The quest for authenticity
And turning of the light
Turns into, all too easily,
Trying to be right,
Which, sure as two plus one is three,
Makes neck and shoulders tight.
Quod Erat Demonstrandum
About Me
- Mike Cross
- From 1982 to 1997 I worked on the translation of Master Dogen's Shobogenzo, and understood the primary importance in the Buddha's teaching of full lotus sitting. Until 1994 my attitude to this sitting practice could be summed up in the words: "Don't think. Just do it!" Then in 1994 I returned from Japan to England to train to be a teacher of the FM Alexander Technique, and experiences with Alexander work woke me up to the opposite standpoint of "Don't just do. Think it!" Far from smoothing my path, however, Alexander insights (or reactions to them) caused a lot of trouble between me and my aging teacher in Japan. Then in 2008, seeking clearer water further upstream, I found a new lease of life in the extant Sanskrit works of the 12th ancestor in Dogen's lineage -- the great Indian teacher Ashvaghosha.
2 comments:
Your quote from Marjory Barlow that 'Being wrong is the best friend we have in this work'has occurred to me many times since you first posted it.
I can't become right, I'm right already if I allow myself to be.
A case of "a child of fire comes looking for fire"?
Or not?
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