Seeing Fault in People and Institutions

Faced with a decision to spend time with his dying father during his last days or attending a conference of a religious organization, the man says his final good-byes and leaves for the conference. We know this because the organization published this man's story in their own bulletin summarizing the meeting, and in my own case because I read Brad Warner's post containing his own commentary, HARDCORE ZEN: Fuck Institutionalized Zen.

What more is there to say about this matter? Nothing---unless you are prone to see things that may or may not be there. Tell me, when reading this account, did you wonder:

• Why did this man choose to attend the conference over sitting with his dying father?
• Why did he chose to write about his choice and submit it to the organization?
• Why did the organization publish the story so prominently?

Did you pass judgment on the man? Did you pass judgment on the organization? Why?

I know a particular Korean Buddhist monk and Zen master who enjoys viewing the Bible with an eye toward what he sees as the koans within. Experience suggests that this is one of his most favored passages:

As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." He said to another man, "Follow me." But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family." Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God." Luke 9:57-62 (NIV)

I once sent an email after the fact apologizing that I could not attend a class because something came up---my family needed me. Truth be told, the odds are that the monk would have cited this passage at least once during that class! Regardless, the Zen master responded:

Harmony comes from centering wisdom.
Twilight comes from old man's worry.

How can this be? Tell me, do you see a contradiction? I assert that there is none...

Organizations. Causes. Decisions. What are these things anyway?

Whatever your circumstances, see clearly and be free.

On Writing, "There is nothing to write about writing."

The Meta-Services: Rehashing and repackaging what is known and offering it to you again and again.

• The Writers write about How To Write.
• The Bloggers blog about How To Blog.
• The Self-Help books help you Help Yourself.
• The Businesses sell How to Do Business.
• The Rich tell you how easy it is to become Rich.
• ...
  

Every day, the "Top Ten Ways to This or That"... "Visit my site to learn the top ten ways to drive traffic to your site" --- how can you not laugh?

They stand in stark contrast to those people and organizations that actually create or actually serve. Does it seem that the ratio of repackagers-to-creators is dramatically on the rise?

Is there really nothing left? Where is the Human Spirit? Have we truly lost our Purpose?

Why are you here, now? Who are you?

Alas, even this post is a sin: What new things have I written here that cannot be found in Ecclesiastes and elsewhere? But if we are to sin, then---whatever your role in this world---go about your business and sin skillfully with the mindful purpose of pointing others toward the Truth.

Travel

Seeing differences or seeing sameness,
Seeing deficiencies or seeing superiority,
Seeing right way or seeing wrong way---
We can fill our days like this here or there.

Time to Leave

Raindrops, cold and wet
Westerly wind will not cease.
High tide. Paradise.

Waves are not Cold, 2

I had asked the wave
Whether or not it was cold.
It did not answer.

Waves are not Cold

Standing in the sun,
Mothers say that it's too cold;
Children ride the waves!

R.L. Stevenson's Requiem, Revised

I was that sailor on the shore.
I was that hunter at the store.
You gave me form, expected more...
And that is how you killed me.

The body here, the mind was there,
Rarely a moment did they share.
Come together, unite the pair,
Resurrect the corpse---see clearly!