The Paradoxical Nature of Reality

The Paradoxical Nature of Reality

“Exhaust lifetime after lifetime examining this saying (dharma),” is a hallmark characteristic of Dogen’s methodology – this because the dharma (koan, flower, breath, oak tree, etc.) is the primary datum of experience/existence. As each dharma is an “explicit” aspect of the wholeness “implicit” in its presence, its infinite potential bestows it with the quality of original ambiguity – the more it is illumined, the more it eclipses – thus the unlimited potential for refinement and expansion – and the “paradoxical” (metaphorical) nature of dharmas that, “to expand” them is “to narrow” them also.

Peace,

Ted