‘It is natural for my mother to doubt the value of this kind of life. From the ordinary point of view, our zen life leaves no trace of anything worthwhile. We have nothing to show for it, nothing to give from it, and nothing to say about it. Whatever we show, give, or say about it really isn’t it.
When I try to answer the genuine concern of my mother, I find my way lost between the true and the false. For many years the snow has covered the mountain of my zen life. Compared to the lush fruits of the comfortable life that I was living before I began zen practice, my present life seems utterly destitute. Today, with the snow covering Marble Peak, and a mountain of failures covering my zen life, I feel some harmony between my inner and outer environments. This winter, too, it’s the snow that makes the mountain.’(The Zen Environment)

As I was trying to articulate yesterday…