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Invisiblespinvis
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Registered: 09/15/20
Posts: 587
Re: Greatest Spiritual Quotes? [Re: connectedcosmos]
    #28420818 - 08/04/23 06:13 PM (5 months, 21 days ago)

Quote:

connectedcosmos said:
Quote:

Nansen saw the monks of the eastern and western halls fighting over a cat. He seized the cat and told the monks: "If any of you say a good word, you can save the cat."

No one answered. So Nansen boldly cut the cat in two pieces.

That evening Joshu returned and Nansen told him about this. Joshu removed his sandals and, placing them on his head, walked out.

Nansen said: "If you had been there, you could have saved the cat."

Mumon’s comment: Why did Joshu put his sandals on his head? If anyone answers this question, he will understand exactly how Nansen enforced the edict. If not, he should watch his own head.
Had Joshu been there,
He would have enforced the edict oppositely.
Joshu snatches the sword
And Nansen begs for his life.





From the Wikisource The Gateless Gate




Joshu and Nansen;
"Once Joshu asked Nansen, “Where did the worthies of old go when they died?” Nansen replied, “How badly do you want to know?” When you die, just die! When you die thoroughly and completely you will transcend life and death and become a living Buddha. But if you show no feeling for the cat, then you’ll be no different than a stone Buddha in the garden."



Zen master Setcho;
“Fortunately, Nansen took a correct action. Sword straight away cuts it in two. Criticize as you like.”



Dōgen Zenji;
“If I were Nansen I should say, ‘If you answer, I will kill it; if you don’t answer, I will kill it.’
If I were the monks I should say, ‘We cannot answer; please cut the cat in two.’ Or I should say, ‘The master knows how to cut it into two pieces, but he does not know how to cut it into one piece.’”



:lol:


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Invisiblespinvis
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Registered: 09/15/20
Posts: 587
Re: Greatest Spiritual Quotes? [Re: spinvis]
    #28425252 - 08/08/23 04:39 AM (5 months, 18 days ago)

Matthew Juksan Sullivan - The Garden of Flowers and Weeds: A New Translation and Commentary on the Blue Cliff Record - Introduction;
"Yuanwu wrote, “If you use language and words to interpret language and words, you merely get the benefits of understanding more, but you do not cross the dharma gate.”"


Robert Aitken, Kazuaki Tanahashi; Eihei Dogen - Shōbōgenzō - Genjōkōan - Actualizing the Fundamental Point;
"As all things are buddha-dharma, there is delusion and realization, practice, birth and death, and there are buddhas and sentient beings.

As the myriad things are without an abiding self, there is no delusion, no realization, no buddha, no sentient being, no birth and death.

The buddha way is, basically, leaping clear of the many of the one; thus there are birth and death, delusion and realization, sentient beings and buddhas.

Yet in attachment blossoms fall, and in aversion weeds spread.

To carry yourself forward and experience myriad things is delusion. That myriad things come forth and experience themselves is awakening.

Those who have great realization of delusion are buddhas; those who are greatly deluded about realization are sentient beings. Further, there are those who continue realizing beyond realization, who are in delusion throughout delusion.

When buddhas are truly buddhas they do not necessarily notice that they are buddhas. However, they are actualized buddhas, who go on actualizing buddhas.

When you see forms or hear sounds fully engaging body-and-mind, you grasp things directly. Unlike things and their reflections in the mirror, and unlike the moon and its reflection in the water, when one side is illumined the other side is dark.

To study the buddha way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be actualized by myriad things. When actualized by myriad things, your body and mind as well as the bodies and minds of others drop away. No trace of realization remains, and this no-trace continues endlessly.

When you first seek dharma, you imagine you are far away from its environs. But dharma is already correctly transmitted; you are immediately your original self. When you ride in a boat and watch the shore, you might assume that the shore is moving. But when you keep your eyes closely on the boat, you can see that the boat moves. Similarly, if you examine myriad things with a confused body and mind you might suppose that your mind and nature are permanent. When you practice intimately and return to where you are, it will be clear that nothing at all has unchanging self.

Firewood becomes ash, and it does not become firewood again. Yet, do not suppose that the ash is future and the firewood past. You should understand that firewood abides in the phenomenal expression of firewood, which fully includes past and future and is independent of past and future. Ash abides in the phenomenal expression of ash, which fully includes future and past. Just as firewood does not become firewood again after it is ash, you do not return to birth after death.

This being so, it is an established way in buddha-dharma to deny that birth turns into death. Accordingly, birth is understood as no-birth. It is an unshakable teaching in Buddha's discourse that death does not turn into birth. Accordingly, death is understood as no-death.

Birth is an expression complete this moment. Death is an expression complete this moment. They are like winter and spring. You do not call winter the beginning of spring, nor summer the end of spring.

Enlightenment is like the moon reflected on the water. The moon does not get wet, nor is the water broken. Although its light is wide and great, the moon is reflected even in a puddle an inch wide. The whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in dewdrops on the grass, or even in one drop of water.

Enlightenment does not divide you, just as the moon does not break the water. You cannot hinder enlightenment, just as a drop of water does not hinder the moon in the sky.

The depth of the drop is the height of the moon. Each reflection, however long of short its duration, manifests the vastness of the dewdrop, and realizes the limitlessness of the moonlight in the sky.

When dharma does not fill your whole body and mind, you think it is already sufficient. When dharma fills your body and mind, you understand that something is missing.

For example, when you sail out in a boat to the middle of an ocean where no land is in sight, and view the four directions, the ocean looks circular, and does not look any other way. But the ocean is neither round or square; its features are infinite in variety. It is like a palace. It is like a jewel. It only look circular as far as you can see at that time. All things are like this.

Though there are many features in the dusty world and the world beyond conditions, you see and understand only what your eye of practice can reach. In order to learn the nature of the myriad things, you must know that although they may look round or square, the other features of oceans and mountains are infinite in variety; whole worlds are there. It is so not only around you, but also directly beneath your feet, or in a drop of water.

A fish swims in the ocean, and no matter how far it swims there is no end to the water. A bird flies in the sky, and no matter how far it flies there is no end to the air. However, the fish and the bird have never left their elements. When their activity is large their field is large. When their need is small their field is small. Thus, each of them totally covers its full range, and each of them totally experiences its realm. If the bird leaves the air it will die at once. If the fish leaves the water it will die at once.

Know that water is life and air is life. The bird is life and the fish is life. Life must be the bird and life must be the fish.

It is possible to illustrate this with more analogies. Practice, enlightenment, and people are like this.

Now if a bird or a fish tries to reach the end of its element before moving in it, this bird or this fish will not find its way or its place. When you find your place where you are, practice occurs, actualizing the fundamental point. When you find you way at this moment, practice occurs, actualizing the fundamental point; for the place, the way, is neither large nor small, neither yours nor others'. The place, the way, has not carried over from the past and it is not merely arising now.

Accordingly, in the practice-enlightenment of the buddha way, meeting one thing is mastering it--doing one practice is practicing completely. Here is the place; here the way unfolds. The boundary of realization is not distinct, for the realization comes forth simultaneously with the mastery of buddha-dharma.

Do not suppose that what you realize becomes your knowledge and is grasped by your consciousness. Although actualized immediately, the inconceivable may not be apparent. Its appearance is beyond your knowledge. Zen master Baoche of Mt. Mayu was fanning himself. A monk approached and said, "Master, the nature of wind is permanent and there is no place it does not reach. When, then, do you fan yourself?"

