Continuing from yesterday’s post about author/teacher Mel Ash’s three hour workshop given at TheBeat Museum in San Francisco. The topic was “Bay, Beats & Buddhism.” Within three hours Ash covered a brief history of both the Beat movement and Zen Buddhism.
Some memorable quotes from the evening:
“Moments of undeserved grace fall into our lives.”
“Because I’m poor I own everything.” – Jack Kerouac
“Practice is the real work.” – Gary Snyder
“Are you a problem thinker?” Ash asked, and he alluded to the Alcohlics Anonymous Twelve Step Program, and how we might substitute “think” where “drink” appears.
He gave demonstration of how our mind can cause much suffering by dissecting the brain from a model skull.
“You have to love your own stuff. That’s liberation,” said Ash.
I left feeling a shift . . . I hope it will last longer than a week.
