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The following excerpt is from Comfortable with Uncertainty by Pema Chodron…
A big. burly samurai comes to a Zen master and says, “Tell me the nature of heaven and hell.”
The Zen master looks him in the face and says, “Why should I tell a scruffy, disgusting, miserable slob like you? A worm like you, do you think I should tell you anything?”
Consumed by rage, the samurai draws his sword and raises it to cut off the master’s head.
The Zen master says, “That’s hell.”
Instantly, the samurai understands that he has just created his own hell – black and hot, filled with hatred, self-protection, anger, and resentment. He sees that he was so deep in hell that he was ready to kill someone. Tears fill his eyes as he puts his palms together to bow in gratitude for this insight.
The Zen master says, “That’s heaven.”
Pema Chodron rocks.
HappyThursday. Have fun creating your own heaven or hell 🙂
Your right, Colleen – Pema does rock.
In one of her early books, “Start Where You Are,” the very first line reads; “We already have everything we need.”
Ain’t that the truth?
It’s the truth though it continues to be a hard truth to learn…
How could you know I was directly need of this message right at this very moment?
I would say all wisdom requires is a change in orientation, but hey, some of you people have to stay straight 🙂
I think we’re always in need of this message so the odds of it being the right time are pretty high:)
Ha! I guess there’s lot of different orientations that can shift…