Author Archive for evtujoPage 3 of 4
(A markov chain bible chapter using the entire KJV as input. The final verse is especially, er, chilling)
1:01 crow, thou shalt take the goods of his land:
1:02 And thou shalt fear, and let him acknowledge that the children of Ammon;
1:03 And Gilead, and Galilee, all the set feasts, by number, according to Christ Jesus:
1:04 That ye love one another, even as a servant, for a memorial before the ark of the Chaldeans:
1:05 for thou shalt not be purged from thy glory, and wisdom, and bow myself in great abundance.
1:06 And Solomon said, If we say then? Shall we give, or shall the earth feared, and said, He is antichrist, that denieth me before men, to pray before the LORD;
1:07 for he beareth not fruit he taketh away:
1:08 and they shall smite him;
1:09 or if there be any work that they might stand before their eyes, and, behold, they are consumed out of your dwellings.
1:10 And Pharaoh said unto them, and returned unto the king, That Daniel, which art infamous and much vexed.
1:11 Behold, the Hebrews hath met with us of his person, and well favoured.
1:12 And it came to her maidens.
1:13 She considereth a field, and thou shalt eat it in her month they shall burn it on a smoke, because the LORD which is a feast by an ordinance for Israel unto this day;
1:14 give me half thine house, and his hand toward heaven, that thou doest well to draw water.
1:15 And he answered, Here am I.
1:16 Are they not judge.
1:17 Shall I yet to cry unto God a more sure word of God made a covenant of the offering up of the LORD was there upon me.
1:18 They that forsake the idols of Egypt:
1:19 in vain shalt thou change them, and the priests of the children free.
1:20 Notwithstanding, lest we should pray for you in Egypt since it became as a bride adorned for her husband.
1:21 And I will make drunk her princes, and gave him to be feared above all gods.
1:22 For all this people, who have purposed to return unto thee the righteous shall be of the priests the Levites which are my people, and tongues, stood before the testimony, and cover you with mine own bowels:
1:23 Whom I would not destroy it for me, O thou fairest among women? what is his body, according to the earth.
1:24 And when the Jews which dwelt in a strange woman, from the pestilence;
1:25 that they might put us therein.
1:26 And when they had emerods in their own souls by their own confusion, as with his face about, and when thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, and for every man's money was not to covetousness.
1:27 Turn away my peace be with the mouth of the tabernacle of the LORD thy God, those deliver thou me.
1:28 For ye know these things will I send pestilence among you;
1:29 that ye might be the woman returned out of the night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, is the stumblingblock of their enemies:
1:30 and awake for thee, and as for me, which to day into mine hand?
1:31 Now therefore kill every woman
(A markov chain bible chapter using the entire KJV as input. The final verse is especially, er, chilling)
1:01 crow, thou shalt take the goods of his land:
1:02 And thou shalt fear, and let him acknowledge that the children of Ammon;
1:03 And Gilead, and Galilee, all the set feasts, by number, according to Christ Jesus:
1:04 That ye love one another, even as a servant, for a memorial before the ark of the Chaldeans:
1:05 for thou shalt not be purged from thy glory, and wisdom, and bow myself in great abundance.
1:06 And Solomon said, If we say then? Shall we give, or shall the earth feared, and said, He is antichrist, that denieth me before men, to pray before the LORD;
1:07 for he beareth not fruit he taketh away:
1:08 and they shall smite him;
1:09 or if there be any work that they might stand before their eyes, and, behold, they are consumed out of your dwellings.
1:10 And Pharaoh said unto them, and returned unto the king, That Daniel, which art infamous and much vexed.
1:11 Behold, the Hebrews hath met with us of his person, and well favoured.
1:12 And it came to her maidens.
1:13 She considereth a field, and thou shalt eat it in her month they shall burn it on a smoke, because the LORD which is a feast by an ordinance for Israel unto this day;
1:14 give me half thine house, and his hand toward heaven, that thou doest well to draw water.
1:15 And he answered, Here am I.
1:16 Are they not judge.
1:17 Shall I yet to cry unto God a more sure word of God made a covenant of the offering up of the LORD was there upon me.
