Sunday, May 28, 2006
Burdens
Tanzan and Ekido, two Zen monks, were once travelling together down a muddy road. A heavy rain was still falling.
Coming around a bend, they encountered a young and lovely girl in a silk kimono, unable to cross the intersection. "Come on girl," said Tanzan at once. Lifting her in his arms, he carried her across the mud.
Ekido did not speak again until that night when they reached a lodging temple. Then he could no longer restrain himself. "We monks don’t go near females," he told Tanzan, "especially not young and lovely ones. It’s dangerous. Why did you do that?"
"I left that girl back at the road," said Tanzan, "are you still carrying her?"
I sometimes carry worry or anxiety with me, sometimes anger at someone else's poor judgement, or other woes. Sometimes, I have to catch myself worrying about a possible future that is yet to be. Sometimes, I think about a mistake I made in the past, a regret. All of these are burdens. They keep me from enjoying Life now. My cats have no burdens. They live life with ease. What burdens do you have? Can you live like a cat, live with ease?
Coming around a bend, they encountered a young and lovely girl in a silk kimono, unable to cross the intersection. "Come on girl," said Tanzan at once. Lifting her in his arms, he carried her across the mud.
Ekido did not speak again until that night when they reached a lodging temple. Then he could no longer restrain himself. "We monks don’t go near females," he told Tanzan, "especially not young and lovely ones. It’s dangerous. Why did you do that?"
"I left that girl back at the road," said Tanzan, "are you still carrying her?"
I sometimes carry worry or anxiety with me, sometimes anger at someone else's poor judgement, or other woes. Sometimes, I have to catch myself worrying about a possible future that is yet to be. Sometimes, I think about a mistake I made in the past, a regret. All of these are burdens. They keep me from enjoying Life now. My cats have no burdens. They live life with ease. What burdens do you have? Can you live like a cat, live with ease?
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Not everything falls into that category of the pretty girl and the temptation of her on one. Somethings are to be carried longer and not disposed of so flippiantly. That is the part of life that everyone wants to escape from.
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