Short story: Love from the heart must always be placed before thoughts of the mind

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John Duffman, was a fledgling monk in the order of Zen Buddhism, known as the Rinzai school. The old Zen master, Artop Ripoche, told him to go out, and sit on a large rock in the courtyard, and meditate there, and so he did so. As he was quietly engaged in his meditating there, somebody came along, and tapped him on the shoulder. John ignored the tapping, until, it became stronger, and so he then opened his eyes, and said to the man tapping him, “Can’t you see that I am meditating, according to my master’s instructions.” The man replied, “Nothing should ever so remove you from the world that you are still not connected to it, and aware of any reason for the connection, not even your meditations.” “I was sent by your master just now to ascertain what your response would be to an interruption to your meditating. Meditation should not wrap you up in your head, closing you off to your heart.” The man continued. “The soul that you are can be brought into your mind by meditating, but the love that is in your heart must remain there at all times, and not be removed by the meditating mind at any time, as love always trumps mind in all aspects of living.” “Oh, thanks,” said the student. “I will keep that in mind, and in my heart too.” And so, the other man then walked off, and left the student to continue in his meditating. Photo Credit: The photo used in this article was sourced from the free media site, pixabay.com Never let anything close you off from your heart.