Loving kindness - "Metta"

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
hmm, I was really intrigued by Taomans comment of his feathered Zen, it conjured
in my mind a place of gentle ambience and although i live in the frozen north dear
beetle, I could hear the gentle flow of water, envision the colour of the birds and see
Taoman contemplatively sipping his tea. Then I was moved to ask the question, a
mistake I k ...[text shortened]... ompelled to try to make sense
of it, when in fact, its probably better that I just shut up. 🙂

Hello robbie.

Nearness is not a hemisphere away, but in the mind. But the hemisphere between us is the reason for my tardiness, and a computer glitch.

There is nothing that is not zen.
Even your asking.
There is no boundary anywhere.
the boundaries of any mind
are phantasms.
But do not ignore them completely, heavens no,
you have to eat!

When you notice one of any boundary, any defining, STOP!
About yourself,
about your beliefs,
about someone else, about Buddha, about zen, STOP!
Recognize the boundary that your mind has made,
then laugh and relax and go on as you were.

When you notice something different,
something unusual,
something unexpected,
something seemingly out of place, STOP!
Recognize the difference your mind has made,
then laugh and relax and go on as before.

The stopping is a recognizing,
the laughter is a celebration,
the relaxing is a letting go.

Its one sort of practice anyway. It can be used in different ways, if you are serious dear robbie.

You do not have to achieve anything at all. Go on as before, just being.

Go on as before.

Originally posted by Taoman
Hello robbie.

Nearness is not a hemisphere away, but in the mind. But the hemisphere between us is the reason for my tardiness, and a computer glitch.

There is nothing that is not zen.
Even your asking.
There is no boundary anywhere.
the boundaries of any mind
are phantasms.
But do not ignore them completely, heavens no,
you have to eat!

...[text shortened]...

You do not have to achieve anything at all. Go on as before, just being.

Go on as before.

thankyou 🙂

Talking of the Stupid:
(You not, rc, - actually, you are not anything fixed at all)

"The Corners of The Mind
There was once a group of learned Buddhist monks who spent all their time in scholastic debate. As part of their banter they would often wonder, half-joking, half-seriously, which one of them would attain enlightenment first. Whenever this topic came up, the only thing they could all agree on was that it would not be Stupid, the illiterate monk who was capable only of sweeping the monastery floor and whom nobody has any time for. Of course, it was Stupid who got enlightened first. The jealous monks went to the Abbot. How come Stupid had attained enlightenment first? Had he been overhearing their intellectual conversations?
"Not at all," replied the Abbot. "It's just that while he was sweeping the corners of the monastery he made sure he was also sweeping the corners of his mind." "

http://neurotopia.tripod.com/Zen/Zenstories/

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
I am not permitted to ask? :'(

You are so permitted to ask.
Unlike some other "religions", Zen Buddhists generally as a rule dont go preaching to the public.
So the only way to get an opinion on something is to goto the monastery and ask 🙂

(Not that Zen adepts seem to follow many rules per se)

Originally posted by Taoman
Hello robbie.

Nearness is not a hemisphere away, but in the mind. But the hemisphere between us is the reason for my tardiness, and a computer glitch.

There is nothing that is not zen.
Even your asking.
There is no boundary anywhere.
the boundaries of any mind
are phantasms.
But do not ignore them completely, heavens no,
you have to eat!

...[text shortened]...

You do not have to achieve anything at all. Go on as before, just being.

Go on as before.

I was going to say to Robbie that you are a man of action more so than contemplation. (not that you dont contemplate). I would've thought similarly before I met some living adepts, yourself included 🙂

ps : I hope this is accurate

Originally posted by Taoman
Hello robbie.

Nearness is not a hemisphere away, but in the mind. But the hemisphere between us is the reason for my tardiness, and a computer glitch.

There is nothing that is not zen.
Even your asking.
There is no boundary anywhere.
the boundaries of any mind
are phantasms.
But do not ignore them completely, heavens no,
you have to eat!

...[text shortened]...

You do not have to achieve anything at all. Go on as before, just being.

Go on as before.

Following on from the logic derived from this post it stands to reason to 'get at' Zen one must realize the "anti - logic" of Zen.
Poems like these point the way,(to a certain practice here), which seeks to clarify the mind of the adept.
After you get into the spirit of Zen writings, including koans, you can see that the author is trying to communicate something, but this is considered outside the normal ken of human understanding, logic and reasoning. Yet there is a way to proceed.
The way to proceed is to see that all of this is not hard or easy ,(meditation seems hard at first but later gets easier as your muscle memory adapts to these new sitting positions ), no, the way forward is tricky. The whole thing is like a big trick and to extricate yourself from the dualist quandry,(which plagues everyday thought), the adept must see into heart of the koan, nay the heart of all things, which are empty.
To understand one moment is to understand the only moment is to understand the whole (mind) of the universe.

