God knows these words from the teacher are the soothe we all need right now for an anxious nation in worried times. Read them now more than ever.
Let your mind be massaged by an ancient wisdom in modern times. 10/10

AVAILABLE NOW! THE FULL COLOR HARDBACK AWAY TO Z
FROM ALL FIVE INTERACTIONS WITH THE TEACHER IN 2020
PLUS SOME BONUS MATERIAL!

ALL FIVE ARE CURRENTLY AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK AND DIGITAL VERSIONS ON AMAZON.
ATTENTION ZOO | ANGER ZEN | AMERICAN ZEALOT | ABSTINENT ZIPPER | ASSUME ZOMBIE

AND ALL FIVE TOGETHER IN FULL COLOR FOR THE HARDBACK
AWAY TO Z

Background.

In the early days of isolation in 2020, I was able to hang out with one of the most unique people I’ve ever met - I call him the teacher. We met under a big maple tree and talked about everything from… well… “attention” to “zoos”. I took notes and I immediately came home and put together a small book (almost a journal) of our first meeting so that I could remember it and so others could glean from his wisdom. That became, obviously Attention Zoo. We’ve met multiple times since that first meeting to talk about religion (Anger Zen), America (American Zealot) Sexuality (Abstinent Zipper), and, finally, to just let him talk without much interruption (Assume Zombie). Perhaps we will meet in the future.

The teacher gave me permission to use these thoughts as my own but I do try to give him all the credit I can.

The books are very short, very easy to read and easy to grasp, but hopefully, not easy to forget. They are available as paperback and digital and I do. hope you enjoy them.

You can find a taste of each of them below.

“Tell me about cynicism,” I said to the teacher. “Why do you want to know?” he asked.

“I don’t want to be known as a cynic. They say cynicism is a wound, not wisdom.”

“Hmm,” he whispered. “Tell me . . . is the free man a cynic when he mistrusts the invitation of the warden to live in his beautiful prison? Is the warden a cynic when he mistrusts the invitation of the free man to his woods of wild creatures and flowing rivers?”

“Yes?” I answered.

“Cynicism is an excuse to resist change. Always resist building bars and never resist tearing them down. Yes, the bars do wound. As they should. And that is wisdom. Do not worry what they call you, worry only if you are always becoming more free.”

“What’s the key?”

“The key?” he asked.

“I mean, what makes it all work? What unlocks life?”

“Do you know the first thing the Buddha apparently said, after his enlightenment?”

“No.”

“Wonder of wonders! Have you ever looked up at the stars at night and felt them push you into the ground even as you feel as though you are floating above it? Have you ever stared at the snow-capped mountain peaks and felt the urge to bow to their majesty? Have you ever looked into their eyes and felt tears come into your own?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, wow. Wonder. Awe. To say and feel these things are the keys, as you call them.”

“Patriotism, I wonder,” he mused. “I wonder why it is not one of the seven deadliest sins?”

“That might get some people pretty upset.”

“No, no, I only mean the false patriotism. I am a true patriot. I am defending it from the true enemies and detractors; you are merely a false patriot.”

“Well, how are we supposed to know which is which?” The teacher just smiled. “As I said . . .”

“You said earlier that everything is sexual?” I asked. 

“Yes?” 

“Really?” 

“To be human is to be sexual. Is everything human?” 

I had to think on that. “Yes.” 

“Is everything spiritual?” 

“I believe so.” 

He sat back and stared up at the sky. “I wonder why this is so hard for so many. I can’t decide if it is sexuality or humanity that has been so poisoned that this is a difficult concept. I would assume both.

“So much of good sexuality is simply just good instruction on what it means to be a human. And so much of bad sexuality is simply bad instruction on what it means to be a human.” 

There are many old people but there are not many elders. Maturity only comes with elders . . . simply being old is nothing. I do not understand why so few understand this. Living longer does not fix the problems that we carry when we are children, or youths, or in our twenties. Living longer does nothing on its own, except provide time to work on those frustrations and roadblocks within us. 

But, they will not magically vanish. Who believes this? Why would they believe this? 

Many are in their eighties and still have not learned that the world is not theirs alone. How can this be? They have not worked on such an issue. 

I would add, here, that many have the work hidden by material possessions. Possessions are tremendous at masking issues, burying them deeper, until they rise to the surface at some point, of course. They can hide the work that must be done. 

Have you met someone who is sixty-five and acts with the shame and embarrassment of a seventeen-year-old? This should not surprise us. We do not change on our own, without effort. 

Many are in their seventies and still have not learned that there is no such thing as being neutral. How is this possible? They have not spent effort and time on such an idea.