A Quick Note from the Road

I'll miss the debate tonight -- will instead be hanging out on Amtrak Train 175, on the way back from this week's gig on the Alzheimer's World Tour.

Just as well.  I'll let somebody else worry about the Big Issues.  Will instead stay occupied running the Alzheimer's support system that I cobbled together myself because, you know, we don't want institutions taking care of those things.  "We must trust the American people," as I think Bush said the other night...

Whatever.  Things are what they are.  And in the near term at least, the ambulance is not coming.  Once you realize that... well, you don't get self-reliant all at once.  But you do start to relax.

Last Saturday when I was hanging out with the Zen guys at the Zendo, and we were doing some Zazen (I was looking forward to writing that)... last Saturday... right after one of the more experienced guys had been going on about koans and enlightenment (they're Rinzai, so they do that), I was sitting there and toward the end of the sitting this thought came to me: your entire life is a fucking koan.

And I started to relax.

Side note: Zen is not primarily about relaxation, as they'll tell you over and over.  But it doesn't hurt.  And since at the moment I'm dealing with this, among other things, I figure I'll look for help in multiple quarters, Zen being one of them.  Nothing like focusing on unmediated reality to get you straightened out...

Side note II: am also thinking about Job as the most Zen (Zennest?) thing in the Bible.  Might say more about that at some future point.

In that spirit and in that general mood, I came across this.

After you've read it, check out the comments here.  They're a hoot.

Actually I should be more respectful.  I understand the objections, and might even be inclined to agree with some of them.  But in spite of that, the piece struck a chord.

For the moment, let that be my character note.