Life is a dream,
the years pass by like flowing waters.
Glamour and glory are transient as autumn smoke;
what tragedy — for with the sun set deeply in the
west, still there are those lost among
paths of disillusionment.
Our heart
should be clear as ice.
Forget all the worldly nonsense.
Sit calmly, breathe quietly, heart bright
and spotless as an empty mirror.
This is the path to
the buddha’s
table.
from here you can teach yourself everything
Don’t try to
escape from the movements of the
world. Remain in the midst of everything,
focused into the empty space at the
center of your self.
Pouring your
whole being there without pause,
alert, quietly smiling, you detach from clamor
and chaos and become independent and
free. From here you can teach
yourself everything.
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Students,
sit earnestly in zazen,
and you will realize that everything
born in this world is ultimately empty,
including oneself and the original face of existence.
All things indeed emerge out of emptiness. This original
formlessness is “Buddha,” and all other similar terms — Buddha-
nature, Buddhahood, Buddha-mind, Awakened One, Patriarch,
God — are merely different expressions for the same
emptiness. Misunderstand this and you
will end up distracted
for eons.
An influence comes.
Good fortune to those
whose hearts are
correct.
The hexagram Hsien indicates the coming of an influence. This may take the form of a teaching from the Sage, an interaction with another, or a disturbing or pleasing event. In any case, there is good fortune if you meet the influence with proper thoughts and actions.
It is a good time to remember that like attracts like. If one gives expression to higher things, then one is surrounded by higher things. If one indulges in what is inferior, then one can expect to have the company of inferiors. Therefore, it is wise to cling steadily to humility, independence, gentleness, and openness.
With others, keep an open heart, free of desire, condemning no one, enjoying affinities while retaining your equanimity. With the Sage, keep a clear connection. Seek resolutely to serve as a conduit for truth and innocence and goodness.
If the influence is challenging, persevere in correctness. If it is pleasing, also persevere in correctness. Maintaining your devotion to higher things insures success in the coming time.
from The I Ching, or Book of Changes
Hexagram 31 Influence (Wooing)
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In order to
be a proper teacher to
oneself, one must be part midwife,
part executioner: sometimes rebirthing oneself,
sometimes annihilating and leaving useless bits by the
wayside, until the self soars free and clear of
attachment, obstruction, and delusion
and joins all buddhas past,
present, and
future.
Then one
can stop fracturing
reality with names and ideas
of self, other, buddha,
enlightenment,
and so on.
There,
beyond definitions
and beyond mind, reality
flows like pure
water.
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.
