“Calamities can bring growth and enlightenment,” said the Master. He explained like this: “Each day a bird would shelter in the withered branches of a tree that stood in the middle of a vast deserted plain. One day a whirlwind uprooted the tree, forcing the poor bird to fly a hundred miles in search of …
Tag Archive: koan
Permanent link to this article: http://cowpi.com/journal/2006/09/calamities-can-bring
Apr 01 2006
To Write Something
To write something and leave it behind us, It is but a dream. When we awake we know There is not even anyone to read it. — Ikkyu [via] The same day I read Owen’s pondering over the lack of comments on deeply personal posts (plus his follow-up), I came across the koan above. My …
Permanent link to this article: http://cowpi.com/journal/2006/04/to-write-something
Mar 21 2006
The Four Wives
Found this in my email inbox… Once upon a time there was a rich King who had four wives. He loved the fourth wife the most and adorned her with rich robes and treated her to the finest of delicacies. He gave her nothing but the best. He also loved the third wife very much …
Permanent link to this article: http://cowpi.com/journal/2006/03/the-four-wives
Feb 04 2006
Who are the Poor?
I found this story attributed to Fr. Jerry Orbos. (via and via) There is a story about a rich father who takes his son on a trip to the countryside to show how poor some people are. The child is quiet through the whole trip. On their way home, the father asks his son what …
Permanent link to this article: http://cowpi.com/journal/2006/02/who-are-the-poor
Jun 12 2005
A Foul Question
Some pointless ponderings on an age-old question: Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Aristotle: Actuality precedes potentiality in terms of value. An egg is a potential chicken. A chicken is actual. Therefore, the chicken came first. Evolutionist: There existed a bird, a proto-chicken, whose DNA mutated when it laid an egg from which …
Permanent link to this article: http://cowpi.com/journal/2005/06/a-foul-question