Tannishblog

I struggle with creating these Zen postings. Among the reasons for this is the fact that I am not myself proficient enough in the teachings, or practiced enough in method. To find a tidbit to share and to think upon is part of my practice. Somewhere I heard that a solid method to understanding a subject of to debate or discuss it with others less familiar. So, I attempt to do so.

Temptation exists to just cut-and-paste something then go have fun. I resist as I can; that is not the point of this exercise. However there are many others more qualified and more eloquent than I. I found someone like that on the ‘net and who coincidentally is not too far from me in meatspace.

Roshi Seven Ross at the Chicago Zen Center has generously recorded a few of his Teisho discourses for our edification. Each is about 45 minutes in length. I suggest a quiet place, perhaps after sitting a while and settling the mind. Bear in mind his discussions are meant for people with a base understanding of Zen, of the center, and of what it’s all about. Picture yourself as a fly on the wall as you listen to remind yourself that not everything you’ll hear may find purchase at first. Some things he infers require a level of knowledge we might not possess yet. Get accustomed to Roshi’s calming delivery, give it some space. I guarantee he will get you thinking.

Perhaps more that I have… way more…

I own a war game called Fortress America. It’s a bit of a collector’s item, made during the last throes of a dying gaming industry that had yet to re-emerge, phoenix-like, into the ether of the online gaming world. Circa 1983, I think.

The premise of the game was simple: America was under attack on three fronts; to the East, a shadowy Euro-Russian alliance was establishing beachheads. The game designers chose red plastic to represent this army. To the West, a vague aggregate of Sino-Japanese aggression is storming the Pacific coast (yellow pieces, of course.) Finally to the South, a federation (of blue pieces) from the nations in that direction. Our Great Beleaguered Nation has, as it’s unique tactical advantage, a deck of "Partisan Cards" that initiate a random sequence of guerilla attacks against the invaders. This is to represent the can-do spirit of the average Americans to repel enemies wherever they may be found. Yea, America!

An interesting premise, ahead of its time, perhaps, yet a rather bland board game. Game mechanics aside, though, the game illustrated common fears of a populace of which I was heretofore unaware. That demographic has been in power for the entirety of this young century. During their tenure, they’ve done a bang-up job of making this fantasy real. Europe likes us even less that they did, the Chinese soon won’t need any help in attacking the Left Coast, besides, we’ve been selling our future to then to pay for our failed war efforts. And in the South…

President Bush signed his "Secure Fence Act of 2006" (he just had to get a derivative of the word security in there…) where in he mandates the building of a 700 mile fence along a 1900 mile border. You do the math. Just to keep it interesting, he doesn’t bother to try to fund the $7 billion project. Washington Post, of all entities, notes the irony in that as well as a short historical perspective on the effectiveness of walls.

I guess the Fortress America campaign is proceeding - however slowly. Those Southern Invaders should watch out for the turning over of America’s Partisan Cards along the remaining 2/3 of our border-down-under. Now all we have to worry about is how to build walls on the oceans.