Category: Blague

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

One of the cleverest religious jokes I’ve ever heard: “Rabbi,” cried the little Jew, “a terrible thing has happened. My son wants to marry a Gentile girl.” “Your son!” replied the Rabbi. “Look at me and my son. Here I am, the leader of the community. Everyone looks up to me as an example, and… Continue reading The Lowdown from Highup

In the koan collection called Hekiganroku, Case 70 presents a koan called “Kuei Shan Attends on Pai Chang.” There are four sentences in this koan, each sentence followed by a jakugo, or a penetratingly sagacious Zen comment. One thing I find interesting is the first three Chinese characters of the first jakugo: 阿呵呵, meaning Ah-ha-ha!… Continue reading Laughter and the Zen Koan

The title of this musing is the same title I gave to one of the first essays I wrote as a freshmen at Park College. It already shows a penchant for playing with words, for you can, if you are lucky enough to have made a strike, go to an assayer’s office and have your… Continue reading Assaying Fibonacci’s Golden Section

Early one morning in a quiet place,God beheld the babe’s smiling face.So enchanted was God by the smile,God paused and tarried there a while. Within the smile God basksAnd bababeling asks,“Just who are you?”　“Not one, not two,”Bababbling the babe replies. “Are you girl, are you boy?”　“I am both, I am joy.”“Who’s more happy, you or… Continue reading Bā-beatitude of a Smile

What is the heart, or core, of science that makes it so powerful? With such dazzling feats as putting men on the moon, science, rather than religion, seems to be the realm where modern miracles routinely take place. One thing that clearly empowers science is its method. The work of science is done by two… Continue reading The Theorist and the Experimentalist