Shamballa Zen

15th June

2008-06-25T10:54:00.000-07:00

I have no parents; I make heaven and earth my parents.
I have no divine power; I make honesty my power.
I have no means; I make submission my means.
I have no magic power; I make inward strength my magic.
I have neither life nor death; I make Eternity
my life and death.
I have no designs; I make opportunity my design.
I have no miracles; I make the Way my miracle.
I have no principles; I make adaptability
to all things my principle.
I have no friends; I make my mind my friend.
I have no enemy; I make incautiousness my enemy.
I have no armour; I make goodwill and righteousness
my armour.
I have no castle; I made immovable Mind my castle.
Samurai’s Zen Creed
No comment needed

14th June

2008-06-25T10:53:00.000-07:00

My compassion to all sentient beings
shall be like the limitless sky.
When released, Mind is freed from
clinging to worldly things.
Even though living in this world of illusion,
My meditations shall be like the Lotus flower,
Lovely and unstained, rising up from the mud.
With purified mind I offer my respects
to the Buddha - The Enlightened One.
No comment needed.

13th June

2008-06-25T10:48:00.000-07:00

Master Seung Sahn taught his students that to let go of
their small self and discover their true self, they must make
a firm decision to attain enlightenment and help others.
To help them they had been given the Buddhist precepts,
but they should know when to keep them and went to
break them, when they are open and when they are closed.
To be the self is to be immersed in the self, seeing only what the
self projects. The true self is to recognise all outside of oneself is the Self.
The Buddhist precepts are unconditional and can have a different meaning
depending on which self is present.

12th June

2008-06-25T10:46:00.000-07:00

Zuigan would greet himself each morning and
request of himself, "Today please try and wake up,"
to which he would answer, "Yes, indeed I will."
This master acknowledges the game we all play with our
minds. That there is something to do - constantly.

11th June

2008-06-25T10:45:00.000-07:00

Is some sickness coming tonight?
Is death waiting for us tomorrow?
There is no greater folly than to be alive
but unconscious - not following the Buddha's way.
The Venerable Ching.
Projecting future events based on worry and judgement is to be alive but unconscious to the richness of life in the moment – the Buddha’s way.

10th June

2008-06-25T10:44:00.000-07:00

If you don't let go of worldly worries about the future
and make a living, you'll regret it. Follow the way,
or all your days and nights will have been lived for nothing.
Dogen.
This quote shows how we can be so immersed in worries about our future that we fail to live life today, leading to a life of missed opportunity, of experiencing the richness of LIFE.

9th June

2008-06-25T10:43:00.000-07:00

Zen is not a pastime,
but the most serious task in life.
D. T. Suzuki.
Zen is life.

Taming The Bull.

2008-06-11T18:59:00.002-07:00

The seeker must train his mind to prevent it from forever
wandering off into delusion. At this stage the student
begins Zen practice in earnest. Such disciplines are not an end
in themselves, but a means to harmonise the mind so that it
effortlessly expresses the seeker's deeper nature. The bull,
once tamed, naturally obeys without struggle or imposed
discipline. Kuo-an Shih-yaun writes

With weight and tether
to prevent it wandering off into the wilderness,
the bull will become well-trained
and naturally meek -
obeying without need of restraint.

One thought follows another. When thought emerges from
enlightenment, all thoughts are true - but one deluded
thought makes everything false. It is not the objective world
that oppresses us, but our own deceiving minds. To master the
bull, hold the nose ring tight and do not let your intention
vacillate.

8th June

2008-06-11T18:59:00.001-07:00

There is nothing lukewarm in Zen;
if it is lukewarm, it is not Zen.
D. T. Suzuki.
To experience reality as having qualities is not Zen. Zen is the freshness of every moment free of qualities or judgements.

7th June

2008-06-11T18:55:00.002-07:00

Twenty monks and one beautiful nun named Eshun
were practising with a master. Several monks fell in love
with Eshun and one wrote her a love letter suggesting
a private meeting. Eshun did not reply, but the next day,
after the master’s talk to the group, she addressed the
author saying, "If you love me so much, come and
embrace me now."
How could a student of Zen write a love letter? Who is in love?

6th June

2008-06-11T18:55:00.001-07:00

In spring the daffodils bloom
- but not the same daffodils.
And lovers walk in the park
- but not the same lovers.
Peter Gandy.
Zen is the unfolding of Life in all its simplicity and diversity.

5th June

2008-06-11T18:54:00.002-07:00

In this situation now before one, and nowhere else,
will Zen be found, or not found at all.
Christmas Humphreys.
What is around you now, as you read this is Zen. You either know this or you do not.

