Posts Tagged → practice

we all have the clear bright field

a patched-robe monk

 

Emptiness is without characteristics.

Illumination has no emotional afflictions.

With piercing, quietly profound radiance,

it mysteriously eliminates all disgrace.

Thus one can know oneself; thus

the self is completed.

 

We all have the clear,

wondrously bright field from the beginning.

Many lifetimes of misunderstanding come only from

distrust, hindrance, and screens of confusion that we create

in a scenario of isolation. With boundless wisdom

journey beyond this, forgetting

accomplishments.

 

Straightforwardly abandon stratagems

and take on responsibility. Having turned yourself around,

accepting your situation, if you set foot on the path, spiritual energy

will marvelously transport you. Contact phenomena with

total sincerity, not a single atom of dust

outside yourself.

 

Hongzhi Zhenjue

teachings of hongzhi zhenjue

 

how to come into possession of joy

shaun tan

 

True joy is

experienced by those who

are strong within and

gentle without.

 

The hexagram Tui teaches us how to come into possession of joy. In our search for success and happiness we are prone to think that we must take aggressive actions to achieve them. The instruction of the I Ching is just the opposite: only those who practice innocence, acceptance, and detachment inherit true joy in this world.

We often see around us how forcible effort brings about what appears to be progress. Our egos tempt us to believe that these gains are lasting and valuable, but the truth is otherwise. Whatever is won by the desirous, ambitious, demanding manipulations of the ego will soon be lost. Others can always be temporarily browbeaten into doing things our way, but only hearts won by friendliness and sincere goodwill are true over time.

The I Ching teaches us again and again that joy and success cannot be forced or stolen. They are achieved gradually—but steadily—by those who relate correctly to others and to the Higher Power. To relate correctly means to steadfastly practice innocence, detachment, acceptance, modesty, and gentleness. Life is full of shortcuts, but this is the only route that leads to true joy.

The image of the hexagram is that of two lakes joined together to keep from drying up. It is an encouragement to us to join with like-minded friends now in the discussion and contemplation of higher things. If we engage in an ongoing conversation about proper principles with our friends, our relationship to truth is steady and our ego cannot seduce us into the doubt, fear, and anxiety that lead away from joy.

In your heart, be firm in holding to what is good and honest and correct. In your thoughts and actions, be gentle and accepting. Those who persevere on this path will meet with true joy and lasting success.
 

from The I Ching, or Book of Changes

Hexagram 58, Tui / The Joyous

 

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no tiger can claw him

r.i.p. lion

 

Between their births

and their deaths, three out of ten

are attached to life, three out of ten are

attached to death, three out of ten are just

idly passing through. Only one knows

how to die and stay dead and

still go on living.

 

That one

hasn’t any ambitions,

hasn’t any ideas, makes no plans.

From this mysterious place of not-knowing

and non-doing he gives birth to whatever is needed

in the moment. Because he is constantly filling his being

with nonbeing, he can travel the wilds without

worrying about tigers or wild buffalo,

or he can cross a battlefield

without armor or

weapon.

 

No tiger can claw him.

No buffalo can gore him.

No weapon can pierce him.

 

Why is this so?

Because he has died, there

isn’t any more room for

death in him.

 

Tao te Ching of Lao Tzu,

Chapter 50

 

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Wei wu Wei Ching, Hua hu Ching, and

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tao te ching ☯️ chapter 80


 

Let there be small

countries with few people.

Let the people have no use for

complicated machinery. Let them be

mindful of death so that they

don’t move too far from

their birthplaces.

 

If there be boats and carriages,

let there be nowhere to take them to.

If there are weapons, let there

be no occasion to display them.

 

Let the people’s

responsibilities be few enough

that they may remember them

by knotting a string.

 

Let them

enjoy their food,

be content with their clothes,

be satisfied with their homes,

and take pleasure in

their customs.

 

Though

the next country

may be close enough

to hear the barking of its dogs

and the crowing of its roosters,

let the people grow old and

die without feeling

compelled to

visit it.

 

Tao te Ching of Lao Tzu

Chapter 80

 

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☯️

 

You

can now buy

Tao te Ching as part of a

five-app bundle of Taoist classics 

for iPhone or iPad for less than

the cost of one hardcover

book.

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we are always within it

xie jie

There is something bright and clear, without falsity, without biases, tranquil and unmoving, possessed of vast consciousness, fundamentally without birth and death and discrimination, without names and forms and words. It engulfs space and covers all of heaven and earth, all of form and sound, and is equipped to function.

If we speak of its essence, it is so vast it embraces everything, so that nothing is outside of it. If we speak about its function, then it goes beyond the abilities of the samadhi of the spiritual powers of the wisdoms numerous as the dusts in the buddha-lands: it is at once hidden and manifest, sovereign and free in all directions, with great spiritual powers. Even great sages cannot get to the end of it.

This one thing is always with each and every person. Whether you move or not, whenever you encounter circumstances and objects, it is always very obvious and clear, clear everywhere, revealed in everything. It is quietly shining in all activities. As an expedient, it is called Mind. It is also called the Path, and the king of the myriad dharmas, and Buddha. Buddha said that whether walking, sitting, or lying down, we are always within it.

 

T’aego

the calm light from the spirit