Tuesday, October 11, 2022

Open Your Life



"They say that there are moments that open up your life like a walnut cracked, that change your point of view so that you never look at things the same way again." -  Jodi Picoult



Layman Dongpo, Chinese essayist considered, "A dragon in the sea of letters," felt enlightened when writing:

The sound of the valley stream

is exactly his broad, long tongue.
The form of the mountain
is nothing other than his clear, pure body
Through the night,
the eighty-four thousand gathas.

He worked with words in moments to articulate the inexpressible. In these explorations he found ways to present insight.


Responses with direct and practical details pulsed into the esoteric questions.





Matsuo Basho, asked by his Zen teacher, "What is the reality prior to the greenness of moss?"

responded by staying in the moment. He wrote of an actual occurrence of silence broken by a splash.
                  
                   The ancient pond
                    a frog leaps in
                    water-sound

Capturing moments in movement wrangle the mind into the present. Openings arise.



Master Eihei Dogen was asked upon his return from China, "What did you realize?"

Dogen said, "Eyes horizontal, nose vertical.''







Gray feathers arise

   A flutter of blue bubbles
        Melted in satin blue











Discover!  


Stay with the details and obvious in each delicacy of the moment.


"Flow with whatever may happen and let your mind be free. Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing. This is the ultimate." - Chuang-Tzu


Open your life.

No comments:

Post a Comment