1:18 They that forsake the idols of Egypt:
1:19 in vain shalt thou change them, and the priests of the children free.
1:20 Notwithstanding, lest we should pray for you in Egypt since it became as a bride adorned for her husband.
1:21 And I will make drunk her princes, and gave him to be feared above all gods.
1:22 For all this people, who have purposed to return unto thee the righteous shall be of the priests the Levites which are my people, and tongues, stood before the testimony, and cover you with mine own bowels:
1:23 Whom I would not destroy it for me, O thou fairest among women? what is his body, according to the earth.
1:24 And when the Jews which dwelt in a strange woman, from the pestilence;
1:25 that they might put us therein.
1:26 And when they had emerods in their own souls by their own confusion, as with his face about, and when thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, and for every man's money was not to covetousness.
1:27 Turn away my peace be with the mouth of the tabernacle of the LORD thy God, those deliver thou me.
1:28 For ye know these things will I send pestilence among you;
1:29 that ye might be the woman returned out of the night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, is the stumblingblock of their enemies:
1:30 and awake for thee, and as for me, which to day into mine hand?
1:31 Now therefore kill every woman
I was reading
this article on the unholy union of Garfield and Markov models and it reminded me that I'd never gotten around to trying out markov modelling first hand.
Over my lunch hour I cranked out the code at the bottom of this entry. And yes I write code over my lunch hour as a form of relaxation. What do you do?
In any case, the previous blog entry was the result of running this script on the book of Mark. Mark, Markov, get it?
Any way if you've ever wanted to generate your own biblical sounding text, here's your chance. Just download some scripture and crank up your python interpreter and away you go!
BTW, I'm really curious if Mark(ov) Chapter 1 get's any hits from people seeking Biblical inspiration. I know it inspired me.
import sys
import random
import itertools
#http://www.o-bible.org/download/kjv.txt
def make_frequencies(words):
result = {}
for i in range(2, len(words)):
w1, w2, w3 = words[i-2:i+1]
if (w1,w2) not in result:
result[(w1,w2)] = {}
if w3 not in result[(w1,w2)]:
result[(w1,w2)][w3] = 0
result[(w1,w2)][w3] += 1
return result
def find_first_random(freqs):
return get_random_ith_item(list(set([x[0] for x in freqs])))
def find_second_random(first, freqs):
pair = get_random_ith_item(list(set(x for x in freqs if x[0] == first)))
if not pair:
return find_first_random(freqs)
return pair[1]
def find_markov_random(first, second, freqs):
markov_words = freqs.get((first,second), {})
word = get_random_ith_item(itertools.chain(*[[x]*count for (x,count) in markov_words.items()]))
if not word:
return find_second_random(second, freqs)
return word
def get_random_ith_item(stream):
item = None
for i,x in enumerate(stream):
if random.randint(0,i) == 0:
item = x
return item
def markovize(freqs, output_length):
result = [find_first_random(freqs)]
result.append(find_second_random(result[0], freqs))
output_length -= 2
while output_length > 0:
w1, w2 = result[-2:]
result.append(find_markov_random(w1,w2,freqs))
output_length -= 1
return result
def main():
output_length = 500
words = ' '.join(sys.stdin.readlines())
word_frequencies = make_frequencies(words.split())
print ' '.join(markovize(word_frequencies, output_length))
if __name__ == '__main__':
main()
I was reading
this article on the unholy union of Garfield and Markov models and it reminded me that I'd never gotten around to trying out markov modelling first hand.
Over my lunch hour I cranked out the code at the bottom of this entry. And yes I write code over my lunch hour as a form of relaxation. What do you do?
In any case, the previous blog entry was the result of running this script on the book of Mark. Mark, Markov, get it?
Any way if you've ever wanted to generate your own biblical sounding text, here's your chance. Just download some scripture and crank up your python interpreter and away you go!
