There was a time when I was a warrior. A time when I lived like a flame that burned the earth. My father was a professional soldier and he raised me to be as he was taught and as he had lived. There was a time when I saw the dust rise from the Captain's chest, as a bullet ended him then and there and I saw the dust like moats in a sun beam sparkling like stars.
___
___
There was a time when I looked at an acorn and it seemed to me I could see all the oak trees that it had always been and would forever be.
___
___
" There have also been those who awakened the mind in dreams and attained enlightenment, those who awakened the mind in the midst of intoxication and attained enlightenment, those who awakened the mind and attained enlightenment from flying flowers and falling leaves, those who awakened the mind and attained enlightenment from peach blossoms and green bamboo, those who awakened the mind and attained enlightenment in heaven and those who awakened the mind and attained enlightenment in the ocean."
Dogen from "Awakening the Unsurpassed Mind".
____
____
What refuge is there from Ghosts and Demons. I write this in the midst of a haunting in a time when I would be better served by silence.
____
____
A monk asked Tosu, "Is there a dragon howl in a dead tree?"
Tosu said " I say there's a lion roar in a skull."
___
A monk also asked Sozan "What is a dragon howl in a dead tree?"
Sozan said "The blood line is not ended"
The monk asked, "What are eyes in a skull?"
Sozan said " Not entirely dry."
The monk asked "Does anyone hear?"
Sozan said, There is no one in the world who does not hear."
The monk asked, "What writing does the expression "Dragon Howl" come from?"
Sozan said, "I don"t know what writing the expression comes from, but those who hear it all die."
____
____
Perhaps it's just that simple, that Buddha's don't know they are Buddha's and there was a time when as Dogen says:
"Now the dragon howling of Kyogen, , Sekiso and Sozan make clouds and water."
But not today, not for me.
No comments:
Post a Comment