There was once a lady who was arrogant and proud. Determined to attain enlightenment, she asked all the authorities how to go about it. She was told, "Well, if you climb to the top of this very high mountain, you'll find a cave there. Sitting inside that cave is a wise old woman. She will tell you."
Having endured great hardships, the lady finally found this cave. Sure enough, sitting there was a gentle spiritual-looking old woman in white clothing, who smiled beatifically. Overcome with awe and respect, the lady prostrated at the feet of this woman and said, "I want to attain enlightenment. Show me how."
The wise woman looked at her and asked sweetly, "Are you sure you want to attain enlightenment?" And the lady said, "Of course I'm sure." Whereupon the smiling woman turned into a demon, stood up brandishing a great big stick, and started chasing her, saying, "Now! Now! Now!"
For the rest of her life, that lady could never get away from the demon who was always saying, "Now!"
Now - that's the key. Mindfulness trains us to be awake and alive, fully curious, about now. The out breath is now, the in breath is now, waking up from our fantasies is now, and even the fantasies are now. The more you can be completely now, the more you realize that you're always standing in the middle of a sacred circle.
Whatever you're doing, you're doing it now.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Edward Abbey
One final paragraph of advice: Do not burn yourself out. Be as I am – a reluctant enthusiast, a part time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it is still there. So get out there and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, encounter the grizz, climb the mountains. Run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, that lovely, mysterious and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to your body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much: I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those deskbound people with their hearts in a safe deposit box and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this: you will outlive the bastards.
zen story
A monk asked Seng ts'an, "Master, show me the way to liberation."
Seng ts'an replied, "Who binds you?"
The monk responded, "No one binds me."
Seng ts'an said, "Then why do you seek liberation?"
Seng ts'an replied, "Who binds you?"
The monk responded, "No one binds me."
Seng ts'an said, "Then why do you seek liberation?"
timothy speed levitch
i am cruising currently right now
i am cruising because i have dedicated myself
to all that is creative and destructive in my life right now
and i'm equally in love
with every aspect of my life
and all the ingredients that have caused me turmoil
and all the ingredients that have caused me glory
in that active verb 'fleeting' there i live
there i reside in this moment
i have dedicated myself to the idiom 'i don't know'
i am in love with the frantic chaos of this limitless universe
i am cruising because i have dedicated myself
to all that is creative and destructive in my life right now
and i'm equally in love
with every aspect of my life
and all the ingredients that have caused me turmoil
and all the ingredients that have caused me glory
in that active verb 'fleeting' there i live
there i reside in this moment
i have dedicated myself to the idiom 'i don't know'
i am in love with the frantic chaos of this limitless universe
J. Krishnamurti
So, when living, be with death, so that you are a guest in this world, so that you have no roots anywhere, so that you have a brain that is amazingly alive. Because if you carry all the burdens of yesterday, your brain becomes mechanical, dull. If you leave all the psychological memories, hurts, pains, behind, every day, then it means dying and living are together. In that there is no fear.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Paul F. Knitter, Without Buddha I Could Not Be A Christian
"Nothing, absolutely nothing, remains just what it is. For Buddhists, the most basic fact or quality of the world is not being, as it is for most Western philosophers and theologians: it’s becoming. To be is to become, one can “be” only if one is in motion. (We can note an immediate difference here from what we heard about the Christian God: for Western, Christian theologians, to call God perfect means he doesn’t change; for Buddhists, if we call God perfect, it means that God is the most changeable reality we could imagine!)
But just why is everything impermanent and in constant change? The answer has to do with what might be called the flip-side of anicca: pratityasamutpada, or, technically, “interdependent origination.” More simply: everything changes because everything is interrelated. Everything comes into being and continues in being through and with something else. Nothing, Buddha came to see, has its own existence. In fact, when he wanted to describe the human self, or the self/identity of anything, the term he used was anatta, which means literally no-self… We are not “selves” in the sense of individual, separate, independent “things.” Rather, we are constantly changing because we are constantly interrelating (or being interrelated)."
But just why is everything impermanent and in constant change? The answer has to do with what might be called the flip-side of anicca: pratityasamutpada, or, technically, “interdependent origination.” More simply: everything changes because everything is interrelated. Everything comes into being and continues in being through and with something else. Nothing, Buddha came to see, has its own existence. In fact, when he wanted to describe the human self, or the self/identity of anything, the term he used was anatta, which means literally no-self… We are not “selves” in the sense of individual, separate, independent “things.” Rather, we are constantly changing because we are constantly interrelating (or being interrelated)."
hagakure quotes
If by setting one's heart right every morning and evening, one is able to live as though his body were already dead, he gains freedom in the Way.
But there is one transcending level, and this is the most excellent of all. This person is aware of the endlessness of entering deeply into a certain Way and never thinks of himself as having finished. He truly knows his own insufficiencies and never in his whole life thinks that he has succeeded. He has no thoughts of pride but with self-abasement knows the Way to the end. It is said that Master Yagyu once remarked, "I do not know the way to defeat others, but the way to defeat myself."
When the time comes, there is no moment for reasoning. Above all, the Way of the Samurai should be in being aware that you do not know what is going to happen next, and in querying every item day or night.
If one does not get it into his head from the very beginning that the world is full of unseemly situations, for the most part his demeanor will be poor and he will not be believed by others.
It is not good to settle into a set of opinions. it is a mistake to put forth effort and obtain some understanding and then stop at that. At first putting forth great effort to be sure that you have grasped the basics, then practicing so that they may come to fruition is something that will never stop for your whole lifetime. Do not rely on following the degree of understanding that you have discovered, but simply think, "this is not enough."
"As a human being, what is essential in terms of purpose and discipline?"
"It is to become of the mind that is right now pure and lacking complications."
There is nothing outside the thought of the immediate moment.
There is something to be learned from a rainstorm. When meeting with a sudden shower, you try not to get wet and run quickly along the road. But doing such things as passing under the eaves of houses, you still get wet. When you are resolved from the beginning, you will not be perplexed, though you still get the same soaking. This understanding extends to everything.
But there is one transcending level, and this is the most excellent of all. This person is aware of the endlessness of entering deeply into a certain Way and never thinks of himself as having finished. He truly knows his own insufficiencies and never in his whole life thinks that he has succeeded. He has no thoughts of pride but with self-abasement knows the Way to the end. It is said that Master Yagyu once remarked, "I do not know the way to defeat others, but the way to defeat myself."
When the time comes, there is no moment for reasoning. Above all, the Way of the Samurai should be in being aware that you do not know what is going to happen next, and in querying every item day or night.
If one does not get it into his head from the very beginning that the world is full of unseemly situations, for the most part his demeanor will be poor and he will not be believed by others.
It is not good to settle into a set of opinions. it is a mistake to put forth effort and obtain some understanding and then stop at that. At first putting forth great effort to be sure that you have grasped the basics, then practicing so that they may come to fruition is something that will never stop for your whole lifetime. Do not rely on following the degree of understanding that you have discovered, but simply think, "this is not enough."
"As a human being, what is essential in terms of purpose and discipline?"
"It is to become of the mind that is right now pure and lacking complications."
There is nothing outside the thought of the immediate moment.
There is something to be learned from a rainstorm. When meeting with a sudden shower, you try not to get wet and run quickly along the road. But doing such things as passing under the eaves of houses, you still get wet. When you are resolved from the beginning, you will not be perplexed, though you still get the same soaking. This understanding extends to everything.
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