Posted inHenry's Messages

Message from Henry: Ordinary Marvel

April 24, 2018

A superior vessel takes longer to make (old Japanese proverb)

It’s good to have devotion to your teacher, but not to the point of quitting if for some reason you lose them. The Zen way requires a teacher but is not about the teacher. Our commitment is to the Way. The teacher is only another expedient means.

To make the ordinary the marvel that it is: Zen training.

***

Sometimes the old Zen masters said that they were holding nothing more than a yellow autumn leaf in their hand, but like children people took it for gold.

People might get allured by the promise of a dazzling “enlightenment.” But what if all it comes down to is the self dropping off limb by limb, or draining away drip by drip. And one day the sump of self might be empty. That’s all.

***

A superior vessel takes longer to make (old Japanese proverb).

Don’t begrudge any moment of your practice. None of it is wasted. Nothing done for the Dharma is ever wasted, just as nothing done for a child is ever wasted. Anything done for any other being is never wasted.

Every last effort in practice, no matter if an apparent disappointment or frustration, is actually a great fulfillment. Always.

Message from Henry is from our April 23, 2018 Newsletter
Image: Sunset Sea by Citrine20,  Public Domain CC0 1.0
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