Better than sitting around doing nothing


Two elderly gents are discussing their children, and one of them asks, 'so what is Jim doing these days?'
'Oh, not much, as always. He tells me he is seriously doing something called 'meditation'.'
'Meditation? What is that?'
'I have no idea, but it has to be better than sitting around doing nothing.'
That anecdote is from The Buddha of the Brothel by Kris Advaya. I bought this newly-published light but powerful literary memoir in India recently. Surprisingly it doesn't seem to be published elsewhere yet; so if any literary agents are reading this, it is an opportunity well worth pursuing. Kris Advaya was born in what is now Slovenia in 1976 and in an example of dependent arising his spiritual surname is also the title of Jonathan Harvey's 1994 work for cello and electronics which synthesizes the rhythmic pattern of tablas. Both uses refer to the Sanskrit word Advaya which describes the pivotal Buddhist concept of non-duality, a concept also found in Vedanta as Advaita.

Photograph was taken by me beside the Ganges at Varanasi. On An Overgrown Path is no longer linked on social media. New posts are available via RSS/email by entering your email address in the right-hand sidebar. Any copyrighted material is included as "fair use" for critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s).

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