I had a wonderful personal revelation today while I was hiking in the snow (and mud) at Taos Valley Overlook. On the off chance that there’s a point in here somewhere, enjoy…
For years I’ve questioned what I did in getting us to move out here. Especially in times of fear, focusing on lack and want, I’d feel bad because I felt I’d done the “wrong” thing. This of course is nonsense, “what if” being idiot’s play, but I’d hate myself regardless. The self-judgment was a dangerous distraction with all kinds of evil consequences. There was also no way for me to cut it short. As an 80-year-old hippie’s even older Zen teacher told him once, “Your life is none of your goddamn business!” Things are better now. One evolves, but slowly, and even that depends on great awareness and desire.
Today, however, I felt a shift. Where I walked was like another country. So vast and beautiful, just earth and sky and mountains. New Mexico, good God!
As I crunched along the semi-frozen trail, the circumstances of my life appeared in a completely different light. For the first time, really, looking back, I felt like I’d accomplished something huge, and I was proud. Like this is my Big Thing. Certainly most recent, maybe not the last, and absolutely brilliant!
(The past events are just the same, of course, the meaning now quite different, yet I did nothing to effect this… Was there a point in here? You tell me. Just thought I’d pass that on.)
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.
John Hamilton Farr lives at 7,000 feet in Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico, U.S.A. As New York Times best-selling author James C. Moore tells it, John is “a man attuned to the world who sees it differently than you and I and writes about it with a language and a vision of life that is impossible to ignore.” This JHFARR.COM site is the master writing archive. To email John, please see CONTACT INFO on .png)
Three comments:
1. Like most insights, this too shall (probably) pass.
2. Who was 80–the friend or the Zen teacher?
3. Who was the Zen teacher? Kobun Chino?
1. No doubt ’twill sink beneath the waves, but I’ll remember that I had it, especially in this context. As someone else’s Zen teacher said to her: “Very easy get enlightened. Very hard STAY enlightened!” Not an intellectual event, in any case. A wave of warmth, as if I’d stepped into a different life.
2. The friend. Have edited post to clear up that confusion.
3. Don’t know. Chinese-American woman or Korean? West Coast based.
OK, who’s the OTHER Zen teacher?Kobun Chino was a (male) Soto teacher who taught in Taos, so the first Zen teacher wasn’t him.
The other is Korean. Old too, but still alive. Possibly in Zürich! Not sure. I can find out if you’d like.
I feel you’ve accomplished something huge. A “Big Thing.” Your story is a continual inspiration for me.
So there’s that point, for me. And I hope you keep it up. This inspiration is a gift, and I am grateful for it. Trickle down, and all.
Why thank you. 🙂 Sure, I’ll keep it up. It’s like re-escaping from an ancient tidal wave. When I hear it roaring in the background, I get up and run again.
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