Moment of Zen

“Peace is only possible in poverty.”

D.T.Suzuki, 1949

Remembering Agent

I would like to take a moment to remember my friend Agent (Naveen P. Engoor) who was killed by a drunk driver six years ago(article 1, article 2, article 3), in Topeka, Kansas.

I met Agent for the first time, back in August 1992, on a train from the Southern Indian city of Cochin to Ranchi, up North. Both of us had just graduated from high school, and were headed to Birla Institute of Technology for college. He was a quiet person, a calm person, a person who could be anyone’s friend, never got angry, and whose company everyone enjoyed, a rare individual. This little poem which Darren wrote in memory of Agent says it all:

For all the times
I peeped through the little crack in his door to spy on him

For all the times
I helped to re-arrange his furniture outside his room

For all the laughs
Some with him, Some at him

For all those times
I had a meal with him at the mess hall

For all the times I chased him around
Only to catch him and then proceed to tickle him to tears

For all the times
I spanked his black, shiny ass

For all the days
That he made so much more memorable

For all that
As Twisted as it may seem
I miss you, brother

Life’s good with all those memories
Life would have been great with you still in it!

– Darren

Descartes’ First Meditation

Benedict Eastaugh from the 9rules philosophy community is running a reading group on selected philosophical excerpts. Descartes’ Meditation is the first reading assignment, this is the first time I have come across this, and here are my thoughts:

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