Koans to Save Your Life: Not Knowing is Most Intimate
Why meditate when the world is a hot mess? The first time I tried to meditate in a sangha, it was anything but peaceful. As I settled onto the cushion, trying to still my fidgeting body, a giant sneeze gathered force inside me, threatening to shatter the silence of the entire meditation hall. Tears slid from the corners of my eyes as I suppressed the inner convulsing, and, desperate for a distraction, I proceeded to project onto my mind’s screen the climactic end scene from the film Pride & Prejudice , the 2005 edition starring Keira Knightley. Cut to: Elizabeth Bennet steps out into a lush open field of the English countryside in the early dawn. Off in the foggy distance, she sees a silhouette moving steadily toward her. As the sun rises and the piano concerto swells, the dashing figure reveals itself to be Mr. Darcy, his black trenchcoat billowing behind him. He approaches, and the scene culminates in the sun-drenched embrace we had been eagerly anticipating. It was working:...