6.14.2006
The End, yet Again
Pre-emptive worrying about the coming apocalypse seems to be a far more important phenomena these days that any actual apocalyspe itself. As this LA Weekly article suggests, regardless of whether the world may or may not end in the next five minutes, life itself must be enjoyed. Actually there's a Zen koan that sounds suspiciously like this article:
"A Man travelling across a field encountered a tiger. He fled, but the tiger ran after him. Coming to a precipice, he caught hold of a root of a wild vine and swung himself down over the edge. The tiger sniffed at him from above. Trembling, the man looked down to where, far below, another tiger was waiting to eat him. Only the vine sustained him.
Two mice, one white and one black, little by little started to gnaw away the vine. The man saw a luscious strawberry near him. Grasping the vine with one hand, he plucked the strawberry with the other. How sweet it tasted!"
Mmmm. Strawberries.
