zen instructions
Last summer, Catherine and I got a beautiful, well-designed wake-up clock. It's hard to even call it an alarm clock because it's so un-alarming. The signal is an actual bell that sings a pure clear high E, ringing on a 10-minute pattern of quickening pace, based on the Golden Mean. It's ingenious. We love waking up to it.
But I was just now reading the instruction book that comes along with it, to see about its highly touted special features. My first clue was the long discourse on the clock's "Pythagorean" tuning. Meaningless! The bell is, after all, a single tone; Pythagoras's ideas were on the ratios between tones. Somehow they get from there to "reflecting the vibrations of nature — the motion of the planets and the frequencies of life." OK, maybe we'll forgive the corny bogusness, along with all the new age claptrap about dream incubation and affirmations — standard post-Peterman issue for this type of thing. But then the booklet talks about how you can use the chime in meditation.
And I quote:
The wonder of it all! But it ain't over. There's also the future-matic acousto-organic volume control feature, available on all models free of charge:
Don't they know that an instruction book like that actually makes the clock seem less valuable? Ah well. The thing itself remains. I'll toss the book (or send it to Jay), and enjoy this truly well done marriage of function and form.
But I was just now reading the instruction book that comes along with it, to see about its highly touted special features. My first clue was the long discourse on the clock's "Pythagorean" tuning. Meaningless! The bell is, after all, a single tone; Pythagoras's ideas were on the ratios between tones. Somehow they get from there to "reflecting the vibrations of nature — the motion of the planets and the frequencies of life." OK, maybe we'll forgive the corny bogusness, along with all the new age claptrap about dream incubation and affirmations — standard post-Peterman issue for this type of thing. But then the booklet talks about how you can use the chime in meditation.
And I quote:
"The first and most basic use of the clock in your meditation practice is as a signal of the end of your allotted meditation time. If you want to meditate for 20 minutes, simply set the alarm 20 minutes into the future and begin your meditation."
The wonder of it all! But it ain't over. There's also the future-matic acousto-organic volume control feature, available on all models free of charge:
"For a softer chime, simply place the clock some distance from you."
Don't they know that an instruction book like that actually makes the clock seem less valuable? Ah well. The thing itself remains. I'll toss the book (or send it to Jay), and enjoy this truly well done marriage of function and form.
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