even this is long

I staked out my place on the outskirts of town in the Oakland Koan group last night, and woke this morning thinking remaining silent would have been better. At least, way less wordy. In a section of a Dongshan poem I have written down are the lines, “Conceal your practice, function in secret, seem for all the world like a fool or an idiot.” The latter word not so nice, but the picture’s pretty clear. At Cape Cod Community College I heard someone say, “It’s better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than open your mouth and remove all doubt.” Which isn’t exactly the same as “Concealing my practice”, but maybe in a neighboring area code.

Whatever, I have no interest in hard rules. Talk here, zip it here. Probably get a good feel for which is which, when is when. The thing is, here this Wednesday, I do in fact have a good feel. And it is talk less.