Posts Tagged → buddhism

if you can penetrate “i don’t know”

 

Emperor Wu

of Liang asked Bodhidharma,

“I have built temples and had monks

ordained without number: what merit is there

in this?” Bodhidharma said, “There is no merit.”

The emperor said, “Why no merit?” Bodhidharma

said, “These are just the lesser fruits of gods

and men, causes of defilement: like

shadows following shapes,

though they’re there,

they’re not

real.”

 

The Emperor

said, “What is true merit?”

Bodhidharma answered, “The subtle

perfection of pure wisdom, its essence naturally

empty and still. Such merit is not to be sought with worldly

means.” Only then did the Emperor ask, “What is the

highest meaning of the holy truths?” Bodhidharma

answered, “Empty, without holiness.”

The Emperor said, “Who is facing

me?” Bodhidharma replied,

“I don’t know.”

 

The Emperor

did not understand, so

Bodhidharma crossed the river

into Wei. If you want to see real merit

right now, don’t look for it anywhere else,

just comprehend it in “I don’t know”.

If you can penetrate those three

words, the task of your whole

life’s study will be

completed.

 

Dahui

 

this mysterious place of not-knowing

rip lion

 

Between their births

and their deaths, three out of ten

are attached to life, three out of ten are

attached to death, three out of ten are just

idly passing through. Only one knows

how to die and stay dead and

still go on living.

 

That one

hasn’t any ambitions,

hasn’t any ideas, makes no plans.

From this mysterious place of not-knowing

and non-doing he gives birth to whatever is needed

in the moment. Because he is constantly filling his being

with nonbeing, he can travel the wilds without

worrying about tigers or wild buffalo,

or he can cross a battlefield

without armor or

weapon.

 

No tiger can claw him.

No buffalo can gore him.

No weapon can pierce him.

 

Why is this so?

Because he has died, there

isn’t any more room for

death in him.

 

from The Tao te Ching of Lao Tzu,

Chapter 50

 

ebooks & apps of the Tao the Ching, I Ching,

Wei wu Wei Ching, Hua hu Ching, and

Art of War for iPad/Phone, Kindle,

Nook, or Android

 

You

can now buy

Tao te Ching as part of a

five-app bundle of Taoist classics 

for iPhone or iPad for less than

the cost of one hardcover

book.

brian browne walker taoist app bundle ios ipad iphone

 

marry mind to breath and look within

joni niemala

 

The

entirety

of the Oneness is

contained within you.

Don’t believe it?

Go look.

 

The

senses can’t perceive it.

Thought fails to apprehend it.

Approach by sacrificing all knowing

and doing, though, and it 

envelops you.

 

Marry

mind to breath and

look within until all false

concepts and imaginings

come to an end. This

is the center of

the Way.
 

 

Wei wu Wei Ching, Chapter 63

Paperback / Kindle here

iPad/iPhone

iBooks

 

brian browne walker taoist app bundle ios ipad iphone

You

can now buy

Wei wu Wei Ching as part of a

five-app bundle of Taoist classics 

for iPhone or iPad for less than

the cost of one hardcover

book.

 

those who follow tao

always at peace

 

Those who follow

Tao strive for perfection,

but they are wary about being called

prophets. That is a limited role. Being a prophet

represents a great trap baited with the temptation of

self-importance. The ultimate aim of following

Tao is to transcend identity. Those who call

themselves prophets or even masters

maximize their identities.

 

It is far better

not to be a prophet, and to

eschew the responsibilities, limitations,

and temptations. It is far better to be obscure

and to be thought stupid. Having someone call you

by a title is an interference that you don’t need.

When you are seeing the greatest wonder

of your life, the last thing you want

is to have someone blocking

the light. 

 

Deng Ming-Dao