Sun, Moon, Truth
Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon and the truth.
~ Buddha
Sun, Moon, Truth
Truth
The Song of Zazen
by Hakuin Ekaku Zenji
All sentient beings are essentially Buddhas. As with water
and ice, there is no ice without water; apart from sentient
beings, there are no Buddhas. Not knowing how close the
truth is. we seek it far away – what a pity!
We are like one who in the midst of water cries out desperately
in thirst. We are like the son of a rich man who wandered away
among the poor. The reason we transmigrate through the Six
Realms is because we are lost in the darkness of ignorance.
Going further and further astray in the darkness, how can we
ever be free from birth-and-death? As for the Mahayana practice
of zazen, there are no words to praise it fully. The Six Paramitas,
such as giving, maintaining the precepts, and various other good
deeds like invoking the Buddha’s name, repentance, and spiritual
training, all finally return to the practice of zazen. Even those who
have sat zazen only once will see all karma erased. Nowhere will
they find evil paths, and the Pure Land will not be far away. If we
listen even once with open heart to this truth, then praise it and
gladly embrace it, how much more so then, if on reflecting within
ourselves we directly realize Self-nature, giving proof to the truth
that Self-nature is no-nature. We will have gone far beyond idle
speculation. The gate of the oneness of cause and effect is thereby
opened, and not-two, not-three, straight ahead runs the Way.
Realizing the form of no-form as form, whether going or returning
we cannot be any place else. Realizing the thought of no-thought
as thought, whether singing or dancing, we are the voice of the
Dharma.
How vast and wide the unobstructed sky of samadhi! How bright
and clear the perfect moonlight of the Fourfold Wisdom! At this
moment what more need we seek? As the eternal tranquillity of
Truth reveals itself to us, this very place is the land of Lotuses
and this very body is the body of the Buddha.
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Highest Truth
Highest Truth
The highest truth cannot be put into words. Therefore the greatest teacher has nothing to say. He simply gives himself in service, and never worries.
Hua Hu Ching
Practice Dhamma
From A Taste of Freedom
by Ajahn Chah
It’s of great importance that we practice the Dhamma. If we
don’t practice, then all our knowledge is only superficial
knowledge, just the outer shell of it. It’s as if we have some
sort of fruit but we haven’t eaten it yet. Even though we have
that fruit in our hand we get no benefit from it. Only through
the actual eating of the fruit we really know its taste.
The Buddha didn’t praise those who merely believe
others, he praised the person who knows within himself.
Just as with that fruit, if we have tasted it already, we don’t
have to ask anyone else if it’s sweet or sour. Our problems
are over. Why are they over? Because we see according to
the truth. One who has realized the Dhamma is like one
who has realized the sweetness or sourness of the fruit. All
doubts are ended right here.
When we talk about Dhamma, although we may say a
lot, it can usually be brought down to four things. They are
simply to know suffering, to know the cause of suffering,
to know the end of suffering and to know the path of practice
leading to the end of suffering. This is all there is. All
that we have experienced on the path of practice so far
comes down to these four things. When we know these
things, our problems are over.
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Cultivating Courage
From Turning The Mind Into An Ally
By Sakyong Mipham
When I’m teaching, people often ask me questions in hopes of hearing some esoteric truth. They seem to want me to tell them a secret. But the most fundamental secret I know is rooted in something that we already possess, basic goodness. In spite of the extreme hardship and cruelty we see happening throughout the world, the basis of everything is completely pure and good. Our heart and mind are inherently awake. This basic goodness is a quality of complete wholesomeness. It includes everything.
But before we can begin the adventure of transforming ourselves into awakened people-much less the adventure of living our lives with true joy and happiness, we need to discover this secret for ourselves. Then we have the real possibility of cultivating courage, from which we can radiate love and compassion to others.
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About This Mind
By Ajahn Chah
About this mind… In truth there is nothing really wrong with it. It is intrinsically pure. Within itself it’s already peaceful. That the mind is not peaceful these days is because it follows moods. The real mind doesn’t have anything to it, it is simply (an aspect of) Nature. It becomes peaceful or agitated because moods deceive it. The untrained mind is stupid. Sense impressions come and trick it into happiness, suffering, gladness and sorrow, but the mind’s true nature is none of those things. That gladness or sadness is not the mind, but only a mood coming to deceive us. The untrained mind gets lost and follows these things, it forgets itself. Then we think that it is we who are upset or at ease or whatever.
But really this mind of ours is already unmoving and peaceful… really peaceful! Just like a leaf which is still as long as no wind blows. If a wind comes up the leaf flutters. The fluttering is due to the wind — the “fluttering” is due to those sense impressions; the mind follows them. If it doesn’t follow them, it doesn’t “flutter.” If we know fully the true nature of sense impressions we will be unmoved.
Our practice is simply to see the Original Mind. So we must train the mind to know those sense impressions, and not get lost in them. To make it peaceful. Just this is the aim of all this difficult practice we put ourselves through.
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Studying the Way
From The Zen Teachings of Huang Po
Edited by John Blofeld
Regarding this Zen Doctrine of ours, since it was first transmitted, it has never been taught that men should seek for learning or form concepts. “Studying the Way” is just a figure of speech. It is a method of arousing people’s interest in the early stages of their development. In fact, the Way is not something which can be studied. Study leads to the retention of concepts and so the Way is entirely misunderstood. Moreover, the Way is not something specially existing; it is something called Mahayana Mind – Mind which is not to be found inside, outside, or in the middle. Truly it is not located anywhere. The first step is to refrain from knowledge-based concepts. This implies that if you were to follow the empirical method to the utmost limit, on reaching that limit you would still be unable to locate Mind. The way is spiritual Truth and was originally without name or title. It was only because people ignorantly sought for it empirically that the Buddhas appeared and taught them to eradicate this method of approach. Fearing that no one would understand, they selected the name ‘Way.’ You must not allow this name to lead you into a mental concept of a road. So it is said, ‘When the fish is caught we pay no more attention to the trap.’ When body and mind achieve spontaneity, the Way is reached and Mind is understood. A shramana is so called because he has penetrated to the original source of all things. The fruit of attaining the shramana stage is gained by putting an end to all anxiety; it does not come from book-learning.
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