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Denny is Confident
"Great! Let's continue to address the logic behind repeating our mistakes in the hopes of justifying our errors and failures. If I try something once and, I fail, perhaps the second time, there may be some minute difference I didn't account for. If I try again to double check, that's okay, but a third time without any change, then a fourth attempt without adjusting your approach or technique, might just be a waste of time. To try and fail is the path to success. To fail and fail continually while performing the exact same attempt in some vane hopeless act of desperation to turn day into night will eventually succeed in bringing foolishness into your mind and those that you affect with such ignorance."The student nods in silence, his attention focused on learning the master's intended lesson.
"When was the last time I lectured the students on the book of change?"
"I've never heard you speak it master," the student asserts his correction.
"I've never spoken to you about the I Ching young Denny? Are you sure?" the master fails to recollect the student's teachings over the years, relying on Denny to account for the lessons he absorbs.
"No master. I've never heard you speak of the I Ching," the student shakes his head, unclear on the sudden change in topic when he was attentively attempting to attain his teacher's intelligence.
"Oh dear, has it been that long? Well it's an old book and the translation from the original language Chinese to our limited and barely useful English has corrupted much of the meaning behind the words. The meaning is necessary if not essential to understanding how to harness the power surrounding us that the reader of the I Ching is hoping to control, such as rain or temperature or humidity."
"Wow master, I want to read that! That's what I was talking about before; to be able to control the air! I knew you understood!" Denny interrupts with excitement, addressing his master as if a fellow peer to jostle with in fun. The master's brow lowers, sensing his young apprentice is losing focus on the value of the teaching being offered.
"That childish desire to have control and power is the very reason I withhold such teachings," the master sternly chastises the eager student, who turns his gaze off into the wilderness, unclear how such excitement could turn into bitter resentment internally. The master continues, "but that is not about you Denny. I fear sharing the wisdom of a correctly translated I Ching with any man who is interested in attaining such power in this competitive society, where such knowledge would definitely be used selfishly and foolishly."
"Forgive me master," the student surrenders.
"More foolishness! Forgive yourself! I am nothing! But if you so desire, we can discuss how to control our physical environment with a clear mind, or we can start a new story about the good and bad within us all," the master offers Denny.
“Yes master,” Denny responds.
The zen master senses that he has been too strict, so he lightens the mood. “To control the space around us my atudent, we must first clear our minds of any preconceived notions or desires of such control. With an empty mind, you are free to explore and engage the elements surrounsing you. Thus with a mind cleared of distractions, you can be free to gain conteol of rhe elements by releasing control first. It is the ironic twist of zen: we muat first let go so that we have a more firm grasp.”
“I think I understand master,” Denny responds. (Link coming soon)
“I don’t understand master,” Denny responds. (Link coming aoon)
Denny Learns Zen
Learn about the good and bad within each of us
Go back home