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?

Huanglong

accept everything that is

fabien barrau

Enlightenment

comes only when you accept

everything that is — without resistance,

without quarrel, in complete stillness. This is

the only, the simplest, the necessary

ground of being for complete

realization.

The opportunity

to dwell in quiet acceptance

exists in every moment — sitting, bathing,

cleaning, cooking, working, wherever.

When that moment passes,

it is present in the next.

Just embrace

it.

Wei wu Wei Ching, Chapter 2

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book.

when young there was a girl

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.

Shinkichi Takahashi

triumph of the sparrow

recognizing a teacher

elena kalis

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.

Wei wu Wei Ching, Chapter 44