Love Never Faileth
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| From WoodenZen |
Ancient Bones 2008
As a boy, Robert Aitken was moved by St. Paul's "Love Never Faileth". He questioned and wondered about this and by his own admission "to this day, I can't put into other words."
I am a child of a different generation. When I considered how I would say "Love Never Faileth", immediately, out of the ether appeared "Love Is the Answer."
Love is the answer that never fails.
MIND GAMES
John Lennon
We're playing those mind games together,
Pushing barriers, planting seeds,
Playing the mind guerilla,
Chanting the Mantra peace on earth,
We all been playing mind games forever,
Some kinda druid dudes lifting the veil.
Doing the mind guerilla,
Some call it the search for the grail,
Love is the answer and you know that for sure,
Love is flower you got to let it, you got to let it grow,
So keep on playing those mind games together,
Faith in the future outta the now,
You just can't beat on those mind guerillas,
Absolute elsewhere in the stones of your mind,
Yeah we're playing those mind games forever,
Projecting our images in space and in time,
Yes is the answer and you know that for sure,
Yes is the surrender you got to let it, you got to let it go,
So keep on playing those mind games together,
Doing the ritual dance in the sun,
Millions of mind guerrillas,
Putting their soul power to the karmic wheel,
Keep on playing those mind games forever,
Raising the spirit of peace and love, not war,
(I want you to make love, not war, I know you've heard it before)
Our sangha, the Palouse Zen Community, is reading Joko Beck's book 'Everyday Zen'. I came across a snippet that I'd like to share here. It discribes how practice evolves.
Intelligent zazen means making a subtle shift constantly, step by step; first from grosser levels to the more sublte, and to the more subtle, and to the more subtle; beginning to see right through what we call our personality... We begin to really look at the mind, the body, the thoughts, the sense perceptions, everything that we thought was ourself.
Yes, I can see that there is a difference between "intelligent zazen" and just sitting on the absent mindedly, daydreaming on the cushion.
"What Buddhism really has to teach [Westerners] is
how to relate more closely with [their] own experience, in its
freshness, its fullness, and its immediacy. To do this, one does not
have to become a Buddhist, but one does have to practice meditation."
Chögyam Trungpa, The Sanity We Are Born With
Any error or confusion created by my commentary on
Miniatures of a Zen Master
is solely a reflection of my own delusion and ignorance.
Any merit generated by this activity is solely the result of
Aitken Roshi's clear teaching and is dedicated to
all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas throughout space and time.