Sometimes it takes time for wisdom to appear. This is an incredible koan for me to hold close and remember when I am impatient.
“After a long and arduous journey a young Japanese man arrived deep in a forest where the teacher of his choice was living in a small house he had made. When the student arrived, the teacher was sweeping up fallen leaves. Greeting his master, the young man received no greeting in return. And to all his questions, there were no replies. Realizing there was nothing he could do to get the teacher’s attention, the student went to another part of the same forest and built himself a house. Years later, when he was sweeping up fallen leaves, he was enlightened. He dropped everything, ran through the forest to his teacher, and said, “Thank you.”
– John Cage sharing an old Zen story in his book Silence