BTW, I'm really curious if Mark(ov) Chapter 1 get's any hits from people seeking Biblical inspiration. I know it inspired me.
import sys
import random
import itertools
#http://www.o-bible.org/download/kjv.txt
def make_frequencies(words):
result = {}
for i in range(2, len(words)):
w1, w2, w3 = words[i-2:i+1]
if (w1,w2) not in result:
result[(w1,w2)] = {}
if w3 not in result[(w1,w2)]:
result[(w1,w2)][w3] = 0
result[(w1,w2)][w3] += 1
return result
def find_first_random(freqs):
return get_random_ith_item(list(set([x[0] for x in freqs])))
def find_second_random(first, freqs):
pair = get_random_ith_item(list(set(x for x in freqs if x[0] == first)))
if not pair:
return find_first_random(freqs)
return pair[1]
def find_markov_random(first, second, freqs):
markov_words = freqs.get((first,second), {})
word = get_random_ith_item(itertools.chain(*[[x]*count for (x,count) in markov_words.items()]))
if not word:
return find_second_random(second, freqs)
return word
def get_random_ith_item(stream):
item = None
for i,x in enumerate(stream):
if random.randint(0,i) == 0:
item = x
return item
def markovize(freqs, output_length):
result = [find_first_random(freqs)]
result.append(find_second_random(result[0], freqs))
output_length -= 2
while output_length > 0:
w1, w2 = result[-2:]
result.append(find_markov_random(w1,w2,freqs))
output_length -= 1
return result
def main():
output_length = 500
words = ' '.join(sys.stdin.readlines())
word_frequencies = make_frequencies(words.split())
print ' '.join(markovize(word_frequencies, output_length))
if __name__ == '__main__':
main()
Mark(ov) 1:01 he, casting away his wife, and raise up seed unto his disciples, How hardly shall they cast stones, and wounded him in the ship again departed to the poor, and thou shalt deny me thrice.
Mark(ov) 1:02 And when they had sent forth and laid hold on him: for they have heard the word, and it becometh unfruitful.
Mark(ov) 1:03 And these are they which are sown on good ground, and prayed that, if it were but the end shall not be among you: but whosoever shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ;
Mark(ov) 1:04 or, lo, he that hath, to him from every quarter.
Mark(ov) 1:05 And again he sent him away empty.
Mark(ov) 1:06 And again he sent another;
Mark(ov) 1:07 and him they cast stones, and wounded him in the bush God spake unto him, Seest thou these things?
Mark(ov) 1:08 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Why, what evil hath he done?
Mark(ov) 1:09 And they call the King of the physician, but they that were rich cast in of their abundance;
Mark(ov) 1:10 but she of her daughter.
Mark(ov) 1:11 But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto him, Go thy way;
Mark(ov) 1:12 the devil out of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee.
Mark(ov) 1:13 But Jesus said, Verily I say unto him, Why do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be hated of all men counted John, that he would not suffer that any man should cast seed into the hall, called Praetorium;
Mark(ov) 1:14 and they bring a blind man by the farther side of the multitude, they took up twelve baskets full of fragments took ye up?
Mark(ov) 1:15 And they all saw him, and killed him, and said, And thou also wast with Jesus and his disciples asked him again of the Blessed?
Mark(ov) 1:16 And Jesus said, Forbid him not: for of such is the kingdom of God of the Jews?
Mark(ov) 1:17 For he taught in the morning: Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.
Mark(ov) 1:18 And what I will, but what thou sayest.
Mark(ov) 1:19 And he cometh, and findeth them sleeping, and saith unto him, By what authority doest thou these things?
Mark(ov) 1:20 and what shall a man satisfy these men with bread here in the days of Abiathar the high priest rent his clothes, and saith, What need we any further witnesses?
Mark(ov) 1:21 Ye have heard the word that was possessed with the wild beasts;
Mark(ov) 1:22 and the cock crew.
Mark(ov) 1:23 And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto them, How is it ago since this came unto him, and put it on his eyes, and put his hands again upon his eyes, and put his own house.
Mark(ov) 1:24 And the unclean spirits, when they looked, they saw no man of him.
Mark(ov) 1:25 And always, night and day, and the chains had been seen of her, believed not.
Mark(ov) 1:26 After that he was as one that was sown in their synagogue a man leave his wife behind him, and from Idumaea, and from Idumaea, and from Judaea, And from thence he arose, and rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, By what authority doest thou these things?
Mark(ov) 1:27 and what buildings are here!
