Posts Tagged → compassion
today like every other day
Today,
like every other day,
we wake up empty and frightened.
Don’t open the door to the study and begin reading.
Take down a musical instrument. Let the beauty
we love be what we do. There are hundreds
of ways to kneel and kiss
the ground.
awaken to your own mind
The unenlightened person
does not understand his own true nature,
does not realize the Pure Land in his own body,
and thus petitions all over. The enlightened person
never differs no matter where he is. For this reason
the Buddha says, “Wherever I may be I am always
in comfort and bliss…If only your mind is pure,
your own nature is itself the Pure
Land of the West.”
Being in tremendous turmoil,
the unoriented do not know that their own
mind is Buddha. They search about, outside of themselves,
spending the whole day contemplating the Buddha and paying
homage. But where is the Buddha? Do not entertain any
such false views. Awaken to your own mind:
outside the mind there can
be no Buddha.
your heart clear as crystal
The speech of the birds
and the voices of the insects are all
the secret of transmitting mind; the brilliance
of the flowers and colors of the grasses
are all writings on seeing
the Way.
To learn, it is necessary
to have your higher potential clarified
thoroughly and your heart clear as crystal.
Then you will find understanding
of mind whatever you
encounter.
create from joy
The most
beautiful paintings and
sculptures, the greatest poetry,
have not always been born from torment
or bitterness. Often they have sprung from
contemplation, from joy, from an instinct or wonder
toward all things. To create from joy, to create from wonder,
demands a continual discipline, a great compassion…With time
and sincerity, you will discover a way to work and write that does
not harm you spiritually, that does not tempt you to vanity,
that is the deepest expression of your spirituality. You
will find a voice that is not your voice only, but the
voice of Reality itself. . . If you can be empty
enough, that voice can speak through you.
If you can be humble enough, that
voice can inhabit you
and use you.