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Dogen's Genjo Koan: Arrive Empty-Handed

Sep 24
1 min read

We humans have a special gift: the capacity to envision ourselves into the future and live there in our imagination. We do this in practice too, imagining some future enlightened state that we attain through our efforts. The trick is not to be deceived by that visioning. We must be ready to let go of our attachment to plans at a moment's notice as the myriad things come forward to meet us. Be ready to improvise, to take up a technique and let go of it at the same time. Arrive empty-handed and accept what arrives. It is the medicine.


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