![]() Whenever anybody asked Lin Chi Zen Master, "What is Buddha?" he only shouted, "KATZ!" That's all. ![]() Whenever anybody said, "What is Buddha?" Gu Ji Zen Master only held up one finger. Then this point will become stronger, stronger, stronger. If you don't know this point, then only go straight, don't know. If you attain this point (hits floor), then you have complete freedom over life and death. Bird sound comes, then only "Cheep, cheep, cheep." That's all! Bird sound comes, then automatically, automatically, the clear button is pushed. When red comes to this computer, or to this clear mirror, then only red. Then when any situation, any condition, anything appears before us, automatically this button is pushed, and everything becomes clear. Pretty soon, this only do it (hits floor) becomes habit. If you only do it, constantly, over and over again, it's like - you've heard Soen Sa Nim say this already - it's like pushing the clear button on this computer. (Hits floor.) It has no meaning to ask, "What does this mean?" Don't check it. In the interviews, most of you only do it. Nobody understands what that really means - actually there is nothing to understand. ![]() It's very simple, so it's very hard for some of us to accept. Join us for an Introduction To Zen weekend at our mountain monastery, or attend Zazen Intro at our New York City temple.A Dharma talk given on Februat the Ojai Foundation in California. And quite naturally we extend This Mind we vow to live with attention, integrity, and authenticity we vow to free all beings from suffering. Thus quite naturally we care for the environment, starting with our own actions: not wasting the earth’s precious resources, realizing that every act has consequences. We can, through consistent zazen, free ourselves from that imposter self and discover the true self-the being that is open, confident, and unhindered, flowing with all that exists in this very moment. Who do we think we are, anyway? When we really look deeply, it becomes the koan “Who am I?” We find that the conditioned views and compulsive traits we have come to call “self” have no fixed substance. This simple yet profound practice can release us from the shackles of past and future, as well as from the self-imposed and imprisoning barriers we erect around what we erroneously consider our separate and unchanging identities. To do so with conscious awareness, on a regular basis, is the transformative practice we call Zen. Receiving and offering-this is what we are doing each time we inhale and exhale. Breathe in with gratitude breathe out with love. Now breathe out, slowly, with equal appreciation. Stop trying to get an intellectual lock on something that is vast and boundless, far more than the rational mind can grasp. When the Dalai Lama was asked about Buddhism, he simply said, “My religion is kindness.” We don’t make a big deal about it we don’t even call it religion. Out of this realization flows a natural compassion and wisdom, a peaceful and intuitively appropriate response toward whatever circumstances may arise. Through a dedicated and consistent meditation practice, we can realize that self and other are One, that the conditioned and unconditioned are simultaneous, that absolute and relative are identical. Indeed, the historian Arnold Toynbee said that one of the most significant events of the twentieth century was the movement of Buddhism from East to West. Over the past few decades, it has become very much a part of Western culture. In China, it merged with Taoism and evolved into Ch’an, the Chinese word for meditation, which became “Zen” in Japan. With this flexible and accommodating attitude toward the various cultures and beliefs it encountered, Buddhism was embraced throughout Asia. “Buddha” simply means “awakened one.” His great teaching was that we can all awaken that fundamentally, we are all buddhas- Jewish buddhas, Christian buddhas, Hindu buddhas, Islamic buddhas, Ashanti buddhas, Haudenasaunee buddhas, secular buddhas. It was this path toward realization that was shown some 2,500 years ago by the Indian prince Siddhartha Gautama, who came to be known as Shakyamuni Buddha. The practice of zazen-meditation-is a way of realizing the non-dualistic, vibrant, subtle, and interconnected nature of all life. This direct experience is our birthright. ![]() Zen is the direct experience of what we might call ultimate reality, or the absolute, yet it is not separate from the ordinary, the relative. It is not a belief system to which one converts. What is Zen? It’s both something we are-our true nature expressing itself moment by moment-and something we do-a disciplined practice through which we can realize the joy of being.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |