Zen In The Art Of Absurdity

Bill can't get a writing space. While in Canada, Sam learns to "go convert" himself, mum and dad are playing hide the Azalea plant, Delores can't keep her father's arse covered, a pack of wild Kens are hurtling toward the atmosphere, and dad is sitting in his car picking his ears with his keys.Often compared to Sedaris (Mostly by herself), this collection will make you sick...with laughter.

This book is an experiment. Inspired by the bizarre and uncanny, it is an attempt to use science and rationality to lift the veil off the irrational. Its ways are unconventional: weaving along its path one finds UFOs and fairies, quantum mechanics, analytic philosophy, history, mathematics, and depth psychology. The enterprise of constructing a coherent story out of these incommensurable disciplines is exploratory. But if the experiment works, at the end these disparate threads will come together to unveil a startling scenario about the nature of reality. The payoff is handsome: a reason for hope, a boost for the imagination, and the promise of a meaningful future. Yet this book may confront some of your dearest notions about truth and reason. Its conclusions cannot be dismissed lightly, because the evidence this book compiles and the philosophy it leverages are solid in the orthodox, academic sense. ,

Now that the Twentieth Century is behind us what made it what it was? 200 million human beings killed by war, totalitarianism, and extermination programs What made the twentieth century the most murderous age in human history, as well as the age that made the greatest advances ever in science and technology, while art and serious music declined into abstraction, non-communication, and grotesque hoaxes-blank canvases, old urinals, cans of excrement, and concertos consisting of four minutes of silence? This book argues that the century was marked by an over-masculinization of the Western mind, leading to autism and psychopathic aggression, and the eclipse of the feminine, expressive, emotional, empathetic side of human nature. Hence the unprecedented culture of total war and genocide, and the totalitarian projects to raze the human past and start again-which Modernism carried out in the arts. Hence also the masculinization of sexual behavior (as romance gave way to pornography, and marriage to promiscuity), the adoption by women of a male work role, the decline of motherhood and family, and the collapse of Western birthrates. This is all traced back to the rise of two aggressive, ultra-masculine ideologies in the nineteenth century, Darwinism and Marxism (which gave birth to Fascism and Feminism.) These ideologies put violence, conflict and aggression at the heart of life, and changed human mentalities. This book examines these developments through the literature and art of the past hundred and fifty years, and discusses their implications for the future of Western Civilization.

The good news is that the great thinkers from history have proposed the same strategies for happiness and fulfilment. The bad news is that these turn out to be the very things most discouraged by contemporary culture. This knotty dilemma is the subject of TheAge ofAbsurdity- a wry and accessible investigation into how the desirable states of wellbeing and satisfaction are constantly undermined by modern life. Michael Foley examines the elusive condition of happiness common to philosophy, spiritual teachings and contemporary psychology, then shows how these are becoming increasingly difficult to apply in a world of high expectations. The common challenges of earning a living, maintaining a relationship and ageing are becoming battlegrounds of existential angst and self-loathing in a culture that demands conspicuous consumption, high-octane partnerships and perpetual youth. In conclusion, rather than denouncing and rejecting the age, Foley presents an entertaining strategy of not just accepting but embracing today's world - finding happiness in its absurdity.

In Zen as in no other religious movement are the principal records, the techniques for spiritual realization, the art and aesthetics, and the portrayal of the spirit and style of its masters so intimately intertwined with the comic spirit and perspective. In the sayings of Zen masters one soon discovers that the object of laughter is really oneself, trapped in the predicament and folly of mankind. The purpose of wit, in Zen teachings, is to reveal the rational approach as a false trail. The author of this study surveys Zen literature to reveal the profound perception and direct experience of reality beneath the seeming playfulness and lightheartedness of Zen Buddhist writers and teachers.

Anthony Zen is an eccentric, free-spirited young man who collects round objects and shares his flat with a ringing cat. He lives in an unnamed city and works at a place called 'WORK', where he diligently shuffles papers and sharpens pencils. He is set upon by a wide variety of modern, commonplace problems yet chooses to deal with them in a playful, mischievous manner in his search for enlightenment, inner peace and a really good pair of trousers. In Anthony's universe, even the most mundane day-to-day activity can - and probably will - spiral into absurd, surreal chaos.With a healthy sense of the absurd, liberal doses of humour, two cups fantasy, dollops of surrealism and a pinch of shocking unpredictability, 'The Surreal Adventures of Anthony' reflects our modern predicament. The twenty-three short stories collected in 'Anthony Zen' share common themes including the struggle to remain an individual, the impact of a poor work / life balance, loss/disregard of spirituality, difficulty living in the moment, maintaining relationships, embracing the inner child's sense of wonderment and fun and coping with expectations that don't match reality. While these themes are fundamentally serious, 'Anthony' reaches for the light. Thus, serious messages are interspersed with moments of levity. These are stories that don't forget to loosen up and have some fun. After all, laughter is the best medicine.

From Absurdity to Zen is the first published introduction to the thought of Roberta Kevelson (1931-1998), late Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at The Pennsylvania State University and a leading semiotician and scholar of Charles S. Peirce. It also includes a selection of the sparkling aphorisms with which she punctuated her many books and articles, «From Absurdity to Zen», as well as an interview with Professor Kevelson from November 1996. Chance, paradox, and human freedom lay at the core of her wide-ranging scholarship on law, aesthetics, pragmatism, and creativity.

Applies an understanding of Zen Buddhism to the 'absurdity' of Beckett, which is seen as an expression of deepest spiritual anguish.