4th June

2008-06-11T18:54:00.001-07:00

A monk asked the master, "I've been your student for a
long time, but you haven't given me any instructions in the
path of Buddhism. Please teach me more."
The master replied, "What do you mean my son?
Every morning you greet me and I greet you back.
You bring me tea which I accept and enjoy drinking.
What more teachings do you want from me?"
Zen is the flow of daily life in all its simplicity.

3rd June

2008-06-11T18:53:00.000-07:00

"I can explain. I know.
I am the teacher you are the student."
Anyone who says such things is guilty
of demonic suggestion.
Baizang.
To talk of I, is to be in the illusion of separate self.

2nd June

2008-06-11T18:52:00.000-07:00

Imitating me won’t get you anywhere.
My mind isn't the same as yours. When your mind
is the same as mine, you will be here.
Hanshan.
The master points out to the student that to imitate
a master of Zen is pointless. The desire to do so comes from a mind that is in comparison, that sees this and that, has identity. Buddha-mind is boundless without qualities.

1st June

2008-06-01T01:00:00.000-07:00

Before he was himself a master, Hakuin went to master
Shoju to demonstrate his knowledge of Zen.
When Shoju asked him what he knew, Hakuin pretended to
vomit and announced, "Anything I can find I will expel from
me." Shoju, however, was unimpressed. He tweaked Hakuin
firmly on the nose and said, “What is this? Have I not found
something after all?”
The master showed Hakuin he still had a concept of I and me. Truly a burden.

31st May

2008-05-31T01:00:00.000-07:00

The truth is to be lived, not just mouthed.
Hui-neng.
No comment needed.

30th May

2008-05-30T01:00:00.000-07:00

The student who felt he had achieved emptiness of mind
boasted to his master, "Now I have no idea."
The master replied, "Why stagger about under the weight
of this concept ' no idea'?"
No comment needed.

29th May

2008-05-29T06:11:00.000-07:00

Master Chu-hung was once writing a book
on the good deeds of Zen monks when a student asked him,
"What is the use of writing such a book when in Zen there
is nothing good or not good?"
The master slapped him on the face.
The furious monk was about to leave when the master
smiled and said, "You are not the real thing yet.
Why don't you wipe the dirt off your own face?"
For the monk to be slapped on the face was not good, in his opinion, hence the indignation. Therefore his attachment was revealed.

28th May

2008-05-29T06:10:00.002-07:00

Student. "I am very discouraged.
What should I do?"
Soen Nakagwa "Encourage others."

To be anything is to centre on the small self. Let go
Into the greater Self reflected in those around you.

27th May

2008-05-29T06:10:00.001-07:00

Master Seung Sahn taught that
"Zen mind is not Zen mind." He encouraged
his students to abandon narrow ideas
of Zen and hang on only to the question
"What is the best way of helping other people?"
For this master questions as to what Zen is, is merely
Fodder for the mind. To express the nature of Zen is to spontaneously help others without thought.

26th May

2008-05-29T06:08:00.000-07:00

My detractors are actually good friends,
because if I am equanimous and accepting
the power of love and humility,
which is born of the Unborn,
grows within me.
Yung-chai Ta-Shin.
The master recognizes that there are no enemies,
Only people who are doorways into the power
Of love and humility which is your essential Self.

25th May

2008-05-25T05:14:00.000-07:00

Look at that rainbow.
It is only when the sky cries
that you see the colors
in the light.
T'ao-shan.
The zen masters always saw nature as the great teacher.

24th May

2008-05-24T04:31:00.000-07:00

We should find perfect existence through
imperfect existence.
Shunryu Suzuki.
All of existence is trying to come into balance. Attention is
created by imbalance, it causes us to notice that which is
out of balance and to focus on it. When balance is achieved
our attention settles into stillness, into peace.
Therefore wellcome those points of conflict in your life for they
will ultimately lead you into perfect existence, eternal stillness,
your essential Self.

23rd May

2008-05-23T01:00:00.000-07:00

All life is changing, all the forms of it, and we flow with
the river or we refuse. If we happily flow we see, as science
sees, that things are really events in time and space, that
events are major and minor whirlpools on the river of time.
If we flow with the river, the ceaseless flow of our karma,
we can digest it, as it were, as we flow, and feel no suffering.
Accept it and we are one with it, resist it and we are hurt.
Christmas Humphreys.
No comment needed.

