On Following (aka Paths, Leads, Rules)

Previously on /r/zen;

"Let me get this straight, you mean to tell me my dog has Buddha Nature?"

The Boatman said in verse,

A thousand fathom line is let directly down;

As soon as one wave goes into motion, myriad waves follow.

The night quiet, the water cold, fish don't bite;

The full boat, empty, returns carrying the moonlight.

Xuedou said, "This old fellow labors without accomplishment. Or, as Yunmen said, a single phrase of appropriate words is a myriad-eon donkey-tethering stake. And how is this error avoided?" After a silence, he said, "Don't say the water's cold and fish aren't biting - right now you've come back with a full load you've hooked."

There is an old well on my property

Hand dug, and deep

The water there is cool and refreshing

If you lower a full bucket

It comes up empty

Lower it empty

Pull up the root of the world

Ching Ch'ing asked a monk, "What sound is that outside the gate?" The monk said, "The sound of raindrops." Ch'ing said, "Sentient beings are inverted. They lose themselves and follow after things." The monk said, "What about you, Teacher? " Ch'ing said, "I almost don't lose myself." The monk said, "What is the meaning of 'I almost don't lose myself'?" Ch'ing said, "Though it still should be easy to express oneself, to say the whole thing has to be difficult."

Inspired by linseed, I have been experimenting with oils. Yesterday I was painting with mind color and today the canvas is still wet, there's a mess in the studio. Feels like I shouldn't go in there.

While walking with Grace

I had a thought about following.

There is a conversation happening on the landscape. Or a battle, or a weaving of a tapestry, pick your metaphor. I can see the footpaths, she follows scent trails. There are ten thousand invisible crossing routes within the boundary of my land. The boundary is not real though. To a rabbit, a barbed wire fence does not exist. For Grace, it's just a thorny spot along the trail.

I have to keep her on a lead, because she respects no boundary. The two ton bull next door believes in them. Who is correct?

Her mother was a purebred bloodhound, her father was a fighting pitbull. The blending of these natures is a marvel to see.

Her tracking sense turns on instantly the moment I put her on leash, if I walk my sons dog (Lilly) before her, she will not do anything until she has traced Lilly's path. Sitting still is not an option. She follows me though, as she leads the way. It's a push/pull kind of thing. She won't go where I can't follow, no matter how badly she wants to. It's not that the leash holds her back. She's more than strong enough to rip it from my hand if she wanted to.

There's a low fence intended to keep chickens in the courtyard. Didn't stop the chickens. Grace won't jump over it while I'm watching, but as soon as I go inside, she's over the fence and chasing rabbits.

Off the lead, she's like a different dog. She's never aggressive unless someone else triggers her. Any malicious posture sets her off immediately. She tried to fight a bull last year. By the time I got to her, she was having second thoughts, seeing the beast up close, but she still refused to back down. I felt like the frat boy's friend doing as he says while he goes "Hold me back, bro!" after spitting in the face of a UFC champ. As she grew up and realized that she was more powerful than her bitch-of-a-step-mother, Lilly the elder, who refused to acknowledge her change of position, so she starts shit every time they see each other. Grace ripped Lilly's ear off in some argument that happened while everyone was out of the house.

They aren't friends anymore. Only tolerating each other's presence for my sake. Lilly lives in my son's room all the time, except for very short and very purposeful walks in the courtyard. They have to be fed separately. In Lilly's mind, she won. She sits like a queen on a cushion, waited on hand and foot, while Grace lies in the mud. Who is correct?

Submitted March 11, 2022 at 10:57PM by eggo https://ift.tt/LaDlH5K