if you rely on others

You eat to satisfy your hunger

and drink to quench your thirst. You wear clothes

to keep warm and go home to be with your families. You cultivate

the tao to reach the place even the buddhas can’t describe.

And you practice zen to find the place even

the patriarchs can’t enter.

But if you rely on the

doors and walls of others and you listen

to their instruction and accept their drivel,

you’ll never stand on your own. I put it like

this: Good medicine tastes bitter.

True words sound harsh.

Shih-wu, or Stonehouse

Red Pine’s “The Zen Works of Stonehouse”

hard copy @ amazon

do not try to stop your thinking

zen is not something to get excited about

When you are practicing zazen, do not try to stop your thinking. Let it stop by itself. It something comes into your mind, let it come in, and let it go out. It will not stay long. When you try to stop your thinking, it means you are bothered by it. Do not be bothered by anything. It appears as if something comes from outside your mind, but actually it is only the waves of your mind, and if you are not bothered by the waves, gradually they will become calmer and calmer. In five or at most ten minutes, your mind will be completely serene and calm. At that time your breathing will become quite slow, while your pulse will become a little faster.

It will take quite a long time before you find your calm, serene mind in your practice. Many sensations come, many thoughts or images arise, but they are just waves of your own mind. Nothing comes from outside your mind. Usually we think of our mind as receiving impressions and experiences from outside, but that is not a true understanding of our mind. The true understanding is that the mind includes everything; when you think something comes from outside it means only that something appears in your mind. Nothing outside yourself can cause any trouble. You yourself make the waves in your mind. If you leave your mind as it is, it will become calm. This mind is called big mind.

Shunryu Suzuki

zen mind, beginner’s mind

how can it be attained?

matthew desantis / my bhutan

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?

buddha nature is your own nature

here is what a buddha is

🪷 and also here 🪷

A deep

and sophisticated

understanding of Buddhism,

Taoism, Zen, Ch’an, philosophy,

meditation technique — none of these

is necessary to attain realization.

They are just as likely to

ensnare you in towers

of complicated

thought.

Abide

in the simple

understanding that

buddha nature is always,

has always been, will always be,

your own nature. Breathe into

that. Breathe out from it.

That is all.

Wei wu Wei Ching, Chapter 25

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.

see also

Hexagram 25, Wu Wang / Innocence (The Unexpected)

the art of peace begins with you

this is the only practice

The art of peace

begins with you. Work on yourself

and your  appointed task in the art of peace. 

Everyone has a spirit that  can be refined, a body

that  can be trained in some manner,  a suitable path

to follow.  You are here for no other purpose than 

to realize your inner divinity and  manifest your

innate enlightenment.  Foster peace in your

own life and  then apply the art to

all that you encounter. 

Morehei Ueshiba

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