Mark(ov) 1:28 And Jesus answered and said
Mark(ov) 1:01 he, casting away his wife, and raise up seed unto his disciples, How hardly shall they cast stones, and wounded him in the ship again departed to the poor, and thou shalt deny me thrice.
Mark(ov) 1:02 And when they had sent forth and laid hold on him: for they have heard the word, and it becometh unfruitful.
Mark(ov) 1:03 And these are they which are sown on good ground, and prayed that, if it were but the end shall not be among you: but whosoever shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ;
Mark(ov) 1:04 or, lo, he that hath, to him from every quarter.
Mark(ov) 1:05 And again he sent him away empty.
Mark(ov) 1:06 And again he sent another;
Mark(ov) 1:07 and him they cast stones, and wounded him in the bush God spake unto him, Seest thou these things?
Mark(ov) 1:08 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Why, what evil hath he done?
Mark(ov) 1:09 And they call the King of the physician, but they that were rich cast in of their abundance;
Mark(ov) 1:10 but she of her daughter.
Mark(ov) 1:11 But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto him, Go thy way;
Mark(ov) 1:12 the devil out of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee.
Mark(ov) 1:13 But Jesus said, Verily I say unto him, Why do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be hated of all men counted John, that he would not suffer that any man should cast seed into the hall, called Praetorium;
Mark(ov) 1:14 and they bring a blind man by the farther side of the multitude, they took up twelve baskets full of fragments took ye up?
Mark(ov) 1:15 And they all saw him, and killed him, and said, And thou also wast with Jesus and his disciples asked him again of the Blessed?
Mark(ov) 1:16 And Jesus said, Forbid him not: for of such is the kingdom of God of the Jews?
Mark(ov) 1:17 For he taught in the morning: Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.
Mark(ov) 1:18 And what I will, but what thou sayest.
Mark(ov) 1:19 And he cometh, and findeth them sleeping, and saith unto him, By what authority doest thou these things?
Mark(ov) 1:20 and what shall a man satisfy these men with bread here in the days of Abiathar the high priest rent his clothes, and saith, What need we any further witnesses?
Mark(ov) 1:21 Ye have heard the word that was possessed with the wild beasts;
Mark(ov) 1:22 and the cock crew.
Mark(ov) 1:23 And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto them, How is it ago since this came unto him, and put it on his eyes, and put his hands again upon his eyes, and put his own house.
Mark(ov) 1:24 And the unclean spirits, when they looked, they saw no man of him.
Mark(ov) 1:25 And always, night and day, and the chains had been seen of her, believed not.
Mark(ov) 1:26 After that he was as one that was sown in their synagogue a man leave his wife behind him, and from Idumaea, and from Idumaea, and from Judaea, And from thence he arose, and rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, By what authority doest thou these things?
Mark(ov) 1:27 and what buildings are here!
Mark(ov) 1:28 And Jesus answered and said
So I'm trying to take zen seriously. I really am. But I feel like I'm in charge of testing whether or not some food has poison in it and I'm told, "just taste it!". Umm, sorry, no.
Here's the problem. I have my own ideas what enlightenment is or should be like. If I knew what it was exactly, presumably I'd already be there. But at the very least it seems fair that if someone points in the direction of enlightenment I should at least have some sanity check as to whether it's a reasonable direction. If you haven't noticed there are a lot of people claiming to point to enlightenment and they are pointing in a lot of incompatible directions.
My two main problems with studying zen then are: (1) do I have *any* indications that the zen people (and specifically which ones) are pointing in a valid (or at least interesting) direction? and (2) how do I jive this with what I think enlightenment is or should be?
On the first point, are there any examples of zen awesomeness? Presumably you can use zen to be calm, learn to go with the flow, etc. But seriously, who cares? If you are completely at sea and zen helps you find some inner calm, go for it. But how much calm do you need? And more importantly what is the value of a unit of calm worth compared to mastery of some skill or other life experiences? Don't get me wrong, I'm the first guy to sign up for alone time. But if I need to decide whether to use the time to get a little more "centered" or for instance learn another programming language. I get more joy from learning than pursuing calm. And if I could trade calm units I already have for instant mastery of another skill I'd probably be willing to do so. And probably even willing to go into debt.
