our job is to pay attention to all the subtle ways we talk ourselves out of acting that way. Slowly, we learn to stay with and taste fully all aspects of our experience, including the parts we don’t like. It’s a hell of a lot harder to sit still when you’re pissed off or bored silly than to concentrate on a koan and get enlightened. The latter runs the risk as well of turning meditation into a mechanism for repressing emotions—I’ve met TONS of people who have passed lots of koans and had enlightenment experiences who still don’t demonstrate even the slightest amount of emotional honesty.
So—I’d question that enlightenment is important to zen Buddhists. Certainly in the two main schools Soto and Rinzai you have divergent opinions. Soto is more oriented towards the no gain approach where Rinzai stresses the importance of satori. Unfortunately for the Beats, the only real scholarship at the time centered around DT Suzuki who stressed satori and enlightenment like nobody’s business. This one-sided perspective on practice set American zen back 50 years I’d say—it’s negative effects can still be felt to this day.
2. What lead you to this lifestyle?
Louis—I’ll take the second of you questions first. I would ask what led me to zen practice since zen and all of Buddhism is a practice. Lifestyle makes it seem like the lifestyle advertising that is so predominant out there. Indeed, that is exactly how zen is marketed these days as a lifestyle—serene, peaceful, minimalist, lots of green tea, maybe some shakuhachi flute in the background over $100 sushi. But very little actual sitting. Buddhism is a practice—it very practical and pragmatic. I came to practice from 2 angles
1) art and aesthetics—I was blown away by Japanese haiku and scroll painting. Later—Chinese poetry as well. The attention to daily life drew me in and seemed to connect with the works of WCW whom I was reading voraciously at the time. So because I was figuring what it meant to be a poet and what poetry was etc. the Japanese conception of art as a “Way” led me naturally to zen. Basho after all was a practitioner—I recall Robert Aitken Roshi’s book A Haiku Wave being instrumental in making this connection for me and clarifying how writing could be a form of practice—an extension of (but never a substitute for) formal meditation.
2) Suffering—my life was a mess and I wanted to find a way to sort it out. My traditional Christian upbringing offered little in the way of guidance besides kumbiyah around the youth group campfire, so I looked elsewhere. My religion prof at McGill—Victor Sogen Hori—was a zen monk as well. That helped a lot. I checked out the local zendos and started sitting daily when I was 19 or so.
In terms of how zen is countercultural, I would as instead IF zen is countercultural, and that clearly depends on what you mean by culture. In terms of Shambhala Enlightened Society, practice is anything but countercultural—it is the vehicle to creating a kinder, more awake, compassionate society that eases of suffering of the greatest number of people. But sure, in one sense, practice goes against the grain of our current speedy, consumerist culture. I’m wary tho of the “world-denying” implications of countercultural. The biggest misnomer about zen is that it means dropping out of society and going to live in a monastery—a kind of fuck it all approach that in the end amounts to a lack of courage to face and deal with one’s life just as it is, warts and all. Real practice isn’t about dropping out of society, it’s about entering more deeply into it and helping others. I also don’t think that we need a counterculture right now—I think the current system of liberal bourgeois capitalism through welfare state democracy is the best idea of how to structure our lives we’ve come up with so far. The problems (more equitable distribution of wealth, global warming, species extinction, AIDS, genocide) are matters of refinement, not fatal flaws in the system. I don’t think the whole thing needs to be scrapped—the situation as we Buddhists say is workable. A lot of the counterculture focuses on how bad America is and how hopeless the system is—I think that’s a poisonous attitude to take. Don’t play the America Sucks Sweepstakes.
From my point of view enlightenment is a moment of clarity where
everything becomes obvious. Can you explain if this statement is true or
false?
