New Book! EVERYTHING ARISES FROM AWARENESS: The Teachings of Korim Frederick Prack

NEW BOOK ABOUT MY FRIEND AND TEACHER!  "Everything Arises from Awareness: The Teachings of Korim Frederick Prack"  Available on Amazon.

Fred Prack (October 2, 1943-February 9, 2024) was, in my opinion, an enlightened being, teacher, healer and, most importantly, friend.  He was a householder – he had two sons, Aaron and Jason – and through his life he had many jobs, both within and without spiritual disciplines.  Among them he had worked in advertising, lighting and visual effects for film, operating a health food store, and he was a Registered Massage Therapist, hypnotherapist and psychotherapist.  He also taught Transcendental Meditation for 29 years, and when I met him and knew him, he was a long-standing member of the Zen Buddhist Temple in Toronto. 

More than that, he had a kind word and empathy for everybody.  He saved my life, certainly, when I was at my wits’ end.  At his life memorial ceremony at the Zen Buddhist Temple, it became evident that had illuminated and empowered the lives of many others as well. 

Fred asked me to proofread a manuscript he had written, meant to be part of a series: “The Wholeness Life Meditation Manual” (1996.)  My approved revision from 2014 is included here in its entirety.  Also included are two extensive interviews from 2011 and 2016.  The latter formed the basis for a graphic novel I wrote and drew presenting Fred’s teachings, “What is Meditation?  And Why Should I Do It?” (2018.)  The present volume also contains Fred’s writings for various websites and personal emails, and my own summary of his teachings.

I believe and hope Fred’s words can help heal the world.

- Matthew Brown (Editor), Toronto, 2025

 

“What is needed to resolve and quell the mounting waves of fear and suffering girdling the world, is Awakening to pure Awareness, Buddha Nature, unconditional Love and Compassion.

What each of us can do from the deepest level, of what we are, is infinitely more powerful than the fears that keep minds constricted and focussed on the surface where perspective is lost and fear holds sway over everything.

If people around the world can touch that reality within themselves and begin to know it as themselves, I know we can heal what is happening to all the life that is this planet. I believe this is where real peace begins.”

                                                                                    - Fred Prack

Drawing comics to live jazz with Dave Bryant and friends

I'm very happy to share my live comics jam this past August in Boston with former Ornette Coleman keyboardist Dave Bryant and his amazing friends Daniel Kurganov on violin and video editing, Jorrit Dijkstra on sax, Miki Matsuki on drums and Jacob William on bass. It was a wonderful experience and peak of my comics career so far.

 

MONK is here!

Now AVAILABLE ON AMAZON!

New book - “Monk: WORK”. An expressionistic romp through the stage, the studio and the street with enigmatic piano genius Thelonious Monk (1917-1982). It is a matter of public record that Monk was a founder of the revolutionary jazz style called bebop, along with Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker and later, Miles Davis.

Monk’s music parades an offbeat pageantry where the absurdity of life is never mocked or scorned—but rather treated with a sweet delectation and elevation. Artist Matthew Brown’s brush style is gestural and wild. Like the music itself—angular, dissonant, minimal (and emphatically rhythmic) yet warm-hearted.

Like all art that works, it is a mystery.

This is a non-linear, experimental comic—showcasing the time period during which Monk was recording the legendary album “Underground” (1968) with Charlie Rouse on saxophone, Ben Riley on drums and Larry Gales on bass.