malanda

Amazing gallery... let me watch each one of 'em

thank you for your comment!

Dear Gregory,

Please do not apologize for the lenght of your appreciation and interpretation of the 2 books - let me apologize instead for not checking in regulary and not answering your kind notes immediately.

There is nothing more to say about Demian and Zen Mind Beginners Mind on my part - you said it perfectly already.

Maybe I am out here for a (short?) while - so please do not mind if I cannot respond on an ongoing basis. You always can reach me by "normal" E-mail ... and I know how to reach you.

Take care my Good Dharma Friend
Karl

Welcome to DA.
Come and visit my gallery and let me know what you think

Dave

I finished Demian, and I see the connection you made with my Phoenix image when you reccommended the book. More curious is my somewhat " blasphmephous" interpretation of Adam a few images later, which resonates with Hesse's interpretation of Cain. Synchronicities are funny that way. I like it when wisdom penetrates and echoes in different aspects of life like that. It reminds me of the magic in the world, and reassures me I am still on the path.

Having finished Demian, it does appear that he starts to make the transition from prajna to jnana, right about halfway through the book, though Sinclair never quite stabilizes it like in the sense of Suzuki Roshi. So I still think the two books work very nicely together, one taking off where the other leaves.

Once again I apologize for my long book reports.

Much Love,
Gregory

I have only read about half way through " Demian" so far, so it may be a bit premature to comment, but what the hell. These two books you have reccommended to me seem like an ingenius combination. As far as I can tell, they offer a complete path. What I have read of "Demian" so far, echoes my own life up into my early and mid twenties, when I started making the transition into the realm of that which is spoken of in "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind." Hesse is already hinting at this transition, halfway into "Demian," so it may be that in future chapters the transition occurs. We'll see. As I see it so far, "Demian" is relating to the development of prajna, of intellectual curiosity and acumen, and the whole struggle that comes along with that, i.e., the guilt that comes with questioning everything, and the loss of innocense in seeing through the surface, and of course, this alienated feeling of being set apart from others. But then in, "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind," that prajna has developed further and has penetrated into the realm of jnana, of non-conceptual, non-intellectual wisdom. This seems to be a natural path, from ignorance, to conceptual knowledge and intelligence, to non-conceptual wisdom; with each transition requiring that we let go of something from the previous. I am only 31 now, and so have not been practicing long, thus each day, a little at a time, my allegiance is still shifting from knowledge to wisdom. Thanks again, and I apologize for the long comment.

Yours,
Gregory

Have you read, "As It Is," by Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche? It reminds me a lot of, "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind." These are my favorite sort of teachings, those that go simply and directly to the essence of view and practice.