Tales of Zen Buddhist Scoundrels
Mel C. Thompson
- Sensei,
- a
- man
- accused
- of
- laziness,
- malingering,
- sexual
- misconduct,
- alcoholism,
- blasphemy
- and
- depression,
- wanders
- in
- a
- netherworld
- somewhere
- between
- modern
- Los
- Angeles
- and
- ancient
- Kyoto.
- He
- appears
- under
- many
- names
- and
- in
- many
- guises,
- and
- often
- belongs
- to
- many
- religions
- or
- no
- religion.
- He
- also
- seems
- indifferent
- to
- politics,
- long-term
- employment
- and
- monogamous
- relationships,
- leaving
- him
- open
- to
- the
- charges
- of
- agnosticism,
- amorality
- and
- nihilism.
- He
- wanders
- from
- temple
- to
- dive
- bar,
- and
- from
- holy
- lands
- to
- inner
- cities.
- Going
- from
- job
- to
- job,
- sometimes
- serving
- as
- a
- priest,
- sometimes
- forced
- into
- emeritus
- status,
- and
- at
- other
- times
- wandering
- the
- streets
- homeless,
- he
- always
- seeks,
- though
- his
- adventures,
- to
- wreck
- any
- attempts
- at
- smugness
- or
- certainty.
- Whatever
- beliefs
- his
- interlocutors
- are
- holding
- on
- to,
- even
- if
- it's
- Buddhism
- itself,
- Sensei
- will,
- through
- his
- escapades,
- unearth
- the
- unfounded
- assumptions
- that
- guide
- most
- of
- his
- questioners
- through
- their
- predictable
- days.
- Sensei
- is,
- above
- all
- things,
- unpredictable,
- and
- one
- can
- never
- tell
- whether
- he
- will
- respond
- to
- a
- given
- situation
- with
- a
- most
- transcendent
- gentleness
- or
- the
- most
- explosive
- violence.
- In
- the
- Bodhisattva
- tradition,
- he
- uses
- different
- medicines
- to
- cure
- different
- illnesses,
- as
- the
- old
- sutras
- used
- to say.
