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#2408 -
Thursday, March 2, 2006 - Editor: Gloria Lee
Corrections from #2406: Sam P. says he found the Buddha with
cardinals photo on the internet. Sorry for assuming he took it.
The correct link to the article on R. H. Blyth: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._H._Blyth
Enlightenment absorbs this universe of qualities.
When that merging occurs, there is nothing
but God. This is the only doctrine.
There is no word for it, no mind
to understand it with, no categories
of transcendence or non-transcendence,
no vow of silence, no mystical attitude.
There is no Shiva and no Shakti
in enlightenment, and if there is something
that remains, that whatever-it-is
is the only teaching.
- Lalla
14th Century North Indian mystic
From "Naked Song"
Versions by Coleman Barks
posted to Along the Way
It’s because you can’t stop your mind running about and
seeking everywhere, like searching for your head with your head.
Turn your own light upon yourself and never seek elsewhere, then
you’ll know your body and mind are no different from the
buddhas & patriarchs, and you’ll have nothing to do
— this is obtaining the Dharma.
Died 867
(Lin-chi Yi-sen, Lin-chi I-hsuan, Rinzai, Rinzai Gigen)
Lin Chi's teachings encourage people to have faith that their
natural spontaneous functioning is the true Buddha-Mind. In this
pure state of being, one does not obstruct, block, withhold, or
repress anything. In this state of being, freedom from attachment
does not mean to be without feeling, but rather it means:
entering into all activities with your whole heart, not holding
anything back, being at one with any situation. This is the
enlightened way to live an ordinary life. When Lin Chi's students
told him they were searching for deliverance from this world he
would ask them: if they were delivered from the world, where
could they go? He advised his student to live simply and
wholeheartedly, without blind, enslaving desire:
"When it's time to get dressed, put on your clothes. When
you must walk, then walk. When you must sit, then sit. Just be
your ordinary self in ordinary life, unconcerned in seeking for
Buddhahood. When you're tired, lie down. The fool will laugh at
you but the wise man will understand."
source: http://sped2work.tripod.com/linchi.html
posted by Ben Hassine to Awakened Awareness
Entering The Marketplace With Open Hands
The final picture shows a ragged, pot-bellied man walking
barefoot bearing a sack full of goodies. This last stage
represents freedom, wisdom and compassion. We are not encumbered
by appearances. We adapt freely to high and low places. We find
spirituality everywhere, it is not confined to monasteries and
secluded places. Meditation and realization do not make us
passive but active. We are deeply connected to the world, we feel
its suffering and we want to respond and help. Our bag is full of
joy, compassion, understanding, loving-kindness, wisdom and
skilful means.
We naturally give to ourselves and others what is beneficial. We
listen deeply, we observe unobtrusively and respond
appropriately. When we give we do not expect anything. We are not
superior to others when we help them, on the contrary helping
them is like helping ourselves and we are grateful they give us
that opportunity to extend ourselves. When we love it is with
total acceptance. We do not help only people we like but also
people who are difficult. However, we do not force our
ideas—our opinions, what works for us—on others. We try
to bring lightness into people's lives. We do not take it all too
seriously.
When we look at the Ten Oxherding Pictures we have to be careful
not to think that self-development and Zen practice go in a
straight line. It is more like a spiral. We go round and up,
hopefully. We go back to different stages but with more
understanding. We deepen our realization of each stage as we
continue on the path. We still have delusions and attachments to
shed. We discover more ways to develop concentration and enquiry
further. Master Kusan had three different major awakenings, and
each time he continued to practise even more. The last time, his
own teacher, Master Hyobong, said: "Until now you have been
following me; now it is I who should follow you."
last commentary is from Zen, by Martine Batchelor.
http://peace.wikicities.com/wiki/Ox_9_%26_10#Entering_The_Marketplace_With_Open_Hands
posted by ts to Allspirit
"The beauty of the heart
is the lasting beauty:
its lips give to drink
of the water of life.
Truly it is the water,
that which pours,
and the one who drinks.
All three become one when
your talisman is shattered.
That oneness you can't know
by reasoning."
~ Rumi, Mathnawi II, 716-718
posted by Mazie Lane to Allspirit
Shunryu Suzuki - "Crooked Cucumber"
"Our mind should be free from traces of the past, just like
the flowers of spring."
"When my master and I were walking in the rain, he would
say, 'Do not walk so fast, the rain is everywhere'."
"Our practice should be based on the idea of selflessness.
Selflessness is very difficult to understand. If you try to be
selfless, that is already a selfish idea. Selflessness will be
there when you do not try anything. When you are practicing with
a good teacher, you will naturally be not so selfish."
"Moment after moment, completely devote yourself to
listening to your inner voice."
"When a tree stands up by itself, we call that tree a
buddha."
"We should practice with a beginner's real innocence, devoid
of ideas of good or bad, gain or loss."
"As long as you seek for something, you will get the shadow
of reality and not reality itself."
"Just to be there in the corner of the garden is
enough."
Bodhidharma said, 'I don't know.' 'I don't know' is the first
principle. Do you understand? The first principle cannot be known
in terms of good or bad, right or wrong, because it is both right
and wrong."
"We get no letters from the world of emptiness, but when you
see the plant flower, when you hear the sound of bamboo hit by
the small stone, that is a letter from the world of
emptiness."
"Buddhism is transmitted from warm hand to warm hand."
"There is no special path which is true."
"The ancient bodhisattvas were not afraid of, but found joy
in failure, poverty and death -- and in doing small things."
"Nirvana is seeing one thing through to the end."
posted By Mazie Lane to Unsay Myself
The Distracted Centipede - a Yoga Experience
by Mina Semyon
*Love thy neighbour as thyself.*
'Love is letting the other be, but with concern and affection.'
~R.D. Laing
All a sane man can ever care about is giving love.
~Hafiz
What really makes a difference to me is whether you listen to
me with an open heart, acknowledging that fundamentally we
are in the same boat; that we feel empathy for each other and
that we can meet in our aloneness and companionship. Then
we might find joy in our hearts. We are companions on the way,
spiritual friends who are not trying to outsmart one another by
our wit, intellect, and 'power clothes' or prove, 'I am right and
you are wrong'.
If we can admit our vulnerability we can have a good laugh
at our predicament, how precarious our existence and what
a joke that we are trying to hide it from ourselves and each
other, rather than getting on with whatever it is we are doing,
simply, from the heart. Our wits would become sharper and
what a celebration there would be if all of us humans, can you
imagine, would just drop hanging on to our puny identities, and
have a song and dance.
'This is what I understand by 'love thy neighbour as thyself' ...
to wish other people what you wish for yourself ... the gift of
effortless being, in harmony with the laws of life, and with love
in our hearts.
*Ease comes from not having to pretend at all.*
The centipede was happy quite
Until a toad in fun
Said, 'Pray, which leg comes after which?'
This raised her mind to such a pitch
She lay distracted in a ditch
Considering how to run.
you can read more here:
http://www.trafford.com/robots/04-0754.html
Ed. note: A website well worth the trip! And the link works, I
tested it.
posted by Gill Eardley to Allspirit