I know zen is supposedly not about achieving some end, but really that's a BS answer. No one does something for no reason at all. Even if the reason is to satisfy your curiosity or some other unconscious inkling, you are not acting without some purpose. People do zen because they want something.
There is the idea that zen people are more in touch with their spontaneous side (really this is a Taoism thing, but we'll let the zen people have it for now). And of course doing zen will make you a master archer. Unfortunately there is no compelling reason to suppose that "zen" was the secret sauce, when we can just as easily rely on the simple maxim that mastery takes time. If you find some archer who practices archery everyday AND practices zen everyday why should you think zen helped him get to mastery? For all you know it slowed him down because he spent less time doing archery.
Secondly, it seems like enlightenment has to have something to do with true, deep understanding. In the case of zen the self or at least your awareness is your subject. Great. But do zen people have any great insights here? People studying cognitive science have learned a lot about the mind. It's not very clear to me that zen masters have really learned anything worth sharing on the topic. And it seems pretty likely that they have *lots* of metaphysical baggage from taking things like the existence of the soul, or atman or reincarnation seriously. And to make things worse, since they typically hide behind a wall of abstruse metaphors and nonsensical anecdotes, it's really hard to know.
They really could know something amazing about the self and awareness or other things I don't have an inkling of. But how would I now? If you don't have enlightenment already then sort of by definition you are going to have trouble identifying enlightenment in others. And honestly I think if people had true enlightenment they'd be able to share it more explicitly.
I can understand quantum mechanics (at least well enough). Is there any chance that the zen "truths" are more complicated, less expressible in words? Color me skeptical.
And yet...
And yet I plan to continue with my admittedly too brief meditation practice. And reading some zen books and thinking about the ideas.... I can't shake the feeling that there *is* something to meditation and the zen people seem to have spent the most time thinking about this area. But it's not really clear that the zen outer coating around the practice of mindfulness is anything but kruft.
And there is always a better way to test for poison than just eating whatever you are fed.
So I'm trying to take zen seriously. I really am. But I feel like I'm in charge of testing whether or not some food has poison in it and I'm told, "just taste it!". Umm, sorry, no.
Here's the problem. I have my own ideas what enlightenment is or should be like. If I knew what it was exactly, presumably I'd already be there. But at the very least it seems fair that if someone points in the direction of enlightenment I should at least have some sanity check as to whether it's a reasonable direction. If you haven't noticed there are a lot of people claiming to point to enlightenment and they are pointing in a lot of incompatible directions.
My two main problems with studying zen then are: (1) do I have *any* indications that the zen people (and specifically which ones) are pointing in a valid (or at least interesting) direction? and (2) how do I jive this with what I think enlightenment is or should be?
On the first point, are there any examples of zen awesomeness? Presumably you can use zen to be calm, learn to go with the flow, etc. But seriously, who cares? If you are completely at sea and zen helps you find some inner calm, go for it. But how much calm do you need? And more importantly what is the value of a unit of calm worth compared to mastery of some skill or other life experiences? Don't get me wrong, I'm the first guy to sign up for alone time. But if I need to decide whether to use the time to get a little more "centered" or for instance learn another programming language. I get more joy from learning than pursuing calm. And if I could trade calm units I already have for instant mastery of another skill I'd probably be willing to do so. And probably even willing to go into debt.
I know zen is supposedly not about achieving some end, but really that's a BS answer. No one does something for no reason at all. Even if the reason is to satisfy your curiosity or some other unconscious inkling, you are not acting without some purpose. People do zen because they want something.
There is the idea that zen people are more in touch with their spontaneous side (really this is a Taoism thing, but we'll let the zen people have it for now). And of course doing zen will make you a master archer. Unfortunately there is no compelling reason to suppose that "zen" was the secret sauce, when we can just as easily rely on the simple maxim that mastery takes time. If you find some archer who practices archery everyday AND practices zen everyday why should you think zen helped him get to mastery? For all you know it slowed him down because he spent less time doing archery.
