Posts Tagged → zen

fame and fortune are shallow and injurious

orion above easter island

 

People yearn 

for fame and fortune, 

but this is like aching to taste the

point of a weapon. These are shallow, 

confusing, empty of virtue — yet 

people become fixed on them 

and lose their way 

forever. 

 

Look closely 

at things that shine 

without substance. Fame 

enflames one’s idea of self and 

separates one from humanity. Touched 

by it, people grasp desperately to 

get and keep it. What is the 

wisdom, though, 

in resisting 

change?

 

Fortune 

is a lover similarly 

impossible to satisfy. 

Constantly demanding energy 

and attention, fencing off people’s 

hearts, it returns less and less to 

the soul. Yet common people 

contort themselves 

into cripples 

chasing

it.

 

See 

the injury 

built into these, 

and let them 

go by.

 

Wei wu Wei Ching, Chapter 32

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let this monkey go

nacho libre

 

The ego

is a monkey

catapulting through

the jungle. Totally fascinated

by the realm of the senses, it swings from

one desire to the next, one conflict to the next,

one self-centered idea to the next. If you threaten it,

it actually fears for its life. Let this monkey go.

Let the senses go. Let desires go. Let conflicts

go. Let ideas go. Let the fiction of life and

death go. Just remain in the center,

watching. And then forget

that you are

there.

 

from Hua hu Ching, Chapter 10

 

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

Hua hu Ching, and Art of War for

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Hua hu Ching as part of a

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for iPhone or iPad for less than

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book.

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great skill looks clumsy

kintsugi

 

The greatest

perfection seems imperfect, 

yet its usefulness is endless. The greatest

fullness seems empty, yet its usefulness is inexhaustible. 

Great straightness seems flexible. Great skill looks clumsy. 

Great eloquence sounds awkward. Movement triumphs 

over cold. Stillness triumphs over heat. 

Clarity and tranquility set

the whole world

in order. 

 

from The Tao te Ching of Lao Tzu,

Chapter 45

 

 

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

Wei wu Wei Ching, Hua hu Ching, and

Art of War for iPad/Phone, Kindle,

Nook, 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.

brian browne walker taoist app bundle ios ipad iphone

 

everything has the same value

the shaggy dog

 

There is no distinction

between heaven and earth, man and woman,

teacher and disciple. Sometimes a man bows to a woman;

sometimes a woman bows to a man. Sometimes the disciple bows

to the master; sometimes the master bows to the disciple. A master

who cannot bow to his disciple cannot bow to Buddha.

Sometimes the master and disciple bow together

to Buddha. Sometimes we may bow

to cats and dogs.

 

In your big mind,

everything has the same value.

Everything is Buddha himself. You see something

or hear a sound, and there you have everything just as it is.

In your practice you should accept everything as it is, giving to

each thing the same respect given to a Buddha. Here there

is Buddhahood. Then Buddha bows to Buddha,

and you bow to yourself. This is

the true bow.

 

Shunryu Suzuki

zen mind, beginner’s mind

 

the path to the buddha’s table

ansel adams

 

Life is a dream,

the years pass by like flowing waters.

Glamour and glory are  transient as autumn smoke;

what tragedy — for with the sun set deeply in the

west, still there are those lost among

paths of disillusionment.

 

Our heart

should be clear as ice.

Forget all the worldly nonsense.

Sit calmly, breathe quietly, heart bright

and spotless as an empty mirror.

This is the path to

the buddha’s

table.

 

Loy Ching-Yuen

the book of the heart