FUKE

All Eyes On You

2011-10-14T10:31:00.001-07:00

Ask The Light

2011-10-14T10:30:00.000-07:00

Bodhi Speaks From The Heart

2011-10-14T10:28:00.001-07:00

Golf In The Kingdumb

2011-10-14T10:27:00.000-07:00

To Drift Like iClouds & Flow Like iWater

2011-10-14T10:25:00.000-07:00

What's A Sutra Good For ?

2011-10-14T10:22:00.000-07:00

Buddhas Just Don't Do It

2011-10-14T10:20:00.000-07:00

Bodhi Knows, Surf Is Where You Find It

2011-10-14T10:18:00.001-07:00

New Age Bodhi

2011-09-28T14:55:00.000-07:00

Bodhi links the new age zen charlatans to the world's oldest profession.

Bodzilla The Movie!

2011-05-09T22:00:00.000-07:00

Mark Tobey, First American Zen Artist in the U.S.

2011-04-27T19:03:00.000-07:00

Zen has influenced art in America.

Very few artists or critics will admit it.

Greater than the separation between church and state, in the United States is the separation between contemporary art and “religion”.

I don’t think of Zen as a religion. No deity, no prayers no belief system.

The folks in the art business do not agree.

Deep in the psyche of fine art business is the old communist belief that religion is the opiate of the people. Serious, professional artists cannot be religious. Reason and belief in science are the signs of intelligence and sophistication from the “fine arts” perspective.

Of course fine art is not a product of simple reason. Art comes from a deeper place in the mind, the unconscious.

There is no better practice than meditation for discovering the beauty, terror, brilliance and depth of the unconscious mind.

Mark Tobey was the first known fine artist in the United States to be influenced by Zen.

Tobey had an early interest in Asian religions. In 1923 Tobey was introduced to Chinese calligraphy by Teng Kuei a Chinese painter living in Seattle. In 1934 Tobey visited a Zen Monastery near Kyoto to practice Zen, study Haiku and calligraphy.

Toby created a calligraphic abstract painting style called “white writing”. His style influenced other painters in the Seattle area. They became know as the “mystical painters of the Northwest.” “Mystical painters of the Northwest” was a kind of code for “not to be taken too seriously” by the art elite of Manhattan.

In 1944 Tobey’s work was shown at the Willard Galley in New York. Jackson Pollock saw Tobey’s show. Pollock went back to his studio and eventually created his famous Blue Poles: #11. A work very clearly influenced by Tobey’s style.

In Tobey’s work the influence of Zen is tangible. The sense of self recedes. It’s the first time in in American modern era of painting that the persona of the artist is vague. The image on the canvas is not recognizable as an object. The audience is left simply with the texture and color of the paint and canvas, left with their own feelings emotions, projections and experience.

My Friend

2011-04-18T12:31:00.000-07:00

My facebook friend and fellow dharma dog Jamie Howell is going on a tour of the southern United States, teaching zen.

He asked for a Bodzilla t-shirt design, here it is.

What Is Zen?

2011-04-11T07:44:00.000-07:00

I love it when folks ask me questions about zen and the practice of zen.

In any form of teaching or education:

Q. Who learns the most?

A. The teacher.

So in a very sincere way I was recently asked "what is zen, I don't get it."

A million cliché zen like answers come to mind:

"Nobody does."

"Go ask the cat."

"What's for lunch?"

Then there is the other response, a sincere answer. An attempt to distill a 2,500 year old culture into a few sentences.

The following is my shot at the answer to the question:

"Thanks for asking…

The core practice of zen is meditation. Zazen means meditation. All of the wisdom of zen, the practice of zen comes from the experience of meditation. So first off if you don't meditate I recommend you start there.

The culture of zen is the accumulation of wisdom discovered through meditation.

A lot of zen knowledge is knowledge of the mind. The knowledge of how the mind works, the nature of perception. you could say it's the history of the mind studying the mind.

So... what have all these meditators, zen practitioners figured out ? A lot.

I say the core understanding is that the experience of our lives is interpreted through the mind. The world of phenomena and matter is perceived, interpreted, understood by the mind. That the mind is itself part of, integrated with, made of the same matter and phenomena of the universe.

Is that helpful?"

