Corona Daily 430: Zen Enlightenment

In the mountains of Vermont, surrounded by unending acres of forest, is the Monastic Academy founded by one Soryu Forall. He runs the institution in the Rinzai Zen tradition. An apprentice pays $6000 and can live for a year or more to transform himself and the world. The academy’s aim is classical enlightenment.

One of the staff members is a young and enthusiastic Daniel Thorson, 33. A few years ago, he had organized the Occupy Wall Street movement. He joined the academy to be able to serve the world better in times of crisis. Daniel is a podcaster and online philosopher. Silent meditation and retreat from the day-to-day world are said to be one of the highest paths to enlightenment. Daniel had been waiting for a couple of years to get to do a solo retreat. Its purpose was to understand true awakening and enlightenment. This year he finally got the golden opportunity.

On 13 March, he tweeted he would be offline for the next 75 days. He then switched his phone off, and entered his log cabin retreat, to begin life without a smartphone, Wifi, TV, or newspapers. Most of his awaken hours were spent meditating with eyes shut. Twice every day, he silently walked to the kitchen to pick up the vegan meal provided by the Academy. Interaction with humans was prohibited. Days, then weeks, began to pass without Daniel speaking or hearing a single word.

On Tues. 23 May, he rejoined the material world. He switched the phone on, but had no time to look at the thousands of Twitter messages. Before going out of the cabin, he posted a single tweet: “I am back from 75 days of silence. Did I miss anything?”

Daniel decided to visit the nearby supermarket. Buy things he hadn’t seen for 75 days. For some reason, he felt everyone in the supermarket was staring at him. He wondered if his face shone with enlightenment. Then he noticed the masks. Why masks? His hand inadvertently stroked his long unshapely beard.

When he queued up at the counter, a lady ahead of him said, “Excuse me, you are standing too close.” Her tone was accusatory. Daniel’s face turned red. He took a couple of steps back, and those behind him avoided him as if he was a leper.

Back at the academy, he thought he would check the strange events in the supermarket with his camp mates. But his colleagues were meditating. He decided to check the internet first. After 75 days of silence, he must catch up on the US presidential election, Brexit, the baseball scores, Australian wildfires. Every newspaper he opened was carrying a special edition on Coronavirus. He opened his Twitter account. All messages were about a virus. His cousin had messaged him saying he had found a new girlfriend, but had not met her yet. Many friends invited him to Zoom. Zoom, where was this place?

When contacted yesterday, he was trying to figure out how the George Floyd protestors across USA were maintaining social distance to be safe. Daniel, the 75-day Rip Van Winkle, will perhaps need a few more weeks to get truly enlightened.

Ravi