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TIPPING POINT
The hardest thing is knowing that this precise moment, this precise place is the tipping point, and things could go either way from here, although the Buddha would suggest that there are ten directions in which everything always can go. You cannot pause and reflect on this, for this precise moment, this precise place…
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TIPPING THE WATER BOTTLE 無門關 四十
These few words gathered neatly on a scrap of simple paper, what do you call it? Answer carefully for you response may carry the keys to the doors of Mount Tai-i. Better still, upend the water bottle, watch the ink and water form a gentle pool into which no pebble drops. A reflection on…
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DOING THOUGHT TIME
The hardest prison to escape is the one whose walls are built by the mind in fear and trepidation. It is like the open gate you dare not enter fearing that you are leaving and will not be allowed to return. Atop a pole there are an infinite number of directions in which…
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TIMING IS . . .
The sweep of the second-hand, the minute hand is constant, each moment as long as the last, none longer, none shorter and yet I know that Einstein was right in noting that things unpleasant take forever, while all that is joyful passes quickly even when the elapsed time is the same. What Albert didn’t…
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BUDDHIST RELATIVITY
Now then, he says, and at once he is again victim of the confusion that he spreads in his wake. She takes him to task again, but he protests that what was now is clearly then, now, and this now, too, is now then, for each now is gone in the time it takes to…
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SEKITO’S GREAT AND SMALL CANON 正法眼蔵 語十三
This wave touches the shore just as it should, that wave touches the shore just as it should. You may wait an eternity for a wave that touches but not as it should or you can sit and let the waves wash over you. A reflection on Case 53 of the Shobogenzo (Master Dogen”s True…
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RELATIVELY SPEAKING
“We created time,” he said, “so we are free to ignore it whenever we wish, don’t tell me that I am late, for that is only by your clock and you should know that most clocks are never right. It is only the stopped clock that is right, and that only twice each day.” We…
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INFINITY
A three year old can easily understand that a full cup can hold nothing but an empty cup has an infinite capacity.
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WHO IS HE? 無門關 四十語
Sitting with Shakya and Maitreya in the utter stillness of early morning you each strain to hear the master’s voice. Do not take up Shakya’s bow or attempt to mount Maitreya’s horse Do not engage Hoen in discussion but look inward, hand your bow to Maitreya, the reins to Shakya. There is only one horse,…
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LUNA BECKONS
The perigee moon hangs heavily over the city, clinging to the horizon as though it wishes to flee deep into the night, turning away the attention in inevitably draws. We are pulled toward it by some deeply felt force that we know we dare not question, for we must honor the moon’s secrets as we…
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an old writer and his words 