4. Why is enlightenment so important for Zen Buddhists?
5. Have you ever reached enlightenment?
6. If yes, how was it like.
I don’t have much use for the question of enlightenment. Too often people take this idea of getting enlightened and turn it into a goal to pursue. The problem with that is twofold—one you already are what you are pursuing, and two it’s an aggressive, acquisitive approach to spiritual practice. Enlightenment becomes just another commodity on the spiritual marketplace—what Trungpa Rinpoche termed spiritual materialism. And people who practice in this way frequently become arrogant and prideful assholes who think that they’ve got something the rest of use mere mortals don’t. This is especially true of Rinzai zen koan practice. Having done that practice for a while and “passed” koans, I can tell you that so-called enlightenment experiences aren’t much different from bad gas or a blood sugar low. They are impermanent states of mind that, if clung to, become just another source of suffering. Better I’d say to cool off and not worry too much about enlightenment. I prefer the “no gain” approach to practice which assumes that we are all already Buddha—intrinsically enlightened—and our job is to pay attention to all the subtle ways we talk ourselves out of acting that way. Slowly, we learn to stay with and taste fully all aspects of our experience, including the parts we don’t like. It’s a hell of a lot harder to sit still when you’re pissed off or bored silly than to concentrate on a koan and get enlightened. The latter runs the risk as well of turning meditation into a mechanism for repressing emotions—I’ve met TONS of people who have passed lots of koans and had enlightenment experiences who still don’t demonstrate even the slightest amount of emotional honesty.
So—I’d question that enlightenment is important to zen Buddhists. Certainly in the two main schools Soto and Rinzai you have divergent opinions. Soto is more oriented towards the no gain approach where Rinzai stresses the importance of satori. Unfortunately for the Beats, the only real scholarship at the time centered around DT Suzuki who stressed satori and enlightenment like nobody’s business. This one-sided perspective on practice set American zen back 50 years I’d say—it’s negative effects can still be felt to this day.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
p.55-80
"Get horny with the wrong images"(herrera 61)
This section was important in last night's reading. It reflects how religion can make people do weird stuff. Sometimes religion give very good meanings to life and that is why people follow them so much. It talks about the over ruling of religion that can become harassing for people. For example, women rights in certain religion are very restricted but I think it's just because the founder of these religion were men. In this poem it's exagerted but it's just to give an idea to people.
''Fuzzy Equations" (herrera 74)
those fuzzy equation express the frustrations there is from latin American people. Latin people are very emotive(french people are latin too). When Latin see what is going on in America, it makes them jealous. they see their neigbor beeing a world power and they are nothing much in the world scale. I think these equation are an emotive reaction by the author.
This section was important in last night's reading. It reflects how religion can make people do weird stuff. Sometimes religion give very good meanings to life and that is why people follow them so much. It talks about the over ruling of religion that can become harassing for people. For example, women rights in certain religion are very restricted but I think it's just because the founder of these religion were men. In this poem it's exagerted but it's just to give an idea to people.
''Fuzzy Equations" (herrera 74)
those fuzzy equation express the frustrations there is from latin American people. Latin people are very emotive(french people are latin too). When Latin see what is going on in America, it makes them jealous. they see their neigbor beeing a world power and they are nothing much in the world scale. I think these equation are an emotive reaction by the author.
Monday, May 14, 2007
1st paragraph (need work)
Kerouac vs. Thoreau
Thoreau is the most popular writer in American Literature, and Kerouac is an poet that was not as well known as Thoreau although they both have very similar opinions. These opinions are comparable because they are alike from some point of views but very different from other point of views. The view they have for nature is very similar but has slim differences.
Thoreau is the most popular writer in American Literature, and Kerouac is an poet that was not as well known as Thoreau although they both have very similar opinions. These opinions are comparable because they are alike from some point of views but very different from other point of views. The view they have for nature is very similar but has slim differences.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
p.30-55
"things appear new, our poesy missions appear refurbished, then the fog from the pacific rolls in again, homicide stats pile up on the curb, more death, then light, rain, more rain." (herrera 32)
At the befggining of this quote he says things appear neweverything is easy. thn, the fog from the pacific rolls in which forshadoes moments of darkness where the number of homocides keeps groing and I think the light is the image of god but it doesn't come because of these moments of darkness.
"Food stuff they never told us about." (herrera 33)
In this poem he sees everything in the darkside. Everything becomes drugs, catastrophies or bad things. I think this is sort of a theme in the novel because it seems like a pretty dark story. Everything is going bad. it forshadoes tday's depression probably with the food in the grocery stores... we never know if what we et is 100% natural. fruits are full of organic products that are bad for us.
At the befggining of this quote he says things appear neweverything is easy. thn, the fog from the pacific rolls in which forshadoes moments of darkness where the number of homocides keeps groing and I think the light is the image of god but it doesn't come because of these moments of darkness.
