Order in Chaos

My mind loves fiddling around with ideas like this. I imagine the infinite amount of chaos there is and yet, too, there is an infinite amount of order. An infinite subset within infinity and yet both are infinitely large, which makes them equal.

The True Path

Just before Ninakawa passed away the Zen master Ikkyu visited him.
"Shall I lead you on?" Ikkyu asked.

Ninakawa replied: "I came here alone and I go alone. What help could
you be to me?"

Ikkyu answered: "If you think you really come and go, that is your
delusion. Let me show you the path on which there is no coming and
going."

With his words, Ikkyu had revealed the path so clearly that Ninakawa
smiled and passed away.

What is Enlightenment?

A student once asked his teacher, "Master, what is enlightenment?"

The master replied, "When hungry, eat. When tired, sleep."

Clouded Sight

"Soon the child's clear eye is clouded over by ideas and opinions, preconceptions and abstractions. Simple free being becomes encrusted with the burdensome armor of the ego. Not until years later does an instinct come that a vital sense of mystery has been withdrawn. The sun glints through the pines, and the heart is pierced in a moment of beauty and strange pain, like a memory of paradise. After that day, we become seekers." -Peter Matthiessen-

Character and Reputation

Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.
- John Wooden

The Meditator and the Hermit

A devoted meditator, after years of concentrating on a particular mantra, had attained enough insight to begin teaching. The student's humility was far from perfect, but the teachers at the monastery were not worried.

A few years of successful teaching left the meditator with no thoughts about learning from anyone; but upon hearing about a famous hermit living nearby, the opportunity was too exciting to be passed up.

The hermit lived alone on an island at the middle of a lake, so the meditator hired a man with a boat to row across to the island. The meditator was very respectful of the old hermit. As they shared some tea made with herbs the meditator asked him about his spiritual practice. The old man said he had no spiritual practice, except a mantra which he repeated all the time to himself. The meditator was pleased; the hermit was using the same mantra he used himself-- but when the hermit spoke the mantra aloud, the meditator was horrified!

"What's wrong?" asked the hermit.

"I don't know what to say. I'm afraid you've wasted your whole life! You are pronouncing the mantra incorrectly!"

"Oh dear that is terrible. How should I say it?"

The meditator gave the correct pronunciation, and the old hermit was very grateful, asking to be left alone so he could get started right away. On the way back across the lake the meditator, now confirmed as an accomplished teacher, was pondering the sad fate of the hermit.

"It's so fortunate that I came along. At least he will have a little time to practice correctly before he dies." Just then the meditator noticed that the boatman was looking quite shocked, and turned to see the hermit standing respectfully on the water, next to the boat.

Hearing the Cricket

A Native American and his friend were in downtown New York City,
walking near Times Square in Manhattan. It was during the noon lunch
hour and the streets were filled with people. Cars were honking their
horns, taxicabs were squealing around corners, sirens were wailing,
and the sounds of the city were almost deafening.
Suddenly, the Native American said, "I hear a cricket."
His friend said, "What? You must be crazy. You couldn't possibly hear a
cricket in all of this noise!"
"No, I'm sure of it," the Native American said, "I heard a cricket."
"That's crazy," said the friend.
The Native American listened carefully for a moment, and then walked
across the street to a big cement planter where some shrubs were
growing. He looked into the bushes, beneath the branches, and sure
enough, he located a small cricket.
His friend was utterly amazed. "That's incredible," said his friend.
"You must have superhuman ears!"
"No," said the Native American. "My ears are no different from yours.
It all depends on what you're listening for."
"But that can't be!" said the friend. "I could never hear a cricket in
this noise."
"Yes, it's true," came the reply. "It depends on what is really
important to you. Here, let me show you." He reached into his pocket,
pulled out a few coins, and discreetly dropped them on the sidewalk.
And then, with the noise of the crowded street still blaring in their
ears, they noticed every head within twenty feet turn and look to see
if the money that tinkled on the pavement was theirs.
"See what I mean?" asked the Native American. "It all depends on
what's important to you."

Enjoying Fish

One day Chuang Tzu and a friend were walking by a river. "Look at the fish swimming about," said Chuang Tzu, "They are really enjoying themselves."

"You are not a fish," replied the friend, "So you can't truly know that they are enjoying themselves."

"You are not me," said Chuang Tzu. "So how do you know that I do not know that the fish are enjoying themselves?"

New Page

It has been over a year since I last posted to this blog.

I just wanted to update everyone - I have a public page on Facebook on which I post inspirational tidbits to help get us through the day. Anyone can join in on the conversations. We will be posting inspirational quotes, humor, beautiful images of animals and nature, koans, parables, motivation, etc.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Staceys-Shiny-Things/328928440474574

My Whereabouts

Thanks for the holiday wishes and emails.

I've been blogging since 2004 and I think finally I have run out of blogging energy. So, it is not likely that there will be more blog posts here in the near future.

For a long time I've been using Facebook and that is pretty much exclusively where I am, now. If you have a Facebook account you can find me there. Some of you know my real name and therefore it will be easy to find me. If not, send me an email and I'll send you a friend invitation.

Happy New Year to everyone, and thanks for all the visits over the years!