the spiritual athlete

be quiet

 

The spiritual athlete often changes the color of his clothes,
and his mind remains gray and loveless.

He sits inside a shrine room all day,
so that the Guest has to go outdoors and praise the rocks.

Or he drills holes in his ears, his hair grows
enormous and matted,
people mistake him for a goat…
He goes out into wilderness areas, strangles his impulses,
and makes himself neither male nor female…

He shaves his skull, puts his robe in an orange vat,
reads the Bhagavad-Gita, and becomes a terrific talker.

Kabir says: Actually you are going in a hearse
to the country of death,
bound hand and foot!

Kabir

translated by robert bly

 

all things are nonabiding

“i’m so grateful for having known him”

 

All things are set

on a nonabiding basis. The nonabiding basis is

based on nonabiding. If you can reach a thorough understanding

of this, then all things are One Suchness, and you cannot

find even the slightest signs

of abiding. 

 

The whole of

your present activities and behavior

is nonabiding. Once the basis is clear to you,

it will be like having eyes: the sun is shining brightly,

and you can see all kinds of colors and

forms. Isn’t this the mainspring of

transcendent wisdom?

 

Yongjia said,

“Without leaving wherever you are,

there is constant clarity.” No words come closer

to the truth than these. If you start seeking, then we know

that you are unable to see. Just cut off any duality between

“wherever you are” and “constant clarity,” and make

yourself peaceful and serene. Avoid concocting

intellectual understanding and seeking.

As soon as you seek, it is like

grasping at shadows.

 

Yuanwu

 

friendship with elderly peasants

those who are like the spring breeze

 

Association with city people

is not as good as friendship with elderly

peasants. Calling on upper-class mansions is not

as good as getting to know peasant homes. Listening

to the talk of the streets and alleys is not as good as hearing

the songs of the woodcutters and shepherds. Talking

about the moral failures and professional blunders

of people today is not as good as retelling

the fine words and noble deeds

of people of old.

 

Huanchu Daoren

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