Zen Flesh, Zen Bones

 I read a little book called "Zen Flesh, Zen Bones" a number of times over the years. It is a collection of stories concerning the quest for enlightenment. The monks who practice Zen have always seemed to me to be trying to live like flowers, without attachment to objects. They meditate and they speak of listening to the sound of one hand clapping. They preach that when you perform tasks perform only the tasks; don't let your mind dwell on other things. Don't dwell on the future or on death and after death. These things, they say, will take care of themselves; you just want to live in the "now." I never tried to practice Zen because it requires a living situation, such as in a monastery, and because I lack the mettle to last in such an arrangement.