The Runcible Blog

I seize him with a terrific struggle. His great will and power are inexhaustible. He charges to the high plateau far above the cloud-mists, Or in an impenetrable ravine he stands. holding onto desire I woke up this morning with the remnants of a dream left rattling in my head. By now, I've forgotten most of the plot, but I know that in the dream, there was apple juice and there was Katie. Those two things were stuck in my ......
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I recently judged a book by its cover and bought Zen in the Martial Arts by Joe Hyams, thinking it might contain some insight into a particular way of thinking about fighting, and I thought it might be able to put words to the kinds of feelings I've been having in my own practice. Wrong! The book, written in 1979, oozes with a kind of superficial understanding of zen common in America at that time. The instructors quoted in the ......
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What was the first word you spoke today? Do you ever pay attention to that initial bit of wind tickling your vocal cords? Maybe it's more significant than we consider. After thinking about it recently, I believe my first word is usually "hello." Sometimes I sing when I wake up or during my commute, but more often than not, my mornings are silent until I arrive at work. If I buy breakfast in the cafeteria, I might talk to Mark, ......
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Reading the news about Israel's latest attack on Gaza lead me down several tangential thought paths while I was walking around earlier. Let's see if I can congeal them. Zwartboek neatly exposes war's moral ambiguity. Verhoeven hits the viewer over the head with the same theme: nobody in a war is truly "good." The sympathetic characters in the film often have ulterior motives for their good deeds, while the deplorable Nazis sometimes have redeeming qualities. We see, all too graphically, ......
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Last night I mentioned to my broham and sojo that I was secretly hoping to be mugged the other night on my walk home. I said that I wanted to know if my will for self-preservation outweighed whatever petty motive a thief could have for trying to rob me. I postulated that self-preservation would probably win the day, all other things being equal. I remember strolling down the street at nearly 3 in the morning, with eyes scanning the empty ......
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There's no such thing as karma. I often hear people say that some event happened due to "karma" -- a kind of universal justice system. I kick a dog, and someday a dog will attack me. I help an old lady cross the street, and someday when I'm old, someone will help me. The catch is that you never know when "karma" is going to come back and bite you or benefit you. So, the idea is always to be ......
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It's a slow day. I came across this short essay, Zen is Boring......
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Chong-Jik "Honesty" First off, I don't shave very often, but I've only ever used a Mach 3 razor, until now. And I never had any problems with it (no missing limbs so far). Since the blades were getting old, I wanted to replace them but ended up buying the cheaper Sensor 3...because it's cheaper, and I'm cheap. It looks pretty similar -- three blades, some other suspension thingys, plastic doodads. But it's junk! It doesn't work as well and causes ......
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Kakuan, a Chinese Zen master in the twelfth century drew the ten ox-herding pictures to describe the phases of Zen training: Searching for the ox: The ox has never been lost. What need is there to search? Discovering the footprints: Not yet having entered the gate, nevertheless he has discerned the path. Perceiving the ox: If he raises his eyebrows by keeping his eyes wide open, he will become aware of the fact that all things are nothing other than ......
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