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Tuesday
Oct022007

Agents of Change

Here is a question for you. Is knowledge power? While most people tend to say yes, I tend to say no. Knowledge is only of value and powerful when we find ways to apply it within our daily lives, otherwise it's merely a static potential.

I had a conversation with Eido Roshi about this when I was living at Dai Bosatsu Zendo. Roshi said something to the effect of, "if we just practice, practice, practice Zen for ourselves, then we missed the point. In the end we practice not for ourself alone, but all sentient being. This means that we must enter the village with helping hands. Zen is not for us to be removed or hide from society, but rather to be more fully engaged with it. Anything else is just the stink of Zen."

So today, I encourage you and I to look for opportunities to take and utilize some of the principles, values and things which we have learned and put them into practice. Zen is not theoretical philosophy, it's a Way of Being. Be a powerful agent of change.

Gassho (In Gratitude),

Jaye Morris, Curator
digitalZENDO

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