Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Non-attachment

When Kitano Gempo, abbot of Eihei temple, was twenty-eight he studied Chinese calligraphy and poetry. He grew so skillful in these arts that his teacher praised him.

Kitano mused: "If I don't stop now, I'll be a poet, not a Zen teacher." So he never wrote another poem.

— Zen Flesh, Zen Bones