For some information on Han Shan and his maxims, see this post.
What, ultimately, is the difference between hardship and pleasure? A hardship is an obstacle and an obstacle is a challenge and a challenge is a way to use one’s Dharma strength. What is more pleasurable than that?
People are always so afraid of hardship. They go through life trying to avoid the difficult and embrace the easy. For me, it’s just the opposite. I don’t discriminate at all between hardship and pleasure. Whether the path ahead of me is difficult or easy, I don’t have to hesitate to follow it.
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Thank you for both pieces. Han Shan was cold, walked in the rain, and laughed. His stillness wasn’t windless calm, but movement that no longer struggles. The wind doesn’t need to stop — only the fight with it. Not stopping, but listening as if the wind carries the Beloved.
— Murad