The art of peace
begins with you. Work on yourself
and your appointed task in the art of peace.
Everyone has a spirit that can be refined, a body
that can be trained in some manner, a suitable path
to follow. You are here for no other purpose than
to realize your inner divinity and manifest your
innate enlightenment. Foster peace in your
own life and then apply the art to
all that you encounter.
When you hold on to something,
don’t let the smallest hair show. When you let go of
something, let it go in all directions. Meeting in heavy mist,
we turn out to be at the top of a thousand peaks.
Starting at the top of a thousand peaks we
turn out to be in heavy mist.
Today I am at Fuyuan Temple
inaugurating this hall and preaching the Dharma.
Yesterday I was outside my hut at Sky Lake ploughing in the clouds.
Thus it is said that the Dharma has no fixed shape but adapts to conditions.
It stirs the wind of perfect stillness and makes effortless
transformation possible. But at this moment,
what is it like?
Only after ninety thousand
miles does the P’eng unfold its wings.
Only after a thousand miles does
the crane take flight.
Red Pine’s “The Zen Works of Stonehouse”
Many seek protection
from all hurting influences by building
some wall around themselves. But the canopy over
the earth is so high that a wall cannot be built high enough,
and the only thing one can do is to live in the midst of all
inharmonious influences, to strengthen his will power
and to bear all things, yet keeping the fineness
of character and a nobleness of manner
together with an ever-living
heart.
To become cold with the coldness
of the world is weakness, and to become broken
by the hardness of the world is feebleness, but to live in the world
and yet to keep above the world is like walking on the water. There are two
essential duties for the man of wisdom and love; that is to keep the love
in our nature ever increasing and expanding and to strengthen the
will so that the heart may not be easily broken. Balance is ideal
in life; man must be fine and yet strong, man must
be loving and yet powerful.
Let go of hundreds
of years and relax completely.
Open your hands and walk, innocently.
Thousands of words, myriad interpretations,
are only to free you from
obstructions.
If you suddenly
and unexpectedly feel joy,
don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are
plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed
or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often
kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still life has some
possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes
something happened better than all the riches or power in the world.
It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant
when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case.
Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid
of its plenty. Joy is not made
to be a crumb.