Twigs and Root

As soon as we're born we're dead. Our birth and our death are just one thing. It's like a tree. When there are twigs, there must be a root. When there's a root, there must be twigs. You can't have one without the other.

It's a little funny to see how at death people are so grief-stricken, and at a birth so delighted. I think if you really want to cry, then it would be better to do so when someone's born, for actually birth is death, death is birth; the root is the twig, the twig is the root. If you've got to cry, cry at the root, cry at birth. Look closely and see that if there were no birth, there would be no death.

Lizard

The sutra gives us the simile of a certain man trying to catch a lizard which had run into a termite mound. The mound had six holes in it. Now if the lizard had run in there, how could he catch it? He would have to close off five of the holes, and leave just one hole open. Then he would have to sit and guard that hole. When the lizard ran out - bop! -he's got it.

Observing the mind is like this. Closing off the eyes, the ears, the nose, the tongue and the body, one leaves only the mind. To "close off" means to restrain the five senses, leaving only the mind to be observed. Meditation is the same as catching the lizard.

End (Herbal Medicine)