What exactly did my little buzz-saw symphony have to do with the formless, with emptiness? Well, for one thing, at this retreat I think I had managed to let go of what you might call “the buzz-saw form.” The sound of a buzz-saw is part of a whole structure of connotations—central among them, of course, the idea of a buzz saw. And I think one reason we find buzz-saw sounds grating is because they’re part of that structure—that is, because we know they’re coming from buzz saws. Buzz saws, with their well-known capacity to sever bones as well as wood, are things many of us don’t welcome contact
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