Secondly, it seems like enlightenment has to have something to do with true, deep understanding. In the case of zen the self or at least your awareness is your subject. Great. But do zen people have any great insights here? People studying cognitive science have learned a lot about the mind. It's not very clear to me that zen masters have really learned anything worth sharing on the topic. And it seems pretty likely that they have *lots* of metaphysical baggage from taking things like the existence of the soul, or atman or reincarnation seriously. And to make things worse, since they typically hide behind a wall of abstruse metaphors and nonsensical anecdotes, it's really hard to know.
They really could know something amazing about the self and awareness or other things I don't have an inkling of. But how would I now? If you don't have enlightenment already then sort of by definition you are going to have trouble identifying enlightenment in others. And honestly I think if people had true enlightenment they'd be able to share it more explicitly.
I can understand quantum mechanics (at least well enough). Is there any chance that the zen "truths" are more complicated, less expressible in words? Color me skeptical.
And yet...
And yet I plan to continue with my admittedly too brief meditation practice. And reading some zen books and thinking about the ideas.... I can't shake the feeling that there *is* something to meditation and the zen people seem to have spent the most time thinking about this area. But it's not really clear that the zen outer coating around the practice of mindfulness is anything but kruft.
And there is always a better way to test for poison than just eating whatever you are fed.
Using our random verse
finder and the
basic methodology:
Hosea 7:4 (New International Version)
They are all adulterers, burning like an oven whose fire the baker need not stir from the kneading of the dough till it rises.
So last time God said I was to be his messenger (or something like that). Now this has *got* to be the message.
- discern the spiritual principle in this verse
- ask what was god trying to get across to these people when he spoke these words
- you are going to experience the powers of a convection oven, up close and personal like
- ask how does this apply to me
- I'm not an adulterer (that you can prove) so, *whew*.
I wonder if God has any more important messages to give to me (and to the world by me). I guess we'll find out next time on the next installment of A Random Walk Through the Bible!
Using our random verse
finder and the
basic methodology:
Hosea 7:4 (New International Version)
They are all adulterers, burning like an oven whose fire the baker need not stir from the kneading of the dough till it rises.
So last time God said I was to be his messenger (or something like that). Now this has *got* to be the message.
- discern the spiritual principle in this verse
- ask what was god trying to get across to these people when he spoke these words
- you are going to experience the powers of a convection oven, up close and personal like
- ask how does this apply to me
- I'm not an adulterer (that you can prove) so, *whew*.
I wonder if God has any more important messages to give to me (and to the world by me). I guess we'll find out next time on the next installment of A Random Walk Through the Bible!
Using our random verse
finder and the
basic methodology:
Exodus 19:6 (New International Version)
you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.
- discern the spiritual principle in this verse
- God wants me to be his priest unto the Israelites
- ask what was god trying to get across to these people when he spoke these words
- He wants me to tell them something
- ask how does this apply to me
- Stand by for an important announcement...
OK, folks God has chosen me to present a message. I don't know what it is yet, but I think it's going to be important!
Using our random verse
finder and the
basic methodology:
Exodus 19:6 (New International Version)
you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.
- discern the spiritual principle in this verse
- God wants me to be his priest unto the Israelites
- ask what was god trying to get across to these people when he spoke these words
- He wants me to tell them something
- ask how does this apply to me
- Stand by for an important announcement...
OK, folks God has chosen me to present a message. I don't know what it is yet, but I think it's going to be important!
Some thoughts on how I came to spend my ever so valuable time thinking about silly things like zen. Like a lot of people I read a bunch of zen books in college. But that's college. You are allowed to do crazy experimental stuff. But now I'm a grown up (sort of) why am I wasting my time on this stuff again? I sort of got hit from three directions and decided to pay attention.
First, Sam Harris talks glowingly about contemplative practices in a number of places. And I was really intrigued by his essay on
Buddhism and meditation.
Secondly I heard an interview with Susan Blackmore on pointofinquiry.org. It was a really interesting discussion on memes and parapsychology and drugs and consciousness and atheism. I was really surprised I had never heard of her before. I started reading her articles on her website and well, they are drenched in
zen.
