Bit by Bit - Chapter 2, Part 32

Trey Smith

Penumbra said to Shadow, "A little while ago you were walking and now you're standing still; a little while ago you were sitting and now you're standing up. Why this lack of independent action?"

Shadow said, "Do I have to wait for something before I can be like this? Does what I wait for also have to wait for something before it can be like this? Am I waiting for the scales of a snake or the wings of a cicada? How do I know why it is so? How do I know why it isn't so?"
~ Burton Watson translation ~

Why do we say and do the things we say and do?

Often, there are reasons bound up in our egoic selves. We're trying to meet some desire.

At other times, who knows? We merely say and do what needs to be said and done.

To view the Index page for this series, go here.