Zen is Eternal Life
from 
JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
This morning the air is cool. It is pleasing to have a bit of a break from summer's heat. Change should always be a welcome friend reminding us not to settle too deeply into one routine or another. Unfortunately most of us enjoy routine; we don't want to change. The result is a sort of love-hate relationship with things new and different.
Certainly I am a creature of habit. I enjoy routine, actually depend on routine, and have been known to become quite cranky when I am asked to step out of my habit. Yet, it is equally true that after the fact and upon reflection, I realize i was refreshed by the change.
The morning science news had a report on a fascinating study that strongly suggests May-December male to female relationships which include child-bearing, are actually life extenders or both genders. This is actually genetic. The working theory is that an older male passes along his genetic life expectancy potential to both genders of his children. The older the man the better, as long as the woman is fertile. Other theoretical considerations included the needs of children, hence the longer lives of women with younger children for which to care.
My two cents on this is that younger women would certainly keep things changing for an older man, thus life would always be 'refreshing' so to speak.
This may explain why I so enjoy the company of younger people, both men and women. I enjoy children. I actually have come to enjoy the edge offered by the need to adapt. Now, I am not always in the mood for this edge, but once on it, I dance.
Zen insists that we reside on such an edge. On one side, the routine of our practice, on the other side, the requirement to kill the Buddha if we meet him on the path. Change and readiness to live in that change is precisely life itself. It is one reason why, to take the title of a famous Zen text, "Zen is Eternal Life."
Be well.