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#1799 - Sunday, May 16, 2004 - Editor: Gloria Lee

  Harsha - HarshaSatsangh  

One instant is eternity;
Eternity is the now
When you see through this one instant,
You see through the one who sees.  

By Wu-men (1183-1260)  

Remember the clear light, the pure clear white light from which everything in the universe comes, to which everything in the universe returns; the original nature of your own mind. The natural state of the universe unmanifest.

Let go into the clear light, trust it, merge with it. It is your own true nature, it is home.

-Tibetan Book of the Dead

From "Teachings of the Buddha," edited by Jack Kornfield

  Bharani - Million Paths

Are you really Doing Anything?

Walk, eat, drink, sleep, meditate; but never think that you are the one who is doing these things. The thought that you are are doing something is the thought that is poisoning your life. —Because once you think that you are doing something, you will start to think that you need to be doing something else to put yourself in a better situation.    

You don't have to do anything to experience the nectar of the Self. All you need to do is drop the idea that you  are doing anything at all.  

David Godman: Annamalai Swami ~ Final Talks  

Trying to find a buddha or enlightenment is like trying to grab space. Space has a name but no form. It’s not something you can pick up or put down. And you certainly can’t grab it. Beyond this mind you’ll never see a buddha. The buddha is a product of your mind. Why look for a buddha beyond this mind?

- Bodhidharma (d. 533)

The real way circulates everywhere;
how could it require
practice or enlightenment?
The essential teaching is fully available;
how could effort be necessary?
Furthermore, the entire mirror is
free of dust; why take steps to polish it?
Nothing is separate from this
very place; why journey away?

- Dogen (1200-1253)

Just put thoughts to rest;
Don’t seek outwardly anymore.
When things come up,
Then give them your attention;
Just trust what is functional
In you at present,
And you have nothing
To be concerned about.

- Linji (d. 867)

Water Jar for Tea Ceremony
Mie Prefecture
Momoyama to Edo period, late 16th-early 17th century
Stoneware with impressed design under glaze (Iga ware)

Designed with impressed gridlike patterns on a green and brown glaze, this water jar is a perfect statement of simplicity, humility, and rusticity, the Japanese aesthetic celebrating the everyday. The patronage of tea wares is one way in which military leaders gained political legitimacy, embracing cultural forms that related to high spiritual values typified by the Chinese scholar-recluse. Not only were rustic ceramics such as this water jar intensely coveted and carefully guarded, most of the wares were given names, biographies, and diaries to designate their status and importance.

http://www.asiasociety.org/arts/japanmovie/object22.html

The sixth ancestor of Zen
Said to someone who had
Just been awakened,
“What I tell you is not a secret.
The secret is in you.”
Another Zen master said to a companion,
“Everything flows from your own heart.”

- Fayan

To drink up the ocean and turn a mountain
Upside down is an ordinary affair for a Zennist.
Zen seekers should sit on the site of universal
Enlightenment right in the midst of all the thorny
Situations in life,
And recognize their original face while mixing
With the ordinary world.

- Huanglong

Just by listening with your eyes
you can fold back on yourself and
merge into that primal
stream of awareness
like a river is swallowed by the
immensity of the ocean.
Only then will you know
the point to live from.

- Ji Aoi Isshi

Frog and Snail, hanging scroll by Sengai Gibon (1750-1837). Ink on paper.

http://www.shermanleeinstitute.org/exhibition-fall-00.html

The buddhas of past, present, and future,
And all of their scriptural discourses,
Are all in your original nature,
Inherently complete.
You do not need to seek,
But you must save yourself.
No one can do it for you.

- Hsueh-feng (822-908)

Shotoku
Male Figure, possibly Prince Shotoku
Kamakura period, early 14th century
Gilt bronze

Though this charming figure has not been identified, the court robes and looped braids suggest that he is Prince Regent Shotoku. His size suggests that he was placed in a family temple for private worship.

Among the most important figures in Japanese history, Prince Shotoku (r. 593-622) adopted Chinese and Korean policies and doctrines for Japan, and instigated major cultural, religious, economic, and political reforms. He introduced Buddhism, a foreign religion that successfully coexisted with native Shinto beliefs. He Japanized foreign systems and beliefs, in the process clarifying a notion of Japaneseness. For this, Shotoku was venerated as a national hero during his lifetime, and deified after his death. The cult of Shotoku resulted in the proliferation of his images, which were placed in temples as well as domestic shrines.

http://www.asiasociety.org/arts/japanmovie/object12.html

Daily Dharma

"When it came time to die, Yamaoka Tesshu
bathed and put on a stainless white kimono. Following convention, his
disciples requested a death verse. Tesshu immediately recited this
haiku:

'Tightening my abdomen
against the pain -
The caw of a morning crow.'

"Since his disciples had never heard of a death verse with the word
'pain' in it - they thought 'peace,' 'light,' or a similar sentiment
would be more appropriate for a Zen Master - they were hesitant to make
it public. With trepidation, they gave the verse to the Abbot Gasan when
he asked for it. 'What a magnificent death verse,' he exclaimed. When
the crow flew past and cried out, Tesshu was hemorrhaging, his stomach
eaten away by his cancer - those two events filled the cosmos.

"Tesshu placed himself in formal zazen posture, bid his family and
friends good-bye... took a deep breath, and entered eternal meditation.
He was fifty-three years old. The abbot composed this verse for his
funeral:

'Sword and brush poised between the Absolute and the Relative,
His loyal courage and noble strength praised the Heavens,
A dream of fifty-three years,
Enveloped by the pure fragrance of a lotus
blooming in the midst of a raging fire."

~Sushila Blackman


From the book, "Graceful Exists, How Great Beings Die," published by Weatherhill.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0834803917/angelinc

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