Monday, April 5, 2010

[image: Saucer magnolia blooming for Easter]
Here is a paragraph from John Tarrant's talk about the koan, The Moon sets at Midnight. I put this under my transparent desk blotter a year or more ago, when I had reason to feel somewhat disabled. I found a lot of richness in it. The idea of "satisfactory vices." The idea that a rich life could also be a difficult life. The very idea of dis-ability. Not being interrupted by your scenario. In my case today, a little depressed by the thought that several days of very nice spring holiday are over. But it's still April.
Athletes are trained to not get interrupted by their scenarios. Otherwise if someone insults you on the field, you lose your game, and what’s the use of that? Another example would be for a disabled person to say, "I am disabled so I can’t do anything, my life is over." Even though you may have plenty of data points to back it up, that is a scenario that won’t help you. Without that thought world you might find that you can be disabled and develop plenty of very satisfactory vices and live a rich, complicated and difficult life.

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