22nd May

2008-05-22T01:00:00.000-07:00

Confused by thoughts,
we experience duality in life. Unencumbered by ideas,
the enlightened see the one Reality.
No comment needed.

21st May

2008-05-21T01:00:00.000-07:00

Ikkyu visited a dying student and
asked if he required his help. The man replied,
"I don't need anything. I am just going to the changeless."
"If you think you are a something that can go anywhere,
you still need my teachings," replied Ikkyu.
No comment needed.

20th May

2008-05-20T01:00:00.000-07:00

Here it is - right now.
Start thinking about it and you miss it.
Huang-po.
The mind is right here, right now. Start thinking
about it and it becomes conditioned not
conditionless.

19th May

2008-05-19T01:00:00.000-07:00

If you want to achieve a certain thing
you have to change into a certain person,
but then you won't care about doing that certain thing.
Dogen.
To be identified with a thing, you have to be identified
as a person who wants to achieve that thing.
For example: If I wanted to win the lottery
I would have to become a person who needed money.
Once I created this identity, it would become irrelevant
if I won the lottery or not. It is the creation of identity
to define who we believe ourselves to be which is
the true attachment.

18th May

2008-05-18T01:00:00.000-07:00

The only way to Buddhahood
is freeing your mind to be itself.
Tao-hsin.
In Buddhist doctrine the mind is the Great Ocean
of consciousness without thought. This is
the definition of mind as itself.

17th May

2008-05-17T01:00:00.000-07:00

Look for Buddha outside your own mind,
and Buddha becomes the devil.
In our reality the devil is the great deceiver.
In the Zen tradition looking for Buddha outside
your own mind is the same.

16th May

2008-05-16T09:19:00.000-07:00

There have never been any Buddha's, nor is there any holy
teachings. Bodhidharma never came to the East, nor did he
ever transmit any secret doctrine through the mind.
Not understanding what this means, worldly people look
for the truth outside of themselves. It is ironic that what
they so desperately seek is under their own feet!
Yuan-wu.
This passage indicates our need to look beyond our self
to define the truth of who we are. Whereas the truth of who we are
resides within the Self.

15th May

2008-05-15T01:00:00.000-07:00

The Buddha is not the great goal
of those that follow the Way. Personally,
I see him as a privy hole and regard
the Bodhisattva's as jailers.
Lin –chi.
This master is showing us that the person who was known as the Buddha is not Buddha nature, nor the group of disciples that followed after. Human nature always tries to personify cosmic force but then locks up that force in a fleeting shadow.

14th May

2008-05-14T01:00:00.000-07:00

When one person tells a lie, countless others tell it as a truth.
Zen proverb.
No comment needed.

13th May

2008-05-13T01:00:00.000-07:00

Student: "The light of the Buddha's wisdom illuminates the whole world."
Master: "You are quoting scriptures aren't you?"
Student: "Yes."
Master: "You are lost. A greedy fish opens his mouth when he sees the hook."
A student, who is greedy for wisdom, will swallow anything.

12th May

2008-05-12T01:00:00.000-07:00

If your eyes are even slightly blurred,
all you see is hallucinations.
Zen saying.
To use the eyes as a means of identifying the real is to walk in the world of the unreal.

11th May

2008-05-11T01:00:00.000-07:00

Master Hogen asked a monk, "Look at this big old stone.
Do you think it is inside or outside of your mind?"
The monk replied, "According to Buddhist teachings,
everything is a projection of the mind, so I conclude
that it is inside my mind." Hogen commented, "Don't you get tired carrying around such a heavy stone?"
This passage indicates that the mind and the stone are as heavy as each other.

10th May

2008-05-10T01:00:00.000-07:00

Student: "I have nothing."
Master: "Then throw it away."
To say, "I have nothing," indicates a perception
that there is a you who is without something,
and there is a something seperate from the you
who is percieving.

9th May

2008-05-09T01:00:00.000-07:00

When you try to stop doing to achieve being,
this very effort fills you with doing.
Seng - T'san.
See yesterdays quote.

8th May

2008-05-08T01:00:00.000-07:00

Four Zen pupils who were studying meditation had promised to observe a rule of silence for seven days.
On the first day all were silent. Their meditation sessions
had begun well, but when night came and the oil lamps
were burning dimly, one of the pupils could not help himself
exclaiming, " Someone should fix those lamps." The second pupil was shocked to hear him speak and cautioned him, "We are not supposed to say a word." "You idiots," said the third. "Now you've both spoken." "I am the only one who has not talked," proclaimed the fourth.
Please see the quote for tomorrow, to explain this quote today.

