Destruction is Necessary
Suzuki Roshi said, “Renunciation is not giving up the things of this world, but accepting that they go away.” Everything is impermanent; sooner or later everything goes away. Renunciation is a state of nonattachment, acceptance of this going away. Impermanence is, in fact, just another name for perfection. Leaves fall; debris and garbage accumulate; out of the debris come flowers, greenery, things that we think are lovely. Destruction is necessary. A good forest fire is necessary. The way we interfere with forest fires may not be a good thing. Without destruction, there could be no new life and the wonder of life, the constant change could not be. We must live and die. And this process is perfection itself.
All this change is not, however, what we had in mind. Our drive is not to appreciate the perfection of the universe. Our personal drive is to find a way to endure in our unchanging glory forever....Who hasn’t noticed the first gray hair and thought, “Uh-oh.”
- Charlotte Joko Beck, Everyday Zen; from Everyday Mind, a Tricycle book edited by Jean Smith.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Daily Dharma: Destruction is Necessary
Today's Daily Dharma from Tricycle:
Tags:
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment