Zazen vs Perm

My mother used to get perms and of course I wondered what that meant and did some research. I learned that a single human hair is made up of many small strands that are woven together and connected by little bridges that hold them in place and give the hair its shape - straight for some people and curly for other people. When a person gets a perm, the hair is cleaned, then wound around rollers while wet. Then a chemical dissolves the little bridges that hold the strands together. The hair is washed again and then a second chemical, called a fixer, is used to build new bridges between the strands to hold the new shape, which depends on the diameter of the rollers - large rollers produce a wave, small rollers a tight curl.

I can tell you are wondering what on earth is the connection to Zazen?

Well, in his book Zen and the Brain James Austin writes about the exceptional stage of ongoing, enlightened traits and proposes some actual structural changes that would have to occur for the central nervous system to develop and sustain such complete awareness, such as etching of old pathways to make room for new ones, and gradual releasing of structural self-patterns such as amygdala, hypothalamus and central gray. This long-term development becomes a new and stable structure that can be transferred in evolution both culturally and biologically.

You see?

I am comparing Zazen to the chemical that breaks down the bridges between the strands in our hair and the fixer that builds new bridges to hold the new shape. First Zazen breaks down our view of the world, breaks down the ego - like opening a Hoberman Sphere - then, eventually, it fixes the new world that was gained... The big difference? A perm takes a few hours, Zazen takes 6-30 years? posted by ottmar on March 24, 2005 07:24 PM | in