We cannot make water flow back again, we cannot return fire to the flint. No matter how many regrets we may have, they are all useless…
♦ Issa
April 24, 2008
The cherry blossoms fallen –
through the branches,
a temple
♦ Buson
April 21, 2008
Who needs the Buddhism of ossified masters?
Me, I’ve spent three decades alone in the mountains
And solved all my koans there,
Living Zen among the tall pines and high winds
♦ Ikkyu
April 18, 2008
pissing in the snow
outside my door –
it makes a very straight hole
♦ Issa
October 15, 2007
While the event itself is still half of a month away, I am breaking away from my tradition of posting only quotes from those wise people who have guided us through the millennia to make the announcement that, between now and the end of November at least, there will be no posts on Pointing Towards the Moon (aka Useless Tree, many apologies to the LJ person choosing that moniker).
This decision has not been made lightly and there are several motivations.
The primary motivation that drives this decision is the fact that I am intending to be a participant in the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) once again. What is NaNoWriMo? Check out their site for an in-depth explanation, but the short explanation is that it is an organization that promotes writing, especially novel-writing by children and young adults. Adults are expected to commit themselves to writing 50,000 words in 30 days and, if you think that’s not any effort to speak about, sign up and do it yourself this November. Essentially, you are writing a long term paper each day (or ~1700 words) for a month. This effort of mine, based on past experience will take up far too much time to allow me to maintain the site here for the month, especially when combined with the frantic level of work expected of my person at my paying job, which has increased exponentially with the advent of a new project that I have involved myself with.
Then there is a crying pre-toddler and husbanding duties to attend to for November.
There are other reasons as well.
As time goes on, the motivations which drove this site into existence (namely, I wanted to have a site with a RSS feed that gave me inspiration and, not finding one, I developed my own) have fallen to the wayside. I no longer need personal inspiration and daily wisdom; not because I have somehow become enlightened, but because I am beginning to see that trees are trees and mountains are mountains — if that makes any sense whatsoever. There are a number of fantastic sites of this genre that have gone to ground and, poignantly, I feel it is time to follow suit (as opposed to filling the void).
There are visitors to this site who are looking for something — call it insight or wisdom or enlightenment or satori, it matters not what you call it, they are seeking. Otherwise, there would be no point in visiting this site whatsoever.
As time goes on, I realize that there’s something to be said for the hunting of itself. I could recommend a good number of sites to follow while I am on sabbatical, but I’ve decided against the path for one reason: until that time in which you finally feel as if you are a mosquito biting an iron bull, you will not find what you are looking for and I am actually doing you a disservice by supplying regular visitors with the wisdom I stumble upon.
I have hinted at or outright said (I forget which) that I maintain a more “traditional” blog, on which I write very little that could be considered wisdom. I am considering, although it is by no means a definite decision, combining the two sites. That said, I have no intention of providing a link from here to the other if I should choose to go through with that particular act.
Whether it be for a day or a month or for ever — it is time to take a break from this endeavor.
Thanks to all who have visited and promoted this site during the past year or two. Your visits have honored me time and time again.
M
October 14, 2007
Suppose you and I have had an argument.
If you have beaten me instead of my beating you, then are you necessarily right and am I necessarily wrong? If I have beaten you instead of your beating me, then am I necessarily right and are you necessarily wrong? Is one of us right and the other wrong? Are both of us right or are both of us wrong? If you and I don’t know the answer, then other people are bound to be even more in the dark.
Whom shall we get to decide what is right? Shall we get someone who agrees with you to decide? But if he already agrees with you, how can he decide fairly? Shall we get someone who agrees with me? But if he already agrees with me, how can he decide? Shall we get someone who disagrees with both of us? But if he already disagrees with both of us, how can he decide? Shall we get someone who agrees with both of us? But if he already agrees with both of us, how can he decide?
Obviously, then, neither you nor I nor anyone else can decide for each other.
Shall we wait for still another person?
♦ Chuang Tzu
October 13, 2007
For instance, take the two words “fuming” and “furious”. Make up your mind that you will say both words, but leave it unsettled which you will say first. Now open your mouth and speak. If your thoughts incline ever so little towards “fuming,” you will say “fuming-furious”; if they turn, but even a hair‘s breadth, towards “furious”, you will say “furious-fuming”; but if you have that rarest of gifts, a perfectly balanced mind [emphasis added], you will say “frumious”.
♦ Lewis Carroll
October 12, 2007
Once Ejo asked: “What is meant by the expression: ‘Cause and effect are not clouded’?”
Dōgen said: “Cause and effect are immovable.”
Ejo asked: “If this is so, how can we escape?”
Dōgen replied: “Cause and effect emerge clearly at the same time.”
Ejo asked: “If this is so, does cause prompt the next effect, or does effect bring about the next cause?”
Dōgen said: “If everything were like that, it would be like Nan-ch’uan cutting the cat. Because the assembly was unable to say anything, Nan-ch’uan cut the cat in two. Later, when Nan-ch’uan told this story to Chao-chou, the latter put his straw sandal on his head and went out, an excellent performance. If I had been Nan-ch’uan, I would have said: ‘Even if you can speak, I will cut the cat, and even if you cannot speak, I will still cut it. Who is arguing about the cat? Who can save the cat?’”
♦ Dōgen
October 11, 2007
What is seen and the one who sees are identical;
the seer is the seen and the seen is the seer.
♦ DT Suzuki
