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Mini SCENEprofiles Interview |
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SENSUOUS SADIE: WHEN WERE YOU FIRST AWARE OF HAVING A HIGHER POWER IN YOUR LIFE? RICK: I discovered Zen and the Dao rather young in life, at least for the time in which I was young. In high school, when asked what I wanted to be I told people I wanted to be perfect. This of course outraged all the good Christians, but that is what good Christians are for, after all is said and done. Later, after the insane work of my college years I had some down time, Nixon's second recession, and I got very seriously into Yoga and Daoist meditation and one day I was simply sitting, doing nothing when I suddenly felt very connected to the world and everything around me. I saw the great cogs of Nature as they ground and moved slowly, inextolably, so slow I couldn't see the movement but I was still aware of it. Now, when religious mystics get that feeling they see "the face of God", however they believe that face looks, all I saw was the mechanisms of nature, which I suppose, is my "higher power". SS: WAS THIS RELATED TO OR INDEPENDENT FROM YOUR RELIGIOUS UPBRINGING (OR LACK OF IT)? IN WHAT WAYS? R: I was raised a Lutheran and I certainly didn't see Fr Luther's God. SS: WHEN DID YOU FIRST START EXPLORING THE CONNECTION BETWEEN BDSM &SPIRITUALITY? WAS THERE A PARTICULAR EXPERIENCE OR MOMENT THAT SET YOU ON THIS PATH? R: The Dao doesn't separate one's life and one's spirituality, so no connection makes sense within that philosophy. Like the fool I am I never really put the two together until I was fortunate to read The Tao of Zen then Saint and Madmen and wrote my article "The Art of S/m". Until that I always thought that my Dominance was the wild animal part of me while my Daoism was the civilized, tame part of me, very silly me. SS: HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE SPIRITUAL/BDSM SPACE THAT YOU GO INTO? Come! Let us go see the real flowers... of this painful world. -- Basho SS: WHAT SPIRITUAL OR BDSM PRACTICES HELP TAKE YOU THERE? FOR EXAMPLE: YOGA, MEDITATION, KUNDALINI, TANTRA ETC. R: I try to be there with every step, every motion, every word and every stroke of the flail. SS: HOW HAVE THESE EXPERIENCES AFFECTED YOUR LIFE? R: I have had a great deal coming to terms with my Dominance. It make no sense given my ideas about the inherent sameness of human kind. It is the Zen sense of I am what I do that got me to come to terms with it. By understanding the Ends are the Means I've realized how to balance the yin of equality with the yang of Dominance. SS: HOW HAS YOUR SPIRITUAL PRACTICE INFORMED YOUR BDSM PRACTICE? AND VICE VERSA? R: It helps me connect with my victims. It helps me be both them and me. SS: HOW DO YOU IDENTIFY PARTNERS WHO HAVE A SIMILAR ORIENTATION? R: Are they humans who enjoy the adventure of BDSM? SS: DO YOU ALSO CONSIDER YOUR WRITING TO BE A SPIRITUAL EXPRESSION? R: Yes. SS: ANYTHING ELSE YOU'D LIKE TO ADD? R: I read somewhere that Japanese bondage began with Zen monks. If this is true (and who's to say it isn't) then one must suppose that it began for the practical purpose of controlling unruly children, as with its extremes of meditation and zazen. It is a gift of beauty. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sensuous Sadie is a BDSM columnist and edits SCENEsubmissions, a free e-newsletter. She is the founder and leader (1999 - 2001) of Rose & Thorn, Vermont's first BDSM group. Comments, compliments and complaints, as well as requests for reprinting can be addressed to her at SensuousSadie@aol.com or visit her website at www.sensuoussadie.com. Sadie believes the universe is abundant and that sharing information freely is part of this abundance, so she allows reprints of her writing in most venues. Copyright 2002 Sadie Sez Publications
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