hand accident
taught mistakes of connection
in dark Denmark
there was cold rain
and bad air
bad to the bone
drove home the koan*
this hand
anger
fear
violence
from within
lacked compassion
forgave
and lit the flame
taught mistakes of connection
in dark Denmark
there was cold rain
and bad air
bad to the bone
drove home the koan*
this hand
anger
fear
violence
from within
lacked compassion
forgave
and lit the flame
* No Loving-Kindness
There was an old woman in China who had supported a monk for over twenty years.
She had built a little hut for him and fed him while he was meditating. Finally she
wondered just what progress he had made in all this time. To find out, she obtained
the help of a girl rich in desire. "Go and embrace him," she told her, "and then ask
him suddenly: 'What now?'" The girl called upon the monk and without much ado
caressed him, asking him what he was going to do about it. "An old tree grows on a
cold rock in winter," replied the monk somewhat poetically. "Nowhere is there any warmth."
The girl returned and related what he had said.
"To think I fed that fellow for twenty years!" exclaimed the old woman in anger.
"He showed no consideration for your needs, no disposition to explain your condition.
He need not have responded to passion, but at least he should have evidenced some
compassion."
She at once went to the hut of the monk and burned it down.
http://www.ashidakim.com/zenkoans/6noloving-kindness.html