"Although you understand that the nature of the wind is permanent," Baoche replied, "you do not understand the meaning of its reaching everywhere."

"What is the meaning of its reaching everywhere?" asked the monk again. The master just kept fanning himself. The monk bowed deeply.

The actualization of the buddha-dharma, the vital path of its correct transmission, is like this. If you say that you do not need to fan yourself because the nature of wind is permanent and you can have wind without fanning, you will understand neither permanence nor the nature of wind. The nature of wind is permanent; because of that, the wind of the buddha's house brings for the gold of the earth and makes fragrant the cream of the long river.

Written in mid-autumn, the first year of Tempuku 1233, and given to my lay student Koshu Yo of Kyushu Island. {Revised in} the fourth year of Kencho {1252}."


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Invisiblespinvis
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Re: Greatest Spiritual Quotes? [Re: spinvis]
    #28425254 - 08/08/23 04:42 AM (5 months, 18 days ago)

Zen master Seccho (Xuedou Zhongxian / Setcho Juken, 982-1052), including the traditional commentary;
"Blind, deaf, mute,
Already there before it's said. The three openings (eye, ear, mouth) are all illumined. It's already been made into one piece.

Infinitely beyond the imaginative contrivances.
Where will you search? Can you make any judgments? What have they got to do with it?

In the heavens, on earth
With the correct principle, Hsueh Tau is on his own. I am also thus.

Laughable, lamentable.
Laugh at what? Lament over what? Half light, half dark.

Li Lii can't discern the true form (What life can compare with this?);
Blind man! A skillful craftsman leaves no traces. Truly blind!

How can Shih K'uang recognize the mystic tune!
Deaf man! No reward has been established for the great achievement. Truly deaf.

How can this compare to sitting alone beneath an empty window!
You must be this way to attain. Don't make your living in a ghost cave. Instantly Hsueh Tau smashes the lacquer bucket.

The leaves fall, the flowers bloom-each in its own time.
What time and season is it right now? You mustn't understand it as unconcern. Today goes from morning to evening and tomorrow too goes from morning to evening.

Again Hsueh Tou said, "Do you understand or not!"
Again he speaks the words of the verse.

An iron hammer head with no hole.
Take what's coming to you and get out! Too bad-Hsueh Tau let go, so I'll hit."


Amazon review for 'Dropping Ashes on the Buddha: The Teachings of Zen Master Seung Sahn';
"Naturally scriptures, holy reading and their corresponding history are very important (so is growing up and learning all the necessary skills we need to survive in this crazy world). Additionally vital is at some point in our life, we have to stop thinking we know everything. Human beings today are at a point where we just think our way through life. We think we have an explanation for everything --- I think, I think, I think.... We forget our true nature of just feeling or experiencing `things as it is'. Instead of simply experiencing something right in front of our eyes --- we sit, stare, try to break it down and explain it all... With all of this going on, we fail to realize that this precious moment is fleeing from us... What should we do? We must drop everything - `put it all down' and realize these things staring us in the face, every second of every day. We have to lose our overactive mind, and just see with our eyes what is in front of us - appreciate it for what it is, and experience it for all it has to offer..."


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Invisiblespinvis
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Posts: 587
Re: Greatest Spiritual Quotes? [Re: spinvis]
    #28425274 - 08/08/23 05:19 AM (5 months, 18 days ago)

Victor Sôgen Hori, Yamada Mumon Roshi; Kakuan Shion Zenji, Jion Oshō - The Ten Oxherding Pictures, including summary by Piya Tan;
"I. Searching for the Ox

Preface:
Until now, the ox has never gone astray. Why then does he need to search for it? Because he turned away from himself, he became estranged from it; then, lost in the dust, at last he let it astray; he’s lost as soon as the path divides. Winning and losing consume him like flames, right and wrong rise round him like blades.

Verse:
Beating about the endless wildgrass, he seeks and searches, the rivers broaden, the mountains stretch on, and the trails go ever deeper. His strength exhausted and his spirit wearied, no place allows him refuge. He listens–there’s just the evening’s shrilling of cicadas in the trees.

Waka:
Sought ox in the mountains–missed it. Only a cicada’s empty shrilling.

Summary:
“Undisciplined.” The untamed mind is unruly.


II. Finding the Tracks

Preface:
With the aid of the sutras, he gains understanding; through the study of the teaching, he finds the traces. The many vessels are clearly all of one gold; and he himself is the embodiment of the ten thousand things. But unable to recognize correct from incorrect, how is he to distinguish true from false? Since he has yet to pass through the gate, only tentatively has he seen the traces.

Verse:
By the water and under the trees, there are tracks thick and fast. In the sweet grasses thick with growth, did he see it or not? But even in the depths of the deepest mountains, how could it hide from others its snout turned up at the sky?

Waka:
Deep in the mountains, his efforts bear fruit. Tracks! How grateful to see a sign.

Summary:
“Discipline begins.” Preliminary efforts in meditation.


III. Seeing the Ox

Preface:
Through sounds he makes an entry and comes to know their source. But it’s no different for each and every one of the six senses. In their every function, it is plainly present, like salt in water, or glue in paint. Raise your eyebrows–it is nothing other than yourself.

Verse:
On the tree branch a nightingale sings, warm sun, soft wind, green willows on the bank. Now nowhere for it to hide, its majestic horns no artist could draw.

Waka:
In the spring sun in the green willow strands, see its timeless form.

Summary:
“In harness.” The meditator”s mindfulness increases.


IV. Catching the Ox

Preface:
At last today you finally meet up with the ox so long hidden in the wilderness. But the world around is so distracting, it is hard to keep up with the ox. It will not give up its longing for the sweet grass. It is just as willful as before and just as wild natured. He who would truly tame it must lay on the whip.

Verse:
He expends all strength to take the ox. But willful and strong, it won’t soon be broken. As soon as he gains the high ground, it vanishes once more deep into the mist.

Waka:
Thinking “At last, my mind–the ox. Don’t let go.” Just this is the real fetter.

Summary:
“Turns around.” The meditation object is clearly seen.


V. Taming the Ox

Preface:
If even the slightest thought arises, then another follows. With awakening, all becomes truth; but if you reside in ignorance, all is unreal. Things arise, not because of the objective world, but only because of the mind. Keep a firm grip on that rope and do not waver.

Verse:
Let drop neither whip nor line even a moment lest the ox wander back to dust and desire. Tame this bull and it will be pure and gentle. Without fetters or chain, of itself, it will follow.

Waka:
Days past counting and even the wild ox comes to hand. Becoming the shadow that clings to my body–how gratifying.

Summary:
“Tamed.” The mental hindrances begin to disappear.


VI. Riding Home on the Ox

Preface:
The struggle is over; all concern about winning and losing has ceased. He sings woodsman’s village songs and plays children’s country tunes. Lying back on top of his ox, he gazes at the sky. Call him back but he will not turn around; try to catch him but he will not be caught.

Verse:
Astride his ox, leisurely he heads for home. Trilling a nomad’s flute, he leaves in misted sunset. In each beat and verse, his boundless feeling–what need for an intimate companion to
say even a word?

Waka:
Roar in the sky of limpid soaring mind; white clouds come back on the peaks.

Summary:
“Unimpeded.” Concentration continues; joy arises.


VII. The Ox Forgotten, The Person Remains

Preface:
The dharma is not dual; the ox just stands for the actuality. Likewise, the snare and the rabbit are different, and fishnet and fish are not the same. So, too, gold separates from dross, and the moon emerges from the clouds, sending out a single shaft of icy light from before the age of Ion.

