From Jerome at Minding the Bedside, Can Zen Help....
Published: Wed, 09/04/13
Dear Friends -
I hope that this note finds you all well, enjoying life and all that it has to offer...even when it isn't perfect (oh yah, I know that one!!)
Recently a friend of mine, Curt Pesmen, wrote a great article titled, Can Zen Help Beat Travel Stress?
Curt is an insightful guy who likes to ask questions that make us think about alternatives to the usual ways that we look at life; a bit like a Zen master who poses the unanswerable question to get you to think outside of the box.
Curt's writing is prosey and poetic, at once humorous and confrontational. No holds barred, Curt likes to probe the ways that we think about our lives. No surprise. In 2000, Curt's expose of his journey with cancer was presented in Esquire Magazine. In this and subsequent articles, and in a book, My Cancer Year, Curt shared with the public his very intimate journey with cancer in a way that allowed others to learn from his insights, his foibles, and his successes.
Anyhow, this past June, Curt asked me to meet for a cup of coffee and discuss this article with him. He included some of our discussion in this article and I wanted to share it with you here. However, please note that Curt referred to me as a "...Buddhist teacher.." among other things.
While I appreciate Curt's praise and affections, I can in no way claim to be a Buddhist teacher. If anything, I'm a pretty sorry example of a student of Buddhism - if that - and prefer to see myself as a student of life, tossed to and fro by the waves of circumstance, clinging to various shores of comfort until the next wave of experience pulls me into the depths. Still, I want to thank Curt for having shared a few topics from our discussion and wanted to share them here, with you.
Enjoy the article and have a mindful day. And, as always, please feel free to drop me a line if you'd like me to write on any particular subject or if there's something that you need to know that I haven't offered.
Take care and very warm regards,
Jerome Stone
