Shunryu Suzuki: Study Yourself

From Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

Don't improve;remove

If you try to “improve” you will reach a dead end. It cannot be done, because you are attempting to improve upon a falsehood, an ego that only wishes to remain and perpetuate its current form.

John Cage and Kirk Roland (1966) - Sound??

The man with the beautiful eyes

When we were kids
there was a strange house
all the shades were
always
drawn
and we never heard voices
in there
and the yard was full of
bamboo
and we liked to play in
the bamboo
pretend we were
Tarzan
( although there was no
Jane)
and there was a
fish pond
a large one
full of the
fattest goldfish
you ever saw
and they were
tame.
They came to the
surface of the water
and took pieces of
bread
from our hands.

Our parents had
told us:
" never go near that
house"
so, of course,
we went.

We wondered if anybody
lived there.
Weeks went by and we
never saw
anybody.

Then one day
we heard
a voice
from the house
" YOU GOD DAMNED
WHORE!"

It was a mans
voice.
Then the screen
door
of the house was
flung open
and the man
walked out.

He was holding a
fifth of whiskey
in his right
hand.
He was about
30.
He had a cigar
in his
mouth,
needed a
shave.
His hair was
wild and
uncombed
and he was
barefoot.
In undershirt
and pants
but his eyes
were
bright
they BLAZED
with brightness
and he said,
"hey, little
gentleman,
having a good
time, I
hope?"

Then he gave a
little laugh
and walked
back into the
house.

We left,
went back to my
parents yard
and thought
about it.

Our parents,
we decided
had wanted us
to stay away
from there
because they
never wanted us
to see a man
like
that,
a strong natural
man
with
beautiful
eyes.

Our parents
were ashamed
that they were
not
like that
man,
thats why they
wanted us to stay
away.

But
we went back
to that house
and the bamboo
and the tame
goldfish.
We went back
many times
for many
weeks
but we never
saw
or heard
the man
again.

The shades were
down
as always
and it was
quiet.

Then one day
as we came back from
school
we saw the
house.

It had burned
down,
there was nothing
left,
just a smoldering
twisted black
foundation
and we went to
the fish pond
and there was
no water
in it
and the fat
orange goldfish
were dead
there,
drying out.

We went back to
my parents yard
and talked about
it
and decided that
our parents had
burned their
house down,
had killed
them
had killed the
goldfish
because it was
all too
beautiful,
even the bamboo
forest had
burned.

They had been
afraid of
the man with the
beautiful
eyes.

And
we were afraid
than
that
all throughout our lives
things like that
would happen,
that nobody
wanted
anybody
to be
strong and
beautiful
like that,
that
others would never
allow it,
and that
many people
would have to
die.

Great speech.

A daily fuck you to religion will make you live longer.

What can I say? I love Hitchens.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a hero.

I love the way the audience gets up and applauds. A truly respectful woman with a very urgent and important message.

Christopher Hitchens sayin' it like it is.

'Religion should be treated with ridicule, hatred and contempt.' Historical.

If you feel it's maybe too radical of a view, too bad for you. Maybe you should swap the world religion with fascism, or bigotry, or pedophilia. See if you're maybe too radical about those issues too.

Sean Connery on smackin' bitches.

My respect for Sean just skyrocketed. I just love the accusatory and patronizing tone the interviewer uses in an attempt to intimidate him. Of course, Sean knows better and his composure alone is worthy of an Oscar if you ask me. A comment rightly points out:

I agree with him, actually. Some people might misunderstand what he's saying, that you should beat the shit out of her if she disagrees, which is not what he's saying. Women slap men when they are over the line, why can't guys do the same?

Ah... off for some wine and a smoke. There are still men out there. There's still hope.

Feminism + Religion - Reason = Brain Damage.

Save for Whoopi, the pretentiousness and know-it-all-I'm-correct-even-if-I-know-shit attitude of these women is enough to make any decent and self-respecting person out there puke his brains out. What kind of a dead-brain person watches a show where scientifically illiterate women discuss their opinion about the world and, of all things evolution?! Also notice the overall feminist air which peaks when one of the guests/hosts remarks "again HE" regarding God. I bet these assholes would harbor secret resentment if God (if he existed) ever revealed his true bearded gender. So fucking self-centered. Wake up and realize that you happen to be conscious in a world that is totally indifferent to human beings and their ridiculous pretensions.

Recommended reading by the one and only Christopher Hitchens.
The Richard Dawkins foundation for Reason and Science.

EDIT(20-09-07): Watching this again today (I lead an empty and vapid existence) I find the fact that the guest defends her self-admitted ignorance by playing the virtuous provider card a truly disturbing indication of the kind of mentality that is hindering our progress. She dismisses and undermines the importance of knowledge by treating it as a matter of priorities (the wellbeing of my child is more important than my ability to raise him to be a conscious and educated human being). I'm not saying that she is to choose "science" over her child -that's the whole goddamn point! She doesn't have to choose! It is emphatically not a matter of priorities! Her argument is so irrelevant that it makes her look even worse. Remember, we're talking "is the world round?" here, not nuclear physics. But I'm sure most people in the audience bought it without a question because she appealed to their morality and made it look like you must choose something. Consequently, it would make anyone completely immoral and irresponsible to 'choose' curiosity, interest and intellect. Be wary when people pull the big emotional words like family, nation, freedom, happiness, equality and so on on you. They're most likely trying to fuck you in the asshole and manipulate you to the point that you're willing to accept anything they say just so you don't feel wrong by their standards.

The Universal Mind of Bill Evans.

They actually made some good television back in the 60's. But this is beyond good -it's phenomenal. I'm humbled beyond words by Bill Evans. Every word he utters is unspoiled brilliance. Musicians out there, take fucking notes.

Note- this is part 1 of 5, more here.