My thoughts turn to something I read once, something the Zen Buddhists believe. They say that an oak tree is brought into creation by two forces at the same time. Obviously, there is the acorn from which it all begins, the seed which holds all the promise and potential, which grows into the tree. Everybody can see that. But only a few can recognize that there is another force operating here as well—the future tree itself, which wants so badly to exist that it pulls the acorn into being, drawing the seedling forth with longing out of the void, guiding the evolution from nothingness to maturity. In this respect, say the Zens, it is the oak tree that creates the very acorn from which it was born.??

我想到我曾經(jīng)讀到過(guò)的佛陀所篤信的東西。他們說(shuō)要?jiǎng)?chuàng)造一顆橡樹(shù)同時(shí)需要兩股力量。顯而易見(jiàn)，橡子是橡樹(shù)所有的起點(diǎn)，這顆未來(lái)長(zhǎng)成橡樹(shù)的種子包含了所有的前途和潛力。每個(gè)人都能看出這點(diǎn)。但只有極少數(shù)的人能夠察覺(jué)到還有另外一股力量也在起作用，那便是這棵樹(shù)未來(lái)的自己，它是如此渴望存在，于是盡全力讓橡子煥發(fā)生命，長(zhǎng)出幼芽，離開(kāi)果殼中的虛無(wú)，引領(lǐng)進(jìn)化從無(wú)到完備。從這一方面佛陀們講，正是這顆橡樹(shù)創(chuàng)造了孕育它自己的橡子。