{"id":722,"date":"2009-08-18T09:12:48","date_gmt":"2009-08-18T09:12:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/treeleafzen\/2009\/08\/practice-enlightenment-never-t.html"},"modified":"2009-08-18T09:12:48","modified_gmt":"2009-08-18T09:12:48","slug":"practice-enlightenment-never-t","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/treeleafzen\/2009\/08\/practice-enlightenment-never-t.html","title":{"rendered":"Play Ball!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Continuing with Master Dogen’s Bendowa …<\/i><\/div>\n

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(BENDOWA XL)<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

So, let’s say “enlightenment” is like baseball … <\/p>\n

Dogen went around visiting a lot of baseball stadiums, meeting the players and coaches … and here is what he learned about the playing of baseball: <\/p>\n

Says Dogen, if you want to make baseball baseball<\/i> … ya don’t just talk about baseball, you don’t sit in the locker room. You don’t just focus on the 9th inning and winning the game  …<\/p>\n

Baseball is made real by playing the game, getting on the field and playing baseball, pitch by pitch and inning by inning.<\/p>\n

Someone who wants to truly know baseball, must grab a bat and glove and play baseball, swing at the ball and run the bases.<\/p>\n

The finding of the truth, and the making of baseball, is in the playing.<\/p>\n

This is true for both pros and amateurs, high schoolers and little leaguers …. finding the “truth” of the game is in playing the game, not in collecting trading cards or watching on TV. <\/p>\n

Nor is baseball about “only<\/i> winning the game<\/i>” as much as “win or lose, it is the great game of ‘Baseball pitch by pitch, catch by catch … that is the true beauty of the game, victory made real, win or lose’<\/i><\/p>\n

In fact, even a fully accomplished baseball player like Babe Ruth must keep playing the game if he wants to show what it means to be “Babe Ruth”.<\/p>\n

Something like that (I hope I did not ‘strike out’ with this analogy!<\/b>) \ud83d\ude42   <\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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