google.com, pub-0418880821635173, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 Everything Zen: An Excerpt from ‘Zen Flesh, Zen Bones’ by Nyogen Senzaki

October 11, 2015

An Excerpt from ‘Zen Flesh, Zen Bones’ by Nyogen Senzaki

Thought of the Day:

Tanzan and Ekido were once traveling together down a muddy road. A heavy rain was still falling.

Coming around a bend, they met a lovely girl in a silk kimono and sash, unble to cross the intersection.

"Come on, girl," said Tanzan at once. Lifting her in his arms, he carriedher over the mud.

Ekido did not speak again until that night when they reached a lodging temple. Then he could no longer restrain himself. "We monks don't go near females," he told Tanzan, "especially not young and lovely ones. It is dangerous. Why did you do that?"

"I left the girl there," said Tanzan. "Are you still carrying her?”

— Nyogen Senzaki, Zen Flesh, Zen Bones: A Collection of Zen and Pre-Zen Writings

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