Comments on: Guitar Playing, Free Time and Spontaneity in 2013

By: Big Chief

Big Chief — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 04:54:45 +0000

May I suggest two books on Zen Buddhism. Both are written by Chinese Gentlemen who are practioners, and the books may be hard to obtain but are well worth it. Try Amazon
The first is THe Practice or Zen by C. C. Chang.
The second is Chan and Zen Teachings by Lu K’uan Yu
Both are deep oceans of knowledge, without bottoms.
Of course there are the books of DT Suzuki , a Japanese practioners.
I believee all three men had the awakening and are highly qualified to bring the information to us.
The autobiographies of three Masters recounting in detail how they reached the awakening ,in the The Practice of Zen is a guidepost

By: Norbert

Norbert — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 19:11:25 +0000

I really appreciated this article. It’s refreshing to see someone apply the Taoist philosophy to playing the guitar, and it makes sense considering that the philosophy itself teaches that there is an “art” to every action in our lives, should we choose to view it as such. Very well written, and I hope more people see it with an open mind, as there is a lot to learn from it. I was a pastor for many years in the christian faith as well, so just to address the criticism directed towards your theologic approach, I recommend people remember that even jesus was not a believer at first and had to learn from the jewish elders before he took the mantle of “the son of god”. Looking back now, Judaism and Christianity are viewed by the known world now to be completely different faiths, and the idea that one is right and the other “wrong” is not the teaching that proper christianity should employ. So learning other faiths is not only a great idea, it is the example that Jesus set for his people. I myself am simply a student of many beliefs, so thank you for the enlightening approach to learning more about the art that I enjoy :)

By: Javier Alonso

Javier Alonso — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 05:38:29 +0000

A book I reread year after year: “Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance”, by Robert M. Pirsig. It’s a foundational work on the concept of “Quality”.

By: Klaus Crow

Klaus Crow — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 07:17:55 +0000

In reply to Ahmed Nihal. Hi Ahmed, The Shift from Wayne Deyer is a great book about Taoism The Shift The "Tao Te Ching" from Lao Tzu is the most famous book about Taoism Tao Te Ching Then there is Chuang Tzu which is a book for the fanatic.(it's difficult to read) The Book of Chuang Tzu (Penguin Classics) And finally there is a book about Lieh Tzu which I still have to read myself. The Book of Master Lie Lao Tzu, Chuang Tzu and Lieh Tzu are the three people who contributed the most to the legacy of Taoism. Wayne Deyer wrote a great book that is really nice to read. Best regards, Klaus Crow

By: Ahmed Nihal

Ahmed Nihal — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 17:42:25 +0000

Hi Klaus

Wonderful article as always .

Just wondering if you might know any ebooks of any sorts related to Taoism and zen

By: Klaus Crow

Klaus Crow — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 12:52:04 +0000

Hi Anita,

You can do this on your own. I know you can. Go through the archive and read some posts that will inspire and motivate you. I’m all with you on trying to get lessons from a personal teacher, but in the meanwhile there’s a lot you can do to improve on your own. In fact there’s nothing you cannot do on your own.

Start learning now and just take small steps everyday. Don’t try to strive for any goals but just practice and enjoy guitar playing without aiming for a destination. Don’t think about that. Just enjoy the path your walking on and you’ll improve step by step. That’s all there is to it. Believe in yourself!

Best regards,
Klaus Crow

By: anita

anita — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 20:00:45 +0000

Nice and inspiring article. I really like playing guitar and singing as well although i suck in it haha. I started playing guitar 3-4 years ago but I am still in the same place. No progress at all. Because I really cannot focus in these video tutorials. I like learning in person. I did join a guitar class and it was good though but because of some reasons couldnot continue. And I am stucked here in the same place. Since I am living in another country right now I don’t have any friends here. I did buy a guitar. But whenever I try playing, I cannot get it right and I leave it. I know nobody can get it right in first try. But still I am not able to move forward. Just learned some chords and some exercises that’s it. Hope I will get better someday though I know I won’t. I will look around here if I can find something for me! Nice blog!

By: Byron Lovering

Byron Lovering — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 16:26:41 +0000

Happiness and a positive life is a good thing. When you have the downturns/tragedies in life and look inside yourself and cannot find the answers where does someone turn then? The Bible show us that our creator comes to earth (Christmas) and becomes the God-man Jesus Christ. He lives the perfect life we could never live and He takes the entire sins of the world and pays for the sins on a criminals cross, even though he never did anything wrong. Then He proves that He is God by rising from the dead (Easter). He satisfied the justice of God for you and for me. By way of a gift, He gives us a legal document that says “All of your debt has been paid.” and all we need to do is believe it. And, even the ability to believe also comes from God. I know it sounds crazy but that is the story we read in the Bible. It’s not about us doing stuff and following spiritual steps to happiness. It is about God seeing the mess humanity is in and fixing it in a way only He can.

By: Klaus Crow

Klaus Crow — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 08:33:20 +0000

In reply to Byron Lovering.

Hi Byron,

I’m not saying or trying to give the impression that I’m living a perfect life. I’m not. Nor do I make a religious experience out of it since Taoism is not a religion but a philosophy. However I do find many improvements in my life since I started reading about Taoism and Zen. And if the people around me benefit from that I couldn’t be happier.

Best regards,
Klaus Crow

By: Byron Lovering

Byron Lovering — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 20:48:19 +0000

I also love playing the guitar but I would not make a religious experience out of it. It is good that you are in pursuit of the spiritual but how can you or I live a perfect life? Even if all of our past was forgiven we would mess it up again within five minutes. We need something outside of ourselves to rescue us. Deep down inside we know that something is not right and what we end up doing is making little minor “dos and don’ts” in life to make us feel that we are kind of OK. In truth we are really messed up and we are spiritually dead. We need a savior bigger that ourselves. That person is the Man-God Jesus Christ who lived the perfect life for all and gave His live in our place so we could receive freedom from our sinful bondage. That’s is good news! It is a free gift from God and you can’t earn it.