April 2006

Two sites I've been spending a lot of time on recently are both concerned with zen.

One is 101 Zen Stories, which contains a collection of somewhat esoteric tales, many of which are expected to enighten the reader in matters of serenity, generosity and blatant apathy about everyone else's behaviour and existence. Scathing though that sounds, I do recommend it...

The Stone Mind
Hogen, a Chinese Zen teacher, lived alone in a small temple in the country. One day four traveling monks appeared and asked if they might make a fire in his yard to warm themselves.

While they were building the fire, Hogen heard them arguing about subjectivity and objectivity. He joined them and said: "There is a big stone. Do you consider it to be inside or outside your mind?"

One of the monks replied: "From the Buddhist viewpoint everything is an objectification of mind, so I would say that the stone is inside my mind."

"Your head must feel very heavy," observed Hogen, "if you are carrying around a stone like that in your mind."

The other is CSS Zen Garden, which provides a different form of enlightenment: the brilliance of style sheets.



This type of seperation of content and layout is excellent practice, and something that I'm striving for...