Verse:
Aback his ox, he’s reached his original abode, Ox now gone, he too is still. Sun risen high, yet still he dreams, old whip and line put away in the woodshed.

Waka:
Hard to take–people who fret over good and bad, knowing nothing of Naniwa reeds.

Summary:
“Non-interference.” The concentrated mind needs no effort.


VIII. Forgetting Both Person and Ox

Preface:
He has shed all worldly feelings and erased all thought of holiness. He does not linger where the Buddha is; he hurries right past where the Buddha is not. As he does not cling to either side, not even the thousand-eyed one can find him. Birds flocking around bearing flowers–that would be a disgraceful scene.

Verse:
Whip and line, man and ox–all vanished to emptiness. Blue sky utterly vast–no way to say or convey. Into the flames of a fire pit, how can a snowflake fall? He who attains this is truly one with the Patriarch.

Waka:
Without clouds, or moon, or cassia–the tree too is gone, the sky above swept so clean.

Summary:
“All forgotten.” The higher levels of consciousness.


IX. Return to the Origin

Preface:
The fundamental is pure and immaculate, without a speck of dust. The sees the things of existence arise and decay though he resides in the serene quiet of doing nothing. But he is not merely conjuring up visions. Why then is there any need to change things? The blue waters, the green mountains–he just sits and watches them rise and pass away.

Verse:
Return to the origin, back to the source–such wasted effort. What compares with being dumb and blind? From within the hut, one sees not what is in front–the river by nature broad, flowers by nature red.

Waka:
No traces of the Dharma way, on the original mountain. The pines are green, the flowers glint with dew.

Summary:
“The solitary moon.” Joyfully seeing reality.


X. Entering the Marketplace with Extended Hands

Preface:
All alone, the gate shut so tight–not even the thousand sages can comprehend. Hiding his light he strays from the tracks of the sages who have gone before. He comes round to the market with his gourd dangling and returns to his hut clumping along with his staff. He shows up at the drinking places and fish stalls to awaken all to their buddhahood.

Verse:
With bare chest and unshod feet, he walks into the market, daubed with dirt and smeared with ashes, laughter fills his face. Without using mystic arts or divine powers he makes withered trees at once burst into flower.

Waka:
Hands extended, feet in the sky–on a dead branch perches a bird.

Summary:
“Both vanished.” Enlightenment."


Kamalaśīla - The Nine Mental Abidings (navākārā cittasthiti, sems-gnas dgu);
"1. Placement of the mind (S. cittasthāpana, Tib. འཇོག་པ - sems ’jog-pa) occurs when the practitioner is able to place their attention on the object of meditation, but is unable to maintain that attention for very long. Distractions, dullness of mind and other hindrances are common.
   

2. Continuous placement (S. samsthāpana, Tib. རྒྱུན་དུ་འཇོག་པ - rgyun-du ‘jog-pa) occurs when the practitioner experiences moments of continuous attention on the object before becoming distracted. According to B Alan Wallace (Wallace, A: 'The Attention Revolution', Wisdom Publications, first ed., 2006, p.30), this is when you can maintain your attention on the meditation object for about a minute.
   

3. Repeated placement (S. avasthāpana, Tib. བླན་ཏེ་འཇོག་པ - slan-te ’jog-pa) is when the practitioner's attention is fixed on the object for most of the practice session and she or he is able to immediately realize when she or he has lost their mental hold on the object and is able to restore that attention quickly. Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche suggests (Nine Stages of Training the Mind) that being able to maintain attention for 108 breaths is a good benchmark for when we have reached this stage.
   

4. Close placement (S. upasthāpana, Tib. ཉེ་བར་འཇོག་པ - nye-bar ’jog-pa) occurs when the practitioner is able to maintain attention throughout the entire meditation session (an hour or more) without losing their mental hold on the meditation object at all. In this stage the practitioner achieves the power of mindfulness. Nevertheless, this stage still contains subtle forms of excitation and dullness or laxity (Wallace, A: 'The Attention Revolution', Wisdom Publications, first ed., 2006, p.62).
   

5. Taming (S. damana, Tib. དུལ་བར་བྱེད་པ - dul-bar byed-pa), by this stage the practitioner achieves deep tranquility of mind, but must be watchful for subtle forms of laxity or dullness, peaceful states of mind which can be confused for calm abiding. By focusing on the future benefits of gaining Shamatha (achieving Shamatha by Dr. Alexander Berzin), the practitioner can uplift (gzengs-bstod) their mind and become more focused and clear.
   

6. Pacifying (S. śamana,Tib. ཞི་བར་བྱེད་པ་ - zhi-bar byed-pa) is the stage during which subtle mental dullness or laxity is no longer a great difficulty, but now the practitioner is prone to subtle excitements which arise at the periphery of meditative attention. According to B. Alan Wallace (Wallace, A: 'The Attention Revolution', Wisdom Publications, first ed., 2006, p.99) this stage is achieved only after thousands of hours of rigorous training.
   

7. Fully pacifying (S. vyupaśamana,Tib. རྣམ་པར་ཞི་བར་བྱེད་པ་ - nye-bar zhi-bar byed-pa), although the practitioner may still experience subtle excitement or dullness, they are rare and the practitioner can easily recognize and pacify them.
   

8. Single-pointing (S. ekotīkarana,Tib. རྩེ་གཅིག་ཏུ་བྱེད་པ་ - rtse-gcig-tu byed-pa) in this stage the practitioner can reach high levels of concentration with only a slight effort and without being interrupted even by subtle laxity or excitement during the entire meditation session.
   

9. Balanced placement (S. samādhāna,Tib. མཉམ་པར་འཇོག་པ་བྱེད་པ་ - mnyam-par ’jog-pa) the meditator now effortlessly reaches absorbed concentration (ting-nge-‘dzin, S. samadhi.) and can maintain it for about four hours without any single interruption (Wallace, A: 'The Attention Revolution', Wisdom Publications, first ed., 2006, p.99).
   

10. Śamatha (Tib. ཞི་གནས་, shyiné) the culmination, is sometimes listed as a tenth stage."


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Invisiblespinvis
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Posts: 587
Re: Greatest Spiritual Quotes? [Re: spinvis] * 1
    #28425275 - 08/08/23 05:20 AM (5 months, 18 days ago)

Buddhaghosa;
"This monk’s mind, which was for a long time scattered among such objects as visible forms does not like to enter the path of meditation, but runs along into a wrong path like a chariot yoked to a wild bull.

Just as a herdsman who desires to break a wild calf which has grown up on the milk of a wild cow would remove it from the cow, and having sunk a large post at one side would bind the calf with a rope. Then that calf of his, struggling this way and that, unable to run away, would sit down or lie down close to the post.

In the same way, this monk who desires to train the corrupt mind which has grown up from long drinking the pleasures of the senses such as visible forms, should remove it from sense-objects such as visible forms, and having gone to the forest, or to the root of a tree, or to an empty house, should tie it to the post of the meditation object of the focusses of mindfulness by the rope of mindfulness.

Then that mind of his, even after it has struggled this way and that, not finding the mental object it previously indulged in, unable to break the rope of mindfulness and run away, indeed sits down and lies down close to that very mental object through access concentration and full concentration.

