Category: Blague

(or creatio ex nihilo) Take a moment and look at the following sequence: 　0 . . . ¼, ⅓, ½, 1, 2, 3, 4 . . . ∞ Note that the number 1 (one) is in the center and, as each number increases to the right, the inverse number decreases to the left. If you multiply… Continue reading Let There Be — Something from Nothing?

It would surely enrich our practice, as well as our lives, to stay fully present in every moment in all phases of life, especially some of the more unwelcome: washing dishes, the reckless driver who cuts in front of us, the surly store clerk, the noisy neighbor who “disturbs” our meditation. I put “disturb” in… Continue reading Now Hear This: Tock!

In an age of specialization, Alfred North Whitehead was a modern Renaissance man, a polymath who distinguished himself not only in philosophy, but also in mathematics, physics, logic, and educational theory. A lifelong teacher, his popularity with students is shown in the following humorous anecdote: “At Oxford University, when a professor concludes a course, it… Continue reading Having Fun with Whitehead

During World War II, after his capture by the Japanese, an Australian artillery sergeant was marched off with a number of his comrades to the infamous Changi prisoner-of-war camp in Singapore. Sydney Piddington was nineteen, the year was 1942, and his captors had allowed him to bring only a small knapsack of personal possessions. Among… Continue reading Super-Slow Reading

(Enjoy A Little Night Music as you browse this Blague) The musical critic Einstein—Alfred, that is, not Albert—confers high praise on Mozart’s composition, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik: “This is supreme mastery in the smallest possible frame.”1 Once below a time, playing on the words of Mozart’s title, I sent an email to a friend and named… Continue reading Eine Kleine Nachtmusik

Buddhist scholar John McRae announces what he calls the first law of Zen studies: “It’s not true, and therefore it’s more important.” That is, historical events are trivial in comparison with how legends and myths live in the popular consciousness.1 And Whitehead chimes in with this: But in the real world it is more important… Continue reading True-Shmue—Is It Interesting?

　　　　　High Seas 　　——HyC—　　—————　　—————————————F—　　——————————D————　　———————B———————　　————G——————————　　—E————————————— 　　　　　　High Sees I was playing with words when I first used the expression “This has been a HyC Adventure” as a postscript to a little piece I emailed to a friend. HyC brings to mind High Seas and, more to the point, High Sees, an allusion to adventures in the science and… Continue reading HyC Adventures

Long ago, almost four billion years in the past, an event occurred that has been called “one of the greatest works of creativity” in the entire history of the living earth. There were no humans around then since our ancestors, homo sapiens, made their first appearance only two-hundred thousand years ago. But there were a… Continue reading Prometheo: The First Mystic

D. T. Suzuki, a key figure in bringing Zen to the West, made an intriguing comment: that one contrast between Zen Buddhism and Christianity can be clearly seen in what the two religions use as sacramental substances—tea vs. wine. Tea sharpens the mind and stills the emotions while wine, in both cases, does just the… Continue reading What’ll It Be: Wine or Tea

Some of you may be surprised to learn that we are all natural-born hypnotists and that we mesmerize ourselves, for the most part unconsciously, several times each day. It all has to do with a natural rhythm—a rhythm of activity followed by  rest—that recurs throughout the day. This rhythm undulates on all levels, from cellular… Continue reading Give Us This Day Our Daily Rhythms