Hurricane / Tropical Storm Irene has passed through the New York area and on to New England and its eventual dissipation. From where I live, Irene was a very run-of-the-mill storm. I was anticipating sheets of rain and tree-bending wind, and there was none of that. I didn't even lose electricity.
Elsewhere, of course, people are dealing with flooded basements and cars. I understand millions are without power. Trees and power lines are down. News stories say the storm killed 14 people out of the 65 million it affected.
If it weren't for modern news technology I would have had no idea that a few miles away from me people were dealing with treacherous winds and storm surges. Hurricane? What hurricane? It was just a rainy day.
Dogen said (in Genjokoan),
For example, when you sail out in a boat to the middle of an ocean where no land is in sight, and view the four directions, the ocean looks circular, and does not look any other way. But the ocean is neither round or square; its features are infinite in variety. It is like a palace. It is like a jewel. It only look circular as far as you can see at that time. All things are like this.
Though there are many features in the dusty world and the world beyond conditions, you see and understand only what your eye of practice can reach. In order to learn the nature of the myriad things, you must know that although they may look round or square, the other features of oceans and mountains are infinite in variety; whole worlds are there. It is so not only around you, but also directly beneath your feet, or in a drop of water.
No comments:
Post a Comment