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Chaos, Sand Castles, Zen

Wed, Jul 12, 2006 @ 10:23:12 | Permalink

Chaos
Lebanon, Israel, North Korea, Japan, Iran, Iraq, India, Pakistan
Bush Doctrine melting down on a daily basis at home and abroad. I hear “all hat and no horse” and it sounds as empty as “dead or alive.”

Sand Castles
When I was seven years old, I saw the Atlantic Ocean for the first time. My two younger brothers and I were playing on the beach making sand castles. We each defended our castles saying, ‘This is mine.’ When the castles were completed, my youngest brother kicked over my castle and completely destroyed it. I was quite angry, and struck him with my fist. I called for help, and I and a second brother beat our youngest brother … Then we went on building our sand castles, each saying, ‘Stay away. Don’t touch my castle.’

Zen
So the thing to do when working on a motorcycle, as in any other task, is to cultivate the peace of mind which does not separate one’s self from one’s surroundings. When that is done successfully, then everything else follows naturally. Peace of mind produces right values, right values produce right thoughts. Right thoughts produce right actions and right actions produce work which will be a material reflection for others to see of the serenity at the center of it all.

Zen and the Art of Motorcyle Maintenance
Robert M. Pirsig