{"id":19120,"date":"2018-04-04T01:00:36","date_gmt":"2018-04-04T08:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/?p=19120"},"modified":"2018-04-04T12:44:59","modified_gmt":"2018-04-04T19:44:59","slug":"a-zen-priest-reflects-on-the-family-of-things","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2018\/04\/a-zen-priest-reflects-on-the-family-of-things.html","title":{"rendered":"A Zen Priest Reflects on the Family of Things"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

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We appear in the world, quite real, but without definite edges. Turns out we are not complete and autonomous; rather we bleed out into the universe, into openness. Or perhaps it\u2019s better to say we arise out of, are sustained by, and return to that openness, that boundlessness. A traditional Zen word for this aspect of what we are is \u201cempty.\u201d You might think of this Empty<\/em> as our family name. You and I, and flies and lice, and stars and planets, and heat and cold \u2013 those are our personal names. But we also all belong to the great Empty family.<\/p>\n

From If You\u2019re Lucky, Your Heart Will Break<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n