Hello,

I have an issue, and I would like to invite (read:beg) the community to help me figure something out.

I'm sure that we're all familiar with The Worst Horse and the catalogue of Dharma-Burgers. There are quite a few here around here that make their way into culture in ways that are slightly irritating to me: from the Laughing Buddha karaoke bar down the road to the Satori night club directly outside our apartment building (its name is very apt--it wakes us up with great vigor when we are most deeply asleep) to the Daily Show's "moment of Zen" and people saying things like "that's so Zen!" and little ashtrays sold with little rakes and little packets of kitty litter to play with. You get the idea.

So anyway, my school has a publication for students, and I'd like to take the opportunity to put something out about what exactly "satori" means and what exactly "buddha" means and what exactly "Zen" means. However, every time I start to plot out a mind map on relevant topics relating to, well, anything, it quickly becomes to large and unwieldy to be of any use.

My question, then, is this: in writing to and for the 18-22 demographic, what key points would you touch on when putting together 1500 words about Zen?

Thanks for your input.

In Gassho,

Saijun