In honor of the Unites States’ Independence Day Weekend, I planned to write today about the media, which is under attack. And I mean, yes, the mainstream media, which make mistakes but try to adhere to long-in-place ethical standards. Then, after reviewing this post from February 2016, I decided I could take the rest of the day off and simply re-post it. In still conveys what I want to say.
There’s a story about Korean Zen Master Seung Sahn (1927-2004):
One morning his students saw him reading the newspaper as he ate breakfast. They chided him:
“You tell us, ‘When you eat, eat. When you read, read.’ But now you’re eating and reading.”
Seung Sahn looked up from his newspaper and his breakfast and replied:
“When you eat and read, eat and read.” Then he went back to his newspaper and his breakfast.
The main point of that story is about rules, of course, but I thought of it today for another reason. This respected Zen master cared about reading the newspaper, cared about the media’s depiction of current events. Sitting facing a wall and teaching others about the dharma was not enough for him.
I admit it. I read The New York Times online in the mornings as I eat breakfast, and I watch NBC’s local and national TV news…
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Melting-Pot Dharma 