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Oct 2014
Today was not a particularly good day, but it was not a particularly bad day either, if you really want to use such simple terms as "good" and "bad" to describe what could be considered to be quite complex ideas.   I attended my classes, completed my homework and studying, read some of the book that I'm reading, which has been influencing my thoughts lately, as all books generally do to me.   I hope that this interest is not only a self-delusion of intellectualism, as the book may describe it as being.  To even hope for that is already dualistic in itself, though, and therefore makes the previous statement even more true.  There appears to be fault in fault, error in error.
       The book is called Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind by Shunryu Suzuki, and is a great explanation of Zen Buddhism and of living in general.   I would most highly recommend it to anyone who is alive and has ever felt sad or dissatisfied, which pretty much means everyone who has ever lived.  Don't get me wrong, there is a likely chance that you will disagree with the philosophy of Zen Buddhism as a whole, or even find some of the ideas presented to be quite ridiculous, and that's perfectly okay.  However, it does no harm to read about all ideas, all philosophies.  You will not know until you at least understand what is being presented, so it is best to let go of all pre-conceptions and to just listen and try to understand to the best of your ability.   If there is anything from this book that can be universally accepted, it is that it is best to keep a completely open mind, to learn and welcome all ideas with patience, really hearing them, and not from some one-sided, opinion-based point of view.  I think that you can surely do that.  Good night.
Seung
Written by
Seung  Berkeley, California
(Berkeley, California)   
233
 
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