everything is buddha

on this date a buddha was born

 

There is no distinction

between heaven and earth, man and woman,

teacher and disciple. Sometimes a man bows to a woman;

sometimes a woman bows to a man. Sometimes the disciple bows

to the master; sometimes the master bows to the disciple. A master

who cannot bow to his disciple cannot bow to Buddha.

Sometimes the master and disciple bow together

to Buddha. Sometimes we may bow

to cats and dogs.

 

In your big mind,

everything has the same value.

Everything is Buddha himself. You see something

or hear a sound, and there you have everything just as it is.

In your practice you should accept everything as it is, giving to

each thing the same respect given to a Buddha. Here there

is Buddhahood. Then Buddha bows to Buddha,

and you bow to yourself. This is

the true bow.

 

Shunryu Suzuki

zen mind, beginner’s mind

 

stabilization is the final stage

beth moon

 
Stabilization is the final stage of escape from the profane, the foundation of attaining the Way, the accomplishment of cultivated stillness, the consummation of maintaining calm.

When the body is like a withered tree, the mind like dead ashes, without reactivity, without seeking anything, this is the epitome of tranquility. There is no mindfulness of stabilization, yet there is stability. Thus it is called tranquil stabilization.

Chuang-tzu said, “One whose capacity is tranquilly stabilized radiates natural light.” Capacity refers to the mind, natural light is active insight. The mind is a capacitor of the Way; when it is as uncluttered and quiet as can be, then the Way stays there and insight emerges.

Insight comes from original nature; one does not just come to have it now. That is why it is called natural light. It is just because of the muddling confusion caused by craving that it comes to be obscure. Clean it, make it flexible, rectify it, and restore it to purity and calm, and the original real conscious spirit will gradually become clear of itself; this does not mean that you are just now producing that insight.

Once insight has emerged, treasure it and do not compromise stability by too many concerns.
 

Treatise on Sitting Forgetting

translated by Thomas Cleary

 

aid should all be clear and free

pieter bruegel the elder

 

As you

help people and

respond to their potential,

it should all be clear and free. You mustn’t

roll around in the nest of weeds or play with your

spirit in the ghost cave. If the supposed teacher uses

contrived concepts of “mysteries” and “marvels” and “the

essence of truth”, if he cocks his eyebrows and puts a gleam

in his eye and cavorts around uttering apt sayings and thereby

binds the sons and daughters of other people’s families

with doctrines he claims are absolute realities, then

he is just one blind man leading a crowd of

blind  people — how can this produce

any genuine expedient

teaching?

 

Yuanwu

zen letters

 

at peace with everything

bao pham

 

In the

practice of the Way,

nothing is forced. Remaining

at home in quiet concentration,

you merge the outside

and inside into

one.

 

At peace

with everything,

unlearned, unworried,

untouched by phenomena,

you enter into reality

as an ordinary

person.

 

Wei wu Wei Ching, Chapter 11

Paperback / Kindle here

iPad/iPhone

iBooks

 

i ching hexagram 11e

 

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.