Zen Noir By Marc Rosenbush

This world is filled with many troubles including racism. Society often depicts whites as superior to blacks. However, this is not precise, because every race has both good and bad within it. The world is trying to break away from racism to become a better place for everyone around the world. Racism is not only about the color of one’s skin, it can impact individuals around the world due to their race or religion. The title of this novel is “Black and White” by Paul Volponi. In this coming of age story, two friends, Marcus Brown and Eddie Russo, who are black and white (respectively), are senior basketball stars at their high school. Marcus lives in community housing which is fraught with crime with a single mother. On the other hand, Eddie lives in a private house nearby where Marcus lives. Both Marcus and Eddie are in financial hardships and need to find easy money to cover their school and basketball fees. The two agree to start pulling robberies when they unintentionally shoot a black man. They are left in anxiety trying to avoid getting caught while trying to lead a normal life after the incident. They both end up going through the justice system, and Marcus must serve jail time while Eddie gets to go free. While all of this transpires, Marcus and Eddie manage to keep their friendship strong and overcome any barriers together. Any true friendship can overcome racial stereotypes put in place by society including the racial barrier between Blacks and Whites. The novel

Even though Zen and Pure Land Buddhism are usually considered to be quite different, they are actually part of the same type of Buddhism, Mahayana, and thus have an underlying similarity. This essay will argue that, in particular, the Mahayana concepts of non-duality and no-self are present in both schools, and that the ways employed in each school to reach their respective goals can be analyzed in a similar fashion, proving that these two schools are part of, rather than deviations of, Mahayana Buddhism.

In the chapter, the gray zone, the author Primo Levi describes the human relationships inside the Lager. In describing the gray zone, Levi discusses the different roles of prisoners assigned by the Nazi. The prisoners that did the work were seen as being more privileged which at the end of the day helped them get more food and live better. Therefore, the concept of the gray zone is analyzing the difference between the privileged and the non-privileged in the Lager. The difference can be seen by the tasks that the prisoners carried out, for example, one of the groups were seen as, “Low ranking functionaries... sweepers, kettle washers, night watchmen, bed smoothers... checkers of lice and scabies,

Buddhism is a philosophy and a religion based on the teachings of the Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama who lived approximately 566 B.C.E. Today, Buddhism has millions of followers worldwide, known as Buddhists. (Ballou, 1976) Most practicing Buddhists believe in concepts such as karma, dharma, samsara and nirvana. In addition to these, Buddhists base their lives and actions on the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold. Fortress (1999) explains that the name Buddha is a title that means “one who has been awakened” or “the Enlightened One”. On his quest for enlightenment and spirituality, Buddha escaped the life he knew as a husband and father, and turned to a life of meditation, along with ascetic practices. He lived much of his life as a monk in the monastery preaching to his followers that the way to be “awakened” or achieve inner peace and enlightenment is to” live in the now”. (Fortress, 1999) This paper will discuss Buddhism and whether it is a religion of escapism or whether Buddhist live in denial of reality.

Ann Lauinger, a literature professor at Sarah Lawrence College and winner of the Agha Shahid Ali Prize in Poetry, in her narrative-like poem, “Marvell Noir”, published in 2005, describes a tale about a man interacting romantically with a woman who is serving time in prison. This man with a tough-like persona speaks diligently with a loving passion for this woman until his demeanor turns dark and reminds her about the past crime she has committed and how he must move on because he is not suited to life in jail unlike her, ultimately leading to their fallen and broken relationship. Lauinger’s purpose is revealing a prevalent theme in poetry, carpe diem, which translates to relishing and seizing opportunities in the day and simply making the most

The Coen Brothers’ film Miller’s Crossing and William Kennedy’s novel Legs revolve around the endeavors of underground criminal societies during Prohibition. This draws similarities with Joseph Campbell’s work, The Hero With a Thousand Faces, because the criminal underworld corresponds to suppressing the Freudian id. On Kennedy’s bookshelf, “‘The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence’ abuts ‘Naked Mind’ and ‘The Catholic Missal’ cohabits with ‘The Tibetan Book of the Dead,’ flanked by a score of volumes on Joyce” (Suplee 2). The Tibetan Book of the Dead, also known as the Bardo Thodol, expresses Buddhist teachings on death, rebirth, and the state of pause between the two. Along with Campbell’s work, the Bardo Thodol gives readers the ability to analyze both Legs and Miller’s Crossing on a more personal level. In fact, the central purpose of the Tibetan Book of the Dead is to inform readers of the importance of introspection and humility. In a more menacing way, gang narratives follow the model of the Bardo Thodol because the sinister underworld allows for pause between life and death.

