Today's Saying: A major shift occurs in moving from love as something to have or do to love as a presence... you.
A follower spoke to the Sage, protesting about another in the fellowship, "I don't know how she can talk so much about love. She just loves to talk on and on about love, and she's been divorced several times!" The Sage said, "Some persons succeed at love by failing at love; some persons fail at love by succeeding at love. Better to let go of both and hold to one."
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An anecdote about Suzuki Roshi -
A brief verse that has always been recited at the [San Francisco] Zen Center goes like this:
Great robe of liberation Field far beyond form and emptiness Wearing Buddha's teaching Saving all beings.
In the early sixties this was chanted only in Japanese. No one knew what it meant. One day a student went to Suzuki Roshi and asked, "What's the meaning of that chant we do right after zazen?" Suzuki said, "I don't know." Katagiri Sensei, his assistant teacher, started going through the drawers looking for a translation. Suzuki gestured to him to stop. Then he turned to the student, pointed to his heart, and said, "It's love."
*David Chadwick, Ed. Zen is Right Here.
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One loves before she loves. And, sometimes, not expressing love is the way to express love, and, sometimes, expressing love is not the way to express love. So, sometimes, love and be content with that. To love some persons, it is best not to do anything.
*Brian's book, An Ache for Union: Poems on Oneness with God through Love, can be ordered through major online booksellers or the publisher AuthorHouse. The book is a collection of poems based on wisdom traditions, predominantly Christian, Buddhist, and Sufi, with extensive notes on the poetry's teachings and imagery.
