Month: June 2023

A Ba-ba-babble-ing by Bā-bē Step outside, far and wide　Open road, your abodeRise above, like a dove　Sunward spring, tip a wingFlip flap fly, bright blue sky　Laugh out loud, on a cloudHave some fun, be the sun　Interface outer spaceMirth and mime, beyond time　Soar up out of sight, at the speed of lightBe at home and play, in… Continue reading Wriggledy Wryddles Wriggorously Wrymed

When the great mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss was a young lad in elementary school, the teacher posed a problem for the class: find the sum of the first 100 numbers. Gauss almost immediately came up with the answer: 5,050. He was able to do this not by rapid addition of the numbers 1-100, but by… Continue reading An Intellectual Smile

The Japanese word satori, “enlightenment,” can actually be read, according to context, as a translation of either of three Chinese characters, which have these nuances of meaning: 　kaku ( 覺) “awakening”　go ( 悟) “realization”　sho ( 証) “verification” The Japanese word shu (修), meaning “practice,” when combined with sho (証) is an abbreviation of the fourfold… Continue reading The Sho-Me State

　 　A mountain monk, desiring moonlight in the well,　Ladled it out with water into a vessel,　But, upon returning to the temple,　He emptied the vessel and the moon too was emptied. Chinese Text: 　山僧貪月色，　井汲一瓶中。　到寺方應覺，　瓶傾月亦空。 Enjoy some thematic music while contemplating this verse. Claude DeBussyClaire de Lune To extend the moon thematics . . . Can Beethoven… Continue reading Moonlight in Water

The Zen monk Shuiliao had a meeting with Master Mazu. He asked the Master, “What is the meaning of Bodhidharma’s coming from the West?” Mazu immediately gave him a kick in the chest and knocked him down. Shuiliao was suddenly enlightened. He jumped to his feet and laughed out loud with big uproarious laughter. Later,… Continue reading Laughing Out Loud at Enlightenment

For those of you who like riddles, here is a riddle that is posed three times, with variations, in James Joyce’s book Finnegans Wake: Mark the Wans, why do I am alook alike a poss of porterpease? Mark the Twy, why do I am alook alike two poss of porterpease? Mark the Tris, why do… Continue reading Finnegans Wake Riddle

A Zen Koan for your rumination: One day, Master Xiangyan was sweeping the ground. A pebble swept up by the broom struck a bamboo making a sound: tock! This sound caused him to become suddenly awakened. He hurriedly went home to bathe and burn incense. He traveled to pay obeisance to Guishan, who eulogized this,… Continue reading The Sound of One Tock Clacking

The following true story is from Laughter and the Sense of Humor, a book by the Freudian analyst Edmund Bergler who also wrote about people enjoying “great masochistic fiestas,” a phrase that still amuses me. I believe he also defined masochism as “victory through defeat.” In any case, here’s the story as told by Bergler:… Continue reading Down and Out with Millionaires

Today, 16 June, is Bloomsday, an event that is celebrated worldwide in celebration of James Joyce, his book Ulysses, and the hero of the book Leopold Bloom. Here are two passages from Ulysses that make mention of the date: Miss Dunne hid the Capel street library copy of The Woman in White far back in… Continue reading 16 June 1904