Is there a spiritual dimension to a small blue planet?

Sure! Of course! And it can be haven as the material dimensions of a small blue planet start to squeeze us.

Herewith, courtesy and credit to Katagiri-Roshi: From Returning to Silence - Zen Practice in Daily Life.

Gassho, Sensei.

Ritual is constantly painting a portrait of our life, setting in motion the interactive commuminon between us and the universe. Without ritual we cannot do anyting. The poem “To Paint the Portrait of the Bird” by Jacques Prevert, is a good example of the interacting communion of appeal and response that is rutual or the essential nature of repentence:

First paint a cage

with an open door.

Then paint something pretty

something simple

something beautiful

something useful

for the bird.

Then place the canvas against a tree

in a garden

in a wood

or in a forest.

Hide behind the tree

without speaking

without moving…

Sometimes the bird comes quickly

but he may take long years

before deciding.

Don’t get discouraged.

Wait.

Wait years if necessary.

How fast or how slowly the bird comes

has nothing to do with the success

of the picture.

When the bird comes

if he comes

observe the most profound silence

till the bird enters the cage

and when he has entered

gently close the door with a brush.

Then

erase all the bars one by one

taking care not to touch any of the bird’s feathers.

Then paint the portrait of the tree

choosing the most beautiful of its branches

for the bird.

Paint also the green foliage and the wind’s freshness

the dust of the sun

and the noise of the creatures in the grass in the summer hear.

And then wait for the bird to decide to sing.

If the bird doesn’t sing

it’s a bad sign,

a sign that the painting is bad.

But if he sings it’s a good sign,

a sign that you can sign.

So, then, so very gently, you pull out

one of the bird’s feathers

and you write your name in a corner of the picture.

The cage, in the first line, means our whole body - the six senses, six sense organs, six sense objects and the five skandhas. This is what the whole world consists of; this is our cage. Everyone has an individual cage. We are nothing but the cage. The poet says, “first paint a cage with an open door.” “Open door” means we should accept the vastness of exisence. Usually we don’t open the door. We make the cage and then shut ourselves off. But is we do this, how can we attract the bird? “Bird” means the Truth, the same and one ground. How can we attract the truth if we close the door? So the poet tells us to paint a cage with the door open…

the poet says, “Sometimes the bird comes quickly,” but strictly speaking, the bird is always there. The bird is there, but because we don’t always experience enlightenment through zazen we say “somettimes” it comes. However, Buddha’s compassion is open to everyone; there is always a bird whether we realize it or not.

This entry was posted on November 19, 2006 at 3:03 pm and is filed under Mysticism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

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