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Ananda
3115 Posts |
 Posted - Aug 29 2011 : 08:34:45 AM
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The Buddhist nun called Ryonen was born in the year 1779. The famous Japanese warrior, Shingen, was her grandfather. She was considered one of the loveliest women in the whole of Japan and a poetess of no mean talent, so already at the age of seventeen she was chosen to serve at the royal court, where she developed a great fondness for Her Imperial Majesty the Empress. Now the Empress died a sudden death and Ryonen underwent a profound spiritual experience: she became acutely aware of the passing nature of all things. That was when she made up her mind to study Zen.
But her family wouldn't hear of it. They practically forced her into marriage but not before she had extracted from them and from her future husband the promise that after she had borne him three children she would be free to become a nun. This condition was fulfilled when she was twenty-five. Then neither the pleas of her husband nor anything else in the world could dissuade her from the task she had set her heart on. She shaved her head, took the name of Ryonen (which means "to understand clearly"), and set out on her quest.
She came to the city of Edo and asked the Master Tetsugyu to accept her as his disciple. He took one look at her and rejected her because she was too beautiful. So she went to another master, Hakuo. He rejected her for the same reason: her beauty, he said, would only be a source of trouble. So Ryonen branded her face with a red-hot iron, thereby destroying her physical beauty forever. When she came back into Hakuo's presence, he accepted her as a disciple.
Ryonen wrote a poem on the reverse side of a little mirror to commemorate the occasion:
As a handmaid of my Empress
I burnt incense
to give fragrance to my lovely clothes.
Now as a homeless beggar
I burn my face
to enter the world of Zen.
When she knew her time had come to depart this world, she wrote another poem:
Sixty-six times have these eyes beheld
the loveliness of Autumn . . .
Ask no more.
Only listen to the sound of the pines
when no wind stirs.
===
Anthony De Mello, SJ |
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maheswari
Lebanon
2520 Posts |
Posted - Aug 29 2011 : 12:16:25 PM
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usually Masters refuse to have women around them...many problems might appear...look at Swami Sivananda,Ramana Maharshi etc.....
only Lakshmana Swamy made this exception by taking Sarada as disciple....
what to do..men are always afraid of women
neverthless mutilating her face is not a wise decision....
someone should have told her that The Guru is in You
bye bye Hakuo |
Edited by - maheswari on Aug 29 2011 12:24:58 PM |
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jeff
USA
971 Posts |
Posted - Aug 29 2011 : 12:32:44 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by maheswari
bye bye Hakuo
A master who judges on personal appearance???
Hard to connect on this one. |
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maheswari
Lebanon
2520 Posts |
Posted - Aug 29 2011 : 1:17:25 PM
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| maybe He is a mainstream master....ie repress sexual thoughts....which explains the fear from women |
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faileforever
USA
190 Posts |
Posted - Aug 29 2011 : 1:59:03 PM
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This is beautiful, thank you for sharing Ananda |
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Ananda
3115 Posts |
Posted - Aug 30 2011 : 06:08:30 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by maheswari
usually Masters refuse to have women around them...many problems might appear...look at Swami Sivananda,Ramana Maharshi etc.....
only Lakshmana Swamy made this exception by taking Sarada as disciple....
what to do..men are always afraid of women
neverthless mutilating her face is not a wise decision....
someone should have told her that The Guru is in You
bye bye Hakuo
Ask no more.
Only listen to the sound of the pines
when no wind stirs.
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maheswari
Lebanon
2520 Posts |
Posted - Aug 30 2011 : 10:24:52 AM
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quote:
Ask no more.
Only listen to the sound of the pines
when no wind stirs.
beautiful |
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whippoorwill
USA
450 Posts |
Posted - Sep 01 2011 : 7:47:34 PM
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Beautiful and thought-provoking.
Many thoughts...
I'm glad Ryonen found what she was looking for.
And she was one stubborn woman! Good for her.
The physical pain of the burn holds nothing in comparison to the pain of being rejected for something over which one has little or no control -- one's physical body.
Physical appearance means nothing, has no bearing on what lies within the soul.
Hakuo had to live with the daily reminder of his failure -- a failure to accept a woman as she is -- a failure to accept the world as it is. I wonder if he saw it that way.
Women are still doing this -- changing the bodies in order to be accepted. Although now the goal is to be beautiful enough to be accepted.
Stop! |
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maheswari
Lebanon
2520 Posts |
Posted - Sep 02 2011 : 01:59:43 AM
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i stumbled upon this quote today....