Within Zenju’s The Way of Tenderness she speaks to a reengagement with how spiritual awakening is understood within Buddhist discourse. In particular Zenju challenges the gap distancing spiritual awakening from our everyday experiences. Instead, Zenju argues to inextricably link spiritual awakening and everyday experiences: “awakening does not come in a blind, euphoric, or empty world” (2015, 7). Further, Zenju’s engagement with spiritual awakening creates space in which to critique Buddhist discourses that serve to oppress bodies, as well as to recover Buddhist discourses that serve to liberate bodies. The same Buddhist discourse can be used to both liberate and oppress people,

Keown speaks of the construction of violence and pacifism within Buddhism assumes an inherent codependence between nonviolence and pacifism. For Keown to claim that pacifism seems not align with violent actions taken in the name of peace (pacifism), he must first assume that pacifism is uniquely nonviolent (2005, 83). Yet, as the writings and lived experiences of Sister Nhat Chi Mai display, pacifism, or a turning away from violence, can be anything but nonviolent. Sister Chi Mai choose to step out the dichotomous understanding of nonviolent pacifism versus violence. Instead, she (re)engaged with notions of pacifism, violence, suffering, and compassion to reimagine violent pacifism within a modern society. Pacifist actions within a Buddhist setting can, and do, take on violent means in order to promote peace and compassion for all life.

However, Joo’s combining of old and new icons is just that, a combination. Joo is not hiding the fact that the bodies belong to the Buddha and he is not defacing the heads to hide their identities. What he did is combined these figures to represent the emergence of a new culture where Asians embrace the traditional and claim a way of life thrust upon them. The process of decolonization is a long one that requires a clear knowledge of native history, understanding of the present, and probable predictions of the future. Joo’s work reflect the current time period where many Asians are subverting colonialist thought, not only by embracing traditional practices, but by also taking and altering Western icons so they can reflect their life and

Zen (Ch. Chan) is a general term for a Mahayana school Buddhism, which emerged during Tang dynasty China (618-907). Ever since it had crystallized as an independent school of thought, we witness in Zen a tension between the need to belong to the Buddhist tradition and the urge to revolt against it. On the one hand, Zen masters had considered themselves, and still do, as direct heirs and followers of the historical Buddha, and on the other hand order their disciples to abandon the Buddhist teaching. Thou, somewhat radical, Linji Yixuan (d. 866) famous saying: “If you meet a Buddha kill him” (逢佛殺佛) is a typical example of this approach.

This essay will reflect the meaning, as well as the mythological interpretation of a movie titled “Little Buddha.” In the movie, “Little Buddha,” there were Tibetan Buddhist monks from a monastery in Bhutan, led by Lama Norbu, searching for a child, who they believed had been reincarnated, as the Buddhist leader, Lama Dorje. This individual was thought to be in an American child named Jesse. Jesse was believed to be the son of an architect father, named Dean, and a school teacher mother, named Lisa. The family lived in Seattle, Washington. The monks traveled to Seattle to meet the boy, observe his daily routine and habits, learn his personality to determine if he could undergo further testing to prove whether or not he was the reincarnated being of Lama Dorje.

Finally, an additional vital feature of Japanese Buddhism is the act of ridding away from the Self. Individualism and self-identity is the only thing people have to not be categorized into their cultures. Of course, in Buddhism, the way to end one’s suffering is by being detached from the Self. The concept is a stage to reach ultimate consciousness in Buddhism, nevertheless one could wonder how determined the Japanese population is because of the percentage that do not in actuality, identify with Buddhism. In the book, Inner Peace, World Peace: Essays on Buddhism and Nonviolence, Sulak Sivaraksa’s chapter, “Buddhism and Contemporary International Trends,” discusses the fact, “one of the largest obstacles to the implementation of religious principles

In this paper I will address and response tow idea: first, the perspective of Buddha in contemporary art? John Dewey, 1934 as indicated to writer Louis Menand in nineteenth and twentieth century, he confirms that “is about how we think, not what we think “its depend of six points such as the logician, and the psychologist.

Buddhist mandala meditations thus functioned to deconstruct self-centeredness, but Jungian mandalas served to affirm, sustain and maintain the health and integrity of the "monad" of the self. And while Buddhist mandala visualizations culminated in the existential act of dissolving elaborate self-constructions into emptiness, Jung's mandala therapy ultimately culminated in "individuation" or the personal and conscious realization of the universal Self that lies at the unconscious center of our being. 5

For the past ten years, I’ve sought the answers to metaphysical questions through murals, photography, and sculpture. As an undergrad, I explored the darkest corners of my past and started an armor series that investigates psychological defenses. During this reflection, I discovered two opposing forces cannot exist alone and must co-exist to create nirvana. While in Laos, this theory was reinforced when I learned about Buddhism and the Middle Way. All in all, I am trying to understand and visually interpret the human condition.