Like listening for the sound of one hand clapping, looking at this picture for a while will tell you all the essence of zen. It cannot be described, tho much good writing about it exists. Each of us leaves footprints in the sand as we travel through this adventure called life. If we pause for a moment and look back at those footprints, we are struck with their smallness and temporary nature when set against the backdrop of the immense elemental forces of the seashore. The yin & yang of the waves within the larger yin/yang of the tides will wash them away within hours, if the wind does not blow them away within minutes.

I call myself a zen priest, yet that is purely self-appointed. When I was young and full of myself, I wanted to be a zen master and teacher. One day it occurred to me that the road to mastery was to live it every moment. There are far more rewards from living it than from the public recognition of my “mastery”. It is a remarkably fulfilling and serene way to view life. I promote it as an answer to the increasingly chaotic world in which we live.

In the best (perhaps only true) zen movie ever made, “Circle of Iron,” the protagonist, Cord (that which binds), finds that all answers are found in the mirror. Today, in western culture particularly, all answers seem to lie outside ourselves. We are a culture of reactors, blamers, and victims. There are always buts, whys, and because which explain our destructive behavior. None of them make it non-destructive. The destruction and violence will continue until each person begins to stay one’s own hand and take complete responsibility for one’s own acts.

Philosophy and Theology: The Old Gods
Science and Technology: The New Gods
The God
The Goddess

Back to “The Eye of the Mind” Main Page

Backed Up and Credited by – no-maam.blogspot.com