Learning to flow with the Chaos.

Brad Warner has left the building. And even after nine days of being our house guest, Brad is missed. He set the bar for visitors. For one thing, he was loads of fun to have around. He has a sock monkey and so he gets my teddy bear. No names please. Since I'm a big kid, I always enjoy people who are childlike. This doesn't mean that I don't have my childish moments when I think the world revolves around me, 'cause I do (I'm ashamed to say).

But there is a difference between childlike and childish. Childish is the aforementioned definition of being a center of the universe. It's being mean and hurtful even in play. Childlike is looking at the world with the joy of a toddler who sees a bird or a dog, or anything for that matter, for the first time. There is joy in childlike play. Shared laughter. And yes, I love to play. This is what writing this journal is all about. Writing is play, amongst other things that make me happy to be alive. Playing makes the chaos of life easier to handle. A small example - Brad had a lot of interviews and two major talks.

For one of the talks, I tried to set up a Youtube connection so that we could play Brad's band <Zero Defects> and a Zen Interview for the audience before his appearance. I thought it would be a fun way to warm the crowd up. I got to the talk early in order to take care of any problems. But after working for two and half hours I still couldn't get the connections to work (think of it and it went wrong). I was running around, sweating and yelling "Rock & Roll" like a lunatic. But at one point I realized that I was just trying to keep myself busy because I was nervous about Brad's talk. I was nervous for him. He wasn't nervous at all. Then, I had to admit I had a great deal of fun playing the rock and roll stage hand. [Having been in the rock business for a long time, it was easy to get into the control freak, perfectionist that I can be when it comes to stage performance.] In the end, I gave up and let the talk happen. Brad was great. And I haven't stopped laughing at the image of me pumping my arms in the air and yelling, I repeat in great embarrassment, "Rock & Roll."

During Brad's visit, I didn't discuss Zen stuff much with Brad unless it was an official sit down (dokasan or zazen) because I didn't want him to feel as though I was trying to devour him bit by bit. A Buddhist vampire with fresh Zen blood, so to speak. And to my joy, he was a regular person who just wanted to be a regular person, not some "Enlightened Holy Being." And for my part, I wanted him to relax and be at home. Having read all three of his books, I guessed that he didn't want to play Kilgore Trout to my Dwayne Hoover. If you remember in <Breakfast of Champions> Dwayne Hoover asks Kilgore Trout: "Give me the message." I suspect a lot of people think that Brad has the secret to life. And he does. Here is the answer: Find it yourself.

I like the guy. I highly recommend his books: <Hardcore Zen>, <Sit Down and Shut Up> and <Zen Wrapped in Karma Dipped in Chocolate>. This is the link to his Blogspot:<[link]

Appreciation to DeviantArtists everywhere.