7th May

2008-05-07T06:00:00.000-07:00

"Where are you going?" Asked Tung-shan of a student
who was sitting still with eyes shut. The student replied,
"I am entering meditation." Tung-shan said, " Meditation
has no gate. How can you enter into it?"
This quote indicates the misperception that one can do meditation,
that it is something one can drop in and out of.
Meditation is a state of being that exists eternally;
indeed, you are in it now as you read these words.

6th May

2008-05-06T06:00:00.000-07:00

From a well-worn path we step into fog wherin
lies precipices, quagmires, and howling wilderness.
We must learn to walk on, through nonsense to a noble
Non-sense, from the tram lines of a settled mind, through
the trackless desert of no meaning, to the freedom of
"a mind that alights nowhere," and is based forever on
No-thought, No-purpose, and No-difference of any kind.
Christmas Humphreys.
No Comment needed.

5th May

2008-05-06T05:45:00.000-07:00

A man asked, "How can one always be with Buddha?"
The master replied, " Keep your mind still. Treat the outside world with serene acceptance. Remain absolutely empty and calm. This is the way to be with Buddha."
No comment needed.

4th May

2008-05-05T07:09:00.001-07:00

The person who dallies on the edge of the stream, wondering how best to take the plunge, testing the water with his toes, and thinking about how it will feel when he is in, soon gets into the habit of putting off the issue. The Zen disciple must walk quietly to the edge and slip calmly into the water without further ado, without allowing himself time to conjure up fears and anxious speculations as to what it will be like, or to find elaborate reasons as to why he should not get in at once.
Alan Watts.
No explanation needed.

3rd May

2008-05-05T07:07:00.002-07:00

Stop chasing after things. Let mildew form on your mouth. Have no resistance, like perfect silk. Only think of eternity. Be cold and lifeless as ashes from old incense in a deserted shrine.
Shih-Shuang.
This reveals the truth that if you put your mind on any subject with an opinion, it calls in the Cosmic Law of Attraction and Repulsion, action and reaction. Although your mind was created to function in this way, holding your focus on the balance between the two polarities will keep you centred in eternity.

2nd May

2008-05-05T07:07:00.001-07:00

When you are practising zazen, do not try to stop your thinking. Let it stop by itself. If something comes into your mind, let it come in, and let it go out. It will not stay long. When you try to stop your thinking, it means you are bothered by it. Do not be bothered by anything. It appears as if something comes from outside your mind, but actually it is only the waves of your mind, and if you are not bothered by the waves, gradually they will become calmer and calmer in five or at most ten minutes, your mind will be completely serene and calm.
Shinryu Suzuki.
No explanation needed.

1st May

2008-05-05T07:06:00.001-07:00

One inch of meditation, one inch of Buddha;
so inch by inch, make the six-foot form of Buddha.
Zen saying
This indicates that through the constant practice of meditation your Buddha Nature, which is your True Self, will shine through the veils of the mind.

30th April

2008-04-30T07:04:00.000-07:00

Catching The Bull

The seeker must now struggle to catch the bull. At this stage this student realises that what he has found is not enlightenment, but self that is uncontrollable and unruly, like a wild beast that he must master in order to progress further on his journey. He must overcome his own restless mind to sustain the Zen vision. Zen is experienced as a challenge to be faced, and the separate self as an obstacle to be overcome. The bull will not yield easily, however, finding refuge in inaccessible hiding places. In the same way the separate self of the student, when faced with disciplines like meditation, may cleverly find every excuse not practice, or more subtle still, decided to reinvent itself with fantasies of being a special spiritual person.
Kuo-an Shih-yuan writes:

I battled bravely to seize the bull -
struggling with its ferocious will
and inexhaustible strength,
as it charges high into misty mountains
and deep into inaccessible ravines.

The bull that has been lost in the wilderness is found at last, but he is hard to control. He constantly longs for the sweet smelling fields. His wild nature is unruly and does not wish to be tamed. If the oxherd wants the bull to be in complete harmony with himself, he will have to raise his whip.

To realise Mind, begin by looking for the sources of your
thoughts. Whether asleep are working, standing or sitting,
intensely ask yourself, " What is my mind?"
Bassui Tokusho.
No comment needed.

29th April

2008-04-30T07:03:00.000-07:00

The treasure house is within you.
It holds all you will ever need.
Hui - Hai.
You are all there is!

28th April

2008-04-30T07:02:00.000-07:00

There is nothing real in my teachings.
If you understand that you will be rich enough
to really enjoy yourself!
Lin - Chi.
To accept the teachings of the master is to accept
that something can be given you, which is totally untrue.
The master is there to reflect back to you the unreal.

