pages 83 and 90-93
_______________________
ROCKS, PONDS, ROOTS, BAMBOO, PALM, PINE
steadfastness? Faith in what is before us. how can what is in front of us be evidence that life matters and that what we are engaged in now effects the future meaningfully?...To spend less time in our stories of the past and future, and to be present mindfully.
Ponds :
The water is dirty and it's there that things grow, too. pg 63
The water is dirty and it's there that things grow, too.
There is the 'pond doctor', and zazen is the medicine. The teacher says ...'You are a perfect example of natural purification' . As in 'let the mud settle to the bottom. 'Use your own senses to refresh your awareness, let the mud settle. Follow the movement of your breath to clear distractions. 'But the Way includes disturbances, and we can right ourselves. ' Sit still, just still and let the mud sink to the bottom. 'Your life rises up on a sturdy stalk. 'What goes into sitting isn't pretty, but becomes beautiful.
Roots:
Bamboo:
Here we learn about conflict in the Sangha.
Palm:
an ancient plant...visually much like the lotus?
Begins with :
'Let me respectfully remind you
Life and death are of supreme importance
Time swiftly passes by and opportunity is lost
Each of us should strive to awaken, Awaken!
Take heed, Do not squander life.
'Seeing into the true nature of time.'
A discussion about time and our perception of it. Our judgement of time...seeing time as something out there. To be mastered, to be used.
A talk about two aspects of time: the ups and downs of time evaluated, and the steadfastness of time ...time as eternity which is always and everywhere the same...That a 'day' is daylight followed by night followed be daylight.
That while I can dismiss death that hasn't yet arrived as 'It's not my time', I must remember that 'It's all my time'. And it's all 'me' time.
Citing a famous story of Dogen as apprentice who realizes what 'being absorbed in the moment' means: Even though we may feel busy all the time, without a minute to stop, i.e. engaged in activity... which is not the same as engaged in the moment...in the flow.... ...we hesitate in all kinds of ways: {Hesitate? how? here she is referring to our hesitation to become truly absorbed in each moment...as in being absorbed in meditation or absorbed in any activity, absorbed in the mundane task at hand} Read to the bottom of page 90 and the discussion of Dogen's phrase: Zen is [and must be] the wholehearted way..."When you apply the Way to everything you do, your life becomes your practice. "
On further thought: realizing that she is talking about all the ego-direted thoughts taht keep us from being absorbed in the moment...examples that are at the top of the page of 90.
Following the wholehearted way.
Pine
Her gardener leaves his work, resigns and his apology launches her into a kind of insight:
What do you call it when the milk turns bad, when you get a broken leg when you least expect it...you call it 'the Way'.
