Wild Fox Zen
In The Instructions for the Cook, Dogen encourages us, “Without worrying about the quality [of ingredients], simply make the best of what you have.”
To paraphrase, take some not-so-perfect ingredients (like the wilted Yugoslavian lettuce above) and make a fine bowl salad. And don’t go wallowing in your usual emotional trips. Let them go and focus fully on the task at hand.
That’s really sound advice, it seems to me, in relationships, family life, and in leadership.
One of Katagiri Roshi’s leadership virtues was how he saw the virtues of his students. I usually thought that we were quite a shabby lot and it was easy (and lazy) for us to look at each other with a critical eye. It was easy to find our faults.
But sometimes when we worked together, like in a practice period at Hokyoji, the manifestation of the buddhadharma seemed palpable, “Attaining the Way together.”
At other times, though, I would find myself wondering if Roshi was blind to “certain” students’ shortcomings.
Maybe, I think now, he just wasn’t all that interested.
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