"Food stuff they never told us about." (herrera 33)
In this poem he sees everything in the darkside. Everything becomes drugs, catastrophies or bad things. I think this is sort of a theme in the novel because it seems like a pretty dark story. Everything is going bad. it forshadoes tday's depression probably with the food in the grocery stores... we never know if what we et is 100% natural. fruits are full of organic products that are bad for us.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Notebooks of a Chile Verde Smuggler (5-29)
"I drop my burden"
This little quote is importan because we never really know what it means. I drop my worries. i drop my errors, drop my stress. after the first paragraph of the book i thought that this second section was were the kid was trying to not think about the salt and water on his open scare and try to purify is sowle by meditating (sort off).
''this is the lass stop before you hit pheonix,"
this shows the setting of the story it shows were its going to be. It also says that there will be a lot of traveling.
This little quote is importan because we never really know what it means. I drop my worries. i drop my errors, drop my stress. after the first paragraph of the book i thought that this second section was were the kid was trying to not think about the salt and water on his open scare and try to purify is sowle by meditating (sort off).
''this is the lass stop before you hit pheonix,"
this shows the setting of the story it shows were its going to be. It also says that there will be a lot of traveling.
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
CCC Interview
1. How is living a Zen life counter cultural?
2. What lead you to this lifestyle?
3. From my point of view enlightenment is a moment of clarity where everything becomes obvious. Can you explain if this statement is true or false?
4. Why is enlightenment so important for Zen Buddhists?
5. Have you ever reached enlightenment?
6. If yes…how was it like.
7. How does people react to your lifestyle?
8. Did meditation really change your way of thinking?
9. Recently, we’ve read the book the Dharma Bums. In this book, they talk a lot about nature and how nature helped the main character to reach enlightenment. Do you use nature if so how do you use? If not do you have another place that really helps you in your meditation sessions?
10. If you would have a tip to give for an apprentice Zen Buddhist, what would it be?
Tyler Doherty
2. What lead you to this lifestyle?
3. From my point of view enlightenment is a moment of clarity where everything becomes obvious. Can you explain if this statement is true or false?
4. Why is enlightenment so important for Zen Buddhists?
5. Have you ever reached enlightenment?
6. If yes…how was it like.
7. How does people react to your lifestyle?
8. Did meditation really change your way of thinking?
9. Recently, we’ve read the book the Dharma Bums. In this book, they talk a lot about nature and how nature helped the main character to reach enlightenment. Do you use nature if so how do you use? If not do you have another place that really helps you in your meditation sessions?
10. If you would have a tip to give for an apprentice Zen Buddhist, what would it be?
Tyler Doherty
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Monday, May 7, 2007
The House on Mango Street
"I knew then I hadto have a real house. A real one. One I could point to" (Cisneros 748)
After beiing rediculized by the noun, she realizes that her lifestyle is totally pitty full. She then promisses to herself that she will get herown house when she will get older. A house nice enough to not be afraid to show it.
After beiing rediculized by the noun, she realizes that her lifestyle is totally pitty full. She then promisses to herself that she will get herown house when she will get older. A house nice enough to not be afraid to show it.
Sunday, May 6, 2007
Seeing
"but if you cultivate a healthy poverty and simplicity, so that finding a penny will literally make your day, then, since the world is in fact planted in pennies, you have with your poverty bought lifetime of days. It is that simple. What you see is what you get."
(Dillard 693)
This quote says that it would be important to find the bright side of everything. Annie Dillard in this quote explains how she was happy when dhe was finding a penny on the ground when she was younger, and she explains thatif everyone was looking at the good side of everything, life would become way easyer and happyer.
"Finally I asked, 'What color am i looking for?' and a fellow said, 'Green.' When at last I picked out the frog, I saw what painters are up against: the thing wasn't green at all, but the color of whet hickory bark." (Dillard 695)
In this quote, Dillard explains the metal image that people have for things. She takes the example of the frog which is seen by most of us as green. She says that when she actually saw it she realized it actually wasn't green at all. I think people are using the same image with blacks. they all think that because of their color, they are different but they don't really learn to really know who they are.
"'The girl went through the experience that we all go through and forget, the moment we are born. She saw, but it did not mean anything but a lot of different kinds of brightness.'" (Dillard 701)
I think this quote is nice because it expains how without our minds our vision doesn't mean anything. No one remembers anything about their life uintil they became mature enough to remember what they have been seeing. Whithout our minds we'd only see a tun of different kinds of brightness.
