Sunday, April 30, 2006

I've had a number of e-mails about my last little snippet, 'neo-taoism'. Essentially, I'm asked, "What the bloody hell does the title mean, and how does it relate to the work?"

The very asking of the question means that it can't be answered. At least not within the context of a blog or through the direct means of what we'd usually consider an 'explanation'. I forwarded these questions on to a Zen master in Hokaido and here is his response:

"Poet, say to them -

when i sail against the gale i drink green tea
but when i sail with the gale i drink black"

Let me also paraphrase an old story often used in teaching:
Two travelers met at an inn and were asked by a monk:
"What is a flower?"
One traveller went down a path into the forest and saw
a small yellow flower just coming into bloom. He sat down
before the flower and became the flower. The other
traveller went down the same path, saw the flower,
and cut the flower from its stem to take back to his
room for study.

who are you?

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