Zen or Not
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Those who face that which is actually before them,
Unburdened by the past, Undistracted by the future,
These are they who live,
Who make the best use of their lives;
These are those who have found the secret of contentment.
Alban Goodier
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According to an ancient Indian fable, a mouse was in constant distress because
of its fear of the cat. A magician took pity on it and turned it into a cat.
But then it became afraid of the dog. So the magician turned it into a dog.
Then it began to fear the panther. So the magician turned it into a
panther. Whereupon it was full of fear for the hunter. At this
point the magician gave up, and turned it into a mouse again
saying, "Nothing I do for you is going to be of any help
because you have the heart of a mouse."
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A student once asked his teacher, "Master, what is enlightenment?"
The master replied, "When hungry, eat. When tired, sleep."
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"Complexity is not always needed to get the job done.
Life is only as difficult as we make it out to be."
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“The way is not in the sky.
The way is in the heart.”
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THE NUN Chiyono studied for years but was unable to find
enlightenment. One moonlight night she was carrying an old pail,
filled with water. She was watching the full moon reflected in
this water, when the bamboo strip that held the pailstaves broke.
The pail fell all apart; the water rushed out; the moon's
reflection disappeared. And Chiyono found enlightenment. She wrote
this verse:
This way and that way
I tried to keep the pail together
Hoping the weak bamboo
Would never break.
Suddenly the bottom fell out:
No more water:
No more moon in the water:
Emptiness in my hand!
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“If we are facing in the right direction,
all we have to do is keep on walking.”
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SEKKYO said to one of his monks, "Can you get hold of Emptiness?"
"I'll try" said the monk, and he cupped his hands in the air.
"That's not very good," said Sekkyo. "You haven't got anything in
there!"
"Well, master," said the monk, "please show me a better way."
Thereupon Sekkyo seized the monk's nose and gave it a great yank.
"Ouch!" yelled the monk. "You hurt me!"
"That's the way to get hold of Emptiness!" said Sekkyo.
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Meeting is only the beginning of separation.
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There is a Taoist story of an old farmer who had worked his crops for
many years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his
neighbors came to visit. “Such bad luck,” they said sympathetically.
“Maybe,” the farmer replied.
The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild
horses. “How wonderful,” the neighbors exclaimed.
“Maybe,” replied the old man.
The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses,
was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer
their sympathy on his misfortune.
“Maybe,” answered the farmer.
The day after, military officials came to the village to draft young
men into the army. Seeing that the son’s leg was broken, they passed
him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things
had turned out.
“Maybe,” said the farmer.
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A plant
needs sunshine
and rain
in order to grow,
just as all beings need love and
suffering to grow. Therefore,
when suffering comes, drink
it in like water and allow it to
make you more beautiful.
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A STUDENT came before the master Bankei and asked to be helped in
getting rid of his violent temper.
"Show me this temper," said Bankei. "It sounds very fascinating."
"I haven't got it right now, so I can't show it to you, said the
student.
"Well then," said Bankei,"bring it to me when you have it."
"But I can't bring it just when I happen to have it," protested
the student. "I'd surely lose it again before I got it to you.
"In such a case," said Bankei, "it seems to me that this temper is
not part of your true nature. If it is not part of you, it must
come into you from outside. I suggest that whenever it gets into
you, you beat yourself with a stick until the temper can't stand
it, and runs away."
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The bamboo rod is strong on the outside and hollow on the inside.
The Zen way is to be strong on the inside and gentle on the outside.
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A NEW monastery was to be opened, and the master Hyakujo had to
decide which of his monks should be put in charge. So he called
the monks together, filled a vase with water, and said to them:
"Which one of you can say what this is without giving its name?"
The chief monk, who expected to be given the new mastership, spoke
first. "It stands upright, it is hollow inside, but it is not a
wooden shoe," he said.
Another monk said, "It is not a pond, because it can be carried."
Then the cook, lowest of the monks, arose. He kicked over the vase
with his foot, so the water ran out on to the floor. He had shown
how to achieve emptiness.
Hyakujo gave him the job.
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LITTLE Toyo was only twelve years old. But since he was a pupil at
the Kennin temple, he wanted to be given a koan to ponder, just
like the more advanced students. So one evening, at the proper
time, he went to the room of Mokurai, the master, struck the gong
softly to announce his presence, bowed, and sat before the master
in respectful silence.
Finally the master said: "Toyo, show me the sound of two hands
clapping."
Toyo clapped his hands.
"Good," said the master. "Now show me the sound of one hand
clapping."
