the present is a strawberry …

The Man and the Tiger – a well-known Buddhist story – was shared with a group in a Vancouver Unitarians RE session on the first Sunday of this month. This post looks more closely at what the story may mean.

“A man walking across a field encountered a tiger. The man fled, running …” —site:uua.org (!?)*

The Man and the Tiger is of course a myth, “a narrative that carries existential truth.” (!gb)

So, in other words:
  • the past is in the mind, as thoughts that come and go
  • the future is in the mind, as thoughts that come and go
  • the present is now and always is beyond the mind, as what is
  • the present is a gift / “the present is a strawberry …”
on that last point: "If the only prayer you say in your entire life is 'Thank you,' that is enough." / archive (!g)

and more words:
  • the past is a tiger you can ignore
  • the future is a tiger you can ignore
  • the present is a strawberry
  • the present is pure sensation

notes
*DuckDuckGo bang commands (!?) in parentheses link to results of a search for what they follow
image credit: Meelan Bawjee (!unsplash)
“you can ignore” … here, as elsewhere, “you can” need not mean “you should”
night and day are two mice, one black, one white, consuming what is vital to what is thought of as you
only in the mind is anything as it is thought to be
only in the mind is anyone as they are thought to be
“All that a guru can tell you is, ‘My dear sir, you are quite mistaken about yourself. You are not the person you think yourself to be.’” (!g)







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