Grasses bury the river bank,
Rain darkens the village;
The temple is lost in tall bamboo
I can’t find the gate.
They’re gathering wood and brewing herbs
I’m sorry a monk is sick;
They’ve swept the ground and burned incense
It cleans my spirit.
Farm work not finished, though we’re into little snow;
Lamps lit before the Buddha,
Signal of dusk
Lately I’ve developed a taste for the quiet life.
I think how we could talk together
Through the night.
~ Su Tung-p’o (1072)
i miss you
The source of phenomena of samsara and nirvana
Is the true nature of one’s own mind:
An immense expanse that is an empty, brilliance,
Completely free of taking things as real.
This I have realized.
If I look towards the one who realizes this,
One’s own awareness,
It is like the sky;
Set free, beyond clinging
In the unborn expanse of the
Ultimate nature of mind.
~ Shakbar
Zen practice is throwing away one's preconceived views along with the sacred texts, and then penetrating the layers covering the self.
All of the awakened ones have turned within and sought the self, and by doing this they went beyond doubt.
It is then that thinking comes to an end, and making distinctions ceases; wrong views and ideas disappear of themselves; and true action and true impulse appear.
Then one can know the truth.
~ Daikaku (1203-1268)
There is something in each of you that you will only be able to perceive when you turn around. So how does one turn around?
By nonseeking seeking, seeking without seeking. This is precisely what people find hard to deal with or get into. How can you seek if you are not seeking? How can you not seek if you are seeking?
If you only seek, how is that different from pursuing sounds and chasing forms? If you do not seek at all, how are you different from inert matter?
You must seek, and yet without seeking; not seek, yet still seek. If you can manage to penetrate this, you will then manage to harmonize seeking and nonseeking.
So it is said, “Nonseeking nonseeking—the body of reality is perfectly quiescent. Seeking seeking—responsive function does not miss. Seeking without seeking, nonseeking seeking—objects and cognition merge, substance and function are one.”
Therefore you find the three bodies, four knowledges, five eyes, and six spiritual powers all come to light from this. Students must be able to turn around and search all the way through in this way before they can attain realization.
~ Foyan (1067-1120)
Our original mind includes everything within itself.
It is always rich and sufficient within itself.
You should not lose your self-sufficient state of mind.
This does not mean a closed mind,
But actually an empty mind and a ready mind.
If your mind is empty,
It is always ready for anything;
It is open to everything.
In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities;
In the expert’s mind there are few.
~ Shunryu Suzuki (1905-1971)
Mahaprajnaparamita is a Sanskrit Word which means
“the great Wisdom which enables one to reach the other shore.”
This should be performed by the mind
And has nothing to do with verbal repetition.
Verbal repetition without using
The mind is like an illusion,
A transformation, dew and
Lightning; but verbal repetition
Coupled with use of the mind,
Will ensure a union of mind and mouth.
Altar Sutra
There is no greater mystery than this,
that we keep seeking reality
though in fact we are reality.
We think that there is something hiding our reality,
and that it must be destroyed before reality is gained.
How ridiculous!
A day will dawn when you will laugh at all your past efforts.
That which will be on the day you laugh is also here and now.
~ Ramana Maharshi (1879-1950)
When a buddha appears in the world
And expounds various teachings
According to people’s inclinations,
All of the teachings are expedients,
Just for the purpose of breaking through
Obsessions, doubts, intellectual interpretations,
And egocentric ideas.
If there were no such false consciousness
And false views, there would be no need
For buddhas to appear
And expound so many teachings.
~ Yuan wu (1063-1135)