sentient beings are numberless, we vow to save them all
delusions are endless, we vow to cut through them all
the teachings are infinite, we vow to learn them all
the buddha way is inconceivable, we vow to attain it
Time again for another one of those 3-day retreats at the zen center. Today it's 9:30am to 9:30pm, and right now I am typing to you from the iPad during the one hour break before dinner.
Sitting, walking, chanting, eating, bowing, kong-an practice (interviews with the zen master)....all done as forms of meditative practices. Tomorrow it will be the same, only longer, 6am to 9:30pm, and Sunday it's 6am until whenever a special ceremony ends (afternoon-ish).
These three day retreats are called YMJJ's (Yong Maeng Jong Jin...which means "to leap like a tiger while sitting"). Very fitting, as it describes my morning before coming to the retreat.
like most weekday mornings, I drove MyFavoriteKid to the bus stop. I was gone from the house for a total of 8 minutes. When I returned, there was about a twenty foot trail of feathers in my house, starting near the kitchen and ending up in my bedroom. There were even a few feathers on my bed near my pillow, and it was right after seeing those that I spotted the bird doody way up high on the window blinds. No bird to be seen. No cats to be seen.
Events that change everything in minutes.
Cat leaps like a tiger.
And I cannot save the sentient bird-beings.
Back to practicing.
-----
Sent from my iPad
1 comments:
This sounds...like my life. Tiny, ridiculous moments that make me want to throw my hands up at the same time as I'm doubling over with hysterical laughter.
(did you find the bird?)
Post a Comment