Today was the first day of our annual Rohatsu retreat at the Zen Center. Rohatsu is a commemoration of the Buddha's enlightenment, traditionally observed on the 8th of December, and is the most intense and deepest retreat of the year. Monks around the world tremble in anticipation of Rohatsu.
I was planning on using some of my new-found free time by attending Rohatsu this year, but an interesting derivative of Murphy's Law will prevent this from happening. The first derivative of Murphy's Law states you will succeed at your task if you arrange things such that success is the worst thing that could happen. In this case, the phone rang today (5:30 pm) and I have a gig, some geologic field work that will keep me busy for the next week or so, starting tomorrow. That's exactly what I was looking for, but it will prevent me from attending Rohatsu again this year, and I don't think I'm in a position right now to turn away work.
But in any event, I was able to attend the opening of the retreat this evening, so Monday Night Zazen this week didn't include any Zuimonki readings or discussion, just 90 minutes of zazen. In other words, it was the best possible way to engage the evening.
1 comment:
I've been doing engineering since the pyramids - or so it seems - and that's the first I heard of that "derivative" of Murphy's Law.
It's much better than some variations I've heard.
Post a Comment