Your Zen is a little lame. Try some of these:

It isn't just the past we remember, it's the future too. Fifty per cent of memory is devoted not to what has already happened, but to what will happen next. Appointments, anniversaries, meetings, all the rolling engagements and plans, all the hopes and dreams and ambitions which make up any human life - we remember what we did and also what we will do. Only the knife edge of the present is 'hard' to any degree. Past and future are things of the mind, and a mind can be changed.
The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall


"I don't paint things. I only paint the difference between things."
-Henri Matisse, French Post-Impressionist Painter (1869-1954

I customer came into Matisse's gallery and stood looking at a painting for a long time. He said," the woman's arm is to long.”
Matisse answered " It is not a woman, it is a painting”



Sometime in the early 1970s, two Buddhist masters met in Cambridge, Massachusetts. One of them, Kalu Rinpoche, was a renowned Tibetan meditation master who had spent many years in solitary retreat in the remote mountain caves of Tibet. The other was Seung Sahn, a Korean Zen master who had recently come to the United States and was supporting himself by working in a Providence, Rhode Island, Laundromat, slowly planting the seeds of Zen in the minds of those coming to wash their clothes. At this now famous meeting of enlightened minds, Seung Sahn held up an orange and, in classic Zen dharma combat fashion, demanded, "What is this?"
Kalu Rinpoche just looked at him, wonderingly.
Again Master Seung Sahn asked,"What is this?"
Finally, Rinpoche turned to his translator and asked, "Don't they have oranges in Korea?"

I was just reading the and when I reached the



"A perfect physical appearance is not a perfect physical appearance, therefore it is called a perfect physical appearance." Lotus Sutra



I am called Buddha but I know no stinking Buddha so I am Buddha.



The path follows the stream but is not the stream. The stream follows the path but is not the path. Yet the stream is the path. MU

At the end of episode 2, at the firing range -- he's listening on iPod to an audiobook about vengeance. anyone know what he's listening to (if it's a real book?)

Here is a link to the Zen reference on the Life homepage.

Does anyone know what audio book Crews was listening to and the end of the second episode when he was at the shooting range? It starts out, "chapter seven on vengeance" and talks about vengeance being a poison.

I am looking for the same thing! Anyone know the answer?

Ditto!!?!?!?

Could someone please tell me the Title and Author of the Zen book he was reading in prison in the first episode

Cheers

Yes.. anyone know the name of the book? I would like to know this information also! THANKS!!

I went back and watched this episode and paused the episode right at the moment that Crews is reading the Zen book.

The book is called: The Path to Zen

I couldn't make out the name of the author but it looked like it was a woman and the name was W. Ceci Steward or W. Coca Steward or W. Cecil Steward...

I am not sure if this is a real book or not - I checked online without any luck...

Anyone else have any more information about this??

Thanks!

I believe he was listening to Alan Watts.

I've heard some of his lectures on a listener suported radio station here in New Jersey (WFMU). I've always found him fascinating, and was pleasantly surprised to hear him (I'm pretty sure it was him) at the end of that episode.

Watts died many years ago but his lectures are still available in a variety of formats and you can stream some stuff on the web. Check out these links if you are interested:

Click here...
...and here...
...and here (official site)

The book that he is reading in the pilot episode is the following;

"The Way of Zen - Alan W. Watts"

This information was found from the character page (Detective Crews).

Its written by the same guy whose voice is heard on the iPod at the end of the second episode (as provided masterfully by 'Frontier9'.)

I just ordered a copy for $10 (U.S.)... going to take a couple of weeks to get out here to Australia though... (slightly better than 12 years!)

Thanks for the info, guys!

From the pilot:
"Anger ruins joy. Steals the goodness of my mind. Forces my mouth to say terrible things. Overcoming anger brings peace of mind. Leads to a mind without regret. If I overcome anger, I will be delightful, and loved - by everyone."

The firing range earbuds zen:
"Revenge is a poison meant for others that we end up swallowing ourselves. Vengeance is a dark light that blinds all who seek it. The untroubled soul knows there is no justice in revenge. The untroubled soul knows that to seek vengeance is to seek destruction."


P.S. THANKS to the person who called it on Alan Watts!

Congrats on finding out that it was Alan Watts. I have already downloaded the way of the zen audiobook. I could not find any audio where Watts talks about vengeance but I do agree that it is him on the ipod. Does anyone know what book of Watts talks about vengeance?

I think they couldn't use the Alan Watts book in the show. They probably couldn't get permission. The book in the first episode was not by Alan Watts. It was by W. Cecil Steward or something like that. I think they just made it up for the episode because I searched everywhere and I can't find it or any traces of it.

Is The Path to Zen a real book? I really want to read it but I can't seem to find it. Does anyone know who the author of the book is? Any other information that can help me identify the book would be greatly appreciated too. Thanks!

Try Amazon Books...there's 870 choices to get you started

The audio is almost certainly Alan Watts. He was a great popularizer of Zen, but not the best role model as a teacher. I believe all his talks are available for $$
http://www.alanwatts.com/ac_lectures.html

If you are interested in Zen, there are better more authentic sources. It's a wonderful practice, and I recommend it to anyone.

btw~~The Budda's Head sits in the office where they did writer and cast interviews~~it's all connected~~ALL IS ONE.

anybody know where i can find the poetry from tonights episode?....goes like this..."even when we exhale it is inhaled by others"

I want to know as well
I have googled it and can't find anything

No, but it comes from this spiritual idea of everything in life belonging to cycles, even cycles within cycles.

