Currently, my life is in extreme turmoil, I am a leaf in a hurricane, fighting to regain inner rest: as if I'm decomposing and recomposing, like the quantum behaviour of the surface of the void. Music kicks me around, wish I could share this with someone. I try to express these feelings in /Memories - although very few people will actually get the message carried by the undercurrent there. If you do, drop me a line ;-)
These rather extreme inner events also arose my interest in the different ways of Zen.
Notwithstanding Dogen And Go, I have the impression that there are
links between Go, Zen, traditional Oriental music, calligraphy and
painting: maybe I only imagine this. Zen seems to emerge as the root knot, but this is not clear yet. As an example:
kyudo,
sho-do, ikebana are Zen arts, why wouldn't Go? See also
http://www.sevendaysvt.com/features/2005/playtimes.html.
shakuhachi is not far from the way stones on the goban are arrayed.
Think of children learning the game: their progress can be enormous, yet they are not aware of that; they just devour go literature out of interest, because they want to discover, not because they want to progress. Only later will this change, when they want to compete with other kids, prove they are the best - that's where things start to go wrong (in a sense). It is this natural state of mind that a go player should adapt when willing to progress: not willing to progress at all. In fact, this is about the Beginner's Mind (see Dogen And Go).
See also
The Taste of Banzo's Sword
See also Philosophy and Go.
More links
http://bodhiwater.blogspot.com/2006_05_01_bodhiwater_archive.html
http://bodhiwater.blogspot.com/2005/12/mandala-of-compassion.htmlGo is meaningless as such: there is not much difference between go, chess or collecting stamps. But all can be eye openers, catalysators.
It is just another way to explore other areas of life. For example, a club member wonders if anyone is reading the exercises and game reviews he is posting from time to time. One should not to wonder if postings reach anyone, but let the heart speak and simply embrace others, make them part of one's experience and drag them along in the wake you leave behind, share one's joy with them. Game reviews and exercises can be just one of those ways.