Savoring The Moment

^{(The following is from Zen Flesh Zen Bones, by Paul Reps with Nyogen Sensaki, as I recall it now.)}
 

^{"Zen is like a man who is being pursued by a pack of wolves until he comes to the very edge of a high and dangerous cliff; awaiting him below are the massive sharp rocks on the coast, and should he miss those, the roaming hyenas which will finish off his remains once he lands there. The wolves are nearing, he leaps.}

^{Halfway down, he impulsively breaks his fall by grabbing a lone branch growing out of the rock face. Hanging there, he considers his situational position. The branch now begins to give under his weight, and there remains nothing else to hold onto, the bare rock being slick from rainfall. The wolves howl, the hyenas howl, the branch begins to lose its grip from its roots.}

^{Just a hand's reach away grows a single fresh succulent berry on a twig. The man plucks that berry and pops it into his mouth, tasting it, savoring it. "How sweet," he says."}