Hence, the ancients said:

Just as man would tie to a post a calf that needs to be tamed,
Even so here should one tie one’s own mind tightly to the object of mindfulness.
"


Zen Master Dae-Ju;
"One day, a Sutra Master came and he questioned Zen Master Dae-Ju. “I understand that you have attained Satori. What is Zen?'”

Dae-Ju said, “Zen is very easy. It is not difficult at all. When I am hungry, I eat; when I am tired, I sleep.”

The Sutra Master said, “This is doing the same as all people do. Attaining satori [Zen enlightenment] and not attaining are then the same.”

“No, no, people on the outside and on the inside are different.'”

The Sutra Master said, “When I am hungry, I eat. When I am tired, I sleep. Why is the outside different from the inside?”

Dae-Ju said, “When people are hungry, they eat. Only the outside, the body, is eating. On the inside, they are thinking, and they have desire for money, fame, sex, food, and they feel anger. And so when they are tired, because of these wants, they do not sleep. So, the outside and the inside are different. But when I am hungry, I only eat. When I am tired, I only sleep. I have no thinking, and so I have no inside and no outside.”


Edited by spinvis (08/08/23 05:26 AM)


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Invisiblespinvis
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Registered: 09/15/20
Posts: 587
Re: Greatest Spiritual Quotes? [Re: spinvis]
    #28425277 - 08/08/23 05:21 AM (5 months, 18 days ago)

Henry Thomas Colebrooke (1765-1837) - Rig Veda;
"Nor Aught nor Nought existed; yon bright sky
Was not, nor heaven's broad roof outstretched above.
What covered all? What sheltered? What concealed?
Was it the water's fathomless abyss?
There was no death—yet there was nought immortal,
There was no confine betwixt day and night;
The only One breathed breathless by Itself,
Other than It there nothing since has been.
Darkness there was, and all at first was veiled
In gloom profound—an ocean without light.
The germ that still lay covered in the husk
Burst forth, one nature, from the fervent heat.
Who knows the secret? Who proclaimed it here?
Whence, whence this manifold creation sprang?
The Gods themselves came later into being—
Who knows from whence this great creation sprang?
That, whence all this great creation came,
Whether Its will created or was mute,
The Most High Seer that is in highest heaven,
He knows it—or perchance even he knows not.
Gazing into eternity
Ere the foundations of the earth were laid.
Thou wert. And when the subterranean flame
Shall burst its prison and devour the frame,
Thou shalt be still as thou wert before
And know no change, when time shall be no more.
O, endless thought, divine Eternity."


Stephen Mitchell; Seung Sahn - Dropping Ashes on the Buddha: The Teachings of Zen Master Seung Sahn - Introduction;
"Deep in the mountains, the great temple bell is struck. You hear it reverberating in the morning air, and all thoughts disappear from your mind. There is nothing that is you; there is nothing that is not you. There is only the sound of the bell, filling the whole universe.
Springtime comes. You see the flowers blossoming, the butterflies flitting about; you hear the birds singing, you breathe in the warm weather. And your mind is only springtime. It is nothing at all.
You visit Niagara and take a boat to the bottom of the Falls. The downpouring of the water is in front of you and around you and inside you, and suddenly you are shouting: YAAAAAA!

In all these experiences, outside and inside have become one. This is Zen mind.
Original nature has no opposites. Speech and words are not necessary. Without thinking, all things are exactly as they are. The truth is just like this.
Then why do we use words? Why have we made this book?
According to Oriental medicine, when you have a hot sickness you should take hot medicine. Most people are very attached to words and speech. So we cure this sickness with word-and-speech medicine.
Most people have a deluded view of the world. They don't see it as it is; they don't understand the truth. What is good, what is bad? Who makes good, who makes bad? They cling to their opinions with all their might. But everybody's opinion is different. How can you say that your opinion is correct and somebody else's is wrong? This is delusion.
If you want to understand the truth, you must let go of your situation, your condition, and all your opinions. Then your mind will be before thinking. “Before thinking” is clear mind. Clear mind has no inside and no outside. It is just like this. “Just like this” is the truth.
An eminent teacher said,
If you want to pass through this gate,
do not give rise to thinking.

This means that if you are thinking, you can't understand Zen. If you keep the mind that is before thinking, this is Zen mind.
So another Zen Master said,
Everything the Buddha taught
was only to correct your thinking.
If already you have cut off thinking,
what good are the Buddha's words?

The Heart Sutra says, “Form is emptiness, emptiness is form.” This means, “no form, no emptiness.” But the true meaning of “no form, no emptiness” is, “form is form, emptiness is emptiness.”
If you are thinking, you won't understand these words. If you are not thinking, “just like this” is Buddha-nature.
What is Buddha-nature?
Deep in the mountains, the great temple bell is struck.
The truth is just like this.

Seung Sahn"


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Re: Greatest Spiritual Quotes? [Re: spinvis]
    #28425279 - 08/08/23 05:22 AM (5 months, 18 days ago)

Amazon review for 'The Record of Transmitting the Light: Zen Master Keizan's Denkoroku';
"it speaks of own nature. awareness of that which one sees and that within one... only awareness.
it speaks of emptiness. that which is truly nameless and untouchable and yet is all things... only awareness.
it speaks of the Self. awareness within and without (if within still remains)... only awareness.
it speaks of the Mind. awareness of within and without. thoughts, feelings and forms all... only awareness.
it speaks of the teaching of the inanimate. only awareness of the emptiness of such teaching. such emptiness is only awareness.
the cessation of self, and arising of the Self (own nature) which results in perception of only awareness.
it speaks of non-duality and the oneness of emptiness, the oneness of awareness.

when one sees ones own nature for the first time, then one is able to appreciate the sameness and emptiness of all things, but only after one has recognised that the normal feeling within oneself is no different from the feeling of awareness of external forms and objects.

what is emptiness... emptiness is found when all else has been dropped or swept away. all that remains is awareness and emptiness is awareness. In Thibetan Ati Yoga is the teaching of Padmasambhava on appreciating 'Rigpa'... normal feeling or awareness.

in the last paragraph of this book, Keizan speaks of vivid alertness, waking from a dream... a feeling of being "very awake". vivid alertness is vivid awareness. this vivid alertness is however a buddha demon in that it can rob people of the appreciation of supreme normality of basic awareness.

awareness is thought. thoughts are aware.
awareness is feeling. feelings are aware.
awareness is sensation.
awareness is truth.
even loving kindness is a form of awareness.
all is awarness, whether it be vivid or completley normal.
all forms are a form of awareness, as is all sensation of emptiness.

Buddhism is awareness of awareness.
Christianity is awareness of the source of awareness, which is in Him/Her self a form of awareness.

JUST AWARENESS.

the only thing in my experience that can canker awareness is "premature" annihilation of the mundane self. if this happens then awareness is replaced by grey nothingness. limbo. there are different purities of awareness and the time may come when deliberate exposure to limbo is necessary in the clearing away process. after experiencing the nameless i was left with no 'within'. i asked jesus to give me a new self of loving kindness and the vibration of thought in that state is even purer than it was after annihilation of 'subject/within'."


The Blue Cliff Record - Case 88 - Gensha’s Man of Three Disabilities;
"ENGO’S INTRODUCTION
In his teaching, the master often turns two into three. Talking of the profound, he goes through and through it, seven times piercing and eight times breaking through. He adapts himself to all circumstances, penetrates the most mysterious secrets. Acting on the principles of the Buddha, he leaves no trace of his actions. Where do the complicated koans come from? If you have an eye to see, see the following.

