It may just be the way my crusty young mine throws concepts together, but Harry Nilsson's version of Popeye the Sailor Man as expressed in the song "I Yam What I Yam" makes him seem like some kind of minor Buddhist saint.
"And I yam what I yam what I yam and I yam what I yam and that's all that I yam 'cause I yam what I yam"
I'm reading a book on rinzai zen training and the old Japanese master came across a passage in the Bible and was impressed by it as pure zen - both have similar sentiments.
An itinerant monk - he's never had a home - who treats his body as a temple and has a variety of Buddhist qualities - "And I gots a lot of muskle and I only gots one eye
And I never hurts nobodys and I'll never tell a lie"
He's an orphan himself who shelters the orphans that he finds - a la SweetPea.
Swallowing a mouthful of spinach might be a lovely samadhi.
Each of the other main characters is a foil Popeye overcomes and transcends - the fickle nature of desire in Olive Oyl, the temptation to abuse one's own strength in Bluto, & the over-reliance on the mind not to mention the lazyiness and gluttony of J. Wellington Wimpy.
Popeye transcends each - he eats well, uses his strength morally, is clever and uses good judgement without over-intellectualizing everything, does good and is generally merry. That motherfucker has a purpose and knows who he is.
I yam what I yam what I yam what I yam
I'm Popeye the sailor man!
"And I yam what I yam what I yam and I yam what I yam and that's all that I yam 'cause I yam what I yam"
I'm reading a book on rinzai zen training and the old Japanese master came across a passage in the Bible and was impressed by it as pure zen - both have similar sentiments.
An itinerant monk - he's never had a home - who treats his body as a temple and has a variety of Buddhist qualities - "And I gots a lot of muskle and I only gots one eye
And I never hurts nobodys and I'll never tell a lie"
He's an orphan himself who shelters the orphans that he finds - a la SweetPea.
Swallowing a mouthful of spinach might be a lovely samadhi.
Each of the other main characters is a foil Popeye overcomes and transcends - the fickle nature of desire in Olive Oyl, the temptation to abuse one's own strength in Bluto, & the over-reliance on the mind not to mention the lazyiness and gluttony of J. Wellington Wimpy.
Popeye transcends each - he eats well, uses his strength morally, is clever and uses good judgement without over-intellectualizing everything, does good and is generally merry. That motherfucker has a purpose and knows who he is.
I yam what I yam what I yam what I yam
I'm Popeye the sailor man!
VIEW 6 of 6 COMMENTS
i'm looking forward to pawpaw season here (they're related and, i've heard, pretty similar-- and pawpaws grow wild)