Monday, June 08, 2009

A post at Via Media reminded me of this.


The first Buddhist Monk I ever saw close up—it was years ago—was asleep in a departure lounge in the Dorval Airport (now the Trudeau) in Montréal. He was a large man and larger than life in his vivid orange robes; but what my wife and I really noticed was his shoes: a simply beautiful pair of brown brogues that shone like the sun. They must have cost him at least $300—perhaps much more, I dunno—at a time when I had never spent more than fifty bucks for a pair of shoes. They were too stunning even to provoke envy—or worse: some ugly self-righteous attitude of superiority over the seeming extravagance of such a purchase by one who ostensibly seeks detachment—just deep admiration.

4 comments:

Gary Keith Chesterton said...

cricket! How come no one ever comments on your bog? I mean blog?

cricket said...

Thanks for your question GK. It's designed in such a way so that no one actually reads the blog. This way, instead of my using PayPal or any of those other techniques that bloggers use for collecting donations, people can just just leave their credit card or bank account info in my combox without worrying that it will become public.

binkit said...

Wow. I stumbled on your blog whilst reading a comment you left on a First Things article, via your signature. It all makes sense in a rueful, deranged sort of way. It is sort of like drinking from a firehose.

Carry on!

cricket said...

Thanks for your comment binkit.

1) Wow, yourself: I think it an uncanny coincidence that you stumble on my blog the exact same moment you're reading a comment I left on another site--all that via my signature. What are the odds?

2) Deranged ok, but rueful?

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I'd be a blackguard and a cad, if I weren't so ineffectual. The less said "About Me", the better.