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Balance
USA
967 Posts |
 Posted - Jun 02 2007 : 9:49:09 PM
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What is not a dream? Who will not end up as a skeleton? We appear as skeletons covered with skin -- male and female -- and lust after each other. When the breath expires, though, the skin ruptures, sex disappears, and there is no more high or low. Underneath the skin of the person we fondle and caress right now is nothing more than a set of bare bones. Think about it -- high and low, young and old, male and female, all are the same. Awaken to this one great matter and you will immediately comprehend the meaning of "unborn and undying."
-Ikkyu |
Edited by - Balance on Jun 05 2007 7:17:26 PM |
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Balance
USA
967 Posts |
Posted - Jun 05 2007 : 7:20:07 PM
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What is, all there is, what you are, is Consciousness. Consciousness identifies with a body and a conceptual entity. The identification with the notion that you are a body or a conceptual entity ceases to be. That, and only that, comprises the human spiritual drama.
-Felipe Oliveira |
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Balance
USA
967 Posts |
Posted - Jun 05 2007 : 7:33:47 PM
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Change your mind
Like you would change a baby's diaper
With love and tenderness
But thoroughly
Gather the debris of old thoughts and attitudes
And habits of stale beliefs
And just drop them in the hamper
Gently wrap your mind
With a fresh, clean cloth
There will always be more to clean
And time for another changing
~Chim-Chim |
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Etherfish
USA
3615 Posts |
Posted - Jun 05 2007 : 7:46:53 PM
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| Oh, that's so tempting to make jokes about, by continuing the metaphor. |
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Balance
USA
967 Posts |
Posted - Jun 05 2007 : 7:56:15 PM
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Please, by all means, joke away!
In the end all is laughing matter! |
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Balance
USA
967 Posts |
Posted - Jun 05 2007 : 8:32:33 PM
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| It was requested of me to put all my stuff in one spot. I'll try to keep with that. Any additions are welcome. |
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Balance
USA
967 Posts |
Posted - Jun 05 2007 : 8:35:46 PM
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Ha ha. Here's a long one 
Hsin Hsin Ming
~ verses on the faith mind
The Great Way is not difficult for those who have no preferences.
When love and hate are both absent everything becomes clear and undisguised.
Make the smallest distinction, however, and heaven and earth are set infinitely apart.
If you wish to see the truth then hold no opinions for or against anything.
To set up what you like against what you dislike is the disease of the mind.
When the deep meaning of things is not understood, the mind's essential peace is disturbed to no avail.
The Way is perfect like vast space where nothing is lacking and nothing in excess.
Indeed, it is due to our choosing to accept or reject that we do not see the true nature of things.
Live neither in the entanglements of outer things, nor in inner feelings of emptiness.
Be serene in the oneness of things and such erroneous views will disappear by themselves.
When you try to stop activity by passivity your very effort fills you with activity.
As long as you remain in one extreme or the other you will never know Oneness.
Those who do not live in the single Way fail in both activity and passivity, assertion and denial.
To deny the reality of things is to miss their reality;
To assert the emptiness of things is to miss their reality.
The more you talk and think about it, the further astray you wander from the truth.
Stop talking and thinking, and there is nothing you will not be able to know.
To return to the root is to find meaning, but to pursue appearances is to miss the source.
At the moment of inner enlightenment there is a going beyond appearance and emptiness.
The changes that appear to occur in the empty world we call real only because of our ignorance.
Do not search for the truth; only cease to cherish opinions.
do not remain in the dualistic state.
Avoid such pursuits carefully.
If there is even a trace of this and that, of right and wrong,
the mind-essence will be lost in confusion.
Although all dualities come from the One, do not be attached even to this One.
When the mind exists undisturbed in the Way, nothing in the world can offend.
And when a thing can no longer offend, it ceases to exist in the old way.
When no discriminating thoughts arise, the old mind ceases to exist.
When thought objects vanish, the thinking-subject vanishes:
As when the mind vanishes, objects vanish.
Things are objects because of the subject (mind):
the mind (subject) is such because of things (object).
Understand the relativity of these two and the basic reality: the unity of emptiness.
In this Emptiness the two are indistinguishable and each contains in itself the whole world.
If you do not discriminate between coarse and fine you will not be tempted to prejudice and opinion.
To live in the Great Way is neither easy nor difficult.
But those with limited views are fearful and irresolute:
the faster they hurry, the slower they go.
And clinging (attachment) cannot be limited:
Even to be attached to the idea of enlightenment
is to go astray.
Just let things be in their own way and there will be neither coming nor going.
Obey the nature of things (your own nature) and you will walk freely and undisturbed.
When the thought is in bondage the truth is hidden for everything is murky and unclear.
