The Mystery of Zen

Can someone tell me the mystery of understanding the Mystery of Zen. I'm not going to lie to you: I do not read something, where the reader does not catch my attention. I stopped reading half-way through it with the question: Did Herrigel join the Zen religion or what? From my understanding of the essay, from what I have read of it, I think I received this thought: "For one to understand something fully (or better), one must experience it." Could this be a good observation from the essay or am I just a crazy guy who read to much into it?

Salvation

WOW.

Thats what come to mind when i read this. WOW. How true this is of so many churches? We want people to be saved, but we don't explain the reality of salvation to them. Hughes's essay was very moving, and although written some time ago, applicable to present day.

The last sentence of the essay was disturbing and intriguing. Immediately I searched on the internet to see if he ever found Christ. Unfortunately I came across his poem, "Goodbye Christ". In this poem he tells Christ goodbye, he tells him that He has done enough damage and to just leave, we don't need Him anymore.

I wonder if Christ would have been presented to Him differently that night, how different his writing would have been. Maybe he would have written poetry about how segregation, slavery and war broke God's heart instead of telling Christ He had done enough damage, and just to leave. It is a shame Langston Hughes never discovered how much he and Christ had in common; they both hated the evils of this world, they both fought for a revolution and they both impact this world long after they were gone.

We have to be careful how we present Christ to others, one bad experience can ruin it all.

What a shame.

Jillian

How to Tame A Wild Tongue

I agree with Riane, I expected something completely different from this essay. I expected the routine essay from the Christian viewpoint about how to control what we say. Needless to say, I was wrong.

The opening of the essay was phenomenal. In the opening she even leads the reader, at least me, to believe that the essay will follow the tradition it's title foreshadows. She basically quotes scripture and than directs the essay a completely different way. Her technique at the beginning was very effective.

As I read further into the essay I became confused and frustrated with her method of writing. She lost me in her switch of dialect between Spanish and English. In a few paragraphs I could barely understand what she was trying to say. When she stopped explaining all the different types of Spanish she speaks I slowly began to see the point she was trying to make. What she has to say, is great, if the reader continues to make themselves read the essay. In my opinion she has shut her self off to a whole group of readers who may pick up her material.

What is so ironic to me, is that the point of the essay is to express her frustrations with those who don't appreciate and respect her language. This would mainly include full blooded Americans. But the essay is not written so they can understand, it is written in a way that only those who speak her language(s) and agree with her viewpoints can understand. This would be fine, but she just lost the audience she was trying to reach. Most full blooded American won't read far enough to understand what she is saying.

She does have a point, Americans need to respect her language and the culture she comes from. But if her aspirations are to become a writer within the American culture, than she has to adapt to her audience. We don't understand her dialect and writing technique, so how can we understand her and believe what she has to say? It would be just like me, moving to Mexico, trying to get Mexicans to understand and respect my culture, and writing with many confusing English transitions. I would make a fool out of myself and no one would understand what I was saying.

She has undertaken a huge job, but I believe she could be effective, if she wrote to Americans in a way that we understood. Once she has established that ground and gained respect, maybe then she could switch back and forth between her Spanish and English roots. Maybe then her readers would listen.

The Death of a Moth

This essay was surprisingly interesting . The title, as boring as it sounded, intrigued me for some reason. I guess I was trying to figure out what the author was going to say, immediately I thought about how insignificant a moth is and wondered who would waste their time writing about a nasty bug? But that is just what the article in a way poked fun at. Just as Elijah said, a moth seems so insignificant yet so full of life. The essay brought the journey of a bug to life. Perhaphs the author was trying to shed light on how we as humans take life for granted and the moth, as pointless as he is, lived his life to the fullest. He was trapped inside a small room of four walls, and he explored it all. He fluttered from side to side, with the vibrancy of life running through his veins. Maybe this was not the authors point, and maybe I am generalizing, but that is how the essay spoke to me. Also, perhaps she was showing how short life is, or how much death is a part of life. There are many ways to go and many ideas can be perceived, but overall I am so impressed and inspired by the way Virginia Wolf captures the reader in a story about a moth. That is when you know you have become a successful writer, when you can write about an insect and still, readers will love what you wrote.

Someday, I hope to master that talent.

Jillian

How To Tame a Wild Tongue

This essay wasn't what I expected. I guess I expect most essays that reference the taming of the tongue to have some Proverbical (not a real word) influence; in other words, I think of the Christian ideal of taming the tongue. When I realized that this essay was instead about Anzaldua's struggle with language prejudice, I was surprised.

