When we are little, we learn about growing up and long for it to rush upon us. Toddlers wear the big shoes of their parents, young girls watch with awe while their mothers apply makeup, young boys watch their fathers as they shave. It appears a compliment to be told ‘you’re so grown up’. Teenagers … Continue reading The Search
Tag: path
Clarity
Sometimes the path in front of us is unclear. When we cannot see what the future may hold for us we can feel anxious and uncertain, and doubt, both of self and others, can begin to creep in. Imagine yourself walking a path when it is a very misty day. The fog on either side … Continue reading Clarity
Begin
All journeys, all lessons, everything in life begins with the first step, the first decision, the first thought, hope, realisation. It may seem impossibly hard, when looking at it from this side, as if it is insurmountable, ludicrous, beyond our capabilities, but that is when we look at the top of the mountain from the … Continue reading Begin
Creeping normality
Show a primitive man a TV and he will watch in horror, amazement, awe, fascination, disbelief. Show a new born baby and they will look away. It holds no interest for them. There is such purity in new life. The baby is existing just to exist, at this stage, much like a tree who has … Continue reading Creeping normality
The quick of life
What makes a man? Is it his mind, his thoughts? If we took away his capacity for thought, would he still be a man? And what when we're asleep? Are dreams our thoughts, or does the mind rest? Either way we are not thinking as we do when awake, yet we continue to exist. What … Continue reading The quick of life
Perception
When we walk a path we've taken over a thousand times, and one time it is enveloped by a thick blanket of snow, we cannot recognise a feature in it. The path is a stranger to us, the landscape suddenly unfamiliar. The same can be said when darkness falls and we are plunged into the … Continue reading Perception
The destination matters not.
In za-zen there is no intention - one sits just to be sitting. One does not sit in order to strive for satori or enlightenment. This is an important lesson and philosophy for life. We live in an age of great hurrying where people want everything done yesterday and as soon as one goal is … Continue reading The destination matters not.
Zen musings 