Zen Buddhism and Bart Simpson?
Professor’s comment: The following essay is only one of a series of mind-bending ones that Rob wrote for my class, essays that demonstrated not just a quirky sense of humor but also a razor-sharp intellect and distinctive voice. This particular essay was written in response to an assignment asking students to explain a concept. From the first line of this essay, I knew I was on to something special: how many people would choose to explain an element of Zen Buddhism using Bart Simpson? And the essay does not disappoint.
Bart Simpson, America’s favorite animated smart-aleck kid, replied to the famous question “What is the sound of one hand clapping?” by slapping the fingers of his right hand against his right palm, creating a loose flapping noise. Ask around and you’ll find only a few people with this talent (I am one of the lucky ones able to accomplish this feat). But the question becomes: am I and my fellow smug-single-hand-clappers missing the point? That, my friend, is a darn good question.
The sound of one hand clappingis a koan. Zen Buddhist masters use these paradoxical stories or questions to force their pupils to slough reason in favor of sudden enlightenment. Koans are designed to be nonsensical, shocking, or humorous.
So are koans serious or fun? Another good question, but a strikingly Western one. Why must seriousness and fun be mutually exclusive? Why are we so serious about whether seriousness and fun are mutually exclusive? All koans. We Americans can learn a lot by studying these little buggers. Pure Reason has failed to answer questions of how, or more importantly, whywe should live. Sadly, many people also see learning (or thinking) as a dry, boring act. Perhaps our teachers need to tell us not merely what they do know, but what they don’t know. Zen masters were not afraid to do as much.
Koans sneak up on you. Each koan is a well-wrapped chocolate Easter egg of wisdom that reveals itself in layers. The first is either pure titillation, or a slap in the face. Try to read the following without smirking:
(1) Wakuan complained when he saw a picture of bearded Bodhidarma, ‘Why hasn’t that fellow a beard?’1
(2) A student asked Joshu, ‘If I haven’t anything in my mind, what shall I do?
The story opens with a crisis in their relationship. The narrator reads in the newspaper that Sonny has been taken up in a drug raid. He learns that Sonny is addicted to heroin “horse,” and that he will be sent to a treatment facility to be "cured." Unable to believe that his once gentle and quiet brother could have so abused himself:
However, Nietzsche debunks Edward’s idea of sin, claiming it as a contrivance used to invoke fear in the believers of Christianity and to denote ruling power to the Priest (Nietzsche, Sec. 49). Nietzsche proceeds to deride the value system of Christianity, spelling out what he sees through the will to power as definitions for happiness, good, and bad (Nietzsche, Sec. 2). For Nietzsche, happiness is the feeling bolstered by power: “that a resistanc...
Life comes with many struggles and gives strength to those who face them. James Baldwin’s short story “Sonny’s Blues” is about the struggles and hardships that every day people face. This story is about an aspiring musician, Sonny, Baldwin’s main character, whose life is portrayed through the eyes of his older brother. Because of Sonny’s lifestyle, his brother has lost touch with him for many years, but after a terrible tragedy the narrator reaches out to Sonny and tries to mend their relationship. Sonny is a recovering drug addict and as the story goes on, it seems as if Sonny has changed, but in reality he did not change, his brother just comes to realization that he cannot change him, but only accept and respect the man that he is and the man that he’s striving to be. Baldwin gives much depth to the storyline and also his characters.
The forefather of Madhyamika Buddhism was Nagarjuna. T.P. Kasulis writes in his book, Zen Action, Zen Person that Nagarjuna was a predecessor to the development of Zen Buddhism. Nagarjuna is regarded though as a patriarch of the Zen tradition. He was the affecting principle to demonstrate logically the "emptiness", or rather sunyata of philosophical distinctions. Kasulis also explores Nagarjuna's "Logic of Emptiness."
The novel Being Peace by Thich Nhat Hanh shows how the world can be made a better place though the application of Buddhism and meditation in our daily lives. Thich Nhat Hanh describes practices and suggestions that the common person can apply in their daily lives immediately in order to create peace in their life and in the world.
