Nevermind!

As scary as the notion is of someone born in1990 not knowing who the Beatles were, even scarier is the notion of that same person being born too late to know who Nirvana was. It means a) we're getting old quick, and b) time is flying by like a cool summer breeze.

Keeping this in mind, consider for a moment the rise and fall of Buddhism in all its religious/spiritual/philosophical manifestations. How many times do you think Buddhism has gone in and out of fashion over the last 2500 years? Countless kings and emperors have latched onto it, thinking that it would somehow be the salvation of all salvations, only to see it dropped for the "next big thing." And yet here we are, 2500 years later, still forming sanghas, practicing the dharma and talking about Buddhism.

No one knows if Buddhism will survive for future generations. But maybe one reason it has survived this long is, unlike a beautiful Beatles ballad or Nirvana song, we ourselves are writing the song, arranging the chords and coming up with the lyrics. It's a naturalistic symphony, totally our own, that we create each time we sit in zazen. Always new, always unique.