Practice Analogy

[AlanLa]

You sit outside shortly before sunset on a breezy evening. Your mind clears. You watch the breeze rustle the leaves and the branches of the trees. You notice that the trunks of the trees sway this way and that. You hear the breeze come and notice that first the trees in front of you sway and then the trees in the near distance sway and then the trees in the far distance sway. You see layers of swaying, and after a while you notice that you can, at the same time, still see the individual leaves rustling on each branch of each tree. It’s all there right in front of you. As the sun goes down the breeze begins to settle down. Eventually, the leaves and branches and trees come to a stop. There you are: still. But it doesn’t last. The breeze picks up again. It is dark enough now that you can see lightning in the distance, rumblings of thunder. A storm is coming, and it’s all there right in front of you. What next?

[Janne H]

Re: Practice Analogy

Hi Alan, I like the analogy, and this simple answer pops in to mind:

Go inside, make your self a cup of tea, and then go to bed to sleep.

There is a documentary about Seung Sahn (Wake up! On the Road with a Zen Master) where he asks a student: Where do we go when we die? The student has no answer, and Seung Sahn answers: To the cemetery! So maybe there are times to sit outside, and times just to go inside to avoid a storm, and when we die we might just get to the cemetery.

If you haven´t seen it, here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iinZt0mTn_g[/video]]

Janne

[Rich]

Re: Practice Analogy

What next? We just don't know but it is always some action. So I agree with Janne that 'Go inside, make your self a cup of tea, and then go to bed to sleep.' is a good next or maybe continue to sit with don't know which is like spacious sky with waving trees and thunder in the distance..
/Rich

[anista]

Re: Practice Analogy

You sit outside shortly before sunset on a breezy evening. Your mind clears. You watch the breeze rustle the leaves and the branches of the trees. You notice that the trunks of the trees sway this way and that. You hear the breeze come and notice that first the trees in front of you sway and then the trees in the near distance sway and then the trees in the far distance sway. You see layers of swaying, and after a while you notice that you can, at the same time, still see the individual leaves rustling on each branch of each tree. It’s all there right in front of you. As the sun goes down the breeze begins to settle down. Eventually, the leaves and branches and trees come to a stop. There you are: still. But it doesn’t last. The breeze picks up again. It is dark enough now that you can see lightning in the distance, rumblings of thunder. A storm is coming, and it’s all there right in front of you. What next?

Next I realize that the only thing swaying is my mind.

Or is that too cliché?

[AlanLa]

Re: Practice Analogy

I described my Friday night (minus the glass of wine and cigar :roll: ). The "what next?" was meant as a rhetorical question, as any answer is a correct zen-type answer. As for what I did next... I walked the dog and tried to get a better look at the approaching storm. It passed to the north (the storm, the dog came home with me).