the most important things in our practice

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everyday zen

 

If you

are trying to attain

enlightenment, you are creating

and being driven by karma, and you are

wasting your time on your black cushion.

The most important things in our practice are

our physical posture and our way of breathing.

We are not so concerned about a deep understanding

of Buddhism. As a philosophy, Buddhism is a very deep,

wide, and firm system of thought, but zen is not concerned

about philosophical understanding. We emphasize practice.

We should understand why our physical posture and

breathing exercise are so important. Instead of

having a deep understanding of the teaching,

we need a strong confidence in our teaching,

which says that originally we have

Buddha nature. Our practice

is based on this

faith.

 

Shunryu Suzuki

 

Hexagram 55: FÊNG /

ABUNDANCE

 

In

the search 

for enlightenment, 

there is an ever-present 

certainty that there is more to do, 

someone else who holds the 

secret, another state to 

attain.

 

In the 

finding of it, 

there is the comical

revelation that not one

of those things was 

ever true.

 

小畜

Hexagram 9: HSIAO CH’U /

THE TAMING POWER OF THE SMALL

 

The

best effort 

one can make is the 

gentlest effort: wei wu wei. 

Quietly, persistently direct the 

mind toward emptiness. When 

all thoughts and ideas have 

dissipated, then make no 

further effort. Just 

breathe. 

 

This

is the only

practice required of a 

human, the best one, the one 

that perfectly purifies

our lives.

 

Wei wu Wei Ching

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do you imagine the universe is agitated?

stairway to the milky way

 

Do you

imagine the universe

is agitated? Go into the desert

at night and look out at the stars. 

This practice should answer

the question. 

 

The superior

person settles her mind as 

the universe settles the stars in the sky. 

By connecting her mind with the subtle origin,

she calms it. Once calmed, it naturally

expands and ultimately her mind

becomes as vast and 

immeasurable as

the night

sky.

 

Hua hu Ching, Chapter 5

 

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zen is a sword about to be drawn


 

This matter Zen

is like a great mass of fire:

when you approach it your face is sure

to be scorched. It is again like a sword about

to be drawn; when it is once out of the scabbard,

someone is sure to lose his life. The precious

vajra sword is right here and its purpose

is to cut off the head.

 

The body does not know

how to discourse or to listen to a discourse.

This which is unmistakably perceivable right where

you are, absolutely identifiable yet without

form, this is what listens to

the discourse.

 

Dahui

zonggao

 

be the valley for the world

the king of the valleys

 

To know

the masculine and yet

cleave to the feminine is to be the

womb for the world. Being the womb for

the world, never departing from the

eternal power of tao, you

become like an infant

once again:

 immortal. 

 

To know

the bright and yet

hold to the dull is to be

an example for the world. 

Being the example for the world, 

not deviating from the everlasting

power of tao, you return to

the infinite once again: 

limitless. 

 

To know

honor and yet keep

to humility is to be the valley

for the world. Being the valley for

the world, rich with the primal power

of tao, you return once again to simplicity, 

like uncarved wood. Allow tao to carve

you into a vessel for tao. Then you

can serve the world without

mutilating

it. 

 

The Tao te Ching of Lao Tzu

Chapter 28

 

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weapons turn on their wielders


 

Those

who wish to use

Tao to influence others 

don’t rely on force or weapons

or military strategies. Force rebounds. 

Weapons turn on their wielders. 

Battles are inevitably

followed by

famines. 

 

Just do

what needs to be done,

and then stop. Attain your purpose,

but don’t press your advantage. Be resolute,

but don’t force. Succeed, but don’t

crow. Accomplish, but don’t

overpower. 

 

Overdoing

things invites decay, 

and this is against Tao. 

Whatever is against

Tao soon ceases

to be.

 

Tao te Ching of Lao Tzu,

Chapter 30


ebooks & apps of the Tao the Ching, I Ching,

Hua hu Ching, and Art of War for

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or Android

 

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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