Friday, October 31, 2008 at 6:56 am (zen)
Tags: daily life, Thich Nhat Hanh
In March 2007, Thich Nhat Hanh made his second trip back to Vietnam, his home country, since leaving in 1966. According to a BBC report made at that time, the Zen master said:
“Today, people’s minds are on stocks and news headlines. They no longer have time to take care of themselves or their loved ones. And even though they have lots of money, they aren’t happy.
“I’ve met many millionaires. They’re not happy people.”
Breathe.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008 at 7:34 am (buddhism, practice, zen)
Tags: Bodhidharma
I am only a student, but these are some things I know.
Breathe.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 7:11 am (zen)
Tags: koan, Seung Sahn
Correct situation, correct relationship, correct function.
A dharma teacher speaks about this, but I still can’t understand it. I’m not there yet.
In The Compass of Zen, Zen Master Seung Sahn wrote about this in “The Ninth Gate,” pages 382-387. First he retold the story of Nam Cheon and the cat. It’s a koan, and I don’t know the answer. I don’t like it, because the cat dies in the story. (Also, I’m working on another koan, and probably I shouldn’t be confusing myself with two koans at once.)
Correct situation, correct relationship, correct function. This is when thought and action become one, like releasing the arrow in kyudo practice. You see and you know and you act.
I am so far away from this. That’s okay — it’s not a problem.
Breathe.
Monday, October 27, 2008 at 6:40 am (quotations, zen)
Tags: emptiness, mind, Shunryu Suzuki
If your mind is clear, true knowledge is already yours. When you listen to our teaching with a pure, clear mind, you can accept it as if you were hearing something which you already knew. This is called emptiness, or omnipotent self, or knowing everything. When you know everything, you are like a dark sky. Sometimes a flashing will come through the dark sky. After it passes, you forget all about it, and there is nothing left but the dark sky. The sky is never surprised when all of a sudden a thunderbolt breaks through. And when the lightning does flash, a wonderful sight may be seen. When we have emptiness we are always prepared for watching the flashing.
– Shunryu Suzuki (in Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind)
Breathe.
Sunday, October 26, 2008 at 8:12 am (buddhism, meditation)
Tags: karma, Thanissaro Bhikkhu
From an essay by Thanissaro Bhikkhu:
The two most important points in the Buddha’s teaching on karma — the two that set it apart from every other version of karma taught in his time — are that karma is intention, and that present experience is shaped by two kinds of intentions: past and present. Past intentions that are ready to ripen establish the range of possibilities that you could experience right now. Your present intentions pick and choose from those possibilities to shape what you actually experience. …
As you meditate, these points alert you to the fact that some things you experience in the present come from past intentions, and some from present intentions; you have to be able to tell the difference between the two if you want to read the results of your present actions.
Found at The Worst Horse.
Breathe.
Saturday, October 25, 2008 at 8:16 am (buddhism)
Tags: music, NPR
A month ago, NPR ran a radio story about punk music and Buddhism:
What does punk rock have to do with Buddhism? “There’s a disdain for authority. There’s a strong sense that the individual is responsible for herself or for himself,” says Brad Warner, a bona fide punk rocker and ordained Zen master.
The former bassist of Ohio-based punk rock band Zero Defex is also the author of two books on the subject: Sit Down and Shut Up, which promises “Punk Rock commentaries on Buddha, God, truth, sex, death,” and Hardcore Zen, which explores Buddhism and punk’s overlapping approaches to rebellion.
Found at Zen Filter.
Breathe.
Friday, October 24, 2008 at 7:38 am (quotations, zen)
Tags: effort, Sekkei Harada
I found this book in the Harvard Book Store last February. I have been reading it in small increments ever since then. I find that only a few pages give me a lot to sit with.
People often speak of doing something for this or that purpose but in Zen we do not live our lives for this or that purpose. Even if we are doing something for ourselves or for someone else, the life of Zen is to forget all that comes before and after and really do each deed for the purpose of the deed itself. Wholeheartedly apply yourself to the task at hand, exhausting yourself in each activity, that is the life of Zen.
– Sekkei Harada, The Essence of Zen, 2008, page 49.
Sekkei Harada is the abbot of Hosshinji, a Soto Zen training monastery and temple, in Fukui Prefecture, Japan.
Breathe.
Thursday, October 23, 2008 at 7:08 am (self, zen)
Tags: daily life
The mainstream isn’t working for me (in fact, I can’t remember a time it did). Common sense isn’t working for me anymore either. I don’t need to do things that are common. I don’t need to do things that make sense to other people. I don’t need to go with the grain. I don’t need to take the path of the most resistance. I don’t need to follow the leader. I need to follow myself.
From: Illuminated Mind (a blog by Jonathan Mead)
Breathe.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 at 6:43 am (zen)
Tags: martial arts, Thich Nhat Hanh
That’s a water buffalo, not an ox, in the photo. It reminds me of Svasti, the buffalo boy, in Thich Nhat Hanh’s Old Path, White Clouds.
… the ancient masters devised a way to explain Zen using ox-herding pictograms, which represent ten stages of self-discovery and the pathway to enlightenment. The interpretation of each of the pictures only becomes apparent once a student has passed the stage which the picture represents. All students are unique and may require more time at any given stage. … In the true spirit of Zen, the pictures attempt to explain what cannot be explained.
The ox represents the mind or the self, ego, or pre-conditioned responses. The ox herder is the practitioner attempting to understand his or her nature and, therefore, his or her mind. Throughout the series these two entities slowly merge together until they eventually become one with each other.
From: Guiding a student’s mental development from white belt to Shodan and applying Zen principles into karate and life, by Nicholas Lukich, 3rd Dan Shito-Ryu, and Jason Armstrong, Ph.D. and 5th Dan. Found at Zenguide.com.
See > The 10 Ox Herding Pictures (with brief explanations, in English)
Breathe.
