The way
to study true zen
is not verbal. Just open
yourself and give up everything.
Whatever happens, study closely
and see what you find out.
This is the fundamental
attitude.
Posts Tagged → tao te ching
the myriad things and I are one
The universe
and I are of the same root.
The myriad things and I are
one body. That is
zazen.
Kodo Sawaki Roshi
serene and free at all times
People who study the Way begin by having the faith to turn toward it. They are fed up with the vexations and filth of the world and are always afraid they will not be able to find a road of entry into the Way.
Once you have been directed by a teacher or else discovered on your own the originally inherently complete real mind, then no matter what situations or circumstances you encounter, you know for yourself where it’s really at.
But then if you hold fast to that real mind, the problem is you cannot get out, and it becomes a nest. You set up “illumination” and “function” in acts and states, snort and clap and glare and raise your eyebrows, deliberately putting on a scene.
When you meet a genuine expert of the school again, he removes all this knowledge and understanding for you, so you can merge directly with realization of the original uncontrived, unpreoccupied, unminding state. After this you will feel shame and repentance and know to cease and desist. You will proceed to vanish utterly, so that not even the sages can find you arising anywhere, much less anyone else.
That is why Yantou said, “Those people who actually realize it just keep serene and free at all times, without cravings, without dependence.” Isn’t this the door to peace and happiness?”
the highest good is like water
The highest
good is like water,
which benefits all things and
contends with none. It flows in low
places that others disdain, and
thus it is close to
the tao.
In living,
choose your ground well.
In thought, stay deep in the heart.
In relationships, be generous.
In speaking, hold to the truth.
In leadership, be organized.
In work, do your best.
In action, be
timely.
If you compete with no one,
no one can compete with you.
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a long-awaited change is at hand
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.
The I Ching, or Book of Changes
Hexagram 43, Kuai / Breakthrough (Resoluteness)
Forget all ideas
of accomplishing something —
in your practice and everywhere
else. Everything is already
accomplished.
If this sounds
like a tricky idea to you,
the flaw is in your understanding
of reality, not in reality
itself.
Allowing nature
to manifest is the way
of the Way. By setting aside
our ambitions and leaving
the Way to the Way,
we perfect the
Way.
You
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