"Barbara O’Brien’s wide-ranging account of Zen history is conveyed with a master storyteller’s ability to keep the forest from getting lost in a myriad of trees. Wearing her scholarship lightly, she blends just the right amount of skepticism about her hagiographic sources with a deep appreciation for the Dharma." — Barry Magid, author of
Nothing Is Hidden and
Ending the Pursuit of Happiness Order here!
The world is breaking apart, or so it seems nearly every morning when the news feed pops up.
Back in the 70s, like nearly everyone else, I grew my hair and joined a band. We were an odd mix of country and folk. We just played bars, colleges and the few coffeehouses that were still around. (Looking back, I wouldn't have done it without a healthy dose of Dunning-Kruger, but, some of my band mates had real talent.) Cohen, Dylan and Prine were earth shakers for me and I wouldn't trade the memories of those long drives back home in the small hours, talking politics and trying to write songs. We're a long way from that world now.
I don't know what will break the spell that the cult leader is spinning. I still know people who aren't looking at real events and taking this pandemic seriously. When local supply chains fail, when sources of feed and hay are gone, things are going to get very ugly. That might shake them back to reality, but, I doubt it. Ironically, when someone people have seen on TV or heard on a CD pass on that can seem more real to them than a few hundred people just over the county line. They might finally see that this is not just another flu season. But, I just wish, for the moment, that it had been someone else, someone who wasn't John Prine.