Comments on: Hudsonblick 20: Be the Bullet

By: Nelly

Nelly — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 01:14:34 +0000

All I felt, by using a gun, was respect of the power and force behind it. I haven’t used a gun in years, yet I remember the feeling when I pulled the trigger. I knew I had the power to kill a person right in my hands and when I pulled the trigger my heart was running wild and I had nothing but respect for this force in my hands.

A gun should be always used wisely… that is my opinion on it.

By: Carlito

Carlito — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 15:55:52 +0000

I’ll definitely check that out, thanks for the reference.

By: trip2o

trip2o — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 15:44:33 +0000

please consult ‘the doors of perception and heaven and hell’ by aldous huxley. zen, guns, fucking, all the same.

By: Carlito

Carlito — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 05:10:58 +0000

I think I see… you’re just talking about hunting? Ethically speaking, that’s really a far cry from shooting paper. I’ll save my views on that for another occasion.

By: sunny3d

sunny3d — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 04:17:35 +0000

You ve have never been seen a Gewehrmündung in front of your eyes.

By: sunny3d

sunny3d — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 04:15:03 +0000

There is no responsible way of shooting, never.

By: sunny3d

sunny3d — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 04:05:24 +0000

Hunting – that is the item – or not?

Animals?
People?
You and your cat?
Underfucked and overpaid?

By: Carlito

Carlito — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 02:44:43 +0000

It wouldn’t be a thread about guns if someone wasn’t being nasty! It’s an issue that courts strong opinions, I guess, or maybe we’re just not exposed to many nuanced views.

For my part, I’m generally in favor of letting people do what they want, and have fun how they want to, as long as they’re being safe and responsible. So if you’re having fun shooting in a safe and responsible manner, more power to you. Same for fucking!

By: sunny3d

sunny3d — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 19:50:24 +0000

I dont want to be hunted. All these guns and weapons and crap are shit.

Sorry bout this nasty entry. … Fuck this industry.

By: sunny3d

sunny3d — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 17:46:06 +0000

rehashing events that enraged you long ago tends to produce depression rather than sweet closure and relief.

thank you for that… :-)

By: Jens

Jens — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 17:26:32 +0000

My own experiences with guns were in the Bundeswehr. Mostly, because everything is so regulated about the use of the gun, there is not much fun you can have with it. And I think, fun is not what you are supposed to have with it, really. Guns are not a toy. They serve a definite purpose and whatever you do, this purpose remains. I think this is very well demonstrated in the movie “American Beauty”. While on the one hand a gun is used as a means of satisfaction of some kind, the effect of desensitisation is very dangerous.

You have to differentiate between shooting guns at artificial targets on a shooting range and shooting some animals, though. While I can see shooting at a shooting range as a nice way to reach control over your body and sensation, I think hunting is not my thing at all. Killing is just not a hobby for me. And there are only small steps to take, once you grab one of these things.

By: Carlito

Carlito — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 17:25:00 +0000

Yeah, we were talking about two different things there, sorry if they seemed to slop together. I’ve certainly found it necessary to put down “the beast” when it’s time to really focus.

And I totally agree about the proliferation of “Zen and the Art of X” BS. There’s a fascination with the mystical experience that everyone wants a part of. I wouldn’t explicitly say that shooting has been a “Zen” experience for me, since I don’t have first-hand knowledge of such a thing, but I am impressed by some of the parallels between shooting and other meditative practices.

I found this when I was writing the article. Apparently, even the original “Zen and the Art of..” guy has his critics:
http://www.nanzan-u.ac.jp/SHUBUNKEN/publications/jjrs/pdf/586.pdf

By: sunny3d

sunny3d — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 17:22:31 +0000

i have to think about it. because until know i ve nver thought of a gun as an empty object. weird

By: Dennis

Dennis — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 17:13:32 +0000

Zen is not just about clearing the mind, although it’s a part of it.

The point I wanted to make is this:
There can be Zen in shooting firearms, as well as in everything else.
But most of what I’ve read has nothing transcendent in it, it’s just basic emotion and I’m fine with that.
But what I don’t like is when someone tries to make some important experience out of this basic thing and labels it Zen without knowing, what Zen exactly means.

Mankind started as hunters and during the last few thousand years we haven’t changed that much biologically.
So it’s just naturally if people respond to weapons in that way.
But if you do, don’t mistake it as anything else as it is.

Dennis (who is not a buddhist either)

By: Carlito

Carlito — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 17:13:14 +0000

smart ass! ;-)

By: Johnny

Johnny — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 16:40:16 +0000

Uhm, as long as that movement doesn’t want the right to bear arms whenever… oh, I guess we have that already… ;)

By: sunny3d

sunny3d — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 16:29:18 +0000

very interesting! kind of new movement – maybe…

By: Carlito

Carlito — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 16:13:51 +0000

Hi Dennis,
Relaxed precision is definitely a contrast to the joyful blasting, not the same thing! So basicly I agree with you. Of course, disgust is not a very Buddhist response to an object either. The gun is an empty object. The disgust is in the mind.

Carlito
(not a buddhist, but I play one on Spreeblick)

By: wtf

wtf — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 15:55:30 +0000

Let me put it this way: all people respond to guns. Some do it this way, others do it in other ways. Welcome to makind.

To some, a gun clears their mind of all the nonsense that normally inhabits it. Zen.
Machismo ? Ever considered that the situation makes us respond in that way and not always our personality ?
And it is certainly nice to know that you, Dennis, are concerned with our state of mind.

To some a gun is a focus, to others a fetish.

By: Dennis

Dennis — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 15:35:08 +0000

Zen just means sitting down, tearing down the wall, that seems to seperate you from the world an to become part of it.
So it doesn’t matter whether Zen is practiced in a silent temple, a childrens birthday or on a battlefield.

That’s why Zen and Martial Arts can go hand in hand, you just erase your consciousness and act without thinking.

When I was using guns during my military service I didn’t feel thrilled, I didn’t feel like a god; I was just disgusted!

And despite all you’re writing: If you’re just turned on by shooting a gun, if it makes you feel great and powerful then this has nothing to do with any Zen-like way of living! It is pure machismo and if you think, that you’re already beyond that, you’re awfully wrong and haven’t even started to go the way…