meditations
compassion…
a cup of humility?
…a beneficial zen parable for this political season. no candidate is immune.
Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen.
Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor’s cup full, and then kept on pouring.
The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. “It is overfull. No more will go in!”
“Like this cup,” Nan-in said, “you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?”
no time to waste…
this tender heart…
right action…
kindness above all else…
finding myself, I offer myself…
Sitting quietly,one minute, one hour, no matter,
finding the quiet within
I find myself again and again.
Finding myself, I offer the quiet light
to those on the street, in the office,
all around me.
To the lost and suffering beings, to the
bewildered
and questioning,
even to the bare tree with its leafless
branches filled with chirping sparrows.
~ Roshi Pat Enkyo O’Hara









