Channel Tao

When I finally broke down and subscribed to cable TV, I had a choice of program “packages.” There were, of course, sports packages and movie packages and “lifestyle” packages. I chose the religion and philosophy package. This package included MonkTV (Gregorian chant, Tibetan monks singing like Dharma frogs, you get the picture), Kant’s Critique of Judgment Channel (more lively and visual than you might think), Bertrand Russell lecture reruns (enough said), ApparitionsTV (news coverage and documentaries on such phenomena as the 30-foot Virgin Mary window panes, weeping or bleeding statuary, the stigmatic Sasquatch), and what has come to be my favorite, Channel Tao. I like the idea that I can tune in to the Tao by remote control. Every morning, while dressing for work, I switch on Channel Tao to “The Rill World” program, an hour of uninterrupted streams, brooks, creeks, and rivers, usually rippling over polished stones, with an occasional waterfall. Every show is shot on location. Each morning a different stream, yet all the same stream. My running joke at the office is that I need to go home—I left the TV running and it’s going to flood my bedroom.