April 2009
8 posts
I am begging you, Internet, for a temporary ban on...
I am not saying I haven’t used them, or that there is anything wrong with those who have.
What I am saying is: they have now crossed a line to being overused in a way that is, to me, a hallmark of the problem with internet writing (lack of editor means people don’t catch their own - usually unconscious - laziness with the English language).
Some of these were covered TWO YEARS AGO...
I really enjoy how annoyed Bukko sounds in the below.
From "Zen and Japanese Culture" by DT Suzuki
Tokimune: The worst enemy of our life is cowardice, and how can I escape it?
Bukko: Cut off the source whence cowardice comes.
Tokimune: Where does it come from?
Bukko: It comes from Tokimune himself.
Tokimune: Above all things, cowardice is what I hate the most, and how can it come out of myself?
Bukko: See how you feel when you throw overboard your cherished self known as Tokimune. I will see you again when you have done that.
Tokimune: How can this be done?
Bukko: Shut out all your thoughts.
Tokimune: How can my thoughts be shut out of consciousness?
Bukko: Sit cross-legged in meditation and see the source of all your thoughts which you imagine as belonging to Tokimune.
Tokimune: I have so much of worldly affairs to look after and it is difficult to find spare moments for meditation.
Bukko: Whatever worldly affairs you are engaged in, take them up as occasions for your inner reflection, and some day you will find out who this beloved Tokimune of yours is.
Would Planet Money please stop telling me it’s okay if I am confused about the complex financial structures involved in the current economic crisis? And stop telling me that the purpose of Planet Money is to help explain this in simple language?
Right. I know. That’s why I’m listening, that’s why I like the show. I get it.
