Re: a couple of points
Tim O'Connor (tim@roughdraft.org)
Thu, 15 Jan 1998 22:30:32 -0500
Hi. You said:
> <<
> We know how to be modest in person.
> How does a person remain modest online? >>
> What the hell is going on? I asked a simple god damned question and I don't
> see why you all have to get so worked up over it.
I'm the person who wrote this post that has you worked up, and frankly I
have no idea of what you are talking about. What is offensive here?
I admit that it was a litttle subtle and indirect. Scottie mentioned, in
passing, "the improbability of anyone asking through the medium of a world
wide network how best to be modest," and that intrigued me enough to want
to recast it as a koan (of the sort you would find at the opening of Nine
Stories). Not nearly one-thousandth as good as the real thing, but
intended to make a point that we can find these little mysteries all around
us.
> Online or offline we have
> personalities that come across and lately I've been feeling my own
>personality
> getting a little unbalanced off line as well as on. Seeing as how this is a
> list of Salinger fans, and seeing how Salinger wrote endlessly on the subject
> of eastern thought, that maybe someone could share some advice...BOOKS. MAYBE
> SOMEONE COULD SUGGEST A BOOK I COULD READ.
Try a book by D.T. Suzuki. One good introductory text is "Zen Buddhism,"
originally published in the mid-1950s. Another one I like an awful lot is
"Zen and the Art of Archery," by Eugen Herrigel. Some people don't much
like Suzuki, but I like what he has to say -- at a minimum, he helps us see
that Zen is humorous and tolerant of outrageous statements and actions.
Another work that ties things together interestingly is "Salinger's Glass
Stories as a Composite Novel," by Eberhard Alsen, since he approaches the
work at an angle less Western than one usually would expect.
> Is that so hard? Is that really
> that difficult?
> I am not asking for an analysis of how I sign a letter, I am not asking for
> anyones opinion on culture or cultures. I AM ASKING IF ANYONE KNOWS ABOUT ANY
> FREAKING BOOKS I CAN READ.
Again, I'm not really sure of what you are irritated about, but if you'd
like to discuss it, send me mail privately, and we'll get to the bottom of
it. Even if someone offends you, you'll get a lot farther if you just
raise the issue that bothers you in a civil manner, instead of sounding
like a rude person (which I'm sure you are not).
--tim o'connor