
The universal body
of reality is so subtle that you
do not hear it when you deliberately
listen for it, and you do not see it when you
look at it. As for the pure knowledge that
has no teacher, how can it be attained
by thought or study?

The universal body
of reality is so subtle that you
do not hear it when you deliberately
listen for it, and you do not see it when you
look at it. As for the pure knowledge that
has no teacher, how can it be attained
by thought or study?

lucien stryk on shinkichi takahashi
I hold a newspaper, reading.
Suddenly my hands become cow ears,
Then turn into Pusan, the South Korean port.
Lying on a mat
Spread on the bankside stones,
I fell asleep.
But a willow leaf, breeze-stirred,
Brushed my ear.
I remained just as I was,
Near the murmurous water.
When young there was a girl
Who became a fish for me.
Whenever I wanted fish
Broiled in salt, I’d summon her.
She’d get down on her stomach
To be sun-cooked on the stones.
And she was always ready!
Alas, she no longer comes to me.
An old benighted drake,
I hobble homeward.
But look, my drake feet become horse hoofs!
Now they drop off
And, stretching marvelously,
Become the tracks of the Tokaido Railway Line.

Every instance
of recognizing a teacher
is an authorization of spiritual power.
The most important one of these, and the only
absolutely necessary one on the way to
complete realization, is recognizing
yourself as your own
teacher.

You
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Wei wu Wei Ching as part of a
five-app bundle of Taoist classics
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the cost of one hardcover
book.

Nowadays many have
lost the old way, and many try to
usurp the style of zen, setting up their
own sects, keeping to cliches, and concocting
standardized formulas and slogans. Since they
themselves are not out of the rut, when they try
to help other people, it is like a rat going into
a hollow horn that grows narrower
and narrower until the rat is
trapped in a total
impasse.

The perfect Way’s like boundless space
Nothing lacking, nothing extra
It is because of choice
That its absolute truth is lost.
Don’t pursue externals;
Don’t dally in the interior void.
When the spirit remains serene
In the unity of things
Dualism vanishes by itself;
When that unity is not clear
There is loss in both directions.