And the burdensome practice of judging brings annoyance and weariness.
What benefit can be derived from distinctions and separations?
If you wish to move in the One Way do not dislike even the world of senses and ideas.
Indeed, to accept them fully is identical with enlightenment.
The wise man strives to no goals but the foolish man fetters himself.
There is one Dharma, not many.
Distinctions arise from the clinging needs of the ignorant.
To seek Mind with the (discriminating) mind is the greatest of all mistakes.
Rest and unrest derive from illusion;
with enlightenment there is no liking and disliking.
All dualities come from ignorant inference.
They are like dreams or flowers in air - foolish to try to grasp them.
Gain and loss, right and wrong, such thoughts must
finally be abolished at once.
If the eye never sleeps, all dreams will naturally cease.
If the mind makes no discriminations, the ten thousand things are as they are, of single essence.
To understand the mystery of this One-essence is to be released from all entanglements.
When all things are seen equally the timeless Self-essence is reached,
No comparisons or analogies are possible in this causeless, relation-less state.
Consider movement stationary and the stationary in motion,
both movement and rest disappear.
When such dualities cease to exist Oneness itself cannot exist.
To this ultimate finality no law or description applies.
For the unified mind in accord with the way all self-centered striving ceases.
Doubts and irresolutions vanish and life in true faith is possible.
With a single stroke we are freed from bondage:
Nothing clings to us and we hold to nothing.
All is empty, clear, self-illuminating, with no exertion of the mind's power.
Here thought, feeling, knowledge and imagination are of no value.
In this world of such-ness there is neither self nor other-than-self.
To come directly into harmony with this reality just say when doubt rises "not two".
In this "not two" nothing is separate, nothing is excluded.
No matter when or where, enlightenment means entering this truth.
And this truth is beyond extension or diminution in time and space:
In it a single thought is ten thousand years.
Emptiness here, emptiness there, but the infinite universe
stands always before your eyes.
Infinitely large and infinitely small;
no difference, for definitions have vanished and no boundaries are seen.
So too with Being and non-Being.
Don't waste time in doubts and arguments that have nothing to do with this.
One thing, all things, move among and intermingle without distinction.
To live in this realization is to be without anxiety about non-perfection.
To live in this faith is the road to non-duality, because the non-dual is one with the trusting mind.
Words!
The Way is beyond language,
for in it there is
no yesterday
no tomorrow
no today.
~ Seng-t'san, the third Zen Patriarch
translated from Chinese |
Edited by - Balance on Jun 06 2007 1:39:11 PM |
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Anthem
1608 Posts |
Posted - Jun 06 2007 : 11:50:52 AM
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Incredibly brilliant and beautiful, thanks Alan for sharing this. |
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Richard
United Kingdom
857 Posts |
Posted - Jun 06 2007 : 12:32:52 PM
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| Lovely Alan Thanks for that |
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Balance
USA
967 Posts |
Posted - Jun 06 2007 : 2:03:38 PM
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Self or mind is always hiding things from itself. That's the only way it can exist. The fact that it doesn't exist is the biggest secret it keeps from itself.
-Robin Dale |
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Balance
USA
967 Posts |
Posted - Jun 06 2007 : 2:05:39 PM
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If you break open the cherry tree,
Where are the flowers?
But in the spring time, see how they bloom!
-Ikkyu |
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Balance
USA
967 Posts |
Posted - Jun 07 2007 : 3:19:14 PM
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In this moment, being embodied awareness, aware in every cell, simply being, how is it? Notice if there is any boundary.
Notice that all experience is welcome. Some call this unconditional love or everything.
It is never the experience we are having that troubles us, it is whether or not there is an automatic habit of trying to not have the experience we are already having that troubles us.
-Issac Shapiro |
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Balance
USA
967 Posts |
Posted - Jun 07 2007 : 3:31:54 PM
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"By day I praised You
but never knew it;
by night slept with You
without realising;
fancying myself
to be myself;
but no, I was You
and never knew it."
~Araqi |
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Balance
USA
967 Posts |
Posted - Jun 07 2007 : 8:08:07 PM
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"If you love the sacred and despise the ordinary,
you are still bobbing in the ocean of delusion."
-Linji |
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Balance
USA
967 Posts |
Posted - Jun 07 2007 : 10:17:55 PM
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Do not think of Consciousness as something tricky that is hidden from you. In fact, thinking about it is irrelevant. It is what you are; not what you think it is. Truly, there is nothing to be worked out in thought. Thought takes care of time. You are Timelessness.
~Felipe Oliveira |
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Balance
USA
967 Posts |
Posted - Jun 08 2007 : 4:21:05 PM
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"Sandokai" (Oneness of One and Many)
by Shi`tou Xiqian, (Ch.700-790),
a Shunryu Suzuki version
The mind of the great sage of India
was handed down closely from west to east.
