maintaining the castle

It takes a lot of bricks and mortar to create your castle and mine. Bit by bit and piece by piece, the spires and battlements rise up until, voila!, "you" are you and "I" am me.

Thoughts, words, and deeds coalesce and soar, though sometimes there is some patching and repair required. Maintenance is part of what keeps the place intact.

Each brick and carrying beam needs occasional inspection and perhaps a sense of renewed appreciation and enjoyment.

Among my bricks is the old Zen teacher Ummon, who once observed:

When you can't say it, it's there.
When you don't say it, it's missing.

Take him at his word at your own peril.