ARROWLEAF BALSAMROOT
(Balsamorhize sagittata)

Don’t grasp at “voidness” and ignore cause and effect;
such reckless confusion leads only to suffering.

Rejection the truth and grasping at entities is also a mistake,
it’s like jumping into a fire to avoid drowning.

My friend, Jordan, is taking a break and I have offered to continue this experiment. Jordan is a lucky man, he has a wonderful family and a developing talent for playing the Shakuhachi. It is my hope that he will still participate when he can and keep me on my toes.

On first reading this section it sounds like classic Buddhist “middle way” stuff. Not too much voidness (absoluteness) and not too much entities (relativeness), just some nebulous middle way thingy.

Maybe, yet there is more here, so much more.

We can not ignore cause and effect and if we let cause and effect push us around, we are lost. We have conditions in our life that are the effects of past conditions. Clearing confusion and seeing this leads to the freedom to “have” conditions and not “be” them or be controlled by them. The times I’ve been free enough not to be caught up in my conditions I have seen how to use my confused states to look closely at their causes and be a bit more present. Being a bit more present is always a bit more skillful and leads to a bit less suffering. Bit by bit here we are.

Grasping, ignoring, reckless confusion, rejection, and more grasping. Sounds like the discription of a tormented life.

In his poem Song of Freedom, Yongjia points out what is helpful and what is not. This lands firmly in what is not helpful, states to be on the lookout for.

My knowledge is less than perfect. I look forward to being straightened out by my friends.
Will

If you are joining us in progress, you can catch up by reviewing the first part of this break down of the Song of Freedom by looking at the discussion over at Jordan’s blog.

Jordan’s Blog
Song of Freedom Posts

Here is where you can get a copy of the Song of Freedom as translated by Yasuda Joshu roshi and Anzan Hoshin roshi.