When you are completely
absorbed in your breathing, there is no self.
What is your breathing? That breathing is not you, nor air.
What is it? It is not self at all. When there is no self,
you have absolute freedom. Because you have
a silly idea of self, you have
a lot of problems.
To Shine One Corner of the World
Dogen Zen-ji says,
“Even though it is midnight, dawn is here.
Even though dawn comes, it is nighttime.” This kind
of statement conveys the understanding transmitted from
Buddha to the Patriarchs, and from the Patriarchs to Dogen,
and to us. Nighttime and daytime are not different.
The same thing is sometimes called nighttime,
sometimes called daytime. Nighttime
and daytime are one thing.
Zazen practice and
everyday activity are one thing.
We call zazen everyday life, and everyday life zazen.
But usually we think, “Now zazen is over, and now we
will go about our everyday activity.” But this is not the
right understanding. They are the same thing. We
have nowhere to escape. So in activity there
should be calmness, and in calmness
there should be activity. So
calmness and activity
are not different.
A breakthrough.
Do not be drawn back
into bad habits.
The arrival of the hexagram Kuai indicates that a long-awaited change is at hand. A difficulty that has oppressed you over a long period is now about to dissolve. It is important to respond in the proper way.
There is a temptation on obtaining relief to fall into the traps of the ego: pride at having dispersed the trouble, self-righteousness about having triumphed through correctness, anger at one who we think was the source of the problem, or a desire to remain free of all difficulty in the future. None of these responses is appropriate to the situation at hand.
What is needed now is resoluteness: a firm commitment to continuing the battle for good and to the self-examination that makes all good things possible. This is not a time to lapse back into negative mental habits and enjoy the “vacation” provided by the breakthrough. Do not rest on your laurels, but push forward, deepening your inner strength and your resistance to the influence of inferiors, both in yourself and others.
Strengthen those around you by setting an example of self-improvement and self-correction. Great progress and good fortune are available now to one who makes proper use of the opening.
from The I Ching, or Book of Changes
Hexagram 43, Kuai / Breakthrough (Resoluteness)
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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.
How
amazing it is
that all people have this but
cannot polish it into bright clarity.
In darkness unawakened, they
make foolishness cover
their wisdom.