27th April

2008-04-30T07:01:00.002-07:00

Whose mouth could possibly be big enough
to describe things as they are?
Alan Watts.
No comment needed.

26th April

2008-04-30T07:01:00.001-07:00

"Nothing but lies come out of my mouth,"
said the master. "There - see! I've just done it again."
No comment needed.

25th April

2008-04-30T07:00:00.000-07:00

The heavy intellectuals are still dissecting
Zen in the laboratory and solemnly reporting
that there is nothing in it. How nearly right they are!
Christmas Humphreys.
No comment needed.

24th April

2008-04-30T06:59:00.002-07:00

Just as the highest and the lowest notes
are equally inaudible, so, perhaps, is the greatest sense
and the greatest nonsense equally unintelligible.
Alan Watts.
No comment needed.

23rd April

2008-04-30T06:59:00.001-07:00

During a funeral a monk knocked on the coffin
and asked, "Is he dead or alive?" His master replied,
"I won't say alive, I won't say dead."
The master was correct in pointing out that he was neither.

22nd April

2008-04-30T06:57:00.000-07:00

You asked me how to practise Zen on your sickbed.
I ask you who is it that is sick? Who is practising Zen?
Who you are? Do you know? Your whole being is
Buddha nature. You are the Great Way - beyond all forms.
Is there any sickness in it?
Letter from Bassui Tokusho.
The mind, emotions and body arise like a wave in the
sea of Buddha nature. At death they will sink slowly back
into the sea.

21st April

2008-04-30T06:56:00.000-07:00

Become a master of every situation,
and you will always be in the right place.
Lin - Chi.
Being in the wrong place is a manifestation
of the mind in judgment of present circumstances.

20th April

2008-04-30T06:55:00.001-07:00

If you have sentiments about Buddhist teaching,
it becomes a worldly thing.
If you have no sentiments about worldly things,
they become Buddhist teaching.
Zen proverb.
No comment needed.

19th April

2008-04-30T06:54:00.000-07:00

Just see that Buddhism is not found in the world,
but do not yet conclude that there is nothing
worldly about Buddhism.
Dogen.
The world that we experience arises from Buddha nature
like a mirror image. Without Buddha nature it would not exist.

18th April

2008-04-30T06:53:00.000-07:00

To follow the Way, do not push away anything -
even sensual experiences and thoughts.
In fact, to completely accept them is enlightenment.
Seng - T'san.
Everything that arises in the mind must be accepted
and embraced as a manifestation of Buddha nature.
Only then will Buddha nature be revealed.

17th April

2008-04-30T06:52:00.001-07:00

Where there is beauty, there is ugliness.
When something is right, something else is wrong.
Knowledge and ignorance depend on each other.
Delusion and enlightenment condition each other.
It has been like this since the beginning.
How could it be otherwise now?
Wanting to chuck out one and hold onto the other
makes for a ridiculous comedy.
You must still deal with everything ever-changing,
even when you say it's all wonderful.
Ryokan.
To be in good or bad, happy or sad,
is to be attached to that which arises out of Buddha nature.
One must acknowledge that when you are happy, sad also
exists in the same moment.

16th April

2008-04-30T06:51:00.000-07:00

Finding the universal in every particular,
whether coming or going, they remain unmoving.
Finding the silence which contains thoughts,
whatever they do they hear the Truth.
Hakuin.
The universal is, yet contains all that we identify with,
constantly arising and sinking, always remaining pure Truth.

15th April

2008-04-30T06:50:00.000-07:00

It is wisdom that is seeking for wisdom.
Shunryu Suzuki.
This illustrates the dichotomy of you,
who is the manifestation of wisdom,
seeking yourself.

14th April

2008-04-30T06:49:00.000-07:00

Investigate your mind and realise your Buddha nature -
that which never rests nor moves, neither starts nor stops.
You will have wasted your lifetime if you don't.
Hui-neng.
Buddha nature is not the mind. It is the foundation from which the mind arises, like clouds in the sky, or waves in the sea.

13th April

2008-04-13T06:44:00.001-07:00

It is the sufferings and insecurities of our lives that,
although painful and distressing, teach us not to cling on
to the impermenent things of this world.
Not even the greatest master could teach us so well.
We should honour and respect them,
not shun their company.
T'ao -shan.
This illustrates the basic tenet of Buddhist teaching, that
it is our attachment to things of the world which causes our suffering.
If we were not worried about money, job, car, house, health, holiday, clothes
hair-style, physical looks, partner, family etc there would be nothing to centre
the energy on worry on. It would become redundant.
We create worry because we like to feel it. Take all of these things away,
including the NEED to worry, and what is left is Zen. The perfect acceptance
of nature as it unfolds in you as it's expression.

