To carry the self forward...

"In the Genjokoan, Dogen Zenji says, "To carry the self forward and realize the ten thousand dharmas is delusion. That the ten thousand dharmas advance and realize the self is enlightenment." Everything is included here. But the self can get in the way of the self. The self can look for meaning where it isn't to be found. The self can reach for answers where only questions live. The self can look forward to certain outcomes that may or may not come to pass.

Listening is like working on a koan. One works on a koan by letting the koan work on you. You learn to suspend your need to "know" and rest in the ambiguity and uncertainty of the moment. The answer resides in the question, and seeking the answer can take us further away from the issue at hand."

-- Robert Joshin Althouse

Photo Credit: © Yiota Tsokou, Mirage