Toyo was silent. Finally he bowed and left to consider this
problem.
The next night he returned, and struck the gong with one palm.
"That is not right," said the master. The next night Toyo returned
and played geisha music with one hand. "That is not right," said
the master. The next night Toyo returned, and imitated the
dripping of water.
"That is not right," said the master. The next night Toyo
returned, and imitated the cricket scraping his leg. "That is
still not right," said the master.
For ten nights Toyo tried new sounds. At last he stopped coming to
the master. For a year he thought of every sound, and discarded
them all, until finally he reached enlightenment.
He returned respectfully to the master. Without striking the gong,
he sat down and bowed. "I have heard sound without sound," he
said.
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Treat yourself with compassion.
Nothing in the world is without blemish,
so be gentle and kind to yourself when you stumble.
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THE MASTER Ikkyu showed his wisdom even as a child. Once he broke
the precious heirloom teacup of his teacher, and was greatly
upset. While he was wondering what to do, he heard his teacher
coming. Quickly he hid the pieces of the cup under his robe.
"Master," he said, "why do things die?"
"It is perfectly natural for things to die and for the matter
gathered in them to separate and disintegrate," said the teacher.
"When its time has come every person and every thing must go.
"Master," said little Ikkyu, showing the pieces, "it was time for
your cup to go.
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Observe the sun.
It doesn't rush to rise or hesitate to set,
and it can't change a second of its cycle.
Everything in life has its time and place.
Follow the pace of nature:
never rushed and never late.
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THE STUDENT Tokusan used to come to the master Ryutan in the
evenings to talk and to listen. One night it was very late before
he was finished asking questions.
"Why don't you go to bed?" asked Ryutan.
Tokusan bowed, and lifted the screen to go out. "The hall is very
dark," he said.
"Here, take this candle," said Ryutan, lighting one for the
student.
Tokusan reached out his hand, and took the candle.
Ryutan leaned forward, and blew it out.
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We need to let go of everything
that no longer serves us.
How long must we carry the burden
of mistakes of our past?
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There is a wonderful little story about two monks who lived together
in a monastery for many years; they were great friends. Then they
died within a few months of one another. One of them got reborn in
the heaven realms, the other monk got reborn as a worm in a dung
pile. The one up in the heaven realms was having a wonderful time,
enjoying all the heavenly pleasures. But he started thinking about his
friend, "I wonder where my old mate has gone?" So he scanned all
of the heaven realms, but could not find a trace of his friend. Then he
scanned the realm of human beings, but he could not see any trace
of his friend there, so he looked in the realm of animals and then of
insects. Finally he found him, reborn as a worm in a dung pile... Wow!
He thought: "I am going to help my friend. I am going to go down
there to that dung pile and take him up to the heavenly realm so he
too can enjoy the heavenly pleasures and bliss of living in these
wonderful realms."
So he went down to the dung pile and called his mate. And the little
worm wriggled out and said: "Who are you?", "I am your friend. We
used to be monks together in a past life, and I have come up to take
you to the heaven realms where life is wonderful and blissful." But
the worm said: "Go away, get lost!" "But I am your friend, and I live
in the heaven realms," and he described the heaven realms to him.
But the worm said: "No thank you, I am quite happy here in my dung
pile. Please go away." Then the heavenly being thought: "Well if I
could only just grab hold of him and take him up to the heaven realms,
he could see for himself." So he grabbed hold of the worm and
started tugging at him; and the harder he tugged, the harder that
worm clung to his pile of dung.
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When you take off your shoes,
leave all the problems of the world there
on the floor with them. Have no fear,
they'll return to you when you
put your shoes back on.
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The great Taoist master Chuang Tzu once dreamt that he was a butterfly
fluttering here and there. In the dream he had no awareness of his individuality
as a person. He was only a butterfly. Suddenly, he awoke and found himself
laying there, a person once again. But then he thought to himself, "Was I before
a man who dreamt about being a butterfly, or am I now a butterfly who dreams
about being a man?"
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Do not follow the ideas of
others, but learn to listen to
the voice within yourself.
Zen Master Dogen
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One day Chuang Tzu and a friend were walking by a river. "Look at the fish swimming
about," said Chuang Tzu, "They are really enjoying themselves."
"You are not a fish," replied the friend, "So you can't truly know that they are
enjoying themselves."
"You are not me," said Chuang Tzu. "So how do you know that I do not know that the
fish are enjoying themselves?"
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Watch the clouds....
