Daring Authenticity
Excerpts from The Exquisite Risk
By Mark Nepo
In the 1600s, the Japanese master Basho spoke profoundly to his student Kikakou:
We shouldn’t abuse God’s creatures.
You must reverse your haiku, not:
a dragonfly;
By Mark Nepo
In the 1600s, the Japanese master Basho spoke profoundly to his student Kikakou:
We shouldn’t abuse God’s creatures.
You must reverse your haiku, not:
a dragonfly;
remove its wings-
pepper tree.
But:
a pepper tree;
add wings to it-
dragonfly.
The destruction or healing of the world hinges on how this thought unfolds. Whether we pull things apart or put things together makes all the difference.
pepper tree.
But:
a pepper tree;
add wings to it-
dragonfly.
The destruction or healing of the world hinges on how this thought unfolds. Whether we pull things apart or put things together makes all the difference.
The question put to our daily lives is: In love, in friendship, in seeking to learn and grow, in trying to understand ourselves, how often do we, like Kikakou, remove the wings of the thing before it has a chance to free us?
If you don’t know the kind of person I am
And I don’t know the kind of person you are
A pattern that others made may prevail in the world
And following the wrong god home we may miss our star.
William Stafford
If you don’t know the kind of person I am
And I don’t know the kind of person you are
A pattern that others made may prevail in the world
And following the wrong god home we may miss our star.
William Stafford
posted by isaiah @ 8:42 AM
2 Comments:
Ah here is an example of balance. Yes the concept of putting things together is important. But sometimes things must be deconstructed to be rebuilt. The challenge is knowing when to build or to disassemble.
Also, we must ask ourselves, “Does something use the dragon fly wings to live?” Is mutualism taking place within the deconstruction; it does not matter whether you’re speaking metaphorically or literally. The question still must be asked.
A lovely post on Mark Nepo, who often writes for Sufi Magazine, published by the Nimatullahi Sufi Order.
When we learn love, the order of things in our mind is balanced in God's way.
Peace and blessings!
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