The next emotion I felt was frustration. Aesthetically, her combination of English and Spanish looked nice on paper, but she lost me in transition. I don't speak a word of Spanish, and I had no idea when her English thoughts following the Spanish ones were translations or independent thoughts.

However, as I read on, I began to appreciate her technique. Her entire essay focuses on her different codes--they way she speaks and combines different dialects and languages depending on her audience. Sometimes she does it for comfort, sometimes for familiarity, sometimes out of habit, and sometimes to avoid judgment. As an English-speaking Chicago native, I don't have to put this much effort into my speech. I don't have a noticeable accent I need to disguise. I speak my brand of English at school, at work, with friends, in meetings, and in interviews. I don't need to code switch.

Because of this, I cannot appreciate the experiences of Anzulda. But I do appreciate her technique in the essay--sure, I was confused by her intermingling of Spanish and English. But that is her language and that is her norm. That is her code that her culture speaks, and it does not have to be changed to suit my (ignorant, Spanish-lacking) needs.

Whose Canon is it Anyway?

This essay intrigued me. I thought the comments it made on education and "black literature" were insightful and well-written. Sadly, it reinforced my ignorant whiteness, as many of these issues were ones I had not considered before.

There were a couple of quotes that I thought were excellent, and I wondered what you all thought about them. The first, on page 36, pokes fun at the futility of many academic battles. It reads, "We pay homage to the marginalized and demonized, and it feels almost as if we've righted an actual injustice. (Academic battles are so fierce--the received wisdom has it--because so little is truly at stake). I always think of the folk tale about the fellow who killed seven with one blow: flies, not giants" (36).

What do you think about this? Are we wasting so much time arguing and "solving" issues in debate that we've forgotten about the issues themselves?

I'm afraid we might have.

I had more quotes I enjoyed, but I think I'll stick with this for now.

Why We Crave Horror Movies

Fist of all Stephen King is one sick person. I cannot believe that some one would actually believe something that sick. I do not agree that we all have some sort of insanity in us or that some people solve these cravings through watching nasty movies that portray mutilation of other people. To me that is completely disgusting and very disturbing. King believes we are all a little mentally insane and although I agree that we all have some sort of evil in us I can not agree that it is mental insanity. If I agreed with this view point, does that mean I would agree that I share the same issues as a serial killer or rapist? Does that mean I have just controlled my insanity better? Does thats mean the insanity of a mass murder lies within all of us? And if those desires are not solved with horrific images does that mean I will turn out the same way? I have trouble believing all of this especially as a Christian.
I firmly believe Stephen King is mentally insane and possessed. Everything he promotes and produces is demonic and evil. I believe there are people who dot share these same disturbing qualities, but by no means is it accurate to say we all are insane.
I do agree that most people crave some sort of scary, thrilling experiences. Some meet that desire through a scary movie, others are satisfied with a scary ride or daring experience that has the chance to turn out badly. Whatever that feeling and desire is, I don’t believe it makes us all mentally insane.

Any Comments?? Anyone else really disturbed by this essay?

Jill

The Rival Conceptions of God

I couldn’t agree more with what C.S. Lewis said about truth being found in other religions. As Christians we are so quick to see only our way. Now, don’t get me wrong I am in no way saying that other religions are correct, because salvation through Jesus Christ is the only way, however other religions do hold bits and pieces of truth. It is important for us to see and acknowledge those pieces of truth so we understand where other religions are coming from and we know how to best relate to them.
I enjoyed his contrast between pantheism and Christianity. I have never thought that deeply on the idea of how the world was created, it all just makes sense to me. I have never needed an explanation to see the truth. However it is great to see how we differ so much and what others believe about the creation of the world.
Overall I thought this was a very strong essay, written with conviction and insight.

Anyone agree? Disagree?

Jill

Virginia Woolf: The Death of the Moth

I wonder if this essay could reflect any kind of principles we could learn from Ecclesiastes. I hardly find anyone giving a sermon or message on Ecclesiastes. Woolf points out the life of a moth and how that life is so full of energy, yet it seems useless.

Q: Is there a message in this essay that humans should apply to their own lives?

Malcolm X: Coming to An Awareness of Language

I'm not sure how we are suppopse to start or begin to discuss our stories, but is are some thoughts and a question that I pondered about our first essay:

I really liked how Malcolm compared the dictorionary to an encyclopedia. Although, he was in prison, I loved how Malcolm expressed that he felt free, because he had a dictionary.


Q: What would you say that Malcolm X had concluded about Language?

Share your thoughts with me. I'd really like to hear what you have to say about this essay. There are some more important points I think Malcolm is making about language, but I just cannot put my hand or head on it.

Reading comments

Hi group,

This begins the reading blog, so I look forward to learning what essays you've read so far and what you think about them.