The Ravens Call

A Raven

John Daido Loori

"The problem is that people don't understand what enlightenment is. People see it as something other than who they are. They're looking for some kind of perfection that's almost dehumanized. The Buddha was very much a real person, a living person. Sometimes he did things that were not very enlightened, like not initially ordaining women. The perfection is to be found in the ability to keep working at it, and keep correcting yourself when you go astray. Keep returning to what it means to be human.

We have human qualities that are amazing. We have such things as integrity, and persistence, and dedication, and honor and love. There are also things like anger and delusion, separation and so on. These are also human qualities. Practice is about learning how to discern them. It doesn't mean that an enlightened person never gets angry. What happens is that over a period of time anger becomes less self-centered. It's more like the anger of a mother who has just yanked her child off a busy road. That kind of anger is for the benefit of the child. That's why they say the other side of anger is wisdom." - John Daido Loori

The Ravens Call

A friend, more than friends,
ravens cry the world into
being, shot with light,
unearthly halo
of rainbow light, wisdom spread
clear across the sweep
of this universe
that holds you and me upright
and breathing after
all's said and all done.

December 22, 2009 5:08 PM