XPost: alt.philosophy.taoism, alt.buddha.short.fat.guy, alt.philosophy.zen   
   From: wudao@wuji.net   
      
   brian wrote:   
   > Tang Huyen wrote:   
   >   
   >>It looks too idealistic, for the sage not to be   
   >>bothered about survival. Of course the sage is   
   >>still bound to physical and social laws, but   
   >>otherwise not bound by anything, including   
   >>social norms and standards.   
   >   
   >Not bound by social norms and standards, but free to adopt them. After   
   >all, living has to take *some* form. Most zen masters continued to   
   >adopt the monastic form.   
   >   
   >But there's still a question.   
   >   
   >One time, the Master rose from his chair in the dharma hall, lifted   
   >his robes, and began dancing, saying to the monks, 'Look! Look!'   
   >When the astonished monks stared at him dumbfounded the Master said,   
   >'I am performing an action of the world without departing from the   
   >mind of Bodhi.'   
   >(the anecdote may be a bit mangled since it's from memory, but not   
   >horribly so)   
   >   
   >My question is: was the Master really dancing, the way young people   
   >dance in nightclubs, with intensity and absorbtion, with delight in   
   >the body and its allure? Or was he only imitating the outward form?   
      
   Since it is your story, you can answer it as you choose to create it.   
      
   A story can reflect how the monks were performing all the rituals   
   without really getting into them nor being all involved in them.   
      
   They were learning the steps, yet were out of step.   
      
   Self-conscious, self-aware, watching every move,   
   they sought to regain their original care-free nature.   
      
   To get the most out of swimming one needs to leave the shallows.   
      
   To dive in, off Lu Liang Falls, to go with the flow, without thought,   
   being fully in the moment, and emerge unscathed, is perfectly natural.   
      
   It's what most people do most all the time.   
   What they sweat is the small stuff.   
   No matter how large it looms.   
   Most things don't matter.   
      
   When the body or the mind or the emotions or the spirit is hurt   
   is when a being may seek to find some healing of some sort.   
      
   Some beings of the hue who are being within Being are well-beings.   
   Others are more sea-turtle-like beings who don't fit well in to wells.   
      
   A few are as the Lord of the River during flood-season.   
   Fewer still are as Jo, of the North Ocean.   
      
   - experiences vary   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)