Translation: See well in order to serve and produce better
Interpretation:  What does it mean to see well?

Zen isn't only about being in the now. 

It also involves being mindful about the future.

In experiential education, we are mandated to come up with contingency plans.

This was in mind when I stopped in Pemex, a Mexican gas station.  

Posted in on the wall was the contingency plan.

The first step, "Maintain the calm, in order to think better." 

continues to captivate me as one of the best pieces of sign-based advice I have ever received.

Zen Truck.

Zen teacher Thich Nhat Hanh suggests that every time  we start the car we reflect on what were doing. He is not suggesting that we give up Sunday meandering drives. to say i know where i am going means we commit to following the spiritual path in front of us, where ever it leads.  If we’re racing down the road, its often because our insides are racing rather than feeling calm. if we recognize our inherit oneness with the car we begin the process of slowing down inside and gain control.

Zen Seat Belt.

We do not proceed in life as though disaster is imminent. at the same time, we need to be aware for the potential for sudden unpredictable things. Buckling our seat belt is an implicit acknowledgment that a crash might be out there. the Zen attitude is to take nothing for granted.

When we start taking things for granted, be it our health safety, loved ones, or place we live in, we inevitably fail to show the proper gratitude for what we have.

so many of us take life for granted. Yet one inch ahead and all is total darkness. life is precious; let’s treat it so.

Buckle up and drive safe. Arrive alive, and give thanks. that's Zen.

Zen Road Map.

Every road we write down, we’re following the path of someone who has gone before.

We forget sometimes how much of our way has already been charted. All the highways, thoroughfares, and side streets we travel had to have been put there before we could drive them. some are as old they grew out of footpaths ages ago.

Likewise in Zen, the road o enlightenment has ben mapped out by the great sages of history. In Japan the word Sensei mean “previous life.” As we make our way on the road of life, we rely on the sensei to guide us. When we start to stray, the sensei steers us back to the path. when we are confused at which way to turn the Sensei offers directtions.

No matter who has paved the way for us, though e all have to disocer the truth for ourselves. each of us is unique. No one has ever walked the exact path that we will walk, and no one can, because we only occupy this particular body in this particular time and space at the particular moment in time.

Even with a road map in hand, we have to pay extra attention to every road sign when driving in a new city, because there is no teacher like our own experience.

The one straight road  stretches before us, where all the sages have gone before. Drive On.

High Plains Drifter

Stetson-clad, driving on instinct, I am careening out of Catavina's boulder gardens. Wheels akin feet, we are gripping the road as the turns tighten. In the zone, the sort of non-cognitive state that athletes strive for, and is spoken in the application of Zen to archery and the martial arts. I feel like a Highplains Drifter, Clint in Carharts, a caballero riding a 22re powered Japanese horse. A semi appears up the hill, then disappears-approaching. The road in this section is literally too small for the massive 16 -wheeler and it is encroaching on the yellow dividing line that guides me. There is a shoulder, no bigger than my own, of gravel before the cliffs drops into an arroyo below. The dented guardrail offers no solace, it says someone has been driven off the road before. Deep below in the bosom of Dr. Suessian Boojem trees and old growth Cardon cacti, lies the carcass of an old pickup. On the roadside ahead I see a tire-iron cross, a shrine to the deceased, a common decoration on Baja 1. There is no time to think, simply to act. The semi VVVvvvvvvvvpss by inches from my mirror I am
inches from the edge. The sign ahead of me reads "CURVAS PELIGROSAS." Yes.... these are "dangerous curves." Shaken, I am prone to introspection and begin to see the signs that guide me as Zen lessons. Tidbits of information, often enigmatic, they are meant to guide the driver on the road trip that is Baja 1, a NOLS course or life. I took these eight lessons out with me on National Outdoor Leadership School kayaking course (1/05/05) and used them as creative ways to brief or debrief using the power of allegory. Here they are 1 by 1.