Out of nowhere, I’ve been hit with a bad head cold. Or so I think it « comes » from nowhere! What a funny notion!
Nonetheless, it’s here. And it’s such a beautiful Indian summer in Paris! My nose is running, my eyes are red. I sneeze and sneeze and sneeze. Nothing extraordinary, the usual symptoms. Yet I found myself doing what I always do: trying to resist it, to fight it off, to keep it out. And as ever, I fail. Which means there’s a moment when it feels like I tip over into a free-fall, and then I’m just sick.
Like the Zen story (Blue Cliff Record, case 3):
Great Master Baso was unwell. Th accountant monk asked him, « How is Your Reverence feeling these days? »
The Great Master said, « Sun-Face Buddha; Moon-Face Buddha. »
Sick in a free-fall
About the Author: zenscribe
Enseignante Zen et poète, Sensei Amy “Tu es cela” Hollowell est née et a grandi à Minneapolis, aux Etats-Unis. Arrivée en France en 1981 pour étudier la littérature et l’histoire, elle y est restée, s’installant à Paris, où elle élève ses deux enfants et gagne sa vie en tant que journaliste.
The Zen teacher and poet Amy “Tu es cela” Hollowell Sensei was born and raised in Minneapolis, but came to France in 1981 to study literature and history and has lived in Paris ever since, raising her two children and making a living as a journalist.
Thanks, Hugo.
Yes, when it’s raining, like today in Paris, I take an umbrella.
Hope you get well soon Sensei.
When the Great Master said, "Sun-Face Buddha; Moon-Face Buddha", was he saying that he is just the moment, any particular situation, what is happening, he becomes one with?