A Unique Form of Literature
there is no doubt that there are things which we can learn, or unlearn, from it and apply in our own way. It has the special merit of a mode of expressing itself which is as intelligible–or perhaps as baffling–to the intellectual as to the illiterate, offering possibilities of communication which we have not explored. It has a directness, verve,
... See moreAlan Watts • The Way of Zen
Essentially, before I read a story, I’m in a state of knowing, of being fairly sure. My life has led me to a certain place and I’m contentedly resting there. Then, here comes the story, and I am slightly undone, in a good way.
George Saunders • A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life
“The reason the men talked of mirrors is because great books are mirrors. They show us that we’re all bad guys but we’re all good guys too — and by showing us the ways we’re like the bad guys, we can see how to be less like them and by showing us how the good guys are good — and helping us see that we are made of the same stuff — we learn how to be... See more
Dissident Teacher • Dissident Teacher (@educatedandfree)
another kind of teaching helps us better understand ourselves — our own innate wisdom and deep knowing. In this sense, Torah can be a teacher the same way we might imagine a Rorschach inkblot to be a “teacher”: we come to it with what we have, and we see in it what we need. Perhaps a particular word jumps out at us with a spark of inspiration, or
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