How do you meet yourself and the other through the unknown?
After meeting with over 2000 people one-on-one who are either ill, incarcerated, abusing substances, or in the process of dying, I am growing to accept the unknown.
“Fayan was going on pilgrimage.
Dizang said, “Where are you going?”
Fayan said, “Around on pilgrimage.”
Dizang said, “What is the purpose of pilgrimage?”
Fayan said: “I don’t know.”
Dizang said, “Not knowing is most intimate.”
Book of Equanimity/ Serenity, Case 20.
I meet you,
You who might not have any visitors today,
You who I care for, who I hold
Only by offering my time
I knock on the wall of your corner in the world,
( be it a cell in jail, a hospital home or ones face over zoom )
a temporary space you presently live in but do not own,
I can't help but wonder:
How do we begin anew in every meeting/ encounter with the other?
"How do you feel?"
or
"How is your spirit today?"
Give up your habitual words of introductory,
Slow down the categorization in which you try to box the other in.
Let go of the mind trying to feel safe,
and try to delve into the uncertainty with me.
What do you see in me?
An image of your past,
a memory of some warmth,
perhaps of someone who you might fear from.
What do I invoke in you?
This moment between you and me,
is the moment of
becoming,
of unfolding,
where we meet in a new way,
a way beyond the confines of the ordinary,
a fresh look,
a child's gaze into the open field.
Let yourself be curious,
be innocent,
be open to the unknown,
be open to a deeper intimacy
with
me
with
you,
sense this moment of sacred presence between me and you,
and what we co-create together.
Book of Equanimity or Book of Serenity is a book compiled by Wansong Xingxiu (1166–1246), and first published in 1224. This book, written by the Chan Buddhist master Hongzhi Zhengjue, comprises a collection of 100 Koans.
A Koan is an invitation to meditate on a riddle or a paradox that is used to train Zen Buddhist monks to let go of the rational brain and to cultivate intuitive enlightenment
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