12th April

2008-04-13T06:38:00.000-07:00

Babbling about "Buddha" and "Dharma"
is an offense to both. Why break the quiet by talking
about silence? Why fracture reality by giving it a name?
Shen T'sing.
To live with Zen is to be in the total flow of nature as it unfolds.
The mind will try to understand what is happening and give it
a definition, a purpose. Zen is the recognition that you ARE nature
unfolding without purpose.

11th April

2008-04-13T06:34:00.000-07:00

It is not one, ot two, not both, and not neither.
You can't get hold of it. Don't try. For while the part sees
the Whole, there is no Zen, for there are two things, the
part and the Whole. Zen awareness must be an expansion
of consciousness beyond all knowledge of any kind
and beyond all process.
Christmas Humphreys.
No comment needed.

10th April

2008-04-13T03:22:00.000-07:00

What is Mind? It is the true nature of all sentient beings.
It existed before your parents were born and so before our
own birth. It exists now, eternally unchanging.
It is called "one's Face before one's parents were born."
It does not come into existence at birth and it does
not dissapear at death. It is not male or female. It is not good
or bad. It can't be compared to anything.
This is why it is called "Buddha-nature."
Bassui Tokusho.
In this text Mind is described as an eternally existing expression
of Life. It is the matrix in which all things exist and do not exist.
It is the medium through which expression happens yet it is
seperate from the happening. It is the eternal cause without
attachment to outcome.

9th April

2008-04-09T03:14:00.000-07:00

Someone who has seen into his self-nature,
sees it whenever questioned about it.
Hui-neng.
To see into one's own self-nature is to see and experience
the action and re-action of the conscious mind. When questioned
about the mind, the mind responds with projections of itself in
relation to the question thus revealing self-nature.

8th April

2008-04-09T03:09:00.000-07:00

An enlightened being is his own light.
He can see in the dark.
He turns on the light only for his guests.
He uses ideas only to illuminate his visitors.
Shen T'sing.
For the Zen master the light and the dark are the same
and he is reliant on neither. He enteres the world of the
ordinary man without attachment to play the game.

7th April

2008-04-07T04:01:00.000-07:00

When you can tell which man has an open inner eye,
I will admit that you really have had a personal interview
with the ancient sages.
Yuan-wu.
This indicates that to be in Buddha-consciousness, is to
recognise that consciousness in all other beings is the same
consciousness as that which is in me.

6th April

2008-04-06T02:45:00.000-07:00

Waiting in the cloakroom
of Reality
I am scared -
like a shy adolescent at a party
to knock (maybe)
and go in.
I'd rather look at the coats:
- try and figure out
who's already
inside.
Pete Rawlings.
This writer expresses how the conscious mind conditions our reactions to Reality, constanly playing scenarios based on our hopes and fears.

5th April

2008-04-06T02:36:00.000-07:00

In some religionsthe Holy Man is a figure of adoration and renown. But many of the greatest Zen masters of the past behaved and looked like tramps, and were regarded as mildly mad. Only the few, with an opened eye of the Buddhi, saw the greatness within the utterly happy but apparently irresponsible life of the sage.
Christmas Humphreys.

For me this text illustrates what we say in workshops; that you could pass the wisest man on the planet, in the street, and you would never know it. The trappings of greatness that we all recognise are worthless and of no consequence to the Zen master.

4th April

2008-04-06T02:32:00.000-07:00

Nature is much more concerned with play
than with reaching goals.
Alan Watts.
Nature is as an expression of the joy of Life.
It does not worry about outcomes or how to manifest,
it creates ever more beautiful expressions of itself
effortlessly.

3rd April

2008-04-03T09:38:00.000-07:00

Master Tao-sheng believed that everything had
Buddha-nature, which was a heresy at the time and he was
expelled from the Buddhist community. Tao-sheng, however,
was content to preach to the rocks, who it is said nodded in
agreement. Years later, master Ungan remarked that the
rocks had been nodding long before anyone had bothered to
speak to them.
This story shows how wisdom is naturally inherent in nature.

