"The historical diffusion of such teachings [esoteric and shamanistic teachings found throughout the various cultures of the world]-- and perhaps prehistorical as well-- is supported by striking consistencies in the practice of what Westerners, having lost the secrets, refer to with mixed fascination and contempt as "mysticism" or "the occult" but which for the less alienated cultures, past and present, is only another aspect of reality."

~ Peter Matthiessen from The Snow Leopard

I am reading a beautiful book now. It is called The Snow Leopard. It's by the American author Peter Matthiessen, who is perhaps known better for his fictional works At Play in the Fields of the Lord and Shadow Country.

The Snow Leopard is a beautiful travel book-- it's an extended essay on Zen, and a journey within amidst a Himalayan expedition in search of blue sheep (and if a yeti or a majestic snow leopard were to be seen, then even better).

The prose is is legato, like the easy rhythm found on a long, comfortable walk. The diction is simple, grounded like Zen, but like Zen, it is also profound and intense. The passage that I quoted above impressed me in that it is a very eloquent expression of what I often say, "The west is dry." And by that I mean, the west has gained a paradoxical state of mind-- empirical yet closed to so much experience. This has left the west-- and my culture-- dry, and as Mattiessen sadly points out, "alienated" to the possibilities inherent in reality.

stand tall

photo: stand tall. location: muroji temple, nara, japan. gallery: three jewels

To experience this dynamic reality all we have to do is look around us-- with an open heart-- and eyes and ears and mind. 

Zen often tells of the flags blowing in the wind and asks does the wind blow or do the flags. The answer then comes that neither do, it is your Mind. That is to say it is the energy that is everywhere and the energy that is in us. This is the same energy that flows through reality. And Matthiessen reminds us, through a beautiful travelogue, that this energy needs to be embraced so that we may become part of the whole, the real, the true.

aloha,

lee

47八坂寺 rejoice

photo: rejoice. location: ehime, japan. gallery: three jewels