Chuck The Monk - Empty fun: Catlike daily wisdom and the quest for the feline Self - Softcover

The Monk, Chuck; Valencia Alfonso, Carlos Eduardo; Otero Paredes, Diego Fernando

Softcover

ISBN 10: 9492662019 ISBN 13: 9789492662019

Verlag: The Zen Lab, 2017

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Reseña del editor:

A co(s)mic strip about a Buddhist cat and his nature vs nurture struggle. Chuck is a very curious cat who was always interested in the mind, consciousness and how all that stuff works, so he became a brain scientist and later, a Zen monk. Inspirational and silly-deep strips with spiritual, philosophical and scientific purrs and meows. Egocentric and self-centered for some, yet deep spiritual gurus for others, cats walk back and forth on the fence that divides the illuminated and the mundane worlds. Witness with us the collapse of this apparent contradiction in a comic strip book about a Buddhist cat. With your attention on a purring breathing, you will discover the deep and silly secrets these furry sentient beings have been keeping from us. The strips portrait a cat named Chuck who is both a brain scientist and a Zen monk, together with his spiritual teacher, his friends, and family. His questions about the mind, consciousness, and existence traced a path that led both to science and spirituality. The book reflects a good-hearted humor about daily life paradoxes that has often both a puerile angle and a more in-depth philosophical layer. The work does not aim to preach, but it is inspirational and expresses with simplicity and beauty the wisdom, humor and internal reflections of someone looking for existential answers. Chuck, the main character, is a hyperbolic version of co-author Carlos Valencia and his experience as a brain scientist and as a monk in the Soto Zen tradition together with his practice in and out of temples around the world. Co-authors Diego Otero and Carlos Valencia used to draw and write comics in elementary school. Several decades, and a few rounds around the world later, they met again in their hometown and decided to give their childhood dreams a shot to. Carlos waved some writing ideas and Diego unsheathed a pencil. When the authors initially discussed the project, Diego thought it was a great idea because of the paradox of a very selfish being trying to be a good Buddhist. Carlos, on the other hand, was absolutely convinced that there was nothing more Zen than a cat. The good news is: The universe has space for contradictions. In the Zen tradition, illumination is in our daily life. Samsara is not different from Nirvana and we are not spiritual in spite of our humanity, but thanks to it. Cats are a purrrfect example of this. By being themselves, by being natural, by being present, and focused and resolute, they display teachings that we can use in our daily life to be more relaxed, equanimous and content. These expressions also reveal profound existential answers about who we are and how we see the world. This book illustrates some of the valuable lessons that cats teach us in silence (like any good teacher) in the hope that we discover them by ourselves. The first paperback edition was possible thanks to crowdfunding with Kickstarter and the invaluable support of fans, and was printed in Washington DC in 2017. The strips are published once a week on the website and are currently published periodically by the E-Newsletter of Tricycle Magazine, Zen.nl (in Dutch), and Brain World Magazine. These cats have also appeared on paper in Buddhadarma Magazine from Lion’s Roar, Brain’s World Magazine, and Tricycle Magazine. Finally, a percentage of our profit is donated to the Colombian-German NGO School for Life. Here they are, creators and creation showing you the result of their crossing paths. They certainly hope you enjoy it. For them, it feels as a very organic process, not only because they put a lot of heart and balls in it, but also because it grew by itself, it came together and developed in a natural way. They all feel very passionate about it and hope it has a positive poking in your hearts and minds. Thanks a bunch for being their reader and for your generous contribution to their project.

Biografía del autor:

Ever since he can remember, brain scientist and Zen monk Carlos Valencia found himself constantly fascinated by many phenomena: Little insects with complex behaviors, religions, seed + water = plant??!!!, lightning and thunder, cultures, a vortex in the toilet, and the calm way cats eat. The world is weird. Curious by nature and using the cultural tools at hand, he constantly tried to intellectually understand the world outside and inside himself. That's why he did so well in school. He would try to understand everything! And since concepts where the way the world was revealed to him for a long time in this life, Carlos started a long path in the pursuit of objective knowledge. He started with psychology school where he was interested in experimental behavior analysis, and later on in neuroscience. With international grants, he did a Master in neuroscience in Mexico and his neurobiology Ph.D. studies in Germany. Later on, he ended up working as a Post-doc researcher in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, where he officially lives. In his diving trip through levels of observation, he went from philosophy to anthropology, psychology, neurobiology, molecular biology, electrophysiology, and finally, consciousness. Yes, the holy grail of objective knowledge. It was here, closing the intellectual circle and returning to more philosophical bases, where he found a couple of lines about Buddhism. These lines were emphatically rejected as a corruption of the free-thinking individual, and also because they poked the fear of ever getting close to a religion again. However, these lines would reappear again and again, until suddenly some of them caught his attention. Many books and articles later, what he read about Buddhism managed to align many different perspectives and theories he had been chewing in his brain for years. But these readings were also spiced with the constant affirmation that truth and ultimate nature of reality is not something that can be intellectually grasped. They claimed there was a unique component needed: A practice. Close to Amsterdam University, where he was working, he walked along a Zen center. Without knowing much about Buddhist lineages, he convinced his now wife, Patricia, to come along for an introductory session. He didn't like it, he found it difficult and too charged with rituals, but kept going in the hope of engaging in philosophical discussions with other practitioners. To his disappointment, there was no discussion going around. The main thing was to shut up and sit down, still, in silence: Zazen. But every now and then there would be a glimpse into something weird while sitting in Zazen. A fatal slap in the face for the thinking mind. So he kept going. After several years of practice, he received the monk ordination from his teacher. He took a break from science to do some subjective research and has been traveling around the world with his wife since 2013. This space provided a fertile ground for a slow and sustainable, flexible and mobile lifestyle where creativity and childhood projects started to grow. Chuck the monk is a series of comic strips co-created with his friend Diego Otero since 2014. The first strip was published online in October 2015. Chuck is a hyperbolic version of Carlos, his spiritual teacher, his wife, friends, and family. The strips portrait life in and outside temples, the perks of the practice in western cultures and a feline quest of the Self. The book doesn't pretend to teach the Dharma, especially not in an intellectual way, however since its content is strongly influenced by a solid spiritual practice, so the reader can find insightful and inspirational thoughts and emotions related to our daily life. You can see the strips at www.chuckthemonk.com or follow them on Facebook (@chuckthemonk), Twitter (@chuck_the_ monk) or Instagram (@chuck.the.monk). You can also contact Carlos at carlitos@chuckthemonk.com

Über diese Auflage

• Verlag: The Zen Lab
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2017
• ISBN 10: 9492662019
• ISBN 13: 9789492662019
• Einband: Tapa blanda
• Anzahl der Seiten: 136