ericgerlach79
Gerlach is German and rhymes with bear-lock. I was born and raised in the Haight Ashbury of San Francisco, moved to Berkeley for college and grad school, with an MA in History of Religion from the Graduate Theological Union of Berkeley, and now teach Philosophy and the history of human thought at Berkeley City College. I have taught Intro Philosophy, Ethics, Logic, Asian Philosophy, Greek Philosophy, Modern European Philosophy and Social & Political Philosophy there for the past several years, and it has been a joy.
Thought Itself 
December 7, 2020 at 4:18 am
A sassy old man!
I enjoyed your comments about Bodhidharma’s answer to “What is the tallest thing?” (something to that effect…). Nothing is taller than the Self, you don’t get over your ego, but mind is wide and allows you to go around! It’s a nice poetic exploration, and of course, I love the emphasis that we can be jerks and still ‘get it’. That’s definitely one of the first things I notice about Zen and, like everyone, quite adored.
I can’t recall much else – it’s been awhile now.
December 9, 2020 at 12:20 am
That is one of my favorite quotes, and yes, I do think that Zen is taking up the Daoist trickster, as the one who can act like anything and anyone, as long as we assume that they are getting around the ego, or kicking it in the shins a bit. You don’t lose anything, as Joshu says, who is from a Daoist town, in particular. Rather, you fight fire with fire, however you like, with awareness. What’s the use of escaping?