Do not ever fight or argue,
because for God there are no fights
or arguments. For that One everything is love,
everything is in the form of love, compassion,
and truth. May God provide you with
the blessings and grace to live
in that state.
Do not ever fight or argue,
because for God there are no fights
or arguments. For that One everything is love,
everything is in the form of love, compassion,
and truth. May God provide you with
the blessings and grace to live
in that state.
The “stupa” to be
“circumambulated” is the body
and mind. Let enlightened wisdom
constantly patrol body and mind unceasingly
from moment to moment. This is called
“circumambulating the stupa.” All of
the sages of the past traveled this
path to find the bliss
of nirvana.
Records of the Teachers and Students of the Lanka
The central benefit of zen,
in the context of ordinary ups and downs
of life, is not in the context of preventing the minus
and promoting the plus, but in directing people
to the fundamental reality that is not
under the sway of ups
and downs.
In the ocean
of the holy dharma there is neither
movement nor stillness. The essence of the wave
is like a mirror; when something comes, the reflection
appears. When there is nothing in the mind,
wind and waves are both
forgotten.
A lot
of unimportant inner
litter and bits and pieces have
to be swept out first. Even a small head
can be piled high inside with irrelevant distractions.
True, there may be edifying emotions and thoughts, too, but
the clutter is ever present. So let this be the aim of the meditation:
to turn one’s innermost being into a vast empty plain, with none
of that treacherous undergrowth to impede the view. So that
something of “God” can enter you, and something of “Love,”
too. Not the kind of love-de-luxe that you can revel in
deliciously for half an hour, taking pride in
how sublime you feel, but the love
you can apply to small,
everyday things.
…
Looked
at Japanese prints
with Glassner this afternoon.
That’s how I want to write. With that much
space round a few words. They should simply emphasize
the silence. Just like that print with the sprig of blossom in the
lower corner. A few delicate brush strokes—but with what attention
to the smallest detail—and all around it space, not empty but inspired.
The few great things that matter in life can be said in a few words.
If I should ever write—but what?—I would like to brush in a
few words against a wordless background. To describe
the silence and the stillness and to inspire them.
What matters is the right relationship between
words and wordlessness, the wordlessness
in which much more happens than
in all the words one can
string together.
The mind
can go in a thousand
directions, but on this beautiful
path, I walk in peace. With each step,
the wind blows. With each step,
a flower blooms.