Friday, March 04, 2011

Speed and Balance and Mindfulness and Right Livelihood

The problem with the "Simple Living" movement is that lives must be lived. Bills must be paid.  Meetings must be kept.  It wasn't an entirely bad idea for people to develop labor saving devices; though it is certainly true that the more we do the more energy we create, which is both good and harmful (at least at the present time).

There's got to be balance.  It is possible to efficiently, quickly move through the chores one must do - and discover one's self in one's chores.  In fact that need to plan efficiently is indeed a part of it.  It's the mise en place.

Anyway, that's where I am.

4 comments:

J said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
J said...

That's one reason I oppose "Golf-zen"--bills must be paid. The hipsters who take up an interest in zen and buddhism tend to be suburban liberals, or above (ie corporate execs), IMHE. It's often a type of escapism.

Poor folks on the other hand go to church, er Iglesia. Not saying that's right or wrong--but the way it is. Given Bill Mahersteins, or the latest zen-guru-ripoff, I'm not sure they're so worse off with Paddy McCallahan. At least Paddy will usually call a spade a spade, and shit, shit. (that's not to say hypocrisy is unknown in the RCC). The zen of Notre Dame, mumon. :]

Mumon K said...

J:

The hipsters who take up an interest in zen and buddhism tend to be suburban liberals, or above (ie corporate execs), IMHE. It's often a type of escapism.

Is that so?

J said...

Yep.

Booj-wah, as Marxy Marx would put it.

Zizek (google it) has scrawled a few interesting things on western buddhism as ...a tool of capitalism, more or less---.


I don't completely agree-- there may be mental health benefits to meditation (and to the martial arts)...but there is a certain resignation involved with Bu. -the world's a disaster, so like contemplate your navel, and/or work on the zen of tee-ing off.

There are some progressive sorts into eastern religion, but lets not forget that rinzai zen was typically for the aristocratic japanese . In ways quite ...cold, stoical. Similar to the romans' stoicism.


The Indian aspects of Bu. are a bit different--a bit mo' human ---but still a religion of negation (as Schopenhauer realized---a negation of the absurd, in a sense). The old monks sit in the forest for years, gazing at ...nada.
Maoist praxis thought along those lines (thats not to bless Mao.)