Repeatedly
undergoing birth and death
is just due to grasping at objects.
When we reflect back on the mind that
grasps at objects, we see that the real identity
of mind is originally pure. Within this purity, grasping
mind does not exist. Within nirvana, fundamentally
there are no thoughts moving; the movement
is ever still. Being still, there is
no seeking.
Records of the Teachers and Students of the Lanka
hakuin ekaku: working for the benefit of others
Boundless and
free is the sky of samadhi,
bright the full moon of wisdom!
Truly, is anything missing now?
Nirvana is right here, before our eyes;
this very place is the lotus land,
this very body the
buddha.
“Enlightenment” and “Nirvana”?
They are dead trees to fasten a donkey to.
The scriptures? They are bits of paper to wipe mud
from your face. The four merits and the ten steps?
They are ghosts in their graves. What can
these things have to do with you
becoming free?
a brief biography of hakuin ekaku
One part of
“the real aspect of things,”
one part each of “the self and all things”
and “the realization that these are false,” three parts
of “the immediate realization of nirvana”, two parts of
“without desires,” two or three parts of “the non-duality of
activity and quietude,” one and a half parts of sponge-gourd skin
and one part of “the discarding of all delusion”. Steep these
ingredients in the juice of patience for one night, dry in
the shade and then mash. Season with a dash of
prajna-paramita, then shape everything
into a ball the size of a duck’s egg
and set it securely on
your head.
The wave can live her life as a wave, and at the same time she can live the life of water. She does not have to die in order to become water, because the wave is water already in the present moment.
Nirvana means the extinction of all notions and concepts, including the concepts of birth and death, being and nonbeing, coming and going, but it does not mean the extinction of life. Nirvana is the ultimate dimension of life, a state of coolness, peace, and joy.
It is not a state to be attained after you die. You can touch nirvana right now by breathing, walking, and drinking your tea in mindfulness. Everything and everyone are dwelling in nirvana. You have been “nirvanized” since the very non-beginning of time!
If we can live our daily life deeply, we’ll be able to touch nirvana right in the here and now.