A blog about LGBTQ+ History, Art, Literature, Politics, Culture, and Whatever Else Comes to Mind. The Closet Professor is a fun (sometimes tongue-in-cheek, sometimes very serious) approach to LGBTQ+ Culture.
Moment of Zen is a sort of Americanism, I guess, made popular by "Jon Stewart's The Daily Show." It is in reference to Koans, which are small stories, used in Zen training, in which the meaning (or "point") of the story cannot be resolved through our normal, rational, Western reasoning. If you've ever read Zen koans, they share the characteristic of seeming contradictory, and nonsensical.
When people talk about a "moment of Zen," they are referring to something that seems somewhat incomprehensible and mind-blowing -- like a Koan. One of the goals of most Zen practice is to train your mind to quiet its chatter about past and future and embrace entirely the moment you are currently experiencing.
I've always taken The Daily Show's "moment of Zen" as a kind of simplified, shorthand, somewhat distorted version of same; i.e. here, in this picture of beauty and serenity is an actual moment that transpired somewhere in the world today, and so forget the rest of the day's events and just imagine what it was like to be in that spot at that time.
I hope that makes sense. My "Moments of Zen" are just pictures that I find a short bit of serenity through them. It is not meant to devalue Zen Buddhism but to just show a short moment of sanity and clarity through something beautiful and serene, such as the picture above.
Yeah Joe, it is a quiet moment for this beautiful subject. I just wish I could be there with him for coffee. Then after our hour or so of coffee it is down to business. He is a beauty I wish I had. Thanks agian Joe.
8 comments:
He's gorgeous, but I don't get the Zen reference. Zen training makes boot-camp look sissy.
Moment of Zen is a sort of Americanism, I guess, made popular by "Jon Stewart's The Daily Show." It is in reference to Koans, which are small stories, used in Zen training, in which the meaning (or "point") of the story cannot be resolved through our normal, rational, Western reasoning. If you've ever read Zen koans, they share the characteristic of seeming contradictory, and nonsensical.
When people talk about a "moment of Zen," they are referring to something that seems somewhat incomprehensible and mind-blowing -- like a Koan. One of the goals of most Zen practice is to train your mind to quiet its chatter about past and future and embrace entirely the moment you are currently experiencing.
I've always taken The Daily Show's "moment of Zen" as a kind of simplified, shorthand, somewhat distorted version of same; i.e. here, in this picture of beauty and serenity is an actual moment that transpired somewhere in the world today, and so forget the rest of the day's events and just imagine what it was like to be in that spot at that time.
I hope that makes sense. My "Moments of Zen" are just pictures that I find a short bit of serenity through them. It is not meant to devalue Zen Buddhism but to just show a short moment of sanity and clarity through something beautiful and serene, such as the picture above.
Yeah Joe, it is a quiet moment for this beautiful subject. I just wish I could be there with him for coffee. Then after our hour or so of coffee it is down to business. He is a beauty I wish I had. Thanks agian Joe.
Denis.
Denis: I wish I could be there with him too. You're Welcome.
Wow. He is just so perfect. I could serve coffee to him every day.
Joe: I completely agree with you.
Joe: He's a warm comfort, like hot coffee on a cold morning - I just want to snuggle up with him.
FOC; Me too. In fact it was kind of cold in my house when I got home, and I wish I had him here right now to warm me up.
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