Zen and the Brain - Chapter 11

Excerpt from book, I liked this quote:

"Prior to the advent of brain, there was no color and no sound in the universe, nor was there any flavor or aroma and probably rather little sense and no feeling or emotion. Before brains the universe was also free of pain and anxiety.

Roger Sperry (1913-1994)"

Zen and the art of war recovery

The Zen Center of Los Angeles is inviting veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to participate in a weekend meditation retreat aimed at healing psychological, spiritual and physical damage they’ve suffered during combat.

The retreat begins Friday (today) and will be led by Buddhist monk Claude Anshin Thomas, a Vietnam War veteran who was awarded the Purple Heart and Distinguished Flying Cross.

The cost of participation is $250, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds.

Call (818) 640-4931 to register or make a donation.

Peaceful Life - by Dainin Katagiri

Here's a short quote from a short article:

"The way is like this. Despair tells us that the good is not worth doing because it is so small. Yet it is precisely the small that is vast. It develops our integrity and with it our relation to the Tao and the source of everything sacred."

Zen in the news: Zen moves couple to open home, minds

Newspaper article about a San Diego zendo. I'm not sure what makes this "news", but there it is:

"As many as 20 pairs of shoes are piled by the front door. Robes sway gently as the group, without a word, walks single file around the dining room table, through the kitchen and into the living room, repeating the cycle.

They are practitioners with Three Treasures Zen Community, and to them, each measured step through Barry and Nicolee McMahon's Rancho Penasquitos home carries them further along the path to enlightenment, or as it is described in Zen Buddhism, the state in which a person is aware of his or her true nature."

more "Zen" products: Zen Cake

I'm not sure what's so "Zen" about this cake, but it certainly is pointy!