Because zen is a culture it has developed a language to describe the experience of zen. If you want to study zen I recommend you learn the language of zen. The best tool in english is the Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen.

This,That and Something Else

2011-04-10T08:54:00.000-07:00

I think it's helpful when studying zen to be aware of our own biology and how our biology influences our thoughts.

There is a lot of discussion in zen, buddhism and the tao about opposites. Opposites like ying and yang, form and emptiness, black and white, consciousness and unconsciousness, this and that. What's the opposite of a turnip?

Over time I've noticed that zen masters have played with the notion, our perception of this or that.
Typical zen stories are:
A zen student comments " I am above such notions of self".
The zen master gives the zen student's nose a painful twist and says "who's nose is this!"

From one perspective every thing's connected. We often associate the "every thing's connected" perception with enlightenment. We know we are connected yet we most often act as though we are not connected. Why?

It's worth a look at our own biology, anatomy. We are bilaterally symmetrical, left hand, right hand. Our brain is divided into left and right hemispheres. We seek balance and symmetry. Someone that is mentally disturbed is "out of balance". We can detect slight differences in someone's face. If their nose isn't straight or one eye is bigger than the other. No wonder we think in terms of left and right, wrong and right. We are balance centric beings living in a symmetric and asymmetric world.

We perceive our hand as consisting of two parts, a front hand and a back hand. Yet, where does the front of your hand end and the back of your hand start?

I suggest that we consider "awareness" as a word to represent the perception we have that everything is connected, not separate. That awareness is the "something else" of this and that and something else. That awareness is what's cultivated when we sit in meditation.

All fine art comes from awareness. All art comes from the place between this and that.

Dharma Passion

2011-03-05T08:11:00.000-08:00

There has been a ton of discussion lately about Zen teachers having intimate relations with their students.

Everyone knows that's not good. The discussion rages on.

Bottom line, it's about desire, passion, power and impulse control.

So if sexual relations between teachers and students is not such a great idea then why do Zen teachers continue this behavior and then try to cover it up ?

Because they are impulsive self serving folks just like everyone else except... they pretend to be not like everyone else and their students believe them.

It's about time a new crop of Zen teachers. We need to revisit the idea of "teacher"and "Roshi".

"Roshi" simply means "old teacher". It doesn't mean "someone who has the powers of a Jedi".

Jedi powers only exist in the movies.

Take your Zen teacher out for Dim Sum instead of having sex. They will appreciate it.

I'm available, for a good time call 707.480.3228

Beginning of the Zen

2011-02-19T07:46:00.000-08:00

Holden's enlightenment poem...

"She ran and bought her ticket and got back on the goddamn carrousel just in time. ... I felt so damn happy all of a sudden, the way old Phoebe kept going around and around. I was damn near bawling, I felt so damn happy, if you want to know the truth. I don't know why. It was just that she looked so damn nice, the way she kept going around and around, in her blue coat and all. God I wish you could've been there."

Miss Vi Klessig took me aside in my sophomore high school english class and said. "I want you to read The Catcher In The Rye. You can't tell any one I told you to. It's by J.D. Salinger and the book is banned in the California school system."

So of course I read it right away.

I went on the read everything by Salinger. I was stunned and amazed at the beauty of the everyday language and content of his internal dialogue.

He kept making references to zen/buddhism in the most positive and curious ways.

I just had to find out what the zen was all about.

The Light of Asia

2011-02-18T18:46:00.000-08:00

Big Empty

2011-02-12T07:16:00.000-08:00

Jake The Hip Beat Frantic Poet

2011-01-23T08:57:00.000-08:00

Jake with his double expresso and ciggy-boo in hand recites Little Bird.

Jake found a copy of Dwight Goddard's A Buddhist Bible while recuperating from a hangover in the Hollister Library. Jake was really suffering from one last "tug of the jug" so he found a ray of hope in the Buddha's message that "life is suffering get over it".

Meet Jake WhackaJack

2011-01-23T08:31:00.000-08:00

Bodhi first met Jake at the Buddha Bar & Grill in San Francisco. Like a coyote howling at the moon Jake was reading his poems to an audience of one, Bodhi. Little did Jake or Bodhi know at the time that Jake would be the voice of his generation.

