Wednesday, March 2, 2011

resurrecting the dead

.
Count Dracula is dead.
Hitler is dead.
Saddam Hussein is dead.

Gautama is dead.
Jesus is dead.
Gandhi is dead.

Villains and heroes come and go. Wondrous and horrendous recollections insist. Have they proved themselves worthy of your despair or delight? How useful are their bones?

My Zen teacher's teacher, Soen Nakagawa, once suggested:  "There is birth and there is death. In between, there is enlightenment."

But resurrecting the dead is such a popular sport.
.
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6 comments:

  1. AnonymousMarch 3, 2011 at 1:43 AM

    Resurrect.. genkaku. thy shalt be reborn.

    _/|\_

    don't ask me why. it was an autosuggestion I got when I came across this joke a 2nd time after you once posted it like.. afew months ago:

    An old man lived alone in Idaho. He wanted to spade his potato garden, but it was very hard work. His only son, Bubba, who used to help him, was in prison. The old man wrote a letter to his son and described his predicament.

    Dear Bubba:
    I am feeling pretty bad because it looks like I won't be able to plant my potato garden this year. I'm just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. If you were here, all my troubles would be over. I know you would dig the plot for me.

    Love, Dad

    A few days later, he received a letter from his son.

    Dear Dad:
    For heaven's sake, Dad, don't dig up that garden. That's where I buried the BODIES.Love, Bubba

    At 4 a.m. the next morning, FBI agents and local Police showed up and dug up the entire area without finding any bodies. They apologized to the old man and left.
    That same day, the old man received another letter from his son.
    Dear Dad:
    Go ahead and plant the potatoes now. It's the best I could do under the circumstances.Love, Bubba


    love.

    ReplyDelete
  2. genkakuMarch 3, 2011 at 7:26 AM

    Thanks anonymous. Nice to wake up to a renewed smile.

    Does anyone else wonder idly, as I do, what the necessity for vast philosophical and religious texts is when there are straight-to-the-point teachings like that joke or your grandmother's advice ... "a stitch in time saves nine," "never trouble trouble till trouble troubles you," etc.?

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousMarch 3, 2011 at 7:53 AM

    thanks for your help G.

    appreciate it.

    :)

    totally timely.
    _/|\_

    ReplyDelete
  4. There is no pastMarch 3, 2011 at 8:03 AM

    The past, however old it might be, is gone. But it is always used as a communication tool. Try communicating without using a past reference, we'll find out how much you have to really say. :)
    When you like the past references everything is fine, like the joke that was told above. That was resurrecting a joke. But that is OK because it fits into your feelings of well being. The sayings of the past that are resurrected that irritate you are rejected as so much rubble. How convenient, and self serving.

    ReplyDelete
  5. yin/yangMarch 3, 2011 at 8:12 AM

    "resurrecting the dead"

    "My Zen teacher's teacher, Soen Nakagawa, once suggested: "There is birth and there is death. In between, there is enlightenment."

    Soen Nakagawa; March 19, 1907–1984)

    "But resurrecting the dead is such a popular sport."

    INSANE!

    ReplyDelete
  6. genkakuMarch 3, 2011 at 8:45 AM

    It really is nice to know that others know better. No point in replicating a self-serving insanity. :)

    ReplyDelete