“If I am incapable of washing dishes joyfully, if I want to finish them quickly so I can go and have a cup of tea, I will be equally incapable of drinking the tea joyfully. With the cup in my hands I will be thinking about what to do next, and the fragrance and the flavor of the tea, together with the pleasure of drinking it, will be lost. I will always be dragged into the future, never able to live in the present moment.”
Your carefully cited response has devilishly revealed my lack of originality.
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Oh, crap, I didn’t realize you were being original.
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What I mean to say is that I did not cite that to debunk your originality, but to build on your post.
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Of course.
What do you think of the question or the master’s observation? Is it true?
I think it probably is. Which is weird because I remember as an adult thinking wisdom like this was sort “put on”. I looked at koans as things I was not allowed to criticize for fear of looking like a boob, but which really didn’t hold all that much truth.
Now, I think maybe I was just a boob.
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I’m usually angry when I’m doing the dishes… Mostly because I’m astonished at how two people can create such a mess…
~siobhan
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LOL, siobhan.
Yes, I think it is true. Unfortunately, I suck at it. I do most of the dishes at our house, and I fail to be mindful 99% of the time.
7 replies on “Koan Question”
“If I am incapable of washing dishes joyfully, if I want to finish them quickly so I can go and have a cup of tea, I will be equally incapable of drinking the tea joyfully. With the cup in my hands I will be thinking about what to do next, and the fragrance and the flavor of the tea, together with the pleasure of drinking it, will be lost. I will always be dragged into the future, never able to live in the present moment.”
Thich Nhat Hanh
http://www.serve.com/cmtan/buddhism/Treasure/bathing.newborn.html
Your carefully cited response has devilishly revealed my lack of originality.
Oh, crap, I didn’t realize you were being original.
What I mean to say is that I did not cite that to debunk your originality, but to build on your post.
Of course.
What do you think of the question or the master’s observation? Is it true?
I think it probably is. Which is weird because I remember as an adult thinking wisdom like this was sort “put on”. I looked at koans as things I was not allowed to criticize for fear of looking like a boob, but which really didn’t hold all that much truth.
Now, I think maybe I was just a boob.
I’m usually angry when I’m doing the dishes… Mostly because I’m astonished at how two people can create such a mess…
~siobhan
LOL, siobhan.
Yes, I think it is true. Unfortunately, I suck at it. I do most of the dishes at our house, and I fail to be mindful 99% of the time.