We are none of us alone.
Even as we exhale, it is inhaled by others.
The light that shines upon me, shines upon my neighbor as well.
In this way, everything is connected to everything else.
In this way, I am connected to my friend even as I am connected to my enemy.
In this way,there is no difference between me, and my friend.
In this way, there is no difference between me, and my enemy.
We are none of us alone.

I still can't find where this is from. I copied the words from the beginning of the episode, which is now up on the "watch full episodes" page.

During the final funerals scene in the Farthingale episode, there is a voice over...I believe it is Charlie Crews speaking. It seems like this voice over is quoting from some piece of literature. Does anyone know where this passage is from or was it actually written by the Life creators? It ends "We are none of us alone." (or something like that).

I believe the voice over you are referring to is that of the tapes he meditation listens too.

I was fascinated by this dialog as well, and was hoping to find it quoted here. Does anyone know where it comes from? Is it a Zen quotation from a particular source or what?

What Charlie listens to... the ("As I exhale, it is inhaled by another, in this way we are all connected") stuff. Anyone?

Truth is a pathless land.

Jiddu Krishnamurti

btw Alan Watts was a cockster 2~~~he liked the women~~~as Charlie does

the one who sings
with his tongue on fire
baptized in the rat race choir
bent out of shape by society's pliers
cares not to come up any higher
but rather drag you down
in the hole he's in

dylan (kinda zenish don't u think?)

to paraphrase krishnamurti~~~

where you are
enlightenment is not

The voice sounds very much like Alan Watts. I'm not sure if NBC has the rights to use his recordings in the show but I really don't see why not.

I'd like to point those of you that are interested in listening to some of Watts' full lectures to a radio archive that I have just found:

KPFK Archive

This next link leads to a page that is a little easier to search through:

Alternate page

Some of the lectures are on a program called "Something's Happening with Roy of Hollywood" (!) so you have to fast forward a bit to get to the lectures. Well worth the effort, though.

Enjoy!

Can anyone who works with the show who browses these forums tell us what Charlie is listening to on his ipod?

hey guys, i just signed up then to the forum, im in dire need of finding the audio books charlie crews listens to in the car and on his ipod and anytime he's on his own hahah

seems funny but if anyone would know the tracks it would be the biggest help!!

Dave

Hi,
I love this show...The acting is great! The scripts are great! Does anyone know the title of the Cd Charlie was listening to. I wish the music wouldn't get so loud at the most important parts, sometimes a don't hear a word or two.....

If you know the name of the CD, I would like to purchase it...Thanks
Sara

Actually, it was a cassette tape, Sara. It's title is "The Path To Zen", same as the book Charlie's shown reading in his prison clips. I work in a library and did a search. There are tons of books on Zen but, unfortunately, this title is a made-up one.

I'd like to get my hands on some audio CD's of Zen stuff like kind we hear on the show. That guy's voice is pretty soothing.

Actually i have this first episode in my CPU aswell.. I can see from there he's reading - W. Cecil Steward 's "the path to zen" (and clearly)

Many many Alan Watts podcast available free though iTunes

also visit

http://www.alanwatts.com/

I have been greatly intrigued by the Zen on the show as well. I ordered "The Way of Zen" on CD by Alan Watts - gpt it off eBay. He sounds similar to the guy the Det. Crews listens to on the show, but I just don't think it is the same guy....they both have British accents but they just sound different to me. The other thing that I noticed, is that, the show seems a bit more basic Zen, if you will, while my CD is a bit more advanced, with many more references to the history of Zen, Asian references and just generally more difficult to follow. I am new to the whole Zen, so maybe I need the dummies guide to Zen to get the basic jist of things. I just don't think the guy that Det. Crews is listening to is Alan Watts. I could be wrong....

Ultrarunner

I'm looking the zen audiobook he threw to the road and later picked up, anyone knows it?

Hello all -

I was wondering if anyone knows what Zen book on tape Det. Crews listens to?

thanks,
Chris

The Way of Zen by Alan Watts - there are links and more information here:

http://www.damian-lewis.com/2007/12/10/579.php

Thanks very much - I'll definitely check it out!

I hadn't heard Alan Watts voice for years and did not actually think of him as being the voice on the ipod and tape - I watched the whole season assuming it was Sendhil Ramamurthy - Mohinder Suresh from "Heroes."
Also, W. Cecil Steward, did not write any Zen books per se, but oddly enough is the author of " Adaptive Reuse: Issues and Case Studies in Building Preservation"

“ You can not put a square peg in a round hole, unless with the help of a saber saw.”

Book of Z


Charlie Crews threw the Zen tape out of the window. He retrieved it but was it really there?

Z

Now last season we thought Charlie was listen to Alan Watts zen tapes. I listen to Watts pod casts and I don't think that is what Charlie is listening to this season on his ipod. Do we think It is a real zen master talking or something the show made up?
What do you think?

The tape that Charlie throws out of his car...Is this a real tape or something made up for the show?

We used to be treated to a Zen Koan or some alternative point of view in every show. It made the character quirky and a lot more interesting. It made his interaction with his partner a lot more engaging too. Now its just another cop show. I'm disappointed and probably won't stay with it through the season.

Not only that, but what happened to the consistent trips to the 'Conspiracy Wall? That was a big favorite for me, and I guess it was a big favorite for many people because it had its own sponsor!

i completely agree with the two posts prior to this one. what a unique perspective charlie and ted had/have? maybe we have no new zen insights because charlie's passion for figuring it all out has cooled a bit?