Crash Dev - Latest Comments in Chop Wood, Carry Water

Re: Chop Wood, Carry Water

David Eraker — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 03:20:19 -0000

Chris - I laughed when I saw this a second ago on an AMZN review of Warner's book:

"This book is a mass of narcissism, pontification, and muddled thinking - sort of like life, come to think of it - but hidden in it, like a diamond in a manure pile, is the essence of Zen: chop wood, carry water."

http://www.amazon.com/revie...

Back to work.

Re: Chop Wood, Carry Water

Chris DeVore — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:03:24 -0000

Thanks for the comments, David. Re: starting with customers and revenue,
that's the approach that makes the most sense to me. Re: (E)nlightenment,
I'm not sure what to make of the idea either, but I tend to think of it not
in the strict Buddhist sense, but more as the progressive series of
epiphanies (minor and major) we achieve about life and meaning (or the lack
thereof) as we grow older. So disagree if you like - or just reframe if it
makes the idea more useful / palatable to you...

Re: Chop Wood, Carry Water

David Eraker — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 01:54:40 -0000

What I liked about this post was the 'get to work generating revenue' message, take realistic and steady action. It is easy to get deluded into thinking that you are better off trying to raise money than establish some initial revenue, and myself and others have often been far better off spending more time with customers than potential investors.

Also - Brad Warner from the Soto school says that Enlightenment with a big E doesn't really exist and I believe him so I disagree with your Zen maxim.

Re: Chop Wood, Carry Water

David Eraker — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 21:33:21 -0000

Hey Chris - I liked this post. Thanks for sharing.