Buddhist-Meditation-Systematic-and-Practical

pieces.'" Mr. Chen accompanied his words with very
forceful gestures indicating great concentration and
vigor.
Another Confucian, Xu Ling, was out riding one day, all
the time concentrating on composing an essay. His mind
was fixed so one-pointedly upon his subject that he did
not even notice that his horse had brought him to
someone else's door; still concentrating and assuming it
was his own home, he dismounted.
Two Tibetan parables also show us how controlled our
thoughts should be. The first compares it to arrows shot
by a skillful archer who makes a continuous stream of
them fly from his bow, so that in mid-air each one splits
the one released before it.
The second also encourages us to concentrate: If you
meet seven wild dogs growling, you must all the time
maintain the mind in a state of balanced concentration
and not be upset by the animals' ferocity. This same
concentration is necessary throughout the religious life.
Here Mr. Chen was evidently reminded of a story
from his own life!
Once I saw His Holiness the Karmapa in a dream and he
instructed me to come to him. Accordingly, I went to
where he was, the Palpung Monastery of Derge.
Palpung is in the center of a "lotus," the "petals" of
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