Even if a person thinks he is a cow it does not make him a cow. His mother will show him the mirror and say look at you. You are not a cow. In the same way a person's thinking that he is the body does not make it so. The Gurus tells the person, you are the Self and not the body (Raman Maharshi)
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manigma
India
1065 Posts |
Posted - Sep 02 2011 : 02:29:36 AM
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I have read a similar zen story about Chiyono.
It is said that Chiyono was one of the most beautiful women, so beautiful that when she went to one monastery they refused her, because to have such a beautiful woman in the monastery would create trouble for the monks. Then she had to disfigure her face to enter into another monastery.
The nun Chiyono studied for years, but was unable to find enlightenment. One night she was carrying an old pail filled with water. As she was walking along, she was watching the full moon reflected in the pail of water. Suddenly, the bamboo strips that held the pail together broke and the pail fell apart. The water rushed out, the moon's reflection disappeared, and Chiyono became enlightened.
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.
http://www.balbro.com/iam/chiyono.htm
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maheswari
Lebanon
2520 Posts |
Posted - Sep 02 2011 : 04:18:10 AM
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quote:
the nun Chiyono studied for years, but was unable to find enlightenment
what is the matter with these women??!!
she disfigured her face,joined the monastry and still same same ,plus the other monks who initially refused her were of no help to her enlightnement....
TGIY |
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Ananda
3115 Posts |
Posted - Sep 02 2011 : 08:11:30 AM
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| The jewel in the story is the pure empty part which wakes up inside the person when he hears the last few lines. The rest is just duality and labels. Take the good and leave the bad. |
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jeff
USA
971 Posts |
Posted - Sep 02 2011 : 09:04:43 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Ananda
The jewel in the story is the pure empty part which wakes up inside the person when he hears the last few lines. The rest is just duality and labels. Take the good and leave the bad.
Does just "take the good and leave the bad" really work? Leads to more duality.
Why judge? The story just is... Accept it all...
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Ananda
3115 Posts |
Posted - Sep 02 2011 : 12:26:42 PM
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Yes it helps! Big time! I've met a lot of teachers and gurus in my short life time... Taking the good and leaving the bad always helps... It's an advise given to me by Yogani and up till now it has helped me quite much...
But this goes for teachers and teachings, not for life of course |
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jeff
USA
971 Posts |
Posted - Sep 02 2011 : 1:07:35 PM
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Maybe it is just our definitions of good and bad. Attachment to "good" is still attachment. Good does not exist without bad.
On teachers... How about useful and not useful?
Have a great weekend!
Peace & Love. |
Edited by - jeff on Sep 02 2011 1:10:35 PM |
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Ananda
3115 Posts |
Posted - Sep 02 2011 : 1:11:20 PM
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All is good dear Jeff, no worries
Without the bad smell, we wouldn't know the good...
Salam my friend [img]icon_heart.gif[/img] |
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CarsonZi
Canada
3189 Posts |
Posted - Sep 02 2011 : 1:34:56 PM
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In my experience, "good and bad" are personal. What is good for one is bad for another and vice versa. This seems to indicate, to me, that as "the person" begins to become more and more "see-through," so do the personal tendencies/ideals etc etc. This is what I've noticed anyway. The less identified with "my person" I am, the less weight my personal ideals (what seems "good and bad") carry.
That said, it can be important to pay attention to what resonates with you and what doesn't. I just try to remember that what resonates is also personal and that I should try to steer clear of forcing my resonances/views/ideals on others.
I guess I kinda resonate more with an "aghori-style" path. I tend not to reject anything as I see potential for growth in everything. This goes for a lot of stuff that other people view as "bad." For me, the "bad" stuff isn't "bad" for me... it's an opportunity to grow and to see (through?) myself a little more. Everything can be used as a tool. I see little value in labeling stuff as "good" or "bad."
Just my 2 Canadian pennies (even though I know it isn't worth much anywhere other than here )
Love!
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manigma
India
1065 Posts |
Posted - Sep 02 2011 : 1:57:32 PM
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This way and that way
I tried to keep the good and bad together
Hoping the weak mind would never break
Suddenly the ego fell out....
No more self,
No more Self in the self,
Emptiness in my hand.
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Ananda
3115 Posts |
Posted - Sep 02 2011 : 3:10:55 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by CarsonZi
In my experience, "good and bad" are personal. What is good for one is bad for another and vice versa. This seems to indicate, to me, that as "the person" begins to become more and more "see-through," so do the personal tendencies/ideals etc etc. This is what I've noticed anyway. The less identified with "my person" I am, the less weight my personal ideals (what seems "good and bad") carry.
