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What is Zen?
Inspired by a Zen poem using the same imagery, I decided to develop the sense between the goose and the lake by showing how the shadow and the reflection are two directions of a deep symmetry that interconnects them
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The colour of wind
A poem by Christian Joore – The color of wind is the harmonious integration found within nature. A bird has evolved wings because of wind, and it expresses its thanks through the colors of its feathers.
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One Thousand Koans
A poem by Christian Joore
The imagery of the house is symbolic – an ego-centric structure built by our intellect to resolve the question ‘who am I?’. It’s answer ultimately is the ‘self’, which allows governs the building and only allows certain things in and out. However, if numerous Koans where to slip in the front door they would surely begin to challenge this structure. If left to their devices, what could happen would be life changing. -
The Meaning of Life
‘What is the meaning of life?’ is not a valid question. It wrongly assumes that ‘meaning’ is a inherent feature of life waiting to be discovered. It is not.
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Poets are grass
Our intellect is the corner stone of our understanding of reality. However, it is driven by language and meaning, which are inherently limited and biased. To get beyond these limitations, the poet skillfully crafts language to expand the horizons of comprehension and truth. So to does the Zen Koan. Are they related?
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Tasting a Koan
What is a Koan? I originally wrote this post thinking that a Koan was a riddle to which there was a proper answer to. I was wrong. For instance, unlike a math problem, a Koan does not have the answer built into its question. There is no applied procedure to derive a correct value. Instead, [...]
You can only find truth with logic if you have already found truth without it. - G.K. Chesterton
Quantum Suchness
The atom is not like a solar system. If I could urge the world to awaken from this ill-conceived convention, I think they would find it is one step towards a greater vantage point in their lives. The quantum world ... Read More »
Paint by numbers
Should we have such blind faith in mathematics to describe our world accurately? Math is the corner stone physics, and I know it seems silly to question it, after all 1 + 1 = 2 seems to make sense - ... Read More »
emptiness
There is a principle in Mahayana Buddhism called ‘emptiness’ which states that nothing inherently exists or has intrinsic existence. This should not be mistaken for the notion that ‘nothing exists’, but rather, no phenomenon has own-being or has true individuality. ... Read More »
Poets are Grass
Our intellect is the corner stone of our understanding of reality. However, it is driven by language and meaning, which are inherently limited and biased. To get beyond these limitations, the poet ... Read More »
Drawing from the Tao
Above: 1927 Solvay Conference on Quantum Mechanics: where the world’s most notable physicists met to discuss the newly formulated quantum theory. The beginning of the twentieth century brought a rude ... Read More »
East meets North
East meets North by Christian Joore We had friends come up from Kingston for a visit last weekend, they have a young toddler roughly the same age as our daughter so most of the afternoon was spent watching them play ... Read More »
One Thousand Koans
A poem by Christian Joore The imagery of the house is symbolic - an ego-centric structure built by our intellect to resolve the question 'who am I?'. It's answer ultimately is the 'self', which allows governs the building and ... Read More »
Truth & Science
There is no truth in science - sorry. However, it is brimming with knowledge and understanding... and it seems there's a nifty bunch of old geezers with wild haircuts too. Might be worth a read if ask me. ... Read More »
To be rid of Hell
Heaven and Hell, God and the Devil - are ideas that have affixed themselves so deeply into our psyche that they have become permanent ornaments that hang over everything we do and think. These concepts have apprehended how we attend ... Read More »
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