One ought to contemplate about everything around us. Even though every person has the ability to think, we should also have the skill to thinking
Since Shakespeare’s play was written in the early 17th century, before woman took complete creditability, the character Miranda is presented as a woman who is ignorant of the cruelty in the world, a traditional 17th century woman. In other words, ignorance is bliss for her as she needs her father (Prospero), a man, to protect her from when Caliban, a slave, tries to forcefully possess her; “thou didst seek to violate/ The honor of my child” (626). As men consider women to be temptresses, the character Miranda has not even had sexual relations with her lover, Ferdinand; “thou dost break her virgin-knot before all ...
Siddhartha Gautama is famously known as Gautama Buddha and was the founder of the idea of Buddhism. The Buddha was known to possess supernatural powers and abilities. He was born in the holy land of Nepal and his journey began in India when he decided to travel and teach himself about life. In the midst of his journey, he discovered Buddhism after he experienced a profound realization of the nature of life, death and existence. Buddhism became a religion based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama and since then Buddhism has been popular throughout many civilizations. Buddhism is now one of the most ancient religions in the world, where people follow Buddha, which stand for “awakened one,” and Buddhism which has gained popularity because of the teachings of the Buddha.
In the first essay DON’T EAT BEFORE READING THIS Bourdain wrote humorously, comparing his kitchen staff to “The Wild Bunch”, which was a group of old western outlaws. SANDRA BLAND AND OR VUNRABLE BODIES is far from humorous, Roxane Gay wrote about a serious modern day issue for an African American. WHY WE CRAVE HORROR MOVIES by Stephen King was composed to explain that our insanity drives us towards terrifying motion pictures. Finally, Marlon James sequentially structured FROM JAMAICA TO MINESOTA TO MYSELF to reveal the discovery of himself. Even though the four essays I have chosen are different topics and styles of writing, they all passionately wrote about a subject that is dear to them. Overall my attitude about the essays. The assignment was a learning experience that has changed dreadful thoughts to an open mind breaking a piece down to find a true meaning, through figurative
Nietzsche attacks religion for its stance against of healthy instinctive values and the intolerance and complacency that religion breeds.(Nietzsche 52) Nietzsche believed that the Christen morality prevented us from reaching our full potential as human beings(Janaway). Nietzsche most classical explanation for how this repressing of healthy values, such as passion and ambition occurred is the slave revolt. In this theory he states that the priestly classes of the ancient world invented an evaluative system for the downtrodden, according to which what their masters considered virtues, such as pride and strength are evil(Milgram 93). A result of this is this pervasive feeling of self guilt when our natural instincts provoke such feelings from within us, which has a negative impact on our mental health (Janaway).
In Zen living, you do not strive to analyze or explain what happens in your life. You just learn to embrace whatever that may come your way. Life is to be experienced, not just to be enjoyed. Therefore, you do not try to avoid anything in life. Neither do you try to "accept" what is pleasant and "reject" what is unpleasant; the very act of "selecting" is a sickness of the mind. To heal depression with Zen, you must learn to let go - not just of the past (especially a traumatic past experience that might have triggered the depression) but also what you are afraid to let go. Once you mind becomes uncluttered by distorted thoughts, you begin to look at everything in your life in perspective.
In this essay we will embrace Nietzsche’s philosophy for the sake of the fact that he proposed that God is dead, life is worthless, and fate ultimately surpasses faith. In the end, he provided for many, an alternative philosophy of life that became life affirming. On the other end, the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche has many diversions, for a countless number of reasons. Undoubtedly, most of those in disagreement to Nietzsche’s philosophy base their objections on a misperceived threat to their unwavering doctrine of religious faith. To make this evident, we begin with one of philosophy’s most argumentative, yet widely misunderstood quotes.
Sonny’s side of the story represented one perspective of the African American experience in this time period. He accepts his status & tries to live within the black culture and deal with it distress that goes along with it, just to keep his dignity. At first, he channels his afflictions through music. There eventually becomes a time in his life when can no longer deal with the pain or suffering and Sonny takes the well-beaten path of turning to heroin, t...
Croal, N. (2004 September 27). This is serious fun. Newsweek Magazine. Retrieved on May 1, 2005, from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6100258/site/newsweek/
Humor has been the source of entertainment throughout history. Today humor is practiced in movies, plays, songs, television shows and radio. Humor has brought fame and fortune to those who have mastered its power.