Those of you up in Marin County are ORDERED to come to my book signing this afternoon at Copperfield's Books 140 Kentucky St. in Petaluma at 1:30.
Those of you on the East Coast are ORDERED to attend my events in New York, New Jersey, Washington DC and (no sleep till) Brooklyn!! Info is linked over there to your left<<<< at the page called something like "Book Tour 2009" or whatever.
Speaking of which, I've been removing the dates I've already done as I do them and I have recently decided this is stupid. It makes the tour look less extensive. So I won't be doing that anymore. Anyone know how I can find an older version of the post and thereby reinstate the stuff I've already deleted? It's all deleted on the version on my hard drive. I could retype it, sure. But I'm lazy and busy.
Been thinking a lot about communal Zen practice. I should sit down and write a well reasoned essay on the subject. But I ain't got time. Human beings are social creatures and community is vital to our survival. We all want to be part of a community.
On the other hand, some folks, like me for example, are kind of anti-social types. That's probably the biggest difference between me and Noah Levine. He loves community and spends a lot of time, effort and energy building his Dharma Punx community and maintaining it.
I can't stand doing that shit myself. I'm not a party animal. I used to like the anonymous crowds in Tokyo a lot. But I'm not into the social stuff of building and maintaining community. Even though I know it's important.
How do people like us navigate community Zen practice? Frankly, I don't really know just yet. I do know I'd much rather be in someone else's community than try to start my own. Which is basically what I do when I'm on the road.
This is why I'll often recommend people to just deal with communities in their own area even when they kind of hate certain aspects of them. Obviously if it's a cult or something, don't stay. But if it just chafes at you a little, that isn't such a big problem.
That's about all I can say right now. Just a little interim note that I may try to build on later.
See you on the road!!