MAIN SUBJECT
Gensha spoke to the assembly saying, "All of the ancient patriarchs say,
'Saving all beings.' If suddenly three kinds of sick persons were to come, how
would you teach them? For a blind person, even if you hold up a gavel and stick up
a whisk, he will not see it. For a deaf person, even if your speech is samadhi
itself, he will not hear it. For a mute person, even if you try to have him say
something he will not be able to speak. How will you teach them? If you cannot
teach these people, the Buddha Dharma has no life."
A monk asked Unmon for Instruction (concerning this). Unmon said,
"Make a prostration." The monk made a prostration and stood up. Unmon took
his staff and poked it at the monk. The monk stepped back. Unmon said,
"You are not blind." He again called the monk to come before him. The monk
approached him. Unmon said, "You are not deaf." Unmon then said, "Do you
understand?" The monk said, "I don't understand." Unmon said, "You are not
mute." With this, the monk had some understanding.

SETCHŌ’S VERSE
Blind, deaf, and dumb: none can come near;
Throughout the country, none could understand.
Rirō did not discern the true color,
Nor Shikō the subtle sound.
Let us sit quietly by the window
And enjoy the falling leaves, the spring flowers.
I say, “Do you understand?
It is a holeless iron hammer.”"


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Re: Greatest Spiritual Quotes? [Re: spinvis]
    #28425281 - 08/08/23 05:23 AM (5 months, 18 days ago)

Gudo Wafu Nishijima, Chodo Cross; Eihei Dogen - Shōbōgenzō - Zenki - All Functions;
"Translator’s Note: Zen means “all” or “total” and ki means “functions,” so zenki means “all functions” or “the total function.” From the Buddhist standpoint, we can say that this world is the realization of all functions. Master Dōgen explained this state of the world, quoting the words of Master Engo Kokugon that life is the realization of all functions and death is the realization of all functions.

The buddhas’ great truth, when perfectly mastered, is liberation and is realization. This “liberation” describes that—for some—life liberates life and death liberates death. Therefore, there is getting out of life-and-death and there is entering into life-and-death, both of which are the perfectly mastered great truth. And there is abandoning of life-and-death and there is salvaging of life-and-death, both of which are the perfectly mastered great truth.
Realization is life, and life is realization. At the moment of this realization, there is nothing that is not the “total” realization of life, and there is nothing that is not the “total” realization of death. This momentary pivot-state can cause life to be and can cause death to be. The very moment of the present in which this pivot-state is realized is not necessarily great and not necessarily small, is neither the whole world nor a limited area, and is neither long-lasting nor short and pressed. Life in the present exists in this pivotstate, and this pivot-state exists in life in the present. Life is not [a process of] appearance; life is not [a process of] disappearance; life is not a manifestation in the present; and life is not a realization. Rather, life is “the manifestation of all functions,” and death is “the manifestation of all functions.” Remember, among the countless dharmas that are present in the self, there is life and there is death. Let us quietly consider whether our own present life, and the miscellaneous real dharmas that are coexisting with this life, are part of life or not part of life. . . . There is nothing, not a single moment nor a single dharma, that is not part of life. There is nothing, not a single matter nor a single state of mind, that is not part of life.

Life can be likened to a time when a person is sailing in a boat.
On this boat, I am operating the sail, I have taken the rudder, I am pushing the pole; at the same time, the boat is carrying me, and there is no “I” beyond the boat. Through my sailing of the boat, this boat is being caused to be a boat—let us consider, and learn in practice, just this moment of the present.
At this very moment, there is nothing other than the world of the boat: the sky, the water, the shore have all become the moment of the boat, which is utterly different from moments not on the boat. So life is what I am making it, and I am what life is making me. While I am sailing in the boat, my body and mind and circumstances and self are all essential parts of the boat; and the whole earth and the whole of space are all essential parts of the boat.
What has been described like this is that life is the self, and the self is life.

Master Kokugon, Zen Master Engo, said:

Life is the manifestation of all functions,
Death is the manifestation of all functions.


We should clarify these words and master them. To master them means as follows: The truth that “life is the manifestation of all functions”—regardless of beginning and end, and although it is the whole earth and the whole of space—not only does not stop “life being the manifestation of all functions” but also does not stop “death being the manifestation of all functions.” The moment that death is the manifestation of all functions—although it too is the whole earth and the whole of space—not only does not stop “death being the manifestation of all functions” but also does not stop “life being the manifestation of all functions.” Thus, life does not get in the way of death and death does not get in the way of life. The whole earth and the whole of space are both present in life and are both present in death. But it is not that, through the whole earth as one entity and the whole of space as another entity, all functions operate in life on the one hand and all functions operate in death on the other hand. It is not a matter of unity, but neither is it a matter of variance; it is not variance, but neither is it identity; it is not identity, but neither is it multiplicity. Therefore, in life there are miscellaneous real dharmas that are “the manifestation of all functions,” and in death there are miscellaneous real dharmas that are “the manifestation of all functions.” And in the state beyond “life” and beyond “death” there is “the manifestation of all functions.” In “the manifestation of all functions” there is life and there is death. For this reason, all functions as life-and-death may be present in a situation like a strong man flexing and extending an arm. Or they may be present in a situation “like a person in the night reaching back with a hand to grope for a pillow.” They are realized where there is limitlessly abundant mystical power and brightness. In the very moment of realization, because we are being totally activated by realization itself, we feel that before [this] realization there was no realization. Nevertheless, the state before this realization was the previous manifestation of all functions. Although there has been previous manifestation of all functions, it does not get in the way of the present manifestation of all functions. Thus, views such as these vie to be realized.

Shōbōgenzō Zenki

Preached to the assembly at the Office of the Governor of Unshū near Rokuharamitsuji in Yōshū, on the seventeenth day of the twelfth lunar month in the third year of Ninji. This was copied on the nineteenth day of the first lunar month in the fourth year of the same era—Ejō"


Matthew Juksan Sullivan - The Garden of Flowers and Weeds: A New Translation and Commentary on the Blue Cliff Record - Introduction;
"Great Master Ma once said, “The very mind that does not understand: that is it! There is nothing else.”"


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Re: Greatest Spiritual Quotes? [Re: spinvis]
    #28425301 - 08/08/23 05:53 AM (5 months, 18 days ago)

Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Thaye - The Kusāli's Instruction on the Nature of Mind;
"Namo guru!

Although there are many ways of explaining view and meditation,
They all come down to sustaining the essence of one's own mind.
What we call 'mind' is not something that exists elsewhere—
It is the very thought that you are experiencing right now!
So without being swept away and following wherever it leads,
Look directly into its face, its very own essence,
At that time, there's no duality of 'looker' and 'looked at'.
As it is empty, there's no real substance.
As it is clear, it is aware of itself.
These qualities are not separate—they are a unity.
Out of nothing at all, anything at all can arise.
You need only sustain this with the mindfulness of never forgetting
This bare and simple recognition of the nature itself—
There's no need to search for some other object of meditation!
Untainted by fabricated hopes and anxieties— 'Is it?' or 'Is it not?'—
Allow the mind to settle, directly, just as it is.
This unfabricated and 'ordinary' knowing
Is the ultimate clear light of dharmakāya.
Although many special terms exist in Mahāmudrā and Dzogchen,
The real root of the practice boils down to simply this.
Not content with this, seeking 'Buddhahood' as some other excellence
Is merely to be bound up in hope and fear – something to avoid!
As a means of bringing about realisation in this way,
Devotion and the accumulations are of the utmost importance,
So always emphasise devotion for the guru and Lord of Orgyen,
And strive to practise virtue with your body, speech and mind.

