To the capital—
snow-clouds forming,
half the sky to go.
– Basho
It’s a dirty shame, but here is my comment:
Freedom. Walking independently through the world on a journey with no past.
And a free man expresses hope:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWUfFwoe8ko
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It is simply sitting in the midst of what utterly is, with full participation, or as Dogen might say, participating completely in not-doing.
Not passively being blank, but existing fully as … walking, words, blankness, an onion …
“Take the backwards step”
A Route of
Evanescence
With a revolving
Wheel –
A Resonance
of Emerald –
A Rush of
Cochineal –
And every
Blossom on the
Bush
Adjusts it’s
tumbled Head –
The Mail from
Tunis, probably,
An easy
Morning’s Ride –
~ Emily Dickinson
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When following breath becomes as comfortable as an old pair of jeans, why would anyone want to switch to something else. When it feels just about perfect and completely natural and that’s when Dogen makes sense. I believe the quote goes something like this
How can ‘no doing’ have levels of attainment? Sumersault zen. Realization followed by the meticulous practice. And if fanning yourself makes no sense, take the backward step. Practice.
Why would I trade that for an iron ball in my belly? Why should I trade a gentle lover for a nagging witch?
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Sitting Zen is like riding a slead when a kid; once you start going you can’t stop. You want to fly with it, but all you can do is hang on as you go. The pain comes and goes (sometimes), the concentration wavers momentarily, you go through valleys where you drift idly.
When you hit the slope there is nothing like it. You will brave the cold, the pain, the (yes, it happens) bordem – for the chance to be taken. To be taken. “Gone gone, gone beyond, gone altogether beyond, O what an awakening, all hail!”
Practice as if your hair was catching fire. Practice will all the care it takes to stand on one leg.*
*Clumsy paraphrase of Dogen Zenji
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