The DT Suzuki Museum

Returning to the homestay…

Kazuki: So how was your day?

Marion: Fascinating! I visited five museums, but the D.T. Suzuki Museum was the best.

Kazuki: It's a special place.

Marion: So Zen. The simplicity of the building and the few artifacts it held somehow captured the essence of Suzuki's teachings.

Kazuki: The architecture is modern, yet the atmosphere evokes a sense of tranquility and contemplation.

Marion: I spent the most time in that museum, especially in the book collection. Visitors were quietly leafing through the texts, absorbing the wisdom.

Kazuki: Ah, the books. Suzuki's words are timeless, aren't they? Did you go outside to the gardens?

Marion: I did. People were sitting quietly, contemplating, some even meditating.

Kazuki: That's the design philosophy. To create harmony between the mind and nature.

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Voice-over

So spare the structure, so few the artifacts, so deep the impression.

Cliffhanger: The tiger and the strawberry

A story to tell…

Virginia: How was the birthday party?

Bertrand: Fun. Jeremy brought me a picture of a tiger and Bianca a box of premium strawberries. 

Virginia: A tiger and strawberries?

Bertrand: It was kind of a coincidence. You probably know this “cliffhanger” story:

One day while walking through the wilderness a man stumbled upon a hungry tiger. He ran but soon came to the edge of a high cliff. Desperate to save himself, he climbed down a vine and dangled over the fatal precipice. As he hung there, two mice appeared from a hole in the cliff and began gnawing on the vine. Suddenly, he noticed on the vine a plump wild strawberry. He plucked it and popped it in his mouth. It was incredibly delicious!
Virginia: Sounds an epiphanic tale. What is the message?

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Voice-over

A different telling of the story is in Mahabharata. Message is either Enjoy Present Moment or Only Fools Get Distracted By Transient Pleasures.

There is a Zen Koan version too. Being a Koan it posits a paradoxical question which is very difficult to answer.

Wait and see

The news can’t get any worse.

...

Beatrix: So what do we do? Sell everything and buy gold and yen?

Gabrielle: That’s panicking. Wait and see.

Beatrix: Wasn’t that the name of a story?

Gabrielle: Ah, the old Chinese story.

Beatrix: How did it go again?

Gabrielle: Farmer had a horse, horse ran away, everybody said, *What bad luck.” Farmer replies, “Wait and see.”

Horse returns, bringing a wild horse. “You are so lucky,” says everyone. “Not one horse, but two!” Farmer replies, “Wait and see.”

Farmer’s son rides the wild horse but falls off and breaks his leg. “What bad luck!” “Wait and see.”

Then soldiers come recruiting for a war. Son, with a broken leg was rejected. “What good luck,” says everyone. “Wait and see,” says the farmer.

Beatrix: When does it end?

Gabrielle: You leave the cycle when you die. If you’re lucky, you leave at a good luck time.

______________

Voice-over

Story with Zen origins. Relies on four events (four points on a compass?) rather than the usual three events in a narrative.

Anyway, why worry? Eat chocolate, listen to music.

...