In response to the request of my own student, Pema Chöpel,
A holder of awareness mantras from Gatö Trindu,
I, the kusāli Lodrö Thayé, wrote this from Dechen Ösal Ling.

May virtue and positivity abound!
"


Peter Heehs; Lalla - Siddhas, Yogis and Others - Indian Religions: A Historical Reader of Spiritual Expression and Experience - pp. 294-5;
"I took the reins of the mind-horse
Through practice, I leamed breath control
Then only the orb of moon melted and flowed down into my body
Nothingness merged with nothingness
Cold changes water into ice or snow
Discernment shows the three states though different are not really different
When the sun of consciousness shines,
The plurality is dissolved into oneness
Then the universe appears throughout permeated with Shiva
When teachings disappear, the mantra remains
When the mantra disappears, nothing remains
Nothingness merges with nothingness
Easy to read but difficult to follow
Attaining self-knowledge is subtle and difficult
Absorbed in practice, I forgot the scriptures
Consciousness-bliss I realized"


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Re: Greatest Spiritual Quotes? [Re: spinvis] * 1
    #28429345 - 08/11/23 04:13 AM (5 months, 15 days ago)

"We are to practise virtue- not possess it."
Meister Eckhart


--------------------


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Re: Greatest Spiritual Quotes? [Re: Lithop]
    #28429852 - 08/11/23 02:12 PM (5 months, 15 days ago)

Bhikkhu Sujato; Gautama Buddha - Adantaaguttasutta - Linked Discourses 35.94 - 10. The Sixes - Untamed, Unguarded;
“Mendicants, it’s just the six fields of contact that lead the unrestrained to suffering. Those who understand how to restrain them live with faith as partner, uncorrupted.

When you’ve seen pleasant sights and unpleasant ones, too, get rid of all manner of desire for the pleasant, without hating what you don’t like.

When you’ve heard sounds both liked and disliked, don’t fall under the thrall of sounds you like, get rid of hate for the unliked, and don’t hurt your mind
by thinking of what you don’t like.

When you’ve smelled a pleasant, fragrant scent, and one that’s foul and unpleasant, get rid of repulsion for the unpleasant, while not yielding to desire for the pleasant.

When you’ve enjoyed a sweet, delicious taste, and sometimes those that are bitter, don’t be attached to enjoying sweet tastes, and don’t despise the bitter.

Don’t be intoxicated by a pleasant touch, and don’t tremble at a painful touch. Look with equanimity at the duality
of pleasant and painful contacts,
without favoring or opposing anything.

People generally let their perceptions proliferate; perceiving and proliferating, they are attracted. When you’ve expelled all thoughts of the lay life, wander intent on renunciation.

When the mind is well developed like this
regarding the six,
it doesn’t waver at contacts at all. Mendicants, those who have mastered greed and hate go beyond birth and death.”


Kabir;
"The idea that the soul will join with the ecstatic
just because the body is rotten—
that is all fantasy.
What is found now is found then."


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Re: Greatest Spiritual Quotes? [Re: spinvis] * 1
    #28429856 - 08/11/23 02:16 PM (5 months, 15 days ago)

Mary Oliver;
"Who made the world?
Who made the swan and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper? This grasshopper I mean?
The one who has flung herself out the grass;
The one who is eating sugar out of my hand;
Who’s moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down;
Who’s gazing around her with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open and floats away.

I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention; how to fall down into the grass;
How to kneel down in the grass;
How to be idle and blessed;
How to stroll through the fields, which is what I’ve been doing all day.
Tell me. What else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last and too soon?
Tell me. What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"


Thich Nhat Hanh in Teaching of the Buddha quotes the Five Remembrances;
"1. I am of the nature to grow old. There is no way to escape growing old.
2. I am of the nature to have ill health. There is no way to escape having ill health.
3. I am of the nature to die. There is no way to escape death.
4. All that is dear to me, and everyone I love, are of the nature to change. There is no way to escape being separated from them.
5. My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground on which I stand.

Commentary: The Five Remembrances help us make friends with our fears of growing old, getting sick, being abandoned, and dying. There are also a bell of mindfulness that can help us appreciate deeply the wonders of life that are available here and now. But in the Heart Sutra, Avalokiteshvara teaches that there is no birth and no death. Why would the Buddha tell us that we’re of the nature to die if there’s no birth and no death? Because in the Five Remembrances the Buddha is using the tool of relative truth. He is well aware that in terms of absolute truth, there is no birth and death. When we look at the ocean we see that each wave has a beginning and an end. A wave can be compared with other waves and we can call it more or less beautiful, higher or lower, longer lasting or less long lasting, but if we look more deeply we see that a wave is made of water. It would be sad if the wave did not know that it is water. It would think, ‘Someday I will have to die.’ ‘This period of life is my lifespan and when I arrive at the shore I will return to non-being.’ These notions will cause the wave fear and anguish. We have to help it remove the notions of self, person, living being, and lifespan if we want the wave to be free and happy."


Edited by spinvis (08/11/23 02:19 PM)


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Re: Greatest Spiritual Quotes? [Re: spinvis]
    #28429874 - 08/11/23 02:23 PM (5 months, 15 days ago)

John Steinbeck and Edward F. Ricketts - Sea of Cortez;
"One merges into another, groups melt into ecological groups until the time when what we know as life meets and enters what we think of as non-life: barnacle and rock, rock and earth, earth and tree, tree and rain and air…. And it is a strange thing that most of the feeling we call religious, most of the mystical outcrying which is one of the most prized and used and desired reactions of our species, is really the understanding and the attempt to say that man is related to the whole thing, related inextricably to all reality, known and unknowable. This is a simple thing to say, but the profound feeling of it made a Jesus, a St. Augustine, a St. Francis, a Roger Bacon, a Charles Darwin, and an Einstein. Each of them in his own tempo and with his own voice discovered and reaffirmed with astonishment the knowledge that all things are one thing and that one thing is all things—plankton, a shimmering phosphorescence on the sea and spinning planets and the expanding universe, all bound together by the elastic string of time."


Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, Ari Goldfield; Milarepa - Six Examples of Illusion That Teach Impermanence;
"Look at the objects there appearing outside⎯
Impermanent, like last night’s dream
Remembering the dream, confusion makes me sad
Have you cut through confusion, Rechungpa?
When I think of this, I remember the divine Dharma.

Take a look back here at your own body⎯
Impermanent, like a city of gandharvas
The body’s growth and decay make me sad
Have you cut birth and death, Rechungpa?
When I think of this, I remember the divine Dharma.

Look at perceiving mind, here on the inside
Impermanent, like a little bird in the trees
It doesn’t stay where you put it⎯this makes me sad
Have you seized mind’s fortress, Rechungpa?
When I think of this, I remember the divine Dharma.

Take a good look now at breath moving inside⎯
Impermanent, like light mist at dawn
Watching the mist disappear makes me sad
Have you found what’s pure in the movement, Rechungpa?
When I think of this, I remember the divine Dharma.

Take a good look now at your circle of friends
Impermanent, like the crowd at a fair
Friends will certainly part—this makes me sad
Have you improved your relations, Rechungpa?
When I think of this, I remember the divine Dharma.

Take a look at the wealth you’ve hoarded away
Impermanent, like the honey of the bees
Your food eaten by another—this makes me sad
Have you opened mind’s treasure, Rechungpa?
When I think of this, I remember the divine Dharma."