Originally posted by Taoman
Talking of the Stupid:
(You not, rc, - actually, you are not anything fixed at all)

"The Corners of The Mind
There was once a group of learned Buddhist monks who spent all their time in scholastic debate. As part of their banter they would often wonder, half-joking, half-seriously, which one of them would attain enlightenment first. Whenever this topic also sweeping the corners of his mind." "

http://neurotopia.tripod.com/Zen/Zenstories/

Yes, like the peasant farmer and the pawn, their strength lies in their humility 🙂

Originally posted by karoly aczel
Following on from the logic derived from this post it stands to reason to 'get at' Zen one must realize the "anti - logic" of Zen.
Poems like these point the way,(to a certain practice here), which seeks to clarify the mind of the adept.
After you get into the spirit of Zen writings, including koans, you can see that the author is trying to communi ...[text shortened]... e moment is to understand the only moment is to understand the whole (mind) of the universe.

I have listened with interest, why is the concept of emptiness so important and what is
its meaning? Again i ask, not because I am trying to test, but to understand

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
I have listened with interest, why is the concept of emptiness so important and what is
its meaning? Again i ask, not because I am trying to test, but to understand

We are told all things have (an) ' empty nature'. Knowing this on a intellectual, conceptual level is apparently quite a world away from knowing it directly (as a living experience) .
There is nothing else to be sought in Zen other than to find one's, (and the universe's ), true nature. At the end of the day that is the alpha and omega of Zen theory. You can stretch it out a thousand different ways but ultimately the master will redirect you to your koan, away from musings and side queries.
It's an all or nothing business.

Originally posted by karoly aczel
We are told all things have (an) ' empty nature'. Knowing this on a intellectual, conceptual level is apparently quite a world away from knowing it directly (as a living experience) .
There is nothing else to be sought in Zen other than to find one's, (and the universe's ), true nature. At the end of the day that is the alpha and omega of Zen theory. Y ...[text shortened]... ct you to your koan, away from musings and side queries.
It's an all or nothing business.

Could you illustrate the concept of 'empty nature' for it is not entirely clear to me.

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
I have listened with interest, why is the concept of emptiness so important and what is
its meaning? Again i ask, not because I am trying to test, but to understand

It appears you have read something of what has been said over time. How do you understand thus far what the concept of 'emptiness' is referring to?
Do you have any thoughts on why everything being dependent on everything else may have something to do with how we handle ego and suffering? My other post at present may be of assistance.

Originally posted by Taoman
It appears you have read something of what has been said over time. How do you understand thus far what the concept of 'emptiness' is referring to?
Do you have any thoughts on why everything being dependent on everything else may have something to do with how we handle ego and suffering? My other post at present may be of assistance.

I heard an illustration of the cart wheel and how, because of the emptiness of the centre,
the axle was able to fit and the cart was able to function, but it is as yet, ill defined in
my mind. As an artist, or rather someone who studied art, negative space or
emptiness was equally as important if not more so than the objects we were drawing,
why? because they provide a kind of perspective between one object and another. Also
I watched a physics program which stated that the vast majority of what we perceive
as the universe is made up of empty space, although, again, I am unsure if this is
related in some way to your own understanding of emptiness or not, thanks for taking
the time - Robbie.

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
Could you illustrate the concept of 'empty nature' for it is not entirely clear to me.

Only by not replying 🙂

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
Could you illustrate the concept of 'empty nature' for it is not entirely clear to me.

I found a small piece on "Nothingness" by Alan Watts which might be helpful.

I would recommend Watts' stuff in general as a solid place to build an understanding in Zen. I learnt about Watts only in a second fashion but found, to my delight than, when I did read his book, ('The Way of Zen'😉 ,I found it a lucid continuation of the other Zen stuff I was reading.

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
I heard an illustration of the cart wheel and how, because of the emptiness of the centre,
the axle was able to fit and the cart was able to function, but it is as yet, ill defined in
my mind. As an artist, or rather someone who studied art, negative space or
emptiness was equally as important if not more so than the objects we were drawing,
...[text shortened]... n some way to your own understanding of emptiness or not, thanks for taking
the time - Robbie.

That painting, it is definitely not the space that is empty.

The painting is a good koan. Take it with you.

"That painting...it is definitely not the space that is empty."

Let us leave the words now. I suggest you carry the koan wherever you go and do not put it down. May you ever be happy.