Today I learned that a close friend's friend was killed in the earthquake in Nepal.
He was one of the climbers on Everest when the avalanche engulfed them.
He was a climber. He didn't have to be there....a visitor who chose that time and place.
He was doing what he chose to do. One never knows. We take risks every day.
We close the door. We don't say goodbye.
So what does one do?
"Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree." said Martin Luther.
Should we modify our behavior to avoid risk? Should we hide in our house?
"I don't want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it through not dying" says Woody Allen
No. That is the last thing we should do.
"When you do something, you should burn yourself up completely, like a good bonfire, leaving no trace of yourself" said the monk, Shunryu Suzuki
We must go on about our business, always. You have something important to do...do it. If not now, when? If you have something to find, chances are that it will find you.
The Zen master Hui Hai said... "Search and you will lose it. Do not search and you will immediately find it. Stop and it will be right here. Run and it will not be anywhere."
A few times in my life I have waited too long. I was waiting for something to happen...for someone to find me...to get ready for something that didn't happen.
I don't do that anymore.
"A slave is one who waits for someone to come and free him." said Ezra Pound
