Tag Archives: precepts

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pachiko – the other tale

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Dark and light meld in this revelation of the Truly true story of Hachiko the faithful dog.  I had no idea that there was a sadder version (Oh!  Could there be a sadder version?!)  I knew I had to share with you this wonderful historic drama that sets the original story straight!  Here is an excerpt from Zokyo: The World According to Zebrio:

Almost any Japanese person can recount the story of chūken Hachikō, (忠犬ハチ公, “faithful dog Hachikō”,) Japan’s most beloved dog and national symbol of loyalty, honored for returning everyday to Shibuya’s bustling train station to wait for his master’s return, even long after his death. Few, if any, know of or are willing to acknowledge the pup’s miscreant sibling, taida na Pachikō. (怠惰なパチ公, “slothful dog Pachikō.”)Born in November of 1923, “Hachi” and “Pachi” were two pups from a litter of seven, born on a farm near the city of Ōdate, Akita Prefecture. Their owner, Hidesaburō Ueno, a professor in the agriculture department at the University of Tokyo, adopted the pair and brought them back to Tokyo, naming them after the Japanese word “hachi-pachi,” used to describe the sound of popping bubble wrap, a new and popular pastime in 1920’s Japan.

As pups, the dogs were identical, but as they aged, Pachiko grew dark distinguishing eyebrows, that according to historians, later inspired Japan’s bushy eyebrow craze that has yet to come out of vogue to this day. With his distinguished eyebrows, Pachiko soon gained the favor of Professor Ueno as the more clever of the pair, who later remarked in a letter to his wife, regarding all night vigils at the station by the less adroit Hachiko while the professor was away on lecture tours, “You must be kidding! That idiot dog Hachiko waits overnight for me at the station?”

To read the rest of this amazing tale click here.

Thank you for practicing so diligently!

Genju

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i’m here – you’re there

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The self is programmed not to be forgotten.  You sit there trying to forget the self – and just the trying recreates, from moment to moment, the self.  All kinds of barriers come up.  Every time you get to that edge of “falling away of body and mind,” something pulls you back.  That is the program.  “I’m here, I’m here, I’m here – you’re there.”

Teachings of the Insentient by John Daido Loori

This is a tough balance.  Intimacy means letting go of “I’m here” and falling into the completeness.  Yet, as any narcissist will tell you, it’s just too frightening to let go of the “I’m” and to trust that dissolving the separateness will not be as deeply wounding as what caused the narcissism in the first place.  Daido Loori points out that the self-centeredness is a product of our evolution as creatures without the powers that kept other animals safe.  In the face of predators, we are not fast, agile, or with special skills like the ability to fly away from danger.  All we possess is our brain power and ability to reflect on ourselves.  And that very intellectual prowess has resulted in both beneficial and disastrous decisions in our history.  In creating the “I’m here – you’re there,” we place a barrier to being intimate with all that has, in fact, created us.

I don’t know that there is a cure for my narcissism.  There will always be sticky points in the negotiation between saving the world and saving myself through a momentary comfort.  This is a selfishness that is neither useful nor beneficial.  But here’s a start.  I can arrange my selfishness so that it takes a subservient position to compassion and wisdom.


But not everybody is going to realize (that intimacy with the earth will not permit us to live our lives in the old way), at least not for many lifetimes.  And those of us who are lucky enough to find our way into this incredible Dharma have a responsibility to use its wisdom and sense of intimacy in a way that nourishes the earth itself and all its inhabitants.

Thank you for practicing,
Genju