I’m only sleeping

Back from Idaho.

I read this this morning:

Attention! Master Jizo asked Hogen, “Where have you come from?” “I pilgrimage aimlessly,” replied Hogen. “What is the matter of your pilgrimage?” asked Jizo. “I don’t know,” replied Hogen. “Not knowing is the most intimate,” remarked Jizo. At that, Hogen experienced great enlightenment.

Not trying to be too esoteric or out there or Zenny, but this Koan stepped out to give me a hug earlier. And of course it brought to mind my old pal and mentor Frenchie, a retired longshoreman from Charlestown, Massachusetts who was fond of saying, “I don’t know nothing about nothing.” Which you might wonder about that double negative, but Frenchie was clear how he meant it. Don’t-know mind. So I think to myself, what if I come to each of the moments of this Monday without any thought at all about how it’s going to be or ought to be or should be or will probably be or has always been and, instead, I just don’t know how this moment is going to be. Now what? And the next, and the next, and the next.

For me, what I love most about this Koan is the word “intimate.” What if every single person on the planet woke up this morning feeling more intimate – With the world. With the day. With each other. It might change things, patch up some of the brokenness. Or maybe not. I don’t really know. It’s just a thought….floating upstream.

It’s possible I’m only sleeping. Back in San Diego.