Spaces
Enlightenment is not a collection nor an accumulation of knowledge, with a concluding theory of everything.
All understanding becomes virtuous only when it arrives at the answer which is itself. The meaning of the universe is not 42. Or as Kung Fuzi (who we call Confucius) said, “The beginning of wisdom is learning to call things by their right names.”
A zen story I wrote this morning. Will have to put together a collection of the zen stories I’ve written over the years.
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A student comes to a master asking the usual question. How can I find the Buddha? How can I understand the meaning of everything?
The master handed the student a box. The student found a quiet place and opened the box. It was a picture puzzle but made with hundreds of clear glass pieces. The student started to put the puzzle together, trying to find his answers.
After a whole afternoon, the student was angry and frustrated. He didn't have one puzzle piece put together. There weren't even any pieces with corners. All the pieces looked the same except for very, very small differences.
The next day he returned to the master and said, "What is this? How can one solve a puzzle that has no picture? The master said, "Try again".
This went on and on for days, weeks, months. Finally, the student couldn't take it any more and went back to the master. He threw the puzzle on the floor, the pieces spilling everywhere at the feet of the master. He screamed, "This is no way to nirvana! How can one make something from nothing?"
The master answered, "Only when you begin to see the spaces between everything, will you picture everything." "You must learn to see what is not there." "Only then will the puzzle have a picture."