| PAGE ONE Fall, 2001 Issue: Spirit & Crisis EDITOR'S NOTE BUDDHASCOPE DHARMATALK FOUNDOBJECTS GUESTCOLUMN QUOTES POETRY READING ROOM REVIEWS CONTACT US SITE INDEX SUBSCRIBE |
WE ARE CONTINUING to solicit entries for the Hundred Mountain Contest described below. We have gotten some good ones, but need some more. We are also adding a cool new prize for the first place winner—a copy of the new 80-page Dharma the Cat collection.
DARRELL GLENN OF CHARLESTON, West Virginia, provided the germ of the idea for this Second Hundred Mountain Contest. Darrell sent an e-mail about meditating upon his, well... his dog. He single-handedly created a new form of meditation based upon canines.Below is his e-mail and afterwards we explain the rules of the contest.
DARRELL WRITES:
"I have become aware of a new form of meditation, which I will call Dog Zen.To do Dog Zen, take a comfortable seat with a view of a grassy yard. A dog must be present for this practice. My particular technique uses a beagle, but any dog who has Buddha nature will do. As you sit, follow your dog with your eyes. The dog will wander about, sniffing and yipping and wagging its tail. Just note these things as they occur. When you realize that your attention has wandered from the dog, just find the dog and again place your attention on this object of meditation. The dog may come to you wanting affection. At this point, it is OK to pet the dog. When the dog goes away, do not call the dog back or wish it back. Just say gently to yourself, 'Dog gone.'
"OK, that's enough. I think I have to go back to work now.
Darrell"
OK, YOUR FAITHFUL EDITOR IS BACK. Here are the contest rules. Come up with a similar form of insight meditation, whose subject involves some object, animal, person or thing in the world. We might suggest, for example:
ICE CREAM MEDITATION: Hold an ice cream cone in your hand. Without becoming alarmed or rushing to clean up or making any movement at all, be aware as the ice cream melts down the side of the cone onto your hand. Note to yourself: "Melting, melting..." And: "Cold, cold..." And: "Yucky, yucky..." This meditation can be teamed with Dog Zen Meditation. As the dog comes over to you , note: "Licking, licking..."
TRIPPING MEDITATION: As you are walking, you stumble over a crack in the sidewalk or slip on an icy street and fall onto your rear, note: "What an idiot, what an idiot..." Be aware of the tear in your pants leg, the stones now cutting into your palm or the icy water now soaking your socks. If an ambulance should arrive, note the pulsating red lights and the siren without becoming attached to them. Allow the medics to attach bandages to you without becoming attached to how they are attaching these new attachments to you...
Got the idea? Submit your entry by March 1, 2000. Send it in an e-mail with the subject line: HUNDRED MOUNTAIN CONTEST. Here, we'll even do it for you.
The winner will receive a copy the nifty 80-page collection of Dharma the Cat cartoons, titled "Dharma the Cat: Philosophy With Fur." A second-place winner will receive a copy of the book "Tap Dancing in Zen."
And, as in our first contest, all of the best entries will be printed in our next issue of Hundred Mountain, Spring 2000, leading to a brief, yet sweet 15 minutes of Internet fame for some of our many readers spread hither and yon across the globe. Meditate upon this contest and enter soon!
And don't miss the simply wonderful results from the First Hundred Mountain Contest, in which readers were invited to send in alternative Dalai Lamas, including the Milli Vanili Lama, The Polly Lama, the Volley Lama, the Fernando Lama, and the winner-- the Buddy Holly Lama:
PREVIOUSLY in Humor:
Buddhist Bumper Stickers:
"I'd Rather Be Sitting," plus what the hot dog vendor replied when the monk wanted some change back. 9/99
"Zen Moderne":
What's that you say about when you wash the dishes? Some modern modifications to ancient Zen wisdom. 5/99
"Cosmologically Speaking":
How did the Universe come to be? The Buddha never said, but Dr. Jim tries to explain. By Dr. Jim Geronimo. 2/99
"The I-Ching Golf Swing": Issue 1
Let the I-Ching help you make par? What about the I-Ving? By Mitch Vingle. 11/98