Zen and Books

I really do try to be zentastically chill in every aspect of my life. YES, I'm fully aware that I'm light years away from achievement. As with any journey, a road map, a Lonely Planet type guide comes in mega handy.

I found this one on J’ – Zen Judaism: For You a Little Enlightenment by David M. Bader.

Be aware of your body. Be aware of your perceptions. Keep in mind that not every physical sensation is a symptom of a terminal illness.

Yep, I'm workin' on that.

Do not kvetch. Be a kvetch. Become one with your whining.

I believe I’ve achieved this one.

Be here now. Be someplace else later. Is that so complicated?

In-fucking-deed!

If there is no self, whose arthritis is this?

OR, in my case, if there is no self, whose neurofibromatosis type 2 is this?

I believe I need to pick this up as well as his book One Hundred Great Books in Haiku

In the sixteenth century, Zen monks in Japan developed the haiku, an unrhymed poetic form consisting of 17 syllables arranged in three lines.  Now, in One Hundred Great Books in Haiku, David Bader has applied this ancient poetic form to the classics. From Homer to Milton to Dostoevsky, the great books are finally within reach … (source)

I’ve been utterly remiss in reading the classics (well, most of em anyway). I’ve never read Hemingway’s Old Man and the Sea, Joyce’s Ulysses, Austen’s Sense and Sensibility – not even Golding’s Lord of the Flies!

What was I doing in high school when this was assigned reading for most? Remember, bitte sehr – I’m old. I went to high school in the 70s when one could elect, for the compulsory English course, classes devoted to song lyrics (listen to hot, new tunes WHILE I’m in class? I was SO there!). And there was entire semester devoted to science fiction.

Instead of The Crucible I was reading Martian Chronicles. Rather than The Odyssey I got to read The Foundation Trilogy. Great Expectations? Missed that. Instead, I got to fall in love with Stranger in a Strange Land and A Clockwork Orange.
I’ll hit Thomas Crane (the library NOT the very dead stone contractor) later. Maybe they’ll have a copy of One Hundred Great Books in Haiku and I can finally, easily fill in the gaps of my spotty education. OR I could see if they have All Systems Red by Martha Wells.

a self-aware security android hacks its settings and dubs itself “Murderbot”… because it sort of killed several people. Now free of restraints and bugs that might send them on another killing spree, the introverted droid has discovered soap operas and just wants to be left alone. (source)

OR mebbe Illuminae by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff?

This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do. This afternoon, her planet was invaded. (source)

Ya know, not all of us were meant to have deep, classical educations and shit!