The ancient Masters slept
without dreams and woke up without worries.
Their breath came from deep inside them. They didn’t cling
to life, weren’t anxious about death. They emerged without desire
and reentered without resistance. They came easily; they went easily.
They didn’t ask where they were from; they didn’t ask where
they were going. They took everything as it came,
gladly, and walked into death without fear.
They accepted life as a gift, and
they handed it back
gratefully.
When you hold on to something,
don’t let the smallest hair show. When you let go of
something, let it go in all directions. Meeting in heavy mist,
we turn out to be at the top of a thousand peaks.
Starting at the top of a thousand peaks we
turn out to be in heavy mist.
Today I am at Fuyuan Temple
inaugurating this hall and preaching the Dharma.
Yesterday I was outside my hut at Sky Lake ploughing in the clouds.
Thus it is said that the Dharma has no fixed shape but adapts to conditions.
It stirs the wind of perfect stillness and makes effortless
transformation possible. But at this moment,
what is it like?
Only after ninety thousand
miles does the P’eng unfold its wings.
Only after a thousand miles does
the crane take flight.
Red Pine’s “The Zen Works of Stonehouse”
If you suddenly
and unexpectedly feel joy,
don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are
plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed
or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often
kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still life has some
possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes
something happened better than all the riches or power in the world.
It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant
when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case.
Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid
of its plenty. Joy is not made
to be a crumb.
Wherever and whenever
the mind is found attached to anything,
make haste to detach yourself from it. When you tarry
for any length of time it will turn again into
your old home town.
realize what is already always present
Like entrusting yourself
to a brave person when greatly afraid,
by entrusting yourself to the awakening mind,
you will be swiftly liberated, even if you
have made appalling errors.