Ah, good, I got lucky again. Today I was thinking about “kwatz” and just now when I went to look for “zen kwatz” I immediately found http://thezenfrog.wordpress.com/2007/03/22/zen-buddhism-and-sociology-of-religion-part-4-an-analysis-of-emptiness-no-mind-and-koan/
Why did “kwatz” come up at all? We were in church this morning and there was a visiting choir. They were from the Portuguese religious community and the voices were lovely, it was good. And at the end of the service our pastor commended the singers and everyone applauded.
My mind had already been wandering a bit during the hour, thinking about taiji principles. It was pretty fruitful. I usually pay rapt attention in church because our pastor is both a thinker and a fun guy. But when we have visitors and special ceremonials the sermon tends to be a little more generic, for general consumption if you will. That’s natural. And we have a big beautiful church, the open spaces and various items of contemplation sometimes take my mind/spirit on a little taiji journey. That’s natural too, in my book.
We all clapped for the singers and I found myself thinking about one hand clapping. What sound does that make? Not much, I decided; just some wind. But wind has energy and force… we’ve all felt it.
That’s when I considered Emptiness yet again, and this time I concluded that true emptiness is empty even of emptiness. This pertains to the two hands, which we use a million times in the course of any given year. Sometimes they hold something; sometimes they don’t.
And as I saw today: clap them together suddenly. CLAP!
NOW they’re empty.
