...

You don’t have to know what is going to happen to know what you are doing.
~Alison Faulkner

@rookie54 said
Hard rain, our gathered firewood scant;
Lamp frozen, glimmers not at night.
In the cave, wind blows stones and mud.
Moss engravings weatherstrip rickety door.

Brooks in torrent untiring;
People’s words more and more rare.
What schemes calm the heart?
Sitting in the lotus,
Wrapped in robes of Zen.

- Hsu Yun

The EMP knocked out power and water;
I have some batteries, water, and lamps.
Our cave is windy but temperate,
cluttered with the writings of the ancients,
beer cans, and boxes from Amazon.

My robot has grown uneasy.
The one down the street assembled itself
from nothing, but mine (which I bought on Ebay)
has grown a heart. "Schemes won't save us,"
I try to tell my robot, "and it's okay
to have an uneasy heart."

@hakima said
You don’t have to know what is going to happen to know what you are doing.
~Alison Faulkner

Just wanted to say with something more than a thumb-up that I really like that one.

Let there be nothing behind you;
Leave the future to one side.
Do not clutch at what is left in the middle;
Then you will become a wanderer and calm.

- Sutta Nipata

This dharma is such that
It cannot be attained by groping
Or searching about.
In the realm of seeing,
Knowledge perishes.
At the moment of attaining,
Mind is surpassed.

- Dogen (1200-1253)

Sitting in the Mountains

Rock slab seat
Legs folded
Sitting alone
Not loathing noise
Not savoring silence
The carefree clouds concur.

- Jakushi-tsu (1290–1367)

@rookie54 said
Not loathing noise

That one is so difficult for me!

For those who have no mental vigilance,
Though they may hear the teachings,
Ponder them or meditate,
With minds like seeping water
From a leaking jug,
Their learning will not settle in their memories.

- Santideva Bodhicaryavatara

~~~~~~~~~~

learning and relearning
unlearning and learning
i keep doing the work
relearning and unlearning and relearning

Look into the sphere of birthless mind!
Let dawn the enjoyment of ceaseless play!
When free of hope and fear, that’s the result.
Why speak of birth and death?
Come to the natural, unmodified state!

- Milarepa

My mind to me a kingdom is;
Such present joys therein I find,
That it excels all other bliss
That earth affords or grows by kind:
Though much I want that most would have,
Yet still my mind forbids to crave.


Edward Dyer

After awakening, it is necessary to always observe and examine yourself. When errant thoughts suddenly arise, do not go along with them at all; reduce them, reduce them, until you reach the point of noncontrivance, which alone is the ultimate end. This is the ox-herding practice carried on by all illuminates after their enlightenment. Even though there is subsequent cultivation, they have already realized sudden enlightenment.

- Chinul (1158-1210)

Beware of gnawing the ideogram of nothingness:
Your teeth will crack.
Swallow it whole, and you’ve a treasure
Beyond the hope of Buddha and the Mind.
The east breeze fondles the horse’s ears:
How sweet the smell of plum.

- Karasumaru-Mitsuhiro (1579–1638)

It takes no courage to doubt the validity of our happiness, and argue in favor of despair. That is quite common these days. What requires deep courage is to doubt our despair, and stand on a quiet inward joy as the ground of our true nature. Take responsibility for healing the earth. Be a well. Gently but constantly, and often in darkness, bubble up with love.
__Fred LaMotte

Sentient beings are primarily all Buddhas:
It is like ice and water,
Apart from water no ice can exist;
Outside sentient beings, where do we find the Buddhas?
Not knowing how near the Truth is,
People seek it far away, what a pity!

- Hakuin (1685–1768)

"...we are here to drink beer.
We are here to kill war.
We are here to laugh at the odds
And live our lives so well
That Death will tremble to take us."

~Charles Bukowski