I recently recommended Laurence Shainberg’s book Ambivalent Zen, to a friend of mine, and he caught one of my favorite passages and sent it to me:
"You know, Larry-san, marriage very beautiful.
Two people live together, do each other laundry, cook each other.
Slowly two people become one. But me - I one already!"
And then his commentary:
“The roshi is one, and he knows it;
others are one too, but they do not see it.
The difference lies in the awareness,
not in the shape of one's being.”
And then these three parallel passages from Christian Asia and farther Asia:
Regardless of attire or adornment,
The guiltless one, calm, self-restrained,
Chaste and resolute,
Refraining totally from hurting living beings,
Is the Brahmin, the recluse the monk.” (Dhammapada 10:14)
They who are happy within themselves,
Enjoy within themselves the delight of the soul,
And even so are illuminated by the inner light,
Such a yogi identified with Brahman
Attains Brahman who is all peace. (Bhagavad Gita 5:24)
We are told of one of the divinely inspired Fathers,
That when he was asked what a monk was,
He made no reply,
But removed his cloak and trampled it under foot.
(Nicholas Cabasillas, A Commentary on the Divine Liturgy)
I’m off to Big Sur to give the Spirit, Soul and Body retreat there.
bio
- Cyprian Consiglio
- ... is a Camaldolese monk, musician, author and teacher. Musically he is a singer, a guitarist, a composer, recording artist and producer. Most of his music and his teaching revolve around the Universal Call to Contemplation and Universal Wisdom as taught by Bede Griffiths, an English monk who spent the second half of his life in India helping to establish a Hindu-Christian ashram, Saccidananda Ashram, Shantivanam. Just as Fr Bede and his predecessors sought to be bridges between the world's great religious traditions, Cyprian, through his retreat and teaching work and through his music hopes to foster contemplative experiences through the music, meditation, and the study of sacred texts from many different traditions. He served ten and half years as prior of his community at New Camaldoli Hermitage in Big Sur. He is in the process of relocating to Rome for a few years, where he will be serving as the Secretary General for Monastic Interreligious Dialogue.