That said, it can be important to pay attention to what resonates with you and what doesn't. I just try to remember that what resonates is also personal and that I should try to steer clear of forcing my resonances/views/ideals on others.
I guess I kinda resonate more with an "aghori-style" path. I tend not to reject anything as I see potential for growth in everything. This goes for a lot of stuff that other people view as "bad." For me, the "bad" stuff isn't "bad" for me... it's an opportunity to grow and to see (through?) myself a little more. Everything can be used as a tool. I see little value in labeling stuff as "good" or "bad."
Just my 2 Canadian pennies (even though I know it isn't worth much anywhere other than here )
Love!
Thank you for sharing dear Carson, your words resonate as true
namaste my brother [img]icon_heart.gif[/img] |
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Ananda
3115 Posts |
Posted - Sep 02 2011 : 3:18:20 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by manigma
This way and that way
I tried to keep the good and bad together
Hoping the weak mind would never break
Suddenly the ego fell out....
No more self,
No more Self in the self,
Emptiness in my hand.
Dear Manigma,
The ego doesn't go anywhere.
Emptiness in my hand?! Who's hand is that.
This emptiness which we are speaking of is just a phase in the process... I as ego am living in the blank between the thoughts a lot. It's an automatic process for me but I've seen glimpses of the Truth and well even though inner silence is a heavenly tranquil state in itself there's much more...
namaste |
Edited by - Ananda on Sep 02 2011 3:37:15 PM |
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jeff
USA
971 Posts |
Posted - Sep 02 2011 : 4:34:41 PM
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Namaste |
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stevenbhow
Japan
352 Posts |
Posted - Sep 02 2011 : 10:13:12 PM
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Yeah, I've always had a hard time with the Zen story about the Rinzai Zen master that saws a cat in half because his student can't come up with an answer to his koan. The cook puts his shoes on his head when the master tells him what he did which is supposed to have great significance, but I never can get over the poor cat.
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manigma
India
1065 Posts |
Posted - Sep 03 2011 : 01:25:27 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Ananda
Emptiness in my hand?! Who's hand is that.
With all due respect my dear Ananda. Its a useless question. You have missed the simple meaning of this poem.
Emptiness in my hands.
All your life you take good, leave bad. Seek truth, leave false. Do this, do that... live in blank between the thoughts, see glimpses of truth, tranquillity, inner silence, and think there's even much more...
But in the end what do you get? What comes into your hand?
The simple point is as long as the ego remains, you will continue seeing glimpses and seeking something much more!!
When the ego fells out... all seeking ends. And the funny thing is the ego does not exist in the first place.
Emptiness to me just means emptiness, I don't know what it means to you.
And my hands are my hands, I have them on me, they are great. Though sometimes they do act weird on their own.
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Ananda
3115 Posts |
Posted - Sep 03 2011 : 02:29:22 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by manigma
[quote]Originally posted by Ananda
But in the end what do you get? What comes into your hand?
Don't know about any end. All I know is that I am living my present moment the best I can in tranquility and awareness
It's not a matter of who's shoes size is bigger here. I was just speaking from personal experience. My own. Seems we have different opinions which is great
Peace |
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manigma
India
1065 Posts |
Posted - Sep 03 2011 : 02:50:43 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Ananda
quote:
Originally posted by manigma
[quote]Originally posted by Ananda
But in the end what do you get? What comes into your hand?
Don't know about any end. All I know is that I am living my present moment the best I can in tranquility and awareness
It's not a matter of who's shoes size is bigger here. I was just speaking from personal experience. My own. Seems we have different opinions which is great
Peace
Everyone is living in tranquillity and awareness.
Everyone has the same shoe size.
There is nothing personal.
Everyone has exactly the same opinion.
This is the end.
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Ananda
3115 Posts |
Posted - Sep 03 2011 : 03:09:25 AM
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To some extent I believe in what you say, everything is unfolding with divine intelligence but I love to keep it real and on earth with my fellow human beings. Not like an advaita teacher living in the clouds. Nothing to do, nothing to yati yatta.
I would ask you about those starving to death in Somalia... The only just answer would be reincarnation, but then again who cares about all that... We only have this present moment we are living in and we should help...
Let's agree that we don't agree
Salam |
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I burn my face to enter the world of Zen
