I'll always look to my Grandfather's wise words when faced with a choice. He said "When you come to a fork in the road, take it".
I tend to feel that everything that happens in my reality, things that I notice happening (if I don't notice it, does it really happen?), are chances to make a choice towards some sort of change in myself. Like the rock in the road causing a car accident or not; or a rut in the road causing a chariot to crash or not; or something so tragic as the little girls at the crosswalk; these are all opportunities to take a fork in the road. It's all how we react to them and what we do with the opportunity that they present. Kathy -----Original Message----- From: Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Sodaiho-roshi Sent: Friday, January 06, 2006 10:50 AM To: Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [Zen] Should we thank God? With palms together, Hello Al, Such a thoughtful observation, Al, thank you. Sometimes a rock is just a rock. Sometimes not. The noted Rabbi who wrote about bad things happening to good people suggested that there was a certain randomness in our universe and that we westerners were not comfortable with that fact. As Buddhists, we also are not comfortable with randomness, as we want to see everything as interdependent and thus cosmicly related. Still, what is randomness but a pattern to large to see?. Thank you for your compassion. Al <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Today I ran over a large rock that someone had either laid onto the road or it had dropped off someone's truck. I thought it looked like a white paper bag (maybe I need glasses?). What a shock to hit that rock. Thankfully it seems like nothing happened to the car's transmission, axle, oil pan, motor, etc. My daughter said "Thank God nothing happened to us." I thought "If G-d wanted to be so helpful, why do only half a favor and leave the rock in the middle of the road? Why not just do the complete miracle and have the rock bounce to the curb when it fell off the truck?" So I wonder, was G-d helping us? Should we be thankful we were not injured? Was the rock in the middle of the road a sign that G-d could care less? A couple of days ago an 11 year-old girl was run over by a car as she crossed the street to go to school (at the school crossing, during the slow-speed time). She was holding her older sister's hand when she was killed. The car only hit one girl. Should the surviving sister thank God for such a wonderful miracle? Why didn't God save them both? Current Book Discussion: Appreciate Your Life by Taizan Maezumi Roshi SPONSORED LINKS Zen buddhism Tibetan buddhism Zen alarm clock Zen garden --------------------------------- YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "Zen_Forum" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. --------------------------------- May All Beings Be Free From Suffering So Daiho-roshi On the web at http://www.daihoji.org/ and http://daihoji.blogspot.com/ --------------------------------- Yahoo! Photos Ring in the New Year with Photo Calendars. Add photos, events, holidays, whatever. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Current Book Discussion: Appreciate Your Life by Taizan Maezumi Roshi Yahoo! Groups Links ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Join modern day disciples reach the disfigured and poor with hope and healing http://us.click.yahoo.com/lMct6A/Vp3LAA/i1hLAA/S27xlB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Current Book Discussion: Appreciate Your Life by Taizan Maezumi Roshi Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Zen_Forum/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
