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GRAMMATICALLY APART
What sets us apartfrom other specieshas little or nothingto do with self-awarenessand everything to dowith parts of speech. The birds outsidemy window shun labels,think only of eating,mating, flight, of goingand arriving, of being. They know nothing of birth,do not fear death, for itis merely a label they cannotaccept or understand. It is left to our…
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SŌZAN’S NO CHANGE 正法眼蔵 三十
In entering, do you arriveor are you leaving.In departing do you leaveor are you arriving.Can the gate answeror does it chooseto remain silent.The mountain shoutsthe answer but onlythe river can hear it. A reflection on case 30 of the Dogen’s Shobogenzo (The True Dharma Eye)
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DETOUR
He always wanted to take the scenic route home, it didn’t matter if it took longer, he probably preferred that and he rarely commented on the scenery. It was more that he didn’t want to get where they were going and the scenic route was guaranteed to take longer and with luck they’d get lost…
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WHERE?
Is it the trip or the arriving that most matters, or is it simply what you expect once you are there, if there is where you expected, for expectations are too often misplaced and assumptions reflect desire not truth. In the end it hardly matters, for you can never be anywhere but where you…