Bodhi One Eye

2011-01-23T08:23:00.000-08:00

Bodhidharma's Eyes

2011-01-17T08:09:00.000-08:00

Print out a copy of Bodhi. Make a wish and fill in one of his eyes. When the wish comes true fill in the other eye.

Do me a favor and send me the results. I'd love to see what you come up with.

To complete the tradition at the end of the year we burn the little Bodhis

Check it out... Daruma Doll

Jesus Gets A Kick Out of Bodhi

2011-01-16T17:01:00.001-08:00

Christmas Party Like It's 1999

2011-01-16T16:59:00.001-08:00

Jesus Loves Dim Sum

2011-01-16T16:57:00.000-08:00

The Coen Brothers Are Jesus People

2011-01-16T16:48:00.001-08:00

Blasphemous Bodhi

2011-01-16T16:47:00.000-08:00

Bodhi Loves To Hang With Anglo Jesus

2011-01-16T16:45:00.000-08:00

No One

2010-12-05T16:13:00.001-08:00

Beets Beware

2010-12-05T16:10:00.001-08:00

Silence Is Golden

2010-12-05T16:08:00.001-08:00

Bodhi Gets Dressed for Turkey Day

2010-12-05T16:05:00.001-08:00

Love Lump Crest

2010-12-05T16:04:00.000-08:00

Bodhi's Lump Of Love Pitch

2010-12-05T16:02:00.001-08:00

Bodhi the "Great"

2010-12-05T16:00:00.000-08:00

Stupa-fied !

2010-12-05T15:58:00.001-08:00

C. Gar Makes A Public Announcement

2010-12-05T15:56:00.001-08:00

What's It Take To Get Bodhi's Attention ?

2010-12-05T15:54:00.001-08:00

Liberation Lump Is Shrinking

2010-12-05T15:52:00.000-08:00

Bodhi Sees Dollars

2010-11-29T10:33:00.000-08:00

Bodhi Increases His Hat Size

2010-11-29T10:30:00.000-08:00

Bodhi's Big Head

2010-11-29T10:28:00.001-08:00

Many Thanks To The Shambhala Publishing Folks

2010-11-09T16:06:00.000-08:00

Peter, you da man!

Eye Be Gone

2010-11-09T16:02:00.001-08:00

Lone Eye

2010-11-09T16:01:00.000-08:00

Smoking Conflict Brewing

2010-11-09T15:59:00.000-08:00

Bodi Better Stick To What He Nose

2010-11-09T15:57:00.001-08:00

When Bodhi Talks Money His Nose Seems To Grow

2010-11-09T15:55:00.001-08:00

Freedom To Keep Your Vows

2010-11-09T15:53:00.000-08:00

Where Have Bodhi's Eyelids Gone ?

2010-11-09T15:51:00.001-08:00

Bodhi's Virtual Liberation

2010-11-09T15:49:00.001-08:00

Bodhi Expresso's Himself

2010-11-09T15:46:00.001-08:00

Be One With The Mug

2010-11-09T15:45:00.001-08:00

Original Mug

2010-10-30T09:45:00.000-07:00

I'm Afraid Of What Bodhi Might Pick Next

2010-10-30T09:44:00.000-07:00

You Know... The Famous Zen Master Toby Johnson

2010-10-30T09:42:00.001-07:00

When Mixing Zen And Psychoanalytic Theory Your Nose Grows

2010-10-30T09:40:00.000-07:00

Imagine Feeling Groovy

2010-10-30T09:38:00.000-07:00

Bodhi's Core Teaching

2010-10-30T09:37:00.000-07:00

That New Trendy Thing We Call Science

2010-10-30T09:35:00.000-07:00

We're All One Turnip

2010-10-30T09:33:00.001-07:00

The Peggy Lee Lineage

2010-10-30T09:32:00.001-07:00

Bodhi's Favorite Zen Book

2010-10-30T09:31:00.000-07:00

The Universe Provides

2010-10-30T09:30:00.000-07:00

Bodhi Lost His Lids A Long Time Ago

2010-10-30T09:27:00.001-07:00

Bodhi's Nose Grows When He Mixes Insight & Money

2010-10-30T09:24:00.000-07:00

Poor Bodhi, Cigars and Third Eyes Don't Mix

2010-10-30T09:21:00.001-07:00

The Eye Knows

2010-10-27T02:43:00.000-07:00