You just could not get away with this these days!
Brad Warner
There is No God and He is Always with You: A Search for God in Odd Places
New World Library, 2013
Brad Warner is an American Sōtō** Zen master, and monk, who lives in the world. He has been practising and studying Zen since 1983 in America and Japan. This is his fifth book looking at various aspects of Zen, what it is and how it works for him in the world rather than in an enclosed monastery.
Zen does not require belief in a god, or gods, or an afterlife, or any of the trappings of the Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Judaism and Islam), Hinduism or many of the other Buddhist traditions. Warner’s assertion is that Buddhism, as a philosophy and way of life rather than a religion requiring faith, has no need of god(s); those “mainstream Buddhism” has have been bolted on over the centuries. In this sense the Zen schools are truer to the original way taught by Gautama Buddha.
And yet Warner says there is a god. Not the Santa Claus figure sitting on a white cloud of the Abrahamic religions; nor the pantheon of Hinduism. God is much more nebulous, not really there at all, certainly not an identifiable figure, and yet is everything and always. To me this seems an essentially pantheistic view, but one emanating from much deeper: from Warner’s enlightenment.
This book looks at a variety of aspects of this god; at what some of the Zen teachings say; and where Warner says they have hitherto been poorly interpreted. The book also looks at the ways and times Warner has encountered this god in the world. He also touches on the philosophical concepts of the meaning of life and the afterlife. Unsurprisingly there is a lot of Brad Warner in the book as he develops nearly all the 22 short chapters from a real worldly experience.
Warner has a light, readable style, which means you can read this book quickly and at a superficial level, as I admit I have mostly done. While the book is an easy read I didn’t find it as captivating as his previous books. That’s not to say it doesn’t make one stop and think from time to time, and I feel sure it would repay another, deeper, reading as Warner packs a lot into just under 200 pages.
If you’re interested in Buddhism, Zen or comparative religion this is worth a read. Who knows, it may even lead you to enlightenment.
Overall Rating: ★★★☆☆
** Forget about the tricks of Zen koans; these are the teaching methods of the Rinzai school of Zen. Sōtō Zen (founded by Dōgen in the 13th century) is more about using pure meditation to discover things for oneself.
Saturday was the Anthony Powell Society quarterly London Pub Meet at the Audley in Mount Street, just off Park Lane. Although attended by fewer than usual we had a jolly time with the some fun and eclectic discussion accompanied by a few beers and some food. And it is the food which brings this week’s photograph for we discovered one of our number about to demolish his, rather dilapidated, chapeau.
The long arm of the law is getting longer and needs to be amputated!
It has been widely reported in the last couple of days (see, inter alia, here and here) that the Government wants to abolish Police cautions and instead allow the Police to fine people directly for most minor offences.
Like many others I see this summary justice as an erosion of our liberties and another move towards a police state.
Just because, according to the Police Inspectorate, around a third of cautions are issued incorrectly doesn’t mean they should be replaced with a more draconian measure. If anything it suggests the scheme doesn’t work and should be abolished. Yes, I dislike the notion of Police cautions as a piece of instant justice as much as I do summary fines.
A Police caution still gives the offender a criminal record. However the person concerned has had no opportunity to have their side of the case properly heard, in court, as the Police are acting as prosecutor and either magistrate or judge and jury. This to me is an infringement of the justice system which is based on the principle that everyone has the right to be heard in court by their peers (either in the persons of magistrates or a jury).
And allowing the Police even greater powers to fine offenders makes that far far worse.
We know why the government want to do it. They see Police cautions as a “soft option”, which it isn’t as it gives the offender a criminal record. Moreover it will probably save money which would otherwise have to be spent on the magistrates’ courts (already severely cut back) and will likely bring in extra revenue — in the way speed cameras and parking wardens have done.
But it means that many people will accept the caution or fine — often when they shouldn’t — because they don’t want to have to go to court for whatever reason; possibly because the Police have used scare tactics on them.
Out of court disposals (by which I understand cautions and the proposed fines) are incredibly problematic in terms of giving someone a criminal record without any form of legal procedure or check and balance. Both summary fines and cautions should, in my mind, be abolished: either the offence is serious enough to put the suspect before a magistrate or it isn’t.
Instant justice like this cannot be a good thing in a democratic, supposedly free, country. It all smacks too much of the Police state!
Another selection of interesting articles you may have missed.
First one for the physics geeks and anyone else who wants their head exploded … Scientists are beginning to believe that the wave function of an electron — an elementary particle — can be separated into many parts and the parts individually trapped. That has some strange implications for the theory of quantum mechanics, which is hard enough at the best of times.
Baryton
A bowed string instrument of the 18th century, similar to the bass viol, but having sympathetic strings on the rear of the fingerboard.
According to Wikipedia:
The baryton can be viewed as a sort of augmented bass viol. It is similar in size to the latter instrument and likewise has six or seven strings of gut, arranged over a fretted fingerboard and played with a bow. The instrument is held vertically and is supported by the player’s legs …
The baryton differs from the bass viol in having an additional set of wire strings. These perform two functions: they vibrate sympathetically with the bowed strings, enriching the tone, and they can also be plucked by the left thumb of the performer, creating a contrasting tonal quality.
According to the OED, the name of the instrument is a loan word from French baryton or Italian baritono, and ultimately derives from Greek bary- + tonos ‘deep-pitched’.
Here’s my selection of events, celebrations and customs that are happening during November.
[Reminder: These listings contain an eclectic mix of anniversaries, historical events, red letter days and upcoming “awareness events”, mostly UK-centric. My rules for the inclusion of awareness events are that they must not be medical, nor aimed specifically at children, nor too obviously purely commercial; and they must have a useful website.]
1 to 30 November
National Novel Writing Month. Can you write a novel in a month? That’s the challenge for all the budding authors out there. The idea is to write your 50,000 words in just thirty days. More information, hints, tips and events over at http://nanowrimo.org/.
1 November
London (Regent Street) Veteran Car Concours. If you’re in central London on this day you’ll find many of the cars taking part in the London-Brighton Veteran Car Run on display in Regent Street. And some may even be limbering up around the West End. So take your camera and keep your eyes open. Basic evnet information at www.classicshowsuk.co.uk/classic-car-show-event-information/classic-car-show-by-date.asp?id=515.
There’s … some commercial farming, although Londoners do largely import their food, with an increasing number of community growing schemes and an established network of 30,000 allotments. South London has an underground farm in an old bomb shelter, and an edible bus-stop.