My Own Private Absurdism

A reddit post I recently read got me thinking about my inadvertent connection with both absurdism and Buddhism. As an autistic person, both belief systems have helped me cope.

As an absurdist writer myself, I acknowledge a strong connection with Buddhism – some of it subconscious and originally unintentional. I seem naturally predisposed to embrace Buddhism – which I suppose is ideal!

I’m attracted to Buddhism’s sense of fun and play, connection with nature, freeing inner life and dealing with the more superficial/materialistic aspects of modern life – themes explored in “The Surreal Adventures of Anthony Zen”. To help me cope, my mind lifts me out of toxic environments. I free myself through a combination of the harsh realisation of the absurdity of life, the connections and patterns I see (being logical and honest), and freeing my mind from that observed absurdity. In this regard, I have tried Buddhist mediation; to this day, it is part of my overall strategy to relieve feelings of detachment – one of many anchors that threaten to hold me down in a toxic fog.

In fact, I use this quote at the start of The Surreal Adventures of Anthony Zen:

“All worries and troubles have gone from my breast and I

play joyfully far from the world. For a person of Zen, no

limits exist. The blue sky must feel ashamed to be so

small.”

Muso Soseki

 

 

Modern Book Mockup by Anthony Boyd Graphics

 

 

 

“strange” by Jerome Olivier is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0