2nd April

2008-04-03T09:30:00.000-07:00

There was nothing sentimentalabout the masters
who used to box their disciples ears to bring them to their senses,
and who experienced life "close to nature" not only when she was
warm and pleasant but when she was freezing, wet, and stormy.
The sentimental "lover of Nature" only sees one side of her face;
when it is wet he goes indoors and speaks of the delightful hissing
of the rain on leaves. He does not let it trickle down his neck.
Alan Watts.
This text expresses how the Zen masters embraced all of the
manifestations of nature. It's counterpart in our lives is to embrace
ALL that life offers us including those things we would term 'difficult'
based on our opinions and judgements.

1st April

2008-04-02T09:36:00.001-07:00

Buddhism has no room for special effort.
Just be ordinary and nothing special.
Eat and drink, then move your bowels and pass water,
and when you're tired go to sleep.
Fool's will find me ridiculous,
But the wise will understand.
Lin-chi.
No comment needed.

31st March

2008-04-02T09:35:00.001-07:00

Zen masters are totally identified
with nature.
DT Suzuki.
Zen masters Are a manifestation of nature.

30th March

2008-04-02T09:34:00.001-07:00

One day and master was just about to give a sermon
when a bird started to sing. The master said nothing and
everyone listened to the bird. When the song stopped,
the master announced that the sermon had been preached
and went on his way.
This text again confirms that the manifestation of nature around us is the most profound teaching we will ever experience.

29th March

2008-04-02T09:33:00.000-07:00

For some with a special gift or a certain sharpness
of mind, a gesture or a word is all that is needed to impart
an immediate perception of Truth.
Chiang Chih-chi.
This text indicates that the simplest word or gesture is often all that is needed for a person who is in conscious awareness to experience the Truth.

28th March

2008-04-02T09:32:00.002-07:00

A Samurai warrior approached master Hakuin and asked, " What is hell and heaven?" The master took one look at the Samurai and started insulting him saying,
" You are such a scruffy looking warrior you would never understand anything."
The Samurai became furious and pulled out his sword.
"There!" Said Hakuin. "This is hell. "
The Samurai had a flash of illumination and was overcome
with gratitude, humbly bowing before the master. Hakuin
said, " There! This is heaven."
The Master indicated to the Samurai that self opinion, which generates striving, causes constant dissatisfaction, our own personal hell. To recognize this is to be centered in the Self, in perfect harmony.

27th March

2008-04-02T09:32:00.001-07:00

Student: "Show me the way to enlightenment."
Master: "Do you hear that babbling brook?"
Student: "Yes."
Master: "Enter there."
Nature, as it manifests around us is the Self.

26th March

2008-04-02T09:31:00.000-07:00

When Zen wants you to taste the sweetness of sugar
it puts the required article in your mouth and
no further words are said.
DT Suzuki.
Life will bring you all that you require without struggle. It will arise as naturally as your next breath.

25th March

2008-04-02T09:30:00.002-07:00

I remember when as a boy lying on my back on the grass, gazing into the summer blue above me, and wishing I could melt into it - become a part of it. Now I think that in those days I was really close to a great truth - touching it in fact without the faintest suspicion of its existence. I mean the truth that the wish to become is reasonable in direct ratio to its largeness - or in other words that the more you wish to be, the wiser you are; while the wish to have is apt to be foolish in proportion to its largeness. Cosmic law permits us very few of the countless things that we wish to have, but will help us to become all that we can possibly wish to be.
Lafcadio Hearn.
In this quote is a definition of what is easily attained and that which is not. We are already all that we wish to be, but strive to possess things external to the self based on the illusion that that which exists outside of ourselves is real and can bring happiness and contentment.

24th March

2008-04-02T09:30:00.001-07:00

You cannot tread the path
before you have become the path yourself.
Zen saying.
No Comment needed.

23rd March

2008-04-02T09:29:00.000-07:00

We see it, yet it is not seen.
We hear it, yet it is not heard.
We talk about it, yet it is not talked about.
We know it and yet it is not known.
Tell me, how does this happen?
Yuan-wu.
This quote defines intuition. Knowing without reference to the facilities of mind.

22nd March

2008-04-02T09:28:00.000-07:00

How then do we know? By the intuition.
This intuition is direct and immediate in experience.
By it we know, as immediately as the hand that picks
up a red hot instrument knows pain.
Christmas Humphreys.
Truth is perceived by direct knowing without thought.

21st March

2008-04-02T09:27:00.002-07:00

Seeing the Bull.

At this stage the student catches a glimpse of his own true nature. When the world and the self are known to be One, the bull is seen everywhere, beyond description and penetrating all things. He has caught the vision, but it is fleeting. Kuo-an Shih-yuan writes:

Birdsong from within the branches,
warm sun and cool breeze,
green willows by the riverbank.
There is nowhere for the ball to hide.
Who could paint such a huge head
and such penetrating horns?

