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The Legal Studies Forum
Volume 30, Number 1/2 (2006) reprinted by permission Legal Studies Forum Lawyers & Poets Journeys Close to Home DAVID M. BADER _____________________ Zen Judaism ■ Be here now. Be someplace else later. Is that so complicated? ■ Let go of pride, ego and opinions. Admit your errors and forgive those of others. Relinquishment will lead to calm and healing in your relationships. If that doesn’t work, try small-claims court. ■ Unhappiness stems from not having what is desired, or from having what is not desired. This can be avoided by neither having nor desiring. You can also try to exchange what you have but do not desire for what you desire but do not have. This requires knowing what store it came from. ■ To practice Zen and the art of Jewish motorcycle maintenance do the following: Get rid of the motorcycle. What were you thinking? [247]
David Bader is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School. After several years of corporate practice, he became a full time writer, a pursuit that raises the eternal question, "From this he makes a living?" His books include How to Be an Extremely Reform Jew (Avon Books, 1994), Haikus for Jews: For You a Little Wisdom (Harmony Books, 1999), Zen Judaism: For You a Little Enlightenment (Harmony Books, 2002) and, most recently, Haiku U.: From Aristotle to Zola, One Hundred Great Books in Seventeen Syllables (Gotham Books, 2005). He is not even distantly related to Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, though he insists on referring to her as "Aunt Ruth." The poems selected here first appeared in David Bader, Zen Judaism: For You a Little Enlightenment (Harmony Books, 2002). |
