Bring Me the Rhinoceros Quotes

I asked my Mom to give me a good starter book for Zen. She gave me a copy of "Bring Me the Rhinoceros: And Other Zen Koans to Bring You Joy." It is written by her friend and teacher John Tarrant, and is very good. Next time John is in town, our paths will cross I am sure. Not very far into it yet, but it is fast earning its way to the top of the stack of books on my nightstand (put that on your dust jacket). A few gems gleamed so far:

Tarrant Quoting Rainer Maria Rilke's Advice to a Young Poet (a cosmic reminder that I still need to read this book?)

I would like to beg you, dear Sir, to have patience with eveything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don't search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, some day far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.

cotu:
It's funny how this is comforting now. Not long ago, the proverbial "I'll tell you when you are older" was about as much of an insult as it was a challenge. Now, embracing the fact that I do not have all of the answers is a relief. I am never supposed to have it all figured out; this is the point of living. I like the imagery of living the questions and living my way into the answer. How many times have we tried to wrap our brains around a problem, but always come up short when the spotlight of conciousness is on. Then, when you least expect it, taking a shower, driving to work, or getting a little exercise, Eureka! The solution, be it the name of the person that slipped your mind, the word on the tip of the tongue, or the meaning of life, bam! You live your way into the answer, like the bam! of your forehead as it smacks inot a spotless sliding door window.

Tarrant:
"It can be hard to express what you have discovered, and hard to explain a joy that comes from merely being alive."

cotu:
These are the topics that draw me to writing lately (and reading, and music, and science, and art...)

Tarrant:
"Couldn't the home everyone is always looking for be right here, now?"

cotu:
I read these words for a reason.

Tarrant:
"(she) discovered, on the contrary, that the search for meaning led to unbearable sorrow. She had to live for the sake of life, without justification or achievements."

cotu:
I am re-discovering this all the time. I doubt that on my death bed, I will wish I would have taken things more seriously, and I suspect I will cherish the times in which I behaved quite the opposite, though not all of them. Or maybe I would just be regretting that I was dying in a bed?