The last zen-ish thing was a little more circuitous. I had been reading some John (End of Science) Horgan writings on
edge.org. This led me too his web site full of his essays and book excepts. I was particularly interested in his
debunking of enlightened gurus. Some how from looking at this I found
this article by Brad (HARDCORE ZEN) Warner which comments on Horgan's views on the topic. Soon after I started to read through his zen essays he started a
blog which I keep in my feed and check every once in a while.
The funny thing is that it was Brad's writing that sort of broke the camel's back. And mostly it was his suggestion that to do zen you need to sit correctly. To what ever degree this is true it was what I needed to start having a *serious* meditation practice as meager as it is. Sitting slightly uncomfortably and with good posture really does make a difference. And his writings on zen are believable to me. He writes how he had a semi-mystical experience transcending space and time and viewing the whole universe in a vision of sorts and his zen teacher ridiculed him and told him it was garbage. It's a little thing, but that gives him credibility to me.
Now I need to actually read one (or more) of his books and see if I like him as much as I *think* I would.
Any way, dear reader, that is how I found myself in Zenville, in the zen district accross the street from Zen R Us, on Zen avenue. Perhaps you know the place.
Some thoughts on how I came to spend my ever so valuable time thinking about silly things like zen. Like a lot of people I read a bunch of zen books in college. But that's college. You are allowed to do crazy experimental stuff. But now I'm a grown up (sort of) why am I wasting my time on this stuff again? I sort of got hit from three directions and decided to pay attention.
First, Sam Harris talks glowingly about contemplative practices in a number of places. And I was really intrigued by his essay on
Buddhism and meditation.
Secondly I heard an interview with Susan Blackmore on pointofinquiry.org. It was a really interesting discussion on memes and parapsychology and drugs and consciousness and atheism. I was really surprised I had never heard of her before. I started reading her articles on her website and well, they are drenched in
zen.
The last zen-ish thing was a little more circuitous. I had been reading some John (End of Science) Horgan writings on
edge.org. This led me too his web site full of his essays and book excepts. I was particularly interested in his
debunking of enlightened gurus. Some how from looking at this I found
this article by Brad (HARDCORE ZEN) Warner which comments on Horgan's views on the topic. Soon after I started to read through his zen essays he started a
blog which I keep in my feed and check every once in a while.
The funny thing is that it was Brad's writing that sort of broke the camel's back. And mostly it was his suggestion that to do zen you need to sit correctly. To what ever degree this is true it was what I needed to start having a *serious* meditation practice as meager as it is. Sitting slightly uncomfortably and with good posture really does make a difference. And his writings on zen are believable to me. He writes how he had a semi-mystical experience transcending space and time and viewing the whole universe in a vision of sorts and his zen teacher ridiculed him and told him it was garbage. It's a little thing, but that gives him credibility to me.
Now I need to actually read one (or more) of his books and see if I like him as much as I *think* I would.
Any way, dear reader, that is how I found myself in Zenville, in the zen district accross the street from Zen R Us, on Zen avenue. Perhaps you know the place.
My basic plan for the year is to come up with month long experiments related to zen and to read some books. Nothing much fancier than that. Unless I think of something fancier. I've pondered briefly trying to identify a zendo in my area, but the thought of hanging out with a bunch of strangers and sitting quietly for long stretches of time seems kind of weird. Almost weirder than just going to church. So we'll just stick with my modest plan.
I have a list of books I'm planning to work through. I'll go over my list in the near future in some detail. As it happens I decided to read "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Zen Living" first. And despite my knee jerk expectation that the book would suck (just the title I guess) I actually like it and it seems like a pretty calm and level headed introduction.
To a large extent zen is really just about meditating. When I was in college reading about it it always had this sense of *magic* about it. If I could just "get it" some how I'd have this calmness, this well spring of spontaneity and I'd have wisdom in some deep way. And the ability to shoot a bow and arrow in the dark and hit my target. To what ever extent that stuff is true I currently am just of the opinion that zen is really just about training your attention.
In that vein I will try not to get too bound up in my books but will mostly focus on the zazen practice. For each month I'll try some variation of poses, meditation style, perhaps some koans and other little things that I think of. I'm trying not to plan too far ahead so that I can just do whatever makes sense based on what I've tried so far.
