The City I've Loved and Will Always Love

"One constant in New York is the velocity of change. Attempts at freezing time here always fail. New York is too big, dense, various, too full of collisions large and small, artistic and commercial, too full of energy, desire and ambition, to ever remain the way it was. New York is not a museum disguised as a city. It's not Venice."

Pete Hamill, New York Magazine Oct. 6, 2008

達摩二入四行觀

夫 入道多途，要而言之，不出二種：一是理入、二是行入。理入者：謂藉教悟宗；深信含生同一真性，但為客塵妄想所覆，不能顯了。若也捨妄歸真，凝住壁觀，無自 無他，凡聖等一，堅住不移，更不隨文教，此即與理冥符。無有分別，寂然無為，名之理入。行入謂四行，其餘諸行悉入此中。何等四耶？一報冤行，二隨緣行，三 無所求行，四稱法行。

　　云何報冤行？謂修道行人，若受苦時，當自念言：我往昔無數劫中，棄本從末，流浪諸有，多起冤憎，違害無限，今雖無犯，是我宿殃，惡業果熟，非天非人所能見與，甘心甘受，都無冤訴。經云：逢苦不憂。何以故？識達故。此心生時，與理相應，體冤進道，故說言報冤行。

　　二、隨緣行者：眾生無我，並緣業所轉，苦樂齊受，皆從緣生。若得勝報榮譽等事，是我過去宿因所感，今方得之，緣盡還無，何喜之有？得失從緣，心無增減，喜風不動，冥順於道，是故說言隨緣行。

　 　三、無所求行者：世人長迷，處處貪著，名之為求。智者悟真，理將俗反，安心無為，形隨運轉，萬有斯空，無所願樂。功德黑暗常相隨逐，三界久居，猶如火 宅，有身皆苦，誰得而安？了達此處，故捨諸有，止想無求。經云：有求皆苦，無求即樂，判知無求，真為道行，故言無所求行。

　 　四、稱法行者：性淨之理，目之為法。此理眾相斯空，無染無著，無此無彼。經曰：法無眾生，離眾生垢故；法無有我，離我垢故；智者若能信解此理，應當稱法 而行。法體無慳，身命財行檀捨施，心無吝惜，脫解三空，不倚不著，但為去垢，稱化眾生而不取相。此為自行，復能利他，亦能莊嚴菩提之道。檀施既爾，餘五亦 然。為除妄想，修行六度，而無所行，是為稱法行。

By Bodhidharma

Three Hundred Years From Now

Angry in the ultimate dimension
I close my eyes and look deeply.
Three hundred years from now
Where will you be and where shall I be?

Looking at anger with the eyes of impermanence, we can stop and breathe. Angry at each other in the ultimate dimension, we close our eyes and look deeply. We try to see three hundred years into the future. What will you be like? What will I be like? Where will you be? Where will I be?
The reason we are foolish enough to make ourselves suffer and make the other person suffer is we forget that we and the other person are impermanent.

by Thich Nhat Hanh

愛別離苦

近別不改容，遠別涕沾胸。
咫尺不相見，實與千里同。
人生無離別，誰知恩愛重。
始我來宛丘，牽衣舞兒童。
便知有此恨，留我過秋風。
秋風亦已過，別恨終無窮。
問我何年歸，我言歲在東。
離合既循環，憂喜迭相攻。
悟此長太息，我生如飛蓬。
多憂髮早白，不見六一翁。

蘇軾 熙寧四年(1071 A.D.)九月

蘇東坡與其弟弟子由及家人共度中秋。這次中秋值得記憶，他後來一直思念不
已，因為其後六年他始終沒有機會和弟弟共度佳節。臨別時，二人難分難捨，子由送兄
長至穎河下游八十里外的穎州（今阜陽），到穎州在歐陽修相伴之下，又一同過了半個
多月。但是終須分手。在蘇東坡開船出發的前夜，兄弟二人又在穎州河的船上共度
一夜，吟詩論政，徹夜未眠。那天夜裡，蘇東坡寫了兩首詩來顯示他的心境，此其一。
次日凌晨，兄弟二人分手。蘇東坡對子由的深情確是非比尋常，後來，在寫給
他好友李常的一首詩中說：「嗟余寡兄弟，四海一子由。」

From 蘇東坡傳記 by 林語堂

Perfect Blending of the Old and the New

The new courtyard at the landmark building that houses the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC. The elegant glass canopy was designed by the architectural firm Foster + Partners (Norman Foster). The enclosed courtyard, at 28,000 square feet, provides a distinctive, contemporary accent to the museums' Greek Revival building.

Recent Reading - "Setting the Table"

Danny Meyer's insightful book on how he built his restaurant empire in NYC (Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern, Eleven Madison Park, Blue Smoke, the Modern, Shake Shack, among others). It's an autobiography as well as a business guide, full of wise advice for life and for business. Meyer describes himself as having a need to please customers, which he transforms into his own unique brand of "enlightened hospitality." Meyer comes across as a person who is warm, curious, cautious, charitable, and with business acumen and integrity. What makes his restaurants so popular often have to do with his willingness to go against the grain -- the smoking ban a decade before the government's own, the accommodation of single diners, the effort of the reservationists to "be on the caller's side," the insistence on properly spacing tables, the graciousness to take an item off a customer's check if the customer is not happy with it. The book succeeds in that it not only makes you understand his business and his philosophy, it makes you really want to go eat in one (or all) of his restaurants!

Memorable Quotes:

• On Hiring -- "It's pretty easy to spot an overwhelmingly strong candidate or even an underwhelmingly weak candidate. It's the 'whelming' candidate you must avoid at all costs . . . . Overwhelmers earn you raves. Underwhlemers either leave on their own or are terminated. Whelmers, sadly, are like a stubborn stain you can't get out of the carpet. They infuse an organization and its staff with mediocrity; they're comfortable, and so they never leave; and frustratingly, they never do anything that rises to the level of getting them promoted or sinks to the level of getting them fired. And because you either can't or don't fire them, you and they conspire to send a dangerous message to your staff and guests that 'average' is acceptable."
  

• On applying 'a sense of abundance' to his restaurants after 9/11 when downtown commerce suffered -- "[Act] from a positive and hopeful place, rather than from fear that can ultimately be self-fulfilling. The mindset 'we're just hanging on' perpetuates scarcity. Investing money, imagination and hard work to create a mindset of abundance achieves abundance."
  

• What Meyer's grandfather used to say to him: "People will say a lot of great things about your business, and a lot of nasty things as well. Just remember, you are never as good as the best things they'll say, and never as bad as the negative ones. Just keep centered, know what you stand for, strive for new goals, and always be decent."
  

• "When you cede your core values to someone else, it's time to quit."
  

Setting the Table - The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business. By Danny Meyer.

As Seen in Hogwarts

The grand 16th century staircase leading to the Great Hall at the Christ Church College in Oxford, England. This is the same staircase where, in the Harry Potter movies, Professor Macgonagle welcomed first-year students. Christ Church College is a major filming location for the Harry Potter movies; its Great Hall was replicated in the film studios to create Hogwart's huge dining hall.