where can the dust alight?

fabrice dozias

 

The Fifth Ancestor

Daimin Konin wanted to find

his successor. He asked the monks to write

a poem to express their understanding. Jinshu,

the headmonk, wrote the following poem

on the wall in the middle

of the night:

 

Our body is the bodhi tree,
our mind a mirror bright.
Carefully wipe then hour by hour,
and let no dust alight.

 

When Eno saw this

next day, he said to the monk

standing next to him, “I too have a poem.

Since I am illiterate, would you

write it down for me?”

 

There is no bodhi tree,
nor stand of a mirror bright.
Since all is void,
where can the dust alight?

 

When Konin saw this, he

knew the author had the understanding

he was looking for, and he recognized Eno as

his dharma heir and hence the

Sixth Ancestor.

 

Shunryu Suzuki

branching streams flow in the darkness

 

be humble like someone held captive

there is one clear truth

 

Soul guides and

prophets have an innate innocence,

but they are subject to the same consequences

as everyone. If a donkey veers off course, he will be hit

with a stick. If you do wrong, you will be punished. Abu Bakr

said that steadiness is the central virtue. From the

mind’s steadiness comes a right action

which in turn balances the

intelligence.

 

They asked me

why prophets were given hardships.

I said it helps to have clear indications. And I added

silently to myself, Be more humble like someone

held captive. Bow to the one who

can free you.

 

Bahauddin, father of Rumi

the drowned book