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It comes from a book. In the classic Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, Shunryu Suzuki
introduced -- along with the very concepts of Zen, Buddhism, and
meditation -- Buddhism's very helpful analogy of The Worst Horse:
"The best horse will run slow and fast, right and left, at the driver's
will, before it sees the shadow of the whip; the second best will run
as well as the first one does, just before the whip reaches its skin;
the third one will run when it feels pain on its body; the fourth will
run after the pain penetrates to the marrow of its bones. You can
imagine how difficult it is for the fourth one to learn how to run!"
Suzuki Roshi goes on to say that, when it comes to Buddhist practice,
it may not be such a bad thing to be "the worst horse." After all, the
best horses have the least to gain: they're already the best. The
so-called worst horses, on the other hand, will undergo the most
transformation, the most improvement, if they stick with it: "In your
very imperfections you will find the basis for your firm, way-seeking
mind. [ . . . ] So I think that sometimes the best horse may be the
worst horse, and the worst horse can be the best one."
It's great and important encouragement. After all, it's easy to get the
impression that our spiritual practice might never really dovetail with
the reality of our lives. Books, magazines and websites are populated
with revered and realized people. They live in monasteries; they make
"impossible" vows. They are often unlike anyone we actually know. So it's
not unusual for modern Buddhists, and plenty of other people trying to
lead lives of substance -- religious or otherwise -- to feel like they
don't and can't measure up. In effect, to feel like the worst horse.
But as the meditation teacher Larry Rosenberg says, "We can't all be celibate monks!" So what are we to be?
We're to be what we are: younger people, getting older; city-dwellers;
misfits; hip-hop heads; punkers; computer-agers; mountain-climbers;
artists; horror-movie buffs; whatever we actually are. Only, working on
it, too.
Buddhism emphasizes that there's only NOW, that the way to more
complete living is to earnestly face our reality. Let's face it:
celibate monasticism is not likely to fit the "reality" of many of us. For
better or worse, much of our Now, our reality, takes place in a world
informed by media, pop-culture, sexuality, and on and on. That's the
world where our practice will happen. It's do-able.
That's the point of TheWorstHorse.net: to remind you that hey, you may
not be the best horse, but you're hardly alone. There is great and
important encouragement, the stuff of life, all around us. No matter who -- or where -- we
are in this world.
So, please, stay a while, and let us know what you think.
Oh, and about our news and links:
The presence of a news item or link on our main page should not necessarily be taken as either an endorsement or a condemnation.
Things are included (or not) often simply because they're noteworthy if we're looking at the ways that pop-and subculture are intersecting with the Dharma.
What might seem like co-optation or exploitation to one person might seem like innovation to another.
That being said: have a link we should know about? Send it our way:
Comments and such are welcome, too. For sure. (Just let us know if you wouldn't like them reproduced for any reason.)
Please note: if you want to send an actual thing, by mail, please send an email first so we can discern if we'd cover it, and if so, where to mail it.
Thanks for being part of the Horse.
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DHARMA-BURGER ARCHIVE 
