p s:
Thank you so much for taking the time to read and write. Yes, everything I'm reading about satori seems to fit. I wonder where this leaves me in terms of practice, though. Having not arrived here via any kind of formal method, I don't know where to go to learn how to bring this shift in perspective back again. (It doesn't ultimately matter, but I'd like to explore it further.) Would you suggest I seek out a Zen teacher?
Separate question: some people seem to be describing Dzogchen in similar trerms. Is that the same type of experience?
Thanks for your insights and advice.
My understanding of dzogchen is that it is an attempt to make satori permanent. If I were terminal and in hospice I would practice dzogchen continuously. I'm not sure that the practice of dzogchen is entirely compatible with the bodhisattva ideal.
As for seeking a zen teacher, seeking a zen student would make as much sense. Either would be fine but the actual seeking might lead you astray. All things come to one who waits.
You have no choice but to move on. Even enlightenment is just for the time being.
terry
It's All Over Now
(bob dylan)
You must leave now, take what you need, you think will last
But whatever you wish to keep, you better grab it fast
Yonder stands your orphan with his gun
Crying like a fire in the sun
Look out the saints are comin' through
And it's all over now, Baby Blue
The highway is for gamblers, better use your sense
Take what you have gathered from coincidence
The empty-handed painter from your streets
Is drawing crazy patterns on your sheets
The sky, too, is folding under you
And it's all over now, Baby Blue
All your seasick sailors, they are rowing home
Your empty-handed armies are going home
Your lover who just walked out the door
Has taken all his blankets from the floor
The carpet, too, is moving under you
And it's all over now, Baby Blue
Leave your stepping stones behind, they're something a-calls for you
Forget the dead you've left, they will not follow you
The vagabond who's rapping at your door
Is standing in the clothes that you once wore
Strike another match, go start anew
And it's all over now, Baby Blue