10 Comments

thanks for this very handsomely framed window onto a gigantic shaggy complex thing. feels like i've re-decorated my mental walkway with a chain of shrugging, hand-holding paper dolls ‾\_(ツ)_/‾‾\_(ツ)_/‾‾\_(ツ)_/‾‾\_(ツ)_/‾‾\_(ツ)_/‾‾\_(ツ)_/‾‾\_(ツ)_/‾‾\_(ツ)_/‾‾\_(ツ)_/‾

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Aug 4, 2022Liked by Sasha Chapin

I love how your writing here mirrors Mark's in ways I'm not used to seeing from you. I loved and resonated a lot with your review, thank you for sharing it.

One thing I've personally loved bout this Book/Manual/Art/Journal is its invitation (cant remember if explicit) to dip in randomly, here and there, non-linearly through hyperlinks or Ctrl F "time"/"love"/"touch". And the fact that its always changing, always in dialogue, like the real live organism that it is.

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author

:)

yeah mark's tone is infectious to me, it can't help but creep in especially when i'm writing about his stuff

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Aug 6, 2022·edited Aug 6, 2022

For paragraphs like the one you first cite as hard to parse, it seems as though it may have been dictated without much editing.

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It's funny I actually found that example easier to parse than the easy example. I think at least some of this has to do with how our individual brains interact with experience and narration.

Sometimes it feels like when we say "edited" we actually mean "standardized". This could imply that the average reader will find it easier because it appeals to some 'true' median deciphering/decoding abilities or habits. Of course it could also mean that it's experienced as difficult only because it's novel and we like predictable and familiar.

In this case I'd say the use of language in the 'difficult example' maps more neatly onto some internal narration/way of knowing, and therefore required less processing, for me.

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This was surprisingly insightful for me and I feel like I have a better understanding of how I interact with reading. Thanks for bringing it up :)

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Brb packing this away into my "essential meditation reads" starter packs. Ok maybe intermediate starter pack

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Fascinating how Rob Burbea's approach to the dharma seems to map nearly exactly to this as well. Towards more meta systematic dharma!

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I picked up mark's work before but found it too unreadable to get through. I really appreciated this review.

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this is good

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