| Each moment is a gate as an infinity of paths have devolved into a singularity, the now, the present, itself offering an infinity of choices. Thus every moment of everyday is a gate towards possible futures, some of which contain physical gates (Am I going to climb Mt. Everest?), others which contain emotional gates (No, I do not want to be a political figure!). Many are precluded immediately as each moment - each gate - opens into the next, eliminating an infinite number of possibilities while revealing an infinite number more. Everyday Zen, awareness of all the transitions of everyday life as each moment becomes - a self-awareness and an awareness of others. The ‘others’ are all inclusive: trees, flowers, grass, shrubs, men, women, children, mountains, rocks, rivers, oceans, clouds and on...and on.
It is a gateless gate: there are no boundaries between self and other; we are all part of everything around else: the air we breath, the water we drink, the sights, sounds, tastes, and touch of our environments, internal and external, all shared with trillions of other beings from multitudinous bacteria (and virus) to scarce and diminishing species. Not simply shared, but absolutely a part of us, a vital part of us, a universe of gates. In words, it all sounds rather esoteric and arcane. Yet words are simply part of the path, of the many paths leading to many gates. Unfortunately as well, there is a loss of gates, through rigid education and sanctimonious doctrines of discovery, for which words and loss of words, denies a multitude of perspectives of generations past and future. Words spoken, words written, and words simply thought in the embrace of a cedar tree...or maybe a copper beech... or words from ancient mythologies, journeying through history, through time and space, not following a single path, but skipping from one to an adjacent: Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Mideastern, and Native Peoples; from bark to printing press...and now into pixels. From the author, Mankh, “This book aims to enhance appreciation for and experience of direct transmissions of energy . . . whether from positive ions of a rainstorm, the scent of a flower, teachers, relatives, friends, sitting with the trees, the land, talking with a bird . . . “Moving Through the Empty Gate Forest is an interesting read, reflecting on many paths, intertwined from and with life’s experiences. And as everyday is the beginning of the rest of your life, one more gate:
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