Tesshin used his talk this week to discuss the recent HBO documentary entitled “The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling.”  Our teacher’s first exposure to the comedy of Garry Shandling was when he was in Japan.  During this time, homesick westerners ran an informal video exchange club.  Each person would receive a box of VCR tapes which they would send on to another person in the group when they were finished watching.  This was before streaming on the internet, so this “AV Club” was the most efficient way for people in a foreign land to get access to US television programs.

 

Most of the documentary focused on Shandling’s career and the many comics he mentored throughout his career.  Tesshin, however, wanted to emphasize how Garry used his art form as a way to get in touch with his life and understand reality.   It was noteworthy when Shandling stated that “Comedy is Truth.”  Tesshin wanted us to understand that the comic did not mean that the art form of comedy exposed the truth for the audience, rather performing the art was truth in and of itself for the comic.  It is the same for us.  Practice does not prepare us to understand the truth – practice IS the truth. 

 

Throughout the documentary, people talked about the bravery needed to be a standup comic.  What type of bravery are they referring to?  Tesshin answered by saying that it is the bravery of seeing yourself as you really are.  As a comic, you might go up on stage and “bomb” or “kill it.”  The question is whether you are brave enough to try?  Are you brave enough to find out who you really are?  Are you brave enough to find out what is real?  What about us?

 

I think a review posted on IMDB says it best …

“…Watching The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling allows one to realize, through Garry’s humor and being, that we’re not as alone in the world as we thought. At our cores, we all want to be our true selves, and often don’t know, or never find out, how to live truth. The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling teaches us Garry’s method, one that can be adopted by anyone, that staying true to yourself, trusting your instincts, and being your true self, are the closest we can ever come to truth and happiness…”

 

Tesshin wrapped up by reminding us that wisdom comes from the most unlikely places.  He also suggested that we watch the documentary when it airs again on HBO.