The Teahouse Fire by Ellis Avery opens with-”1856-1866. When I was NINE, in the city now called Kyoto, I changed my fate. I walked into the shrine through the red arch and struck the bell. I bowed twice. I clapped twice. I whispered to the foreign goddess and bowed again. And then I heard the shouts and the fire. What I asked for? Any life but this one.”
From The Intellectual Life: Foreword:”Among the works of St. Thomas (Aquinas) there is a letter to certain Brother John, in which are enumerated Sixteen Precepts for Acquiring the Treasure of Knowledge.” The Intellectual Life by A.D. Sertillanges,O.P. is inspired by the precepts.
3 years ago, in June, we were in Bandon, Oregon, we saw a spacious place and abundant life, during the lowest tide. There are offerings of life in abundance every day.
Frederick Franck quoted a Buddha saying: “We do not learn by experience, but by our capacity for experience.”
I try to express my understanding of things which is, perhaps, also my ignorance of things. With sincere hard efforts I hope to improve my understanding and diminish my ignorance. A progression from pride to humility to discernment (PhD).
Along the way I will need help, real and inferred. In the end, I will need grace.
2 comments:
Love your interpretation of PhD. It's such a strange experience to feel that the older I become, the more foolish I feel. The more I realize that I don't know. I do, however, know that I always need His Grace.
Bellezza-I know I always need guidance.
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