We’ve already discussed whether I boast enough Buddhism here on Hoarded Ordinaries. After last Saturday’s trip to Trader Joe’s, I’ve realized that not only does my blog need more Zen, so do my kitchen counters, stovetop, bathroom sink, and other nonporous surfaces. I’ve already learned that peace of mind can be bought from a gum-ball machine. Now I’m coming to realized that Enlightenment comes packaged in an easy-to-use squirt bottle.
Hoarded Ordinaries 
Feb 2, 2006 at 2:42 pm
I saw this too on my last trip to TGs. I just had to chuckle to myself… if only it were that easy… spray on a little Zen and polish that tile into a mirror instantly. 🙂
LikeLike
Feb 2, 2006 at 4:54 pm
On the bright side about Target, they carry most of the Method Home line, cruelty-free and effective cleaning gear for the homestead. Makes your bathroom smell like clean hippy:)
(http://www.methodhome.com)
LikeLike
Feb 2, 2006 at 6:38 pm
Trick comment there, no such thing as a clean hippy.
Well, how terribly convenient. Just a little spray zen.
LikeLike
Feb 2, 2006 at 6:40 pm
One man’s enlightenment is another man’s cleanliness – eh?
LikeLike
Feb 2, 2006 at 8:04 pm
Ah, but is it Buddhist-flavored? (Probably not, if it’s also cruelty-free.)
LikeLike
Feb 2, 2006 at 9:58 pm
Enjoyed some of your archives today. Plenty of interesting photographs and text here for rainy day reading. 🙂
LikeLike
Feb 3, 2006 at 12:13 am
Now I understand. The Bodhisattva’s really *do* scrub us clean!
LikeLike
Feb 3, 2006 at 1:39 pm
Yes, cleanliness is next to Buddha-hood, or something like that.
I always chuckle whenever I see “Zen” used to sell everything from breakfast cereal to wine. Into every wallet a little Zen must fall, I guess.
Dave, I don’t think I want my kitchen counters, stovetop, bathroom sink, and other nonporous surfaces to be Buddhist-flavored. But maybe Buddhist-flavored cooking oil would be a popular item: “Sauteed in samadhi!”
LikeLike
Feb 3, 2006 at 3:20 pm
I love the photographs in this post. And what you say about Zen resonates for me, even though I’ve chosen differently in my own blog. (Anyone reading VR who doesn’t notice my Jewish practice isn’t paying attention at all. *g*)
The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao; maybe the only way to access real zen is slantwise, in an apophatic way, through the details of lived experience.
LikeLike
Feb 4, 2006 at 2:06 am
Hey, Trader Joe’s must have really branched out. I knew the Boston area had them, but I assume they are all over the East now. They started here in So Cal and I love going there. Especially like the fresh flowers, the juices and breads. As always, photography is spectacular–especially like the Target signs.
LikeLike
Feb 4, 2006 at 7:01 am
Rachel, I think this notion of apophatic vs. cataphatic expression is right-on. (And I’m loving the fact that I know someone who knows the difference between the two!!!) I don’t think either way is “right” or “better”: they’re just complementary ways of trying to describe something that ultimately can’t be described.
Blogs like VR are enormously helpful for folks who are Jewish, interested in Judaism, or simply interested in religion. (Your nomination by Brass Crescent points to the fact that your readership is diverse!) I’d like to think that HO is something of a “stealth site,” sneaking in talk of spirituality in a place where both religious and non-religious people are gathered.
Just as Annie Dillard once described herself as a religious writer who writes for non-believers, I’d like to think of myself as being a Zen writer who writes for non-Zennies, without a lot of the jargon & “temple talk” that scares away new folks. There are plenty of sites (like Soen Joon’s) written by better temple talkers than me…so I think I’ll stick to what I do best, which is noticing and talking about random ordinary stuff that might not *seem* “religious” at first blush.
(And congrats on that Brass Crescent nomination!!!)
LikeLike
Feb 4, 2006 at 7:07 am
Fran, there are a handful of TJ’s in Massachusetts, most of them in or around Boston. (When my friend “A” and I went to Brookline for potato pancakes at Zaftigs several weeks ago, we also visited the local TJ’s.)
The TJ in the picture is in Tyngsboro, MA, which is right across the border from Nashua, NH. There’s a large mall in Nashua that attracts many Massachusetts shoppers (NH has no sales tax), so I think this TJ attracts a mix of MA folks on their way to buy stuff in NH and NH folks like me who drive to Tyngsboro specifically to buy cool groceries. 🙂
We don’t have a TJ’s in Keene…yet. But I suppose anything is possible!
LikeLike