So for January here's the plan:
- meditate 8 minutes a day
- count to 10 with breath
- sit in half lotus
- keep in mind the first of the
Noble Eightfold Path - right view
- mindfulness trigger: first bite of food each meal
8 minutes doesn't seem like very long, but if you've never tried it, it's *insanely* long. Also I don't have a lot of time. I think it's more important to establish a doable habit than to try to do things perfectly.
I'm doing the count to 10 thing as a sort of training wheel. I've kept up a nightly meditation routine for the last 6 months or so but I still find it so very hard to focus on my breath for the 8 minutes. I've read that counting to 10 is a good "hack" to help you stay focused.
Sitting in a slightly uncomfortable position has made mindfulness possible. Years ago when I tried meditating I always fell asleep. Now it's never a problem. Doing a "true" half lotus is beyond my skill but it's the perfect level for me to aim at for now. I would *love* to get to a full lotus during the year but I'm not going to hold my breath.
Right View. I'm not deeply interested in the Buddhist aspects of zen but I also don't want to ignore them completely. So I'll just review the different steps of the noble path for a while.
Mindfulness triggers. The goal of zen (for some) seems to be as much awareness of now as you can muster. A useful tip I've heard in this respect is to create "mindfulness triggers". In other words set up a habit of having your environment remind you to be mindful. My first trigger will be for first bites of meals.
Ok, that's enough talking about zen for now. Gotta go sit on my ass for 8 minutes before I head off too bed.
My basic plan for the year is to come up with month long experiments related to zen and to read some books. Nothing much fancier than that. Unless I think of something fancier. I've pondered briefly trying to identify a zendo in my area, but the thought of hanging out with a bunch of strangers and sitting quietly for long stretches of time seems kind of weird. Almost weirder than just going to church. So we'll just stick with my modest plan.
I have a list of books I'm planning to work through. I'll go over my list in the near future in some detail. As it happens I decided to read "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Zen Living" first. And despite my knee jerk expectation that the book would suck (just the title I guess) I actually like it and it seems like a pretty calm and level headed introduction.
To a large extent zen is really just about meditating. When I was in college reading about it it always had this sense of *magic* about it. If I could just "get it" some how I'd have this calmness, this well spring of spontaneity and I'd have wisdom in some deep way. And the ability to shoot a bow and arrow in the dark and hit my target. To what ever extent that stuff is true I currently am just of the opinion that zen is really just about training your attention.
In that vein I will try not to get too bound up in my books but will mostly focus on the zazen practice. For each month I'll try some variation of poses, meditation style, perhaps some koans and other little things that I think of. I'm trying not to plan too far ahead so that I can just do whatever makes sense based on what I've tried so far.
So for January here's the plan:
- meditate 8 minutes a day
- count to 10 with breath
- sit in half lotus
- keep in mind the first of the
Noble Eightfold Path - right view
- mindfulness trigger: first bite of food each meal
8 minutes doesn't seem like very long, but if you've never tried it, it's *insanely* long. Also I don't have a lot of time. I think it's more important to establish a doable habit than to try to do things perfectly.
I'm doing the count to 10 thing as a sort of training wheel. I've kept up a nightly meditation routine for the last 6 months or so but I still find it so very hard to focus on my breath for the 8 minutes. I've read that counting to 10 is a good "hack" to help you stay focused.
Sitting in a slightly uncomfortable position has made mindfulness possible. Years ago when I tried meditating I always fell asleep. Now it's never a problem. Doing a "true" half lotus is beyond my skill but it's the perfect level for me to aim at for now. I would *love* to get to a full lotus during the year but I'm not going to hold my breath.
Right View. I'm not deeply interested in the Buddhist aspects of zen but I also don't want to ignore them completely. So I'll just review the different steps of the noble path for a while.
Mindfulness triggers. The goal of zen (for some) seems to be as much awareness of now as you can muster. A useful tip I've heard in this respect is to create "mindfulness triggers". In other words set up a habit of having your environment remind you to be mindful. My first trigger will be for first bites of meals.
Ok, that's enough talking about zen for now. Gotta go sit on my ass for 8 minutes before I head off too bed.
Planet Atheism buttons
FAQ (includes joining info)
RSS feed
Email subscription
