"When I finished writing Writing Down the Bones in Santa Fe in 1984, I went to visit [my Zen Buddhist teacher Katagiri] Roshi in Minneapolis. I showed him the book. I said, 'Roshi, I need a teacher again. The people in Santa Fe are crazy. They drift from one thing to another.'
He shook his head. 'Don't be so greedy. Writing is taking you very deep. Continue to write.'
'But Roshi,' I said to him, 'it is so lonely.'
He lifted his eyebrows. 'Is there anything wrong with loneliness?' he asked.
'No, I guess not,' I said.
Then we talked of other things. Suddenly, I interrupted him. 'But, Roshi, you have sentenced me to such loneliness. Writing is very lonely,' I stressed again.
'Anything you do deeply is very lonely. There are many Zen students here, but the ones that are going deep are very lonely.'
'Are you lonely?' I asked him.
'Of course,' he answered. 'But I do not let it toss me away. It is just loneliness.'"
-- from Natalie Goldberg's Wild Mind: Living the Writer's Life
2 comments:
That was so nice to read. And so much truth. So many are afraid of loneliness, and fear their own solitude when it should be embraced.
But it is human nature to desire the company of others, which is why we singularly have created supernatural guides, leaders and creators.
How do we achieve a true balance?
May I ask, to satisfy my curiosity, why you chose to share that with us at this moment?
:-)
@letsgodeeper: check the latest post and thanks for the prompt. i was hoping to remain vague and obsure on this particular topic, but maybe it's good to write it out. :)
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