Shundo David Haye – Zen Priest

‘The fact of cause and effect is so clear and undeniable! In all ages and places there can be nothing on this earth that does not exist through the action of cause and effect. Every moment, every existence is causation itself. Outside it there is neither I nor the world. This being the case, the man of real freedom would be the one who lives in peace in whatever circumstances cause and effect bring about. Whether the situation be favorable or adverse, he lives it as the absolute situation with his whole being – that is, he is causation itself. He never dualistically discriminates different aspects of the situa-tion; his heart is never disturbed by any outside elements.

When he lives like this, he is the master of cause and effect and everything is blessed as it is. The eternal peace is established here. This is the indescribable spiritual happiness a Zen man enjoys. We can just say, like an old Zen Master, “Those who know it do not talk. Those who talk about it are far from it.’ (Zen Comments on the Mumonkan)

Another one from the shelves at Great Vow. Typical gender norms of the time kept in.