Constantly be aware,
Without stopping.
When the aware mind is present,
It senses the formlessness of things.
Constantly see your body as empty
And quiet, inside and outside
Communing in sameness.
Plunge the body into the realm
Of reality, where there has
Never been any obstruction.
A bird in a secluded grove
sings like a flute.
Willows sway gracefully
with their golden threads.
The mountain valley grows
quieter as the clouds return.
A breeze brings along the
fragrance of the apricot flowers.
Sitting here a whole day in peace,
Till my mind is cleared of all cares,
I would tell you more,
but words fail.
If you come to this grove,
you will see yourself.
“I confess that I am sitting under a pine tree doing absolutely nothing. I have done nothing for one hour and firmly intend to continue to do nothing for an indefinite period. I have taken my shoes off. I confess that I have been listening to a mockingbird. I hear him singing in those cedars, and I am very sorry. It is probably my fault. He is singing again. This kind of thing goes on all the time. Wherever I am, I find myself the center of reactionary plots like this one.”
When Bodhidharma came to China, he saw that most Chinese learners did not grasp the truth of Buddhism.
They merely sought it through interpretation of texts and thought of the changing phenomena all around them as real action.
Bodhidharma wished to make these eager learners see that the finger pointing at the moon is not the moon itself.
The real truth is nothing but one’s own mind.
Thus, he maintained that the real teaching must be transmitted directly from one mind to another, without the use of words.
Followers of the Way,
do not be deceived by teachers who everywhere say
“I know Zen, I understand the Way,”
and who endlessly deliver discussions like mountain torrents.
All this is action that produces hellish Karma.
If one is a true learner of the Way,
one does not search for the faults of the world,
but rather speedily applies oneself to attain genuine insight.
If one only can see with perfect clarity, then all is completed.
This affair is like the bright sun in the blue sky, shining clearly, changeless and motionless, without diminishing or increasing. It shines everywhere in the daily activities of everyone, appearing in everything. Though you try to grasp it, you cannot get it; though you try to abandon it, it always remains. It is vast and unobstructed, utterly empty. Like a gourd floating on water, it cannot be reined in or held down. Since ancient times, when good people of the Path have attained this, they’ve appeared and disappeared in the sea of birth and death, able to use it fully. There is no deficit or surplus: like cutting up sandalwood, each piece is it.
One minute of sitting, one inch of Buddha.
Like lightning all thoughts come and pass.
Just once look into your mind-depths:
Nothing else has ever been.
I recall that poem from Senior year HS English class.
Thanks for a bit of nostalgia.
And a Classic Christian hymn:
Not I, but Christ be honored, loved, exalted,
Not I, but Christ be seen, be known and heard;
Not I, but Christ in every look and action,
Not I, but Christ in every thought and word.
Oh, to be saved from myself, dear Lord,
Oh, to be lost in Thee,
Oh, that it may be no more I,
But Christ that lives in me. 2
Not I, but Christ to gently soothe in sorrow,
Not I, but Christ to wipe the falling tear;
Not I, but Christ to lift the weary burden,
Not I, but Christ to hush away all fear.
3
Oh, to be saved from myself, dear Lord,
Oh, to be lost in Thee,
Oh, that it may be no more I,
But Christ that lives in me.
Christ, only Christ, no idle word e’er falling,
Christ, only Christ, no needless bustling sound;
Christ, only Christ, no self-important bearing,
Christ, only Christ, no trace of I be found.
4
Not I, but Christ my every need supplying,
Not I, but Christ my strength and health to be;
Christ, only Christ, for spirit, soul, and body,
Christ, only Christ, live then Thy life in me.
5
Christ, only Christ, ere long will fill my vision,
Glory excelling soon, full soon I’ll see;
Christ, only Christ, my every wish fulfilling,
Christ, only Christ, my all in all to be.
Oh, to be saved from myself, dear Lord,
Oh, to be lost in Thee,
Oh, that it may be no more I,
But Christ that lives in me.
...
24 Jun '19 13:05
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