Hacking the Good Days...
‘The water of the valley stream is always flowing. It races on, not pausing for even an instant. Its sound, to me, is the sound of time.
The water of time glistens on the riverbed of the universe. Though theirs is a much slower flow, Human beings and all things that have life flow. Thought and culture, too, flow. That all these appear to be unchanging is but illusion.
We make every effort to keep things as they are, because human beings, alone, lament transience. Yet no matter how we grieve or protest, there is no way to impede the flow or anything. If we but see things as they are and flow with them, we may find enjoyment in transience. Because human life is transient, all manner of figures are woven into its fabric.
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When we listen subconsciously to the sound of flowing water, does it not seem to create a rhythm? Yet not a single drop of water passes over the same rock twice, and the murmur of water rushing over a rock is constantly changing. Sameness is but an illusion of the human ears, eyes, mind. Water has once flowed along a riverbed can never retrace its course. Human life is no different. It is only our mundane eyes and minds that see yesterday as being the same as today.
Enlightened eyes and minds should recognise that each moment has a form different from that of any other moment.’
Shundo Aoyama. (2001). Zen Seeds (pp 1-2). Tokyo: Kosei Publishing Limited.
Buddhism maintains that the source of suffering is our inability to accept impermanence. In ‘secular’ geek terms, you won’t wake up thinking that all the data of your unback-up hard disk can be all gone for no reasons. Obviously I cannot articulate as beautifully as Aoyama in her book Zen Seeds, hence reading her book is like looking at flaking candle flame for the first time – so magical, but yet so natural and non-contrieved. I wish we possess enlightened eyes and minds and recognise that each moment IS different, be peaceful, see that there is nothing we can do and enjoy it as just it is.
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I like how this is congruent with the “Change is constant” idea from your reflections piece.
Dumb acceptance of the mundane is the trap that catches us all, often many times. One of my hopes is that I’m able to recognise and breakout of just blindly stumbling along life. To instead really appreciate it and be full of wonder. It’s all too easy, however, to lose this idea on my morning commute.
P.S. were you really up that early to write this?
>P.S. were you really up that early to write this?
hahaha, I wasn’t aware that I still had the HKG time zone on. No, I wasn’t up early blogging, I wish I was that ‘spiritual’.
Yes it’s time to tame the monkey – my meditation teacher once told me that you can never stop your mind to work (i.e. get rid of the monkey). But only when you bring stillness to your breathing and then your heart, you monkey stays still. But I guess it’d be a challenge with sweaty armpits in your face in London tube…