There is a story in Zen circles about a man and a horse.
The horse is galloping quickly, and it appears that the man on the horse is going somewhere important. Another man, standing alongside the road, shouts, 'Where are you going?" and the first man replies, I don't know! Ask the horse!" This is also our story. We are riding a horse, we don't know where we are going, and we can't stop. The horse is our habit energy pulling us along, and we are powerless.
We are always running, and it has become a habit.
We struggle all the time, even during our sleep.
We are at war within ourselves, and we can easily start a war with others.
The horse is galloping quickly, and it appears that the man on the horse is going somewhere important. Another man, standing alongside the road, shouts, 'Where are you going?" and the first man replies, I don't know! Ask the horse!" This is also our story. We are riding a horse, we don't know where we are going, and we can't stop. The horse is our habit energy pulling us along, and we are powerless.
We are always running, and it has become a habit.
We struggle all the time, even during our sleep.
We are at war within ourselves, and we can easily start a war with others.
~ Thich Nhat Hanh
from "The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching"
2 comments:
I haven't visited for a while, but come back to find a handful of beautiful posts to ponder. Wonderful (I'm reading Thich Nhat Hanh at the moment, on the Miracle of Mindfulness)
oh! how i know this, especially this week. and how i try to be wary of my own habit energy.
xo
erin
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