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Re: Greatest Spiritual Quotes? [Re: spinvis]
    #28429880 - 08/11/23 02:33 PM (5 months, 15 days ago)

Anthony De Mello - The Song of the Bird - THE TALKATIVE LOVER;
"A lover pressed his suit unsuccessfully for many months, suffering the atrocious pains of rejection. Finally his sweetheart yielded. “Come to such and such a place, at such and such an hour,” she said to him.

At that time and place the lover finally found himself seated beside his beloved. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a sheaf of love letters that he had written to her over the past months. They were passionate letters, expressing the pain he felt and his burning desire to experience the delights of love and union. He began to read them to his beloved The hours passed by but still he read on and on.

Finally the woman said, “What kind of a fool are you? These letters are all about me and your longing for me. Well, here I am sitting with you at last and you are lost in your stupid letters.”

“Here I am with you,” says God, “and you keep reflecting about me in your head, talking about me with your tongue, and searching for me in your books. When will you shut up and see?”"


Kosho Uchiyama Roshi; Eihei Dogen - How to Cook Your Life: From the Zen Kitchen to Enlightenment - ONE. The Tenzo Kyōkun and Shikan-taza;
"Shin, or mind, in terms of buddhadharma should be understood as: the mind that has been directly transmitted from buddha to buddha is that mind which extends throughout all phenomena, and all phenomena are inseparable from that mind. My personal life experience is at the same time the world of reality. Conversely, the world of reality constitutes my mind. Hence, the use of the word “mind” in this case goes far beyond having only a mental or psychological meaning. In our age, perhaps “pure life” would be a clearer expression than mind. In the daily course of things I encounter a world of phenomena, and it is through those encounters and my experience of them that I live out my life.

With the definition of mind that I have explained above, it is necessary to take another look at the expression, “The dharma should be grasped so that mind and object become one.” This expression means that we must learn to see all phenomena (everything in life) from the foundation of a pure-life experience. All too often we while away our lives, creating general assumptions and ideologics out of the thoughts that arise in our minds, and, after having fabricated those ideas, we finally dissipate our life energy by living in the world we have abstracted from them. “The dharma should be grasped so that mind and object become one,” means that we must see all of the worlds that our lives encompass from the foundation of our own personal life experience; our life experience is our mind. This means that all things in life function as parts of our bodies. This is also the meaning of tōji, holding all things equally.

Dōgen Zenji, then, did not intend that we get rid of all the delusions, fantasies, or thoughts that come into our heads during zazen. Yet, if we go about pursuing these thoughts, we are sitting in the zazen posture thinking, and not actually just doing zazen. Trying to get rid of our thoughts is just another form of fantasy. Zazen, understood as mind being innately one with all phenomena, is a means of seeing all things from the foundation of pure life, wherein we give up both pursuing thought and trying to chase it away. Then we see everything that arises as the scenery of our lives. We let arise whatever arises and allow to fall away whatever falls away.

What I have just explained is the rationale behind the passage in the Fukan Zazen-gi, written by Dōgen Zenji, which says:

“Drop all relationships, set aside all activities. Do not think about what is good or evil, and do not try to judge right from wrong. Do not try to control perceptions or conscious awareness, nor attempt to figure out your feelings, ideas, or viewpoints. Let go of the idea of trying to become a buddha as well.”"


Edited by spinvis (08/11/23 02:43 PM)


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Re: Greatest Spiritual Quotes? [Re: spinvis]
    #28429883 - 08/11/23 02:38 PM (5 months, 15 days ago)

Zheng Chou-yu - Buddhist Hymn;
"I shall stop wandering
For I don't want to be a songster of space
But rather, a stone man of time
And yet, I'm a traveler of the universe
Earth, bid not for me to stay
Across tither I came, to this land
But into the eight directions I shall go"


John Bellando, Fumio Yamada; Mazu Daoyi - Master Ma's Ordinary Mind: The Sayings of Zen Master Mazu Daoyi - 2. Keep Yourself Unstained;
"“There’s no need to trouble yourself with mastering the Way. It’s enough if you just take care to keep yourself unstained. We become stained by being overindulgent in life, fearing death, striving, and chasing after goals. If you want to grasp the Way directly, it is none other than your ordinary mind.”

If you turn the Way into an object to be grasped, into a goal or a thing to be sought for, you end up having the opposite effect: contaminating the Way. So how do we keep from setting goals and seeking? “In whatever you do, just live ordinary life,” says Mazu.
So does this mean we can take “ordinary mind is the Way” at face value and just piddle on with our daily life? Not quite. That amounts to no more than a lazy sort of self-satisfaction.
The saying “ordinary mind is the Way” owes its fame to Mazu, but it is almost equally famous for its appearance in a dialogue that takes place between Nanquan, a disciple of Mazu, and his disciple Zhaozhou:

Zhaozhou asked Nanquan, “Just what is the Way?”
“It’s your ordinary mind.”
“So that’s what one should aim for?”
“Aiming for it only puts it further away.”
“Without aiming for it, how can you know the Way?”
“The Way has nothing to do with knowing and not-knowing. To say that you know it would be error; to say that you don’t would just show indifference. When you truly attain the Way of no-aims, everything clears up like the cloudless, empty sky. There’s no need to scrutinize everything for right and wrong.”
Zhaozhou immediately awakened to the most profound truth, and his heart shone like the clear, bright moon."


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Re: Greatest Spiritual Quotes? [Re: spinvis]
    #28429892 - 08/11/23 02:50 PM (5 months, 15 days ago)

Suzuki;
"If, when I die, the moment I’m dying, if I suffer, that is all right you know. That is suffering Buddha. No confusion in it. Maybe everyone will struggle because of the physical agony or spiritual agony too, but that is all right. That is not a problem. We should very grateful to have a limited body like mine or like yours. If you had a limitless life, that would be a real problem for you."


Sri Ramana Maharshi (1879-1950) - Who Am I?;
"Who Am I?
The gross body which is composed of the seven humours (dhatus), I am not; the five cognitive sense organs, viz., the senses of hearing, touch, sight, taste and smell, which apprehend their respective objects, viz. sound, touch, colour, taste and odour, I am not; the five cognitive sense organs, viz., the organs of speech, locomotion, grasping, excretion and procreation, which have as their respective functions, speaking, moving, grasping, excreting and enjoying, I am not; the five vital airs, prana, etc., which perform respectively the five functions of in-breathing, etc., I am not; even the mind which thinks, I am not; the nescience too, which is endowed only with the residual impressions of objects and in which there are no objects and no functionings, I am not.

If I am none of these, then who am I?
After negating all of the above mentioned as ‘not this’, ‘not this’, that Awareness which alone remains —that I am.

What is the path of inquiry for understanding the nature of the mind?
That which rises as ‘I’ in the body is the mind. If one inquires as to where in the body the thought ‘I’ rises first, one would discover that it rises in the heart. That is the place of the mind’s origin. Even if one thinks constantly ‘I-I’, one will be led to that place. Of all the thoughts that arise in the mind, the ‘I’-thought is the first. It is only after the rise of this that other thoughts arise. It is after the appearance of the first personal pronoun that the second and third personal pronouns appear; without the first personal pronoun there will not be the second and third.

How will the mind become quiescent?
By the inquiry ‘Who am I?’. The thought ‘Who am I?’ will destroy all other thoughts, and like the stick used for stirring the burning pyre, it will itself in the end get destroyed. Then, there will arise Self-realization.

