Pointer
[courage increasingly abstracts referents;]
[compulsiveness increasingly attaches to the most valuable referents]
Case
Homage to Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha!
Ten thousand bows would not be enough.
Do not confuse courage and compulsiveness,
for compulsion’s proximate cause is impatience;
it solutions for speed with haste.
When seeking flow,
abandon haste,
abandon waste.
May this benefit all beings.
Commentary
Haste for pulling wanted results closer/sooner, and pushing unwanted results farther/sooner. Entire societies are built upon haste, and be warned, nothing lasts forever.
Courage pulls all directions, toward the center, central axis; it is what pushes through meditative instability, it is what brings the bee back to the flower, hovering above. It is what arises during applied and sustained meditation. It is that which says, without word nor action, “no more”. It is that which says, without word nor action, “just be here now”, it is that which makes space for those in need, not tomorrow, nor yesterday, yet right here, right now. Courage is that ability to remain calm, yet as wide as the ocean, space, and time. It is great courage that resolves doubt, and along with faith, crosses to the other shore.
It was courage that saw that the teachers and students, who claimed there was a hit list, the principal having called the sheriff, and left the locker disheveled and wrecked without any evidence found. It was courage that remained in the seat looking out to the canine units. It was courage that held fast when kicked into a corner by a father upset, it was courage that held together when the herd came assaulting. It was courage that held space and time when they said, “who do you think you are…”.
“You made it this far,” the great mechanic engineer sensei says, celebrating, encouraging, and happy. Truly happy that it can be done. Compulsive behavior is not courageous, and it would seem society is built on layers of compulsion so integrated and dependent, that it is entirely possible collapse would occur when mankind awakens to divine presence.
To dine at the same tables, in presence, compulsions dissolved; to be kind to our neighbors and they to them. It is said that accomplishment in bhumi can allow one to manifest illusions for the benefit of sentient beings, that it possible to manifest wars and division, to encourage the beings in their charge to hold each other close, to come to terms, to live better, to breathe together. This is true, more than one could ever know, because it is that “one” that obscures both many and none, and this is the compulsion that starts it again, “I am.” Self-View. We-View. Other-View. They-View.
To dislodge meaning, crossed change, just as electromagnetic fields are snapped off from antennae to radio waves due to changes in amplitude and frequency, so to is meaning. It is the courageous that does not grasp or cling, nor push away, it is the courageous that endures. This is Shugyo, to endure that which is passing, like smoke on the breeze.
With this courage, the wisdom of gone beyond, is known, to go far beyond, far far beyond, bodhi svaha! Swift victory is immediate victory, and that victory is right here, right now. It is so swift it is beyond the present location and present time. It is presencelessness, and that friends, is what this noble search sees directly. Time no guaranteeing skill.
Our way is one of realization, yes practice increases the frequency of trials that may yield realization, and there is wisdom of what increases probability of realization. It is this wisdom that is guarded, it is secure, not in envy nor stinginess, nor jealousy. It is how this works, courage. Be still and know. All results are brought into the path, and it is this reason that Sensei taps twice on this collection of five heaps when pointing out Hi Ryu Zai Ten1, Michi Dragon to others. The Dragon of the Way. It’s courage, and that precious pearl, of wisdom and method, is beyond here and now. It is beyond past, present, and future.
All the techniques of the world fall in awe, and those of middling accomplishment will say, “you will be found out.” Those of advanced ways will generate excitement and share their knowledge, for there is a willingness to hear, patience, yet this dragon knows a simple fact. These are all interference patterns, the entire world is aflame, and some patterns are walked away from just like walking away from that father many years ago. Then, in walked Sensei, “you know [r]oy, many people giving you map… but… nobody giving you compass… Sensei giving you a compass,” and nobody can take this away2.
Find the compass, otherwise all maps are useless, and there is a new compass if ready for it, and some have stood in its gimbals and received benefit, for it is the gateless gate, a true wish fulfilling jewel.
Practice with great sincerity, may this benefit the countless sentient beings.
1 Yes, that dragon calligraphy that was auspiciously placed next to the loft at Shobukan.
2 Thank you Don.