Zen Computer

When I was a freshman in High School, I had a great History teacher named Arnold Schwartz. At the beginning of class, Mr. Schwartz would always bring in a book and read to us for about five minutes. There are many passages that to this day I still remember.

One week, Mr. Schwartz brought in a small book titled Zen Computer by Philip Toshio Sudo. The book was amazing and was my first introduction to Zen. I remember sitting in a small and warm classroom with my History teacher reading from a book about beginning to meditate, allowing yourself to relax and “empty your cup” so that you could begin learning with an uncluttered mind.

Freshman year is always difficult. It’s a new beginning. A rebirth. You left the “1” of 8th grade, to the “0” of 9th grade. You had a new school building, new classmates, and new teachers. More was expected of you and less immaturity was tolerated.

I was also lucky enough to have Mr. Rawlings for Mathematics, where he also taught us to meditate. We would close our eyes, just for a few minutes after everyone settled into their desks. “Follow your breathing,” we were instructed. That was one of the first techniques that I used to meditate, and to this day I still find it to be the easiest.

Years passed, and the “1” of senior became “0” of freshman once again as I entered Temple University. I had forgotten the title of Zen Computer for many years, and finally remembered the title and went to Amazon. The book was out of print, but thankfully used copies remained.

I keep the book close by me at all times. It’s really a great book.