People may discriminate the dull from the keen,
but in the true way there is no Ancestor of North or South.
The true source is pure and stainless.
The branch streams flow in the dark.
Clutching at things is delusion.
To recognize the truth is not always enlightenment either.
The five sense gates and the five sense objects
are interdependent and absolutely independent;
interrelated endlessly,
yet each stays in its own position.
Things have various natures, various forms.
There is good and bad taste, sound, and feeling.
In darkness, superior and inferior cannot be distinguished;
in brightness, the duality of pure and impure is apparent.
The four elements resume their nature
as a child has its mother.
Fire is hot, wind blows,
water wets, and earth is solid.
For eyes there is color and form, for ears there is sound,
for the nose there is smell, and for the tongue there is taste;
Each being comes out from the root
as branches and leaves come out from the trunk.
But both root and end should return to their original nature.
The words we use are different--good and bad, respectful and
mean--but through these words we should understand
the absolute being or source of the teaching.
Within brightness actually there is utter darkness;
but you should not meet someone just with darkness.
Within darkness there is brightness
but you should not see others only with the eyes of brightness.
Darkness and brightness stand with each other
like one foot forward and the other behind in walking.
Everything--all beings--have their own virtue.
You should know how to apply this truth.
Things and emptiness are like a container and its cover
fitting together,
like two arrows meeting head-on.
When you listen to the words, you should understand
the source of the teaching.
Don't establish your own rules.
If you don't practice in your everyday life as you walk,
how can you know the way?
The goal is neither far nor near.
If you stick to the idea of good or bad, you will be
separated from the way by high mountains or big rivers.
Seekers of the truth,
don't spend your time in vain. |
Edited by - Balance on Jun 08 2007 5:05:42 PM |
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Balance
USA
967 Posts |
Posted - Jun 08 2007 : 5:26:29 PM
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The farther you enter the truth, the deeper it is.
-Bankei |
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Greg108
29 Posts |
Posted - Jun 08 2007 : 7:08:37 PM
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The root cause of all human suffering, misery, aggression, hatred and self-betrayal everywhere is a false belief about what I am. The only solution for this problem is the truth.
-- John Sherman
www.riverganga.org |
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Balance
USA
967 Posts |
Posted - Jun 08 2007 : 9:49:05 PM
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I'm currently reading Shunryu Suzuki's "Branching Streams Flow in the Darkness" and his elucidation on this scripture is very good.
This is a literal translation:
SANDOKAI
Harmony of Difference and Sameness
The mind of the great sage of India
is intimately transmitted from west to east.
While human faculties are sharp or dull,
the Way has no northern or southern ancestors.
The spiritual source shines clear in the light;
the branching streams flow on in the dark.
Grasping at things is surely delusion;
according with sameness is still not enlightenment.
All the objects of the senses
interact and yet do not.
Interacting brings involvement.
Otherwise, each keeps its place.
Sights vary in quality and form,
sounds differ as pleasing or harsh.
Refined and common speech come together in the dark,
clear and murky phrases are distinguished in the light.
The four elements return to their natures
just as a child turns to its mother;
Fire heats, wind moves,
water wets, earth is solid.
Eye and sights, ear and sounds,
nose and smells, tongue and tastes;
Thus with each and every thing,
depending on these roots, the leaves spread forth.
Trunk and branches share the essence;
revered and common, each has its speech.
In the light there is darkness,
but don't take it as darkness;
In the dark there is light,
but don't see it as light.
Light and dark oppose one another
like the front and back foot in walking.
Each of the myriad things has its merit,
expressed according to function and place.
Phenomena exist; box and lid fit.
principle responds; arrow points meet.
Hearing the words, understand the meaning;
don't set up standards of your own.
If you don't understand the Way right before you,
how will you know the path as you walk?
Progress is not a matter of far or near,
but if you are confused, mountains and rivers block your way.
I respectfully urge you who study the mystery,
do not pass your days and nights in vain.
Translation/Compilation copyright Soto Shumucho 1997
(November 15-16, 97; revised version)
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Balance
USA
967 Posts |
Posted - Jun 09 2007 : 02:03:30 AM
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Enlightenment is the sudden recognition that non-duality
is, has always been, and will always be the reality of
our experience. Duality is an illusion. Consciousness is
not private and personal, but impersonal, universal, and
eternal. There is no limited personal entity, no conscious
ego. The ego is a perceived object, not the all perceiving
awareness.