The oxherd listens hard and finds the way. His senses become harmonious and he sees into the source of things. It is obvious in everything he does. This unity is like salt in water. When he is completely clear, he will discover that even the smallest thing is not apart from the self.
Throughout this journey the bull signifies the mind. The oxherd is pulled along by the mind but gradually realizes that all that passes him by is mind also. The distinction between oxherd, bull, and journey starts to merge into one.

21st March.
Someone may be deluded for lifetimes,
but may attain Buddhahood in a moment.
Hui-neng.
The true nature of Self is always accompanying us wherever we go. One only has to catch a glimpse of this to be changed forever.

20th March

2008-04-02T09:27:00.001-07:00

Zen is a way of being happy.
T'ao-shan.
Happiness for me in this quote is about being free from attachments of the mind. When the mind is still, happiness arises as a natural condition.

19th March

2008-04-02T09:26:00.001-07:00

The secret is within your Self.
Hui-neng.
To find the nature of the Self, your very essence is Zen.

18th March

2008-03-16T05:18:00.000-07:00

Shall I compare this life to a lightening flash
or a drop of dew?
Before I have even spoken these words,
it has passed.
Sengai

Life as identified by self can dissapear in an instant. The
realisation of Truth can occur spontaneously by observing
either of the above and realising they are you.

17th March

2008-03-16T05:12:00.000-07:00

Hakuin boldly calligraphed the character for the word "DEATH", and
then added, "If anyone can see into the depths of this word he is
a true hero."

For me, to be a hero one must undertake an heroic act.
To embrace this word, and find out who is it that will
die, is truly heroic.

16th March

2008-03-16T05:07:00.000-07:00

What is the ultimate teaching of Buddhism?
You won't understand it until you have it.
Shih-T'ou

Zen is an inherent realisation of Truth. This cannot be taught
but must be experienced. The texts in this blogger strip away
the illusion of self to reveal what has been there all along.

15th March

2008-03-15T02:37:00.000-07:00

Just get rid of the false and you will
automatically realise the true.
Ho-shan

What is displayed here is the world of opposites.
By the release of the false, the truth will be automatically revealed.
For me, however, these are opposite sides of the swinging
pendulum. The still pendulum is the balance between the two,
yet partakes of the nature of both. The pendulum at rest is
Zen.

14th March

2008-03-14T00:55:00.000-07:00

The Buddhas are all his servants. Who is he?
When you see him you will feel as if you have met
your own father at the end of the road.
You won't need to ask anyone else
if you are right or wrong.
Ekai

For me this describes where perception merges into one.
The realisation that there is only IT. Everyone you meet,
and everything you percieve becomes just part of IT,
including you.

13th March

2008-03-13T00:31:00.000-07:00

A student came to a monastery to seek the truth of
Buddhism. "Why have you come to a monastery?"
asked the master. "Why do you neglect your own
precious treasure at home?" "What is my treasure?"
asked the student. "The one who asks the question
is the treasure," replied the master.

We often feel that if we could change something in
our lives it will make that life better. To do lots of
meditation or visit a holy place will somehow change
our perception of self. The Zen masters taught that
the most profound practice was to live life wherever
you may find it.

12th March

2008-03-13T00:25:00.000-07:00

Do you want the truth?
Then abandon words and silence,
and live your own Zen.
Ekai.

The master shows that doing anything, even not doing,
is mind. Abandon this without doing and you are
expressing your Zen.

11th March

2008-03-13T00:18:00.000-07:00

Vimalakirti asked Manjusri what was the Buddha's
doctrine of nonduality. Manjusri answered,
"The doctine is realised by one who sees beyond forms
and who knows beyond argument. This is my understanding
- what is yours?" In response to this question,
Vimalakirti closed his lips and was silent.

The Zen masters would often teach by non-doing. Duality is
an expression of mind. By remaining silent the master
shows that non-duality is stillness that cannot be expressed.

10th March

2008-03-13T00:09:00.000-07:00

In a certain sense Zen is feeling life
instead of feeling something about life.
Alan Watts.

This quote is reiterating that life is meant to
be lived not thought about. Expressing life
not thinking about expressing it.

9th March

2008-03-09T03:01:00.000-07:00

Spring flowers, autumn moon,
Summer breeze, winter snow -
When the mind is free from
unnecessary thoughts,
Every season is just perfect!
Ekai.

Take the mind away from creating an illusory
reality and all of nature is revealed in it's
simplicity and glory.