If you live on the breath,
you won’t be tortured by hunger and
thirst, or the longing to touch. The purpose of
being born is fulfilled in the state
between “I am” and
“That”.
If you live on the breath,
you won’t be tortured by hunger and
thirst, or the longing to touch. The purpose of
being born is fulfilled in the state
between “I am” and
“That”.
Abandonment of self is freedom from desire.
Freedom from desire is freedom from distress.
No this, no that — just exquisite emptiness.
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The Fifth Ancestor
Daimin Konin wanted to find
his successor. He asked the monks to write
a poem to express their understanding. Jinshu,
the headmonk, wrote the following poem
on the wall in the middle
of the night:
Our body is the bodhi tree,
our mind a mirror bright.
Carefully wipe then hour by hour,
and let no dust alight.
When Eno saw this
next day, he said to the monk
standing next to him, “I too have a poem.
Since I am illiterate, would you
write it down for me?”
There is no bodhi tree,
nor stand of a mirror bright.
Since all is void,
where can the dust alight?
When Konin saw this, he
knew the author had the understanding
he was looking for, and he recognized Eno as
his dharma heir and hence the
Sixth Ancestor.
branching streams flow in the darkness
What do sad people
have in common? It seems they
have all built a shrine to the past and
often go there and do a strange
wail and worship.
What is the
beginning of happiness?
It is to stop being
so religious
like that.
Soul guides and
prophets have an innate innocence,
but they are subject to the same consequences
as everyone. If a donkey veers off course, he will be hit
with a stick. If you do wrong, you will be punished. Abu Bakr
said that steadiness is the central virtue. From the
mind’s steadiness comes a right action
which in turn balances the
intelligence.
They asked me
why prophets were given hardships.
I said it helps to have clear indications. And I added
silently to myself, Be more humble like someone
held captive. Bow to the one who
can free you.