Description
We think about getting to that perfect destination, but it is the journey itself that is it. A lightness in our path comes of each step we take into eternity. Music from Michael Wilding, Amaryllis Fletcher & Jordan McConnell. February 20, 2022.
Summary
Each day is a journey and the journey itself is home —Basho
(Basho lived in a banana hut. His haiku name, Basho, means Mr. Banana Plant.)
The true traveler has no fixed destination and no set time of arrival. —Laozi
The war monster is around again. It has always been with us. John reads a letter to home from a Chinese official who was imprisoned during the An Lushan Rebellion that upended the Tang Dynasty.
Our task is to have the life we have. It is the Chan way to understand that the fullness of life resides in us, and the experience of life, whatever it is, is all for you. We have a moment of home when we embrace life and enter it fully. Step in closer to the great beast that is life—it can be beautiful.
When we are caught in the heart of longing there is no peace.
One of the tests of reality comes when lots of difficult things happen and we feel we are close to the great beast of life—that is when the Chan move is to step in closer. Have it all, admire its beauty. Blame and guilt are not relevant. We realize then that we are carried by a vastness we can’t comprehend. The perfection has always been here.
Being and non-being are just like wisteria leaning on a tree.
In challenging times like these, friendship is particularly precious. We are friends for lifetime after lifetime, like the young poet Du Fu and the celebrated Li Bai who befriended him when he first began to write.
In Zen you notice you stop being so right about things.
Music from Amaryllis Fletcher, Jordan McConnell: the music and the vows are part of the vessel we are in.
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