~Francis Lucille
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Greg108
29 Posts |
Posted - Jun 09 2007 : 11:33:14 AM
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The Sense of "I am" (Consciousness)
When I met my Guru, he told me: "You are not what you take yourself
to be. Find out what you are. Watch the sense 'I am', find your real
Self." I obeyed him, because I trusted him. I did as he told me. All
my spare time I would spend looking at myself in silence. And what a
difference it made, and how soon!
My teacher told me to hold on to the sense 'I am' tenaciously and not
to swerve from it even for a moment. I did my best to follow his
advice and in a comparatively short time I realized within myself the
truth of his teaching. All I did was to remember his teaching, his
face, his words constantly. This brought an end to the mind; in the
stillness of the mind I saw myself as I am -- unbound.
I simply followed (my teacher's) instruction which was to focus the
mind on pure being 'I am', and stay in it. I used to sit for hours
together, with nothing but the 'I am' in my mind and soon peace and
joy and a deep all-embracing love became my normal state. In it all
disappeared -- myself, my Guru, the life I lived, the world around
me. Only peace remained and unfathomable silence.
Nisargadatta Maharaj |
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Balance
USA
967 Posts |
Posted - Jun 09 2007 : 1:50:50 PM
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This is absolutely perfect just as it is.
There is nothing missing.
When you suffer I suffer with you,
When I suffer you suffer with me,
Because we are never separate.
We come together in joy and know we are One.
We are the same you and me,
And also we are nothing alike.
That is what makes everything so.
That is how everything is,
Perfect.
The ten thousand things stretch out before us in all directions.
Like children mesmerized we are lost in play.
We are playmates you and me,
In Love forever.
~Chim-Chim |
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Richard
United Kingdom
857 Posts |
Posted - Jun 09 2007 : 3:02:18 PM
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Alan
I really love that one, thanks for sharing  |
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Anthem
1608 Posts |
Posted - Jun 09 2007 : 4:30:56 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Greg108
The Sense of "I am" (Consciousness)
When I met my Guru, he told me: "You are not what you take yourself
to be. Find out what you are. Watch the sense 'I am', find your real
Self." I obeyed him, because I trusted him. I did as he told me. All
my spare time I would spend looking at myself in silence. And what a
difference it made, and how soon!
My teacher told me to hold on to the sense 'I am' tenaciously and not
to swerve from it even for a moment. I did my best to follow his
advice and in a comparatively short time I realized within myself the
truth of his teaching. All I did was to remember his teaching, his
face, his words constantly. This brought an end to the mind; in the
stillness of the mind I saw myself as I am -- unbound.
I simply followed (my teacher's) instruction which was to focus the
mind on pure being 'I am', and stay in it. I used to sit for hours
together, with nothing but the 'I am' in my mind and soon peace and
joy and a deep all-embracing love became my normal state. In it all
disappeared -- myself, my Guru, the life I lived, the world around
me. Only peace remained and unfathomable silence.
Nisargadatta Maharaj
Hi Greg,
Thanks for this really great quote. What a wonderful pointer.
It's funny I read "stay with I am" but for me these words are hard to wrap my mind around or to be aware of, I like to stay with "what is" or the part of me that Is. This points me to just pure "Being" and brings me into deep presence.
I am starting to appreciate that it would be very difficult and require a great deal of exertion to stay unwaveringly with "I am" if our thoughts were so powerfully charged (emotionally) that they continuously pulled us away. I think this is the case for most of us.
The beauty of sitting practices and self-enquiry is that they disarm the distractions and allow us to be present more and more of the time, as our minds take fewer thought trips, for shorter periods of time.
As we stay present for longer and longer periods of time, amazing things start to happen. We find profound peace and feel tremendous love, all of our senses tune into the moment and the here and now becomes physically delicious to behold and experience. Being with "I am" as is written above or with the part of me that Is, then doesn't require any effort, it is captivating in of itself. Why would I want to think about anything when feeling the support under my body, or the cool breeze on my face, or the majestic sounds or the beautiful scenery are so physically and mentally fulfilling? What makes these simple things so much richer than they used to be? Maybe all the energy I had devoted in thoughts and emotion is now lighting up the Now in amazing ways.
It's like a love affair with life on every level to be with what Is.
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Balance
USA
967 Posts |
Posted - Jun 10 2007 : 12:04:44 AM
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Be soft in your practice. Think of the method as a fine silvery stream, not a raging waterfall. Follow the stream, have faith in its course. It will go its own way, meandering here, trickling there. It will find the grooves, the cracks, the crevices. Just follow it. Never let it out of your sight. It will take you....
~Sheng-yen |
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Balance
USA
967 Posts |
Posted - Jun 10 2007 : 12:14:07 AM
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That the self advances and confirms the ten thousand things
is called delusion;
That the ten thousand things advance and confirm the self
is called enlightenment.
-Dogen Zenji
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profound pointers & other stuff
