Many years ago, when China was a forbidden country, one of my customers suffered acute appendicitis while on assignment there. Surgery was required. An instructor sat by his side teaching him a method of self-hypnosis. During surgery he was awake, no anesthetics and felt no pain. Upon his return to the States he wrote widely of his experience. This is when I began my search for a teacher of meditation and self-hypnosis. And, as the Yoga saying goes..."when you are ready, the teacher will appear". What is overlooked in general overviews of Zen gardens is the understanding that the act of maintaining the garden itself is a form of meditation. One can meditate anywhere and also in any type of garden. Slow down, see the light and shadow, feel the sun's warmth, the evergreen branch bowed with snow, the tactile touch of mulch running through your fingers, listen to the sound of shovel on stone, rake on gravel.

have you people lost your minds?:) (although that may be the most zen thing one could do, maybe not) NOTHING IS ORIGINAL it has all been done before, nothing new under the sun, ect. all things are interrelated, so adhering to some puritanical ideal of a philosophy of a thing (as opposed to ACTUALLY doing a thing)is so totally about snobbery and being cranky. of course i have done this too, but alas...actually doing or being is a more appropriate way to understand zen, if one can understand. i read buddhist philosophy all the time. not that i know anything, no matter how much you read it matters not.i was raised as a tantric buddhist, and my older brother is more of a zen buddhist, if you can call it that. difference being, he believes in sudden enlightenment, simplicity of means, ect. i believe in multitude of means to enlightenment, one must employ whatever neccessary, including good/evil because all these things are trancended when used. we are both mahayana buddhists because we believe that there is no 'out there' nirvana as seperate from samsara here. and one should help all other sentient beings to acheieve enlightenment, because of the interpenatratedness of being no one can 'be' enlightened without the whole anyway. the other lesser-vehicle dudes believe you can reach an ultimate enlightenment individually (totally western, i know) and are more focused on accumulative karma and junk. more 'indian' or original in form, if you like. peeing on a statue can be enlightenment. this conversation is if you glimpse something beyond the delusion in this insane duality(only perpetuated by samantics, but just as well, sometimes the confusion that results from a conversation like this causes all intellectual concepts to fall away, and there you are (there is everything, and nothing and here and it was all the time))yikes so do i make any sense or are you all enlightened yet:) is this a koan?:)

I don't use one myself but my 48 year old daughter has one she loves. It's the 2GB model and she seems real happy with all aspects of it. Of course, to get the maximum number of songs they advertise the music has to be reduced to a 64Kbs file. I don't know how that affects the quality, but with the ear buds provided I doubt you could tell much difference. The provided software is easily installed and easy to use. It allows you to rip and convert your CD's and transfer them to the Zen without much effort. For the money I doubt you would be dissapointed.

Id say it has alot to do with your painters. Promar 200 is an excellent product. Duration is over 40 a gallon...... Promar is 20's.... Alot of times you get what you pay for.... I dont know the situation, but you have to consider the budget... You get what you pay for.... In most cases. Promar 200 is fine you people are silly...... Primer? lol right.... We use it everywhere at Ga Tech, and Emory..... I have been a painter for a looooooooooong time. Promar 200 is fine. you probablly use lame tools..... Get real - Purdy Moose Brushes and Lambswool Roller Covers are the key..... all the other stuff is toys for children.