Source: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values
“And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,
They danced by the light of the moon.”
Source: The Owl and the Pussycat
“We call it a grain of sand
but it calls itself neither grain nor sand.”
"View with a Grain of Sand"
Poems New and Collected (1998), The People on the Bridge (1986)
Context: We call it a grain of sand
but it calls itself neither grain nor sand.
It does just fine without a name,
whether general, particular,
permanent, passing,
incorrect or apt.
Variant: To see a World in a grain of sand,
And a Heaven in a wild flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand,
And Eternity in an hour.
Source: 1800s, Auguries of Innocence (1803), Line 1
The West Wing, Season Two Commentary Track: Noel.
“Keep your hands open, and all the sands of the desert can pass through them.”
As quoted in Zen to Go (1989) by Jon Winokur, p. 126
Context: Keep your hands open, and all the sands of the desert can pass through them. Close them, and all you can feel is a bit of grit.
"Church Not Made With Hands"
A Pagan Place (1984)
Context: She is everywhere and noplace
Like a breath or like a wind
she moves among men
They would seek to hold her as a prize
But she is in the shadows,
the ocean and the sand
She is everywhere and noplace,
Her church not made with handsUncontained by man.
Source: The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna (1942), p. 370
Song lyrics, Shot of Love (1981), Every Grain Of Sand
“How do you hold a moonbeam in your hand? How do you keep a wave upon the sand?”
These words from The Sound of Music bring out the elusive nature of chaos. In life, most things cannot be captured for long. It is like trying to encapsulate time itself.
Source: In Defense of Chaos: The Chaology of Politics, Economics and Human Action, (2013), p. vii
