A lord asked Takuan, a Zen Teacher, to suggest how he might pass the time. He felt his days very long attending his office and sitting stiffly to receive the homage of others. Takuan wrote eight Chinese characters and gave them to the man:
"Not twice this day
Inch time foot gem.
This day will not come again.
Each minute is worth a priceless gem."
"Phipps lives in a fisherman’s shack in Tasmania
that his family’s owned all his life. His front garden is a giant lake, brimming with 9lb trout; his neighbours are wedge-tailed eagles and possums and tiger snakes. This is a day in Phipps’ beautiful, quiet world."Posted by gerardvanderleun at May 9, 2013 10:47 AM
Yeah but...where does he vacation???
Posted by: tim at May 9, 2013 12:55 PMHis life is one long vacation.
I once thought that was what I wanted to do in retirement. A quiet place near a trout stream. Days of fishing, nights of reading. Time to think and a place to just be. Somehow, life got in the way. I tired of being on vacation all the time. I bought a computer to do some writing about fishing. Found the blogosphere and nothing's been the same since. Would not change a thing.
Posted by: Jimmy J. at May 9, 2013 2:27 PMhttp://www.101zenstories.com/index.php?story=32
Posted by: Fat Man at May 10, 2013 9:34 AM
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