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On Creation
Living the life of a creative, one strange inspiration at a time
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Why the Great Old Ones Aren’t Enough Anymore
Why the Great Old Ones Aren’t Enough Anymore
Cosmic Horror Is More Than the Overused Lovecraftian Creations which spawned it
Christopher Laine
Aug 3, 2021
The Freak in Me
Christopher Laine
Cosmic Horror and the Artistic Edge
Christopher Laine
Zen and the Art of Plot
Christopher Laine
Just Keep on Writing
Christopher Laine
Surviving the First Draft Blues
Christopher Laine
The Warden in Flame
Christopher Laine
Going back
The Gateless Gate (30): Basho’s Staff
The Gateless Gate (30): Basho’s Staff
Basho said to his disciple: “When you have a staff, I will give it to you. If you have no staff, I will take it away from you.”
Christopher Laine
Jul 31, 2019
The Gateless Gate (29): Everyday Life is the Path
The Gateless Gate (29): Everyday Life is the Path
Joshu asked Nansen: “What is the path?”
Christopher Laine
Jul 26, 2019
If You Want to Write
If You Want to Write
How Brenda Ueland taught me to find my creative voice
Christopher Laine
Jul 8, 2019
The Gateless Gate (28): Two Souls
The Gateless Gate (28): Two Souls
“Seijo, the Chinese girl,” observed Goso, “had two souls, one always sick at home and the other in the city, a married woman with two…
Christopher Laine
Jun 24, 2019
The Gateless Gate (27): Bodhidharma Pacifies the Mind
The Gateless Gate (27): Bodhidharma Pacifies the Mind
Bodhidharma sits facing the wall. His future successor stands in the snow and presents his severed arm to Bodhidharma. He cries: “My mind…
Christopher Laine
Jun 13, 2019
The Gateless Gate (26): Meeting a Zen Master on the Road
The Gateless Gate (26): Meeting a Zen Master on the Road
Goso said: “When you meet a Zen master on the road you cannot talk to him, you cannot face him with silence. What are you going to do?”
Christopher Laine
Jun 8, 2019
Confessions of a Lovecraftian
Confessions of a Lovecraftian
How a dark mythology changed my writing forever
Christopher Laine
Jun 3, 2019
The Gateless Gate (25): Joshu’s Zen
The Gateless Gate (25): Joshu’s Zen
Joshu began the study of Zen when he was sixty years old and continued until he was eighty, when he realized Zen.
Christopher Laine
Jun 1, 2019
The Gateless Gate(24): Learning Is Not the Path
The Gateless Gate(24): Learning Is Not the Path
Nansen said: “Mind is not Buddha. Learning is not the path.”
Christopher Laine
May 26, 2019
The Gateless Gate (23): A Mother’s Advice
The Gateless Gate (23): A Mother’s Advice
Jiun, a Shingon master, was a well-known Sanskrit scholar of the Tokugawa era. When he was young he used to deliver lectures to his…
Christopher Laine
May 23, 2019
The Gateless Gate (22): Tipping Over a Water Vase
The Gateless Gate (22): Tipping Over a Water Vase
Hyakujo wished to send a monk to open a new monastery. He told his pupils that whoever answered a question most ably would be appointed…
Christopher Laine
May 21, 2019
The Gateless Gate (21): Open Your Own Treasure House
The Gateless Gate (21): Open Your Own Treasure House
Daiju visited the master Baso in China. Baso asked: “What do you seek?”
Christopher Laine
May 16, 2019
The Gateless Gate(20): One Road of Kembo
The Gateless Gate(20): One Road of Kembo
A Zen pupil asked Kembo: “All Buddhas of the ten parts of the universe enter the one road of Nirvana. Where does that road begin?”
Christopher Laine
May 13, 2019
The Gateless Gate (19): The Enlightened Man
The Gateless Gate (19): The Enlightened Man
Shogen asked: “Why does the enlightened man not stand on his feet and explain himself?”
Christopher Laine
May 8, 2019
The Gateless Gate (18): No water, no moon
The Gateless Gate (18): No water, no moon
When the nun Chiyono studied Zen under Bukko of Engaku she was unable to attain the fruits of meditation for a long time.
Christopher Laine
May 7, 2019
The Gateless Gate (17): Zuigan calls his own master
The Gateless Gate (17): Zuigan calls his own master
Zuigan called out to himself every day: “Master.”
Christopher Laine
May 5, 2019
The Gateless Gate (16): A Buffalo passes through the enclosure
The Gateless Gate (16): A Buffalo passes through the enclosure
Goso said: “When a buffalo goes out of his enclosure to the edge of the abyss, his horns and his head and his hoofs all pass through, but…
Christopher Laine
May 2, 2019
The Gateless Gate (15): Great Waves
The Gateless Gate (15): Great Waves
In the early days of the Meiji era there lived a well-known wrestler called O-nami, Great Waves.
Christopher Laine
May 1, 2019
The Gateless Gate (14): Do not think good, do not think not-good
The Gateless Gate (14): Do not think good, do not think not-good
When he became emancipated the sixth patriarch received from the fifth patriarch the bowl and robe given from the Buddha to his successors…
Christopher Laine
Apr 29, 2019
The Gateless Gate (13): This mind is not Buddha
The Gateless Gate (13): This mind is not Buddha
A monk asked Baso: “What is Buddha?”
Christopher Laine
Apr 26, 2019
The Gateless Gate (12): How Grass & Trees Become Enlightened
The Gateless Gate (12): How Grass & Trees Become Enlightened
During the Kamakura period, Shinkan studied Tendai six years and then studied Zen seven years; then he went to China and contemplated Zen…
Christopher Laine
Apr 22, 2019
The Gateless Gate (11): Not far from Buddhahood
The Gateless Gate (11): Not far from Buddhahood
A university student while visiting Gasan asked him: “Have you ever read the Christian Bible?”
Christopher Laine
Apr 21, 2019
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