What is the means for constantly holding on to the thought ‘Who am I?’
When other thoughts arise, one should not pursue them, but should inquire: ‘To whom do they arise?’ It does not matter how many thoughts arise. As each thought arises, one should inquire with diligence, ‘To whom has this thought arisen?’ The answer that would emerge would be ‘to me’. Thereupon if one inquires ‘Who am I?’ the mind will go back to its source; and the thought that arose will become quiescent. With repeated practice in this manner, the mind will develop the skill to stay in its source. When the mind that is subtle goes out through the brain and the sense-organs, the gross names and forms appear; when it stays in the heart, the names and forms disappear. Not letting the mind go out, but retaining it in the Heart is what is called ‘inwardness’ (antarmukha). Letting the mind go out of the Heart is known as ‘externalisation’ (bahirmukha). Thus, when the mind stays in the Heart, the ‘I’ which is the source of all thoughts will go, and the Self which ever exists will shine. Whatever one does, one should do without the egoity ‘I’. If one acts in that way, all will appear as of the nature of Siva (God).

What is happiness?
Happiness is the very nature of the Self; happiness and the Self are not different. There is no happiness in any object of the world. We imagine through our ignorance that we derive happiness from objects. When the mind goes out, it experiences misery. In truth, when its desires are fulfilled, it returns to its own place and enjoys the happiness that is the Self. Similarly, in the states of sleep, samadhi and fainting, and when the object desired is obtained or the object disliked is removed, the mind becomes inward-turned, and enjoys pure Self-Happiness. Thus the mind moves without rest alternately going out of the Self and returning to it. Under the tree the shade is pleasant; out in the open the heat is scorching. A person who has been going about in the sun feels cool when he reaches the shade. Someone who keeps on going from the shade into the sun and then back into the shade is a fool. A wise man stays permanently in the shade. Similarly, the mind of the one who knows the truth does not leave Brahman. The mind of the ignorant, on the contrary, revolves in the world, feeling miserable, and for a little time returns to Brahman to experience happiness. In fact, what is called the world is only thought. When the world disappears, i.e., when there is no thought, the mind experiences happiness; and when the world appears, it goes through misery."


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Invisiblespinvis
Stranger

Registered: 09/15/20
Posts: 587
Re: Greatest Spiritual Quotes? [Re: spinvis]
    #28429899 - 08/11/23 02:56 PM (5 months, 15 days ago)

Shohaku Okumura, Tom Wright; Ehei Dogen, Koun Ejo - Shobogenzo-zuimonki: Sayings of Eihei Dogen Zenji - 4-7;
"Dogen instructed,
Students of the Way, the reason you do not attain enlightenment is because you hold
onto your old views. Without knowing who taught you, you think that ‘mind’ is the
function of your brain – thought and discrimination. When I tell you that ‘mind’ is
grass and trees, you do not believe it. When you talk about the Buddha, you think
the Buddha must have various physical characteristics and a radiant halo. If I say that
the Buddha is broken tiles and pebbles, you show astonishment. The views you
cling to are neither what has been transmitted to you from your father nor what you
were taught by your mother. You have believed them for no particular reason; they
are the result of having listened for a long time to what people have said. Therefore,
since it is the definite word of the buddhas, and patriarchs, when it is said that ‘mind’
is grass and trees, you should understand that grass and trees are ‘mind’, and if you
are told that ‘Buddha’ is tiles and pebbles, you should believe that tiles and pebbles
are the ‘Buddha’. Thus, if you reform your attachment, you will be able to attain the
Way.

An ancient said, “Though the sun and the moon shine brightly, the floating clouds
cover them over. Though clusters of orchids are about to bloom, the autumn winds
blow causing them to wither.” This is found in the Jogan Seiyo, comparing a wise
king and his evil ministers. Restating this, “Even if the floating clouds cover the sun
and the moon, they will not stay long. Even if the autumn winds wither the flowers,
they will bloom again.” If the king is wise enough, he will not be turned around, even
if the ministers are evil. It should be the same in maintaining the Buddha-Way. No
matter how evil minds arise, if you keep steadfast and maintain (aspiration) and
practice for a long time, the floating clouds will disappear and the autumn winds will
cease."


Native American proverb;
"We will be known forever by the tracks we leave."


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InvisibleAsante
Mage
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Registered: 02/06/02
Posts: 86,795
Re: Greatest Spiritual Quotes? [Re: spinvis] * 2
    #28432555 - 08/13/23 03:49 PM (5 months, 12 days ago)

"Good" is what we either DO or DON'T


--------------------
Omnicyclion.org
higher knowledge starts here


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Offlinesolarshroomster
Wonderer
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Registered: 11/01/13
Posts: 506
Last seen: 4 days, 6 hours
Re: Greatest Spiritual Quotes? [Re: the bizzle] * 1
    #28436585 - 08/16/23 10:18 PM (5 months, 9 days ago)

Quote:

the bizzle said:
I just saw this one and liked it, so I thought I would share it here:


"He said he was tired of my acting as an ultimately important being that has to be given proof over and over that the world is unknown and
marvelous."




Holy cow! Wow!!!!!!!!!


--------------------
Chopin in Eternal Sonata: "I believe that I am somehow being tested. That I am on this journey to come to some realization. And in order to do so, I think I’m supposed to live my life to the fullest, even if it is in this muddled world of dream and reality."


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Offlinesolarshroomster
Wonderer
 User Gallery


Registered: 11/01/13
Posts: 506
Last seen: 4 days, 6 hours
Re: Greatest Spiritual Quotes? [Re: spinvis] * 1
    #28436614 - 08/16/23 10:59 PM (5 months, 9 days ago)

Quote:

spinvis said:
Quote:

connectedcosmos said:
Quote:

Nansen saw the monks of the eastern and western halls fighting over a cat. He seized the cat and told the monks: "If any of you say a good word, you can save the cat."

No one answered. So Nansen boldly cut the cat in two pieces.

That evening Joshu returned and Nansen told him about this. Joshu removed his sandals and, placing them on his head, walked out.

Nansen said: "If you had been there, you could have saved the cat."

Mumon’s comment: Why did Joshu put his sandals on his head? If anyone answers this question, he will understand exactly how Nansen enforced the edict. If not, he should watch his own head.
Had Joshu been there,
He would have enforced the edict oppositely.
Joshu snatches the sword
And Nansen begs for his life.





From the Wikisource The Gateless Gate




Joshu and Nansen;
"Once Joshu asked Nansen, “Where did the worthies of old go when they died?” Nansen replied, “How badly do you want to know?” When you die, just die! When you die thoroughly and completely you will transcend life and death and become a living Buddha. But if you show no feeling for the cat, then you’ll be no different than a stone Buddha in the garden."



Zen master Setcho;
“Fortunately, Nansen took a correct action. Sword straight away cuts it in two. Criticize as you like.”



Dōgen Zenji;
“If I were Nansen I should say, ‘If you answer, I will kill it; if you don’t answer, I will kill it.’
If I were the monks I should say, ‘We cannot answer; please cut the cat in two.’ Or I should say, ‘The master knows how to cut it into two pieces, but he does not know how to cut it into one piece.’”



:lol:





I legitimately think you guys are poets. Thank you...


--------------------
Chopin in Eternal Sonata: "I believe that I am somehow being tested. That I am on this journey to come to some realization. And in order to do so, I think I’m supposed to live my life to the fullest, even if it is in this muddled world of dream and reality."


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