As they pass unruffled over peaks and valleys,
they're not elated by the peaks, nor bored by the
valleys. That is the Zen mind: neither elated nor
bored, but rather always at peace.
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A martial arts student approached his teacher with a question. "I'd like to improve
my knowledge of the martial arts. In addition to learning from you, I'd like to
study with another teacher in order to learn another style. What do you think of this
idea?"
"The hunter who chases two rabbits," answered the master,
"catches neither one."
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Summer, fall, winter, spring...
the seasons change, it is the way of life.
Everything changes, so when we hold on to what was,
we feel loss, for nothing can ever be what it once was.
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There was a young monk in China who was a very serious practitioner of the Dharma.
Once, this monk came across something he did not understand, so he went to ask the
master. When the master heard the question, he kept laughing. The master then stood
up and walked away, still laughing.
The young monk was very disturbed by the master's reaction. For the next 3 days, he
could not eat, sleep nor think properly. At the end of 3 days, he went back to the
master and told the master how disturbed he had felt.
When the master heard this, he said, "Monk, do you know what your problem is? Your
problem is that YOU ARE WORSE THAN A CLOWN!"
The monk was shocked to hear that, "Venerable Sir, how can you say such a thing?!
How can I be worse than a clown?"
The master explained, "A clown enjoys seeing people laugh. You? You feel disturbed
because another person laughed. Tell me, are you not worse than a clown?"
When the monk heard this, he began to laugh. He was enlightened.
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Relax.
Everything will resolve itself in time--
this is the way of the world. This is also the way of Zen.
Walk though life without stress or strain, and
everything will return to its place.
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Roshi Kapleau agreed to educate a group of psychoanalysts about Zen.
After being introduced to the group by the director of the analytic
institute, the Roshi quietly sat down upon a cushion placed on the floor.
A student entered, prostrated before the master, and then seated himself
on another cushion a few feet away, facing his teacher. "What is Zen?"
the student asked. The Roshi produced a banana, peeled it, and started
eating. "Is that all? Can't you show me anything else?" the student said.
"Come closer, please," the master replied. The student moved in and the
Roshi waved the remaining portion of the banana before the student's face.
The student prostrated, and left.
A second student rose to address the audience. "Do you all understand?"
When there was no response, the student added, "You have just witnessed
a first-rate demonstration of Zen. Are there any questions?"
After a long silence, someone spoke up. "Roshi, I am not satisfied with
your demonstration. You have shown us something that I am not sure I
understand. It must be possible to TELL us what Zen is."
"If you must insist on words," the Roshi replied,
"then Zen is an elephant copulating with a flea."
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Reactive patterns bring about precisely what you try to avoid. When things
go wrong in your life, blaming circumstances doesn't help. Look at the
role your own patterns play in bringing about the problem.
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BODHIDHARMA sat facing a wall for nine years of meditation. At one
time a Confucian monk came to him for teaching. But Bodhidharma
sat unmoving and unspeaking for seven days and nights, while the
monk pleaded for his attention. Finally the monk could stand no
more, and to show his sincerity, he took a great sword, cut off
his arm, and carried it to Bodhidharma.
He said: "Here is a token of my sincerity. I have been seeking
peace for my soul for many years, and I know that you can show me
how to find it."
Bodhidharma said, "Do not bring me your arm. Bring me your soul,
so I can give it peace as you request.
"But that is the very trouble," said the monk,
"I cannot grasp my soul or find it, much less bring it to you.
"You see," said Bodhidharma, "I have given you peace of soul."
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A Hurried mind is sick.
A Slow mind is sound.
A Still mind is divine.
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When Eshun, the Zen nun, was past sixty and about to leave this world,
she asked some monks to pile up wood in the yard.
Seating herself firmly in the center of the funeral pyre,
she had it set fire around the edges.
"O nun!" shouted one monk,
"is it hot in there?"
"Such a matter would concern only a stupid person like yourself,"
answered Eshun.
The flames arose, and she passed away.
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Happiness just is.
It isn't something you have to earn, look for,
or wait to receive--it's always there. To find it,
simply stop looking and become it.
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In a Zen Garden
you cannot see
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A student went to his meditation teacher and said,
"My meditation is horrible! I feel so distracted,
or my legs ache, or I'm constantly falling asleep.
It's just horrible!"
"It will pass,"
the teacher said matter-of-factly.
A week later, the student came back to his teacher.
"My meditation is wonderful! I feel so aware,
so peaceful, so alive!
It's just wonderful!'
"It will pass,"
the teacher replied matter-of-factly.
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