The literature of illumination reveals this above all: although it comes to those who wait for it, it is always, even the most practuced and adept, a gift and a total suprise." (Dillard 705)
This quote makes me think of enlightenment. It says that even for those who wait for it to happen and for the biggest adepts who work to get it, It is always a very big suprise. I would add to that that it will be way bigger for the ones who workedfor it then for the ones who didn't.
(Dillard 693)
This quote says that it would be important to find the bright side of everything. Annie Dillard in this quote explains how she was happy when dhe was finding a penny on the ground when she was younger, and she explains thatif everyone was looking at the good side of everything, life would become way easyer and happyer.
"Finally I asked, 'What color am i looking for?' and a fellow said, 'Green.' When at last I picked out the frog, I saw what painters are up against: the thing wasn't green at all, but the color of whet hickory bark." (Dillard 695)
In this quote, Dillard explains the metal image that people have for things. She takes the example of the frog which is seen by most of us as green. She says that when she actually saw it she realized it actually wasn't green at all. I think people are using the same image with blacks. they all think that because of their color, they are different but they don't really learn to really know who they are.
"'The girl went through the experience that we all go through and forget, the moment we are born. She saw, but it did not mean anything but a lot of different kinds of brightness.'" (Dillard 701)
I think this quote is nice because it expains how without our minds our vision doesn't mean anything. No one remembers anything about their life uintil they became mature enough to remember what they have been seeing. Whithout our minds we'd only see a tun of different kinds of brightness.
The literature of illumination reveals this above all: although it comes to those who wait for it, it is always, even the most practuced and adept, a gift and a total suprise." (Dillard 705)
This quote makes me think of enlightenment. It says that even for those who wait for it to happen and for the biggest adepts who work to get it, It is always a very big suprise. I would add to that that it will be way bigger for the ones who workedfor it then for the ones who didn't.
p.171-200
#1
“ ‘Do you know what sudden enlightenment is? One disciple came to a Master and answered his koan and the Master hit him with a stick and knocked him off the veranda ten feet into a mud puddle. The disciple got up and laughed. He later became a Master himself. ‘Tasn’t by words he was enlightened, but by that great healthy push off the porch.’” (Kerouac 173)
This quote said by Japhy is very important. He explains what sudden enlightenment is. He says that it can happen anytime. Getting pushed off a porch enlightened the disciple. I think that sudden enlightenment will happen after a lot of meditation and work. It cannot happen to someone that doesn’t reflect about life. For some it can happen when the get pushed off a poach and for others it can happen after another event.
#2
“Then I suddenly had the most tremendous feeling of the pitifulness of human beings, whatever the were, their faces, painted mouths, personalities, attempts to be gay, little petulance, feeling of loss, their dull and empty witticism so soon forgotten.”(Kerouac 199)
This human said by Ray is important because he expresses his thoughts about humans. He says that as soon as someone is left doing nothing all of his drive is forgotten. I think this reflects one common saying in French. “moin tu en fais moi tu veux en faire” which means the less you do the less you want to do.
“ ‘Do you know what sudden enlightenment is? One disciple came to a Master and answered his koan and the Master hit him with a stick and knocked him off the veranda ten feet into a mud puddle. The disciple got up and laughed. He later became a Master himself. ‘Tasn’t by words he was enlightened, but by that great healthy push off the porch.’” (Kerouac 173)
This quote said by Japhy is very important. He explains what sudden enlightenment is. He says that it can happen anytime. Getting pushed off a porch enlightened the disciple. I think that sudden enlightenment will happen after a lot of meditation and work. It cannot happen to someone that doesn’t reflect about life. For some it can happen when the get pushed off a poach and for others it can happen after another event.
#2
“Then I suddenly had the most tremendous feeling of the pitifulness of human beings, whatever the were, their faces, painted mouths, personalities, attempts to be gay, little petulance, feeling of loss, their dull and empty witticism so soon forgotten.”(Kerouac 199)
This human said by Ray is important because he expresses his thoughts about humans. He says that as soon as someone is left doing nothing all of his drive is forgotten. I think this reflects one common saying in French. “moin tu en fais moi tu veux en faire” which means the less you do the less you want to do.
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