Q: What's the sound of one hand clapping?
A: It's the sound of a river dancing
It's the sound of a dog smiling
It's the sound of the moon, watching the river dancing and the dog smiling.
Life's a cosmic joke, isn't it? We spend the best part of our early years learning and cramming to develop our brains so that we can go to university and study some more so that we can become 'experts'; we work hard to shape and develop our bodies so that we men can have bulging biceps and a six-pack, so that we women can look sexy and shapely; we pay atention to our diets and our lifestyles so that we can be and stay 'healthy'; we seek a career and fame and fortune so that we can be 'successful': we do all of these things knowing that we one day our bodies and our physical lives will quite literally fall apart. What is the purpose, what is the point? Our only true response is to laugh.
We should laugh when we take ourselves too seriously--which is most of the time, most days; we should laugh first thing in the morning when we wake up and look at ourselves in the mirror; we should laugh loud and long simply because it's the most appropriate response and it's good for us.
All our dreams for the future are only dreams; all our worries about the past are only worries.
There is no heaven or hell, only now and here.
There is no life or death, only change in form. (Energy--spirit--soul--or whatever name you have for it cannot be created or destroyed.)
The history of Ch'an, or Zen, is that the Buddha was asked a question and in response he held up a flower. One of his disciples, on seeing this, began to smile. That smile was the beginning of Ch'an/Zen:the smile was transmitted from
patriach to patriach and on and on, down to us. Everyday we build some small issue into a BIG issue that really is microscopic in the scheme of things. We humans take ourselves so
seriously but nothing in our lives--even our physical lives themselves--is
permanent. The purpose of life--if there is a purpose--is only to live it, certainly not to worry about it; perhaps to enjoy it, certainly to celebrate it. We all need to laugh more and more often.
A: It's the sound of a river dancing
It's the sound of a dog smiling
It's the sound of the moon, watching the river dancing and the dog smiling.
Life's a cosmic joke, isn't it? We spend the best part of our early years learning and cramming to develop our brains so that we can go to university and study some more so that we can become 'experts'; we work hard to shape and develop our bodies so that we men can have bulging biceps and a six-pack, so that we women can look sexy and shapely; we pay atention to our diets and our lifestyles so that we can be and stay 'healthy'; we seek a career and fame and fortune so that we can be 'successful': we do all of these things knowing that we one day our bodies and our physical lives will quite literally fall apart. What is the purpose, what is the point? Our only true response is to laugh.
We should laugh when we take ourselves too seriously--which is most of the time, most days; we should laugh first thing in the morning when we wake up and look at ourselves in the mirror; we should laugh loud and long simply because it's the most appropriate response and it's good for us.
All our dreams for the future are only dreams; all our worries about the past are only worries.
There is no heaven or hell, only now and here.
There is no life or death, only change in form. (Energy--spirit--soul--or whatever name you have for it cannot be created or destroyed.)
The history of Ch'an, or Zen, is that the Buddha was asked a question and in response he held up a flower. One of his disciples, on seeing this, began to smile. That smile was the beginning of Ch'an/Zen:the smile was transmitted from
patriach to patriach and on and on, down to us. Everyday we build some small issue into a BIG issue that really is microscopic in the scheme of things. We humans take ourselves so
seriously but nothing in our lives--even our physical lives themselves--is
permanent. The purpose of life--if there is a purpose--is only to live it, certainly not to worry about it; perhaps to enjoy it, certainly to celebrate it. We all need to laugh more and more often.
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