We all have a clear, wondrously bright field from the beginning. With boundless wisdom, journey beyond this, letting go of accomplishments. Abandon all scheming and simply take on responsibility. Having turned yourself around, and accepting where you are, set out along your path, and a spiritual energy will marvelously move you along. Contact phenomena with total sincerity, not a single atom of dust outside yourself.
Hongzhi, 1091-1157, Chinese Chan (Zen) monk
photo evelyn simak
A flower falls, even though we love it;
a weed grows, even though we do not love it.
Dogen
Nothing here below is profane
for those who know how to see.
Teilhard de Chardin, Jesuit priest and philosopher, The Divine Milieu, p.69
The primary cause of disorder in ourselves
is the seeking of reality promised by another
Krishnamurti, Freedom from the Known
When I first came across this word ‘Suchness’ in Zen literature, I thought, ‘What the heck is Suchness? …Can’t figure that one out.’ If we hold perceptions to be reality, then in order for our world to be real, we have to perceive it as something. It can’t be just what it is. We have to interpret it, or give it a name, or describe it in some way. We perceive the world through words, through ideas. This obsession with cameras and selfies now, is just wanting to capture things, capture moments on film, petrify them in time, and make them fixed because everything is moving and changing. But Suchness, or Tathata…. is right now. This is the way it is. But sometimes, when I say, ‘This is the way it is,’ somebody will say, ‘You mean this is the way it is forever?’ No! RIGHT NOW — this is the way it is. The only way it can be is the way it is right now! It’s changing, but at this moment, the Suchness of this moment, is just this way. The thinking mind has to stop. Otherwise you will want to ask, ‘Where is it? What is he saying?’ You just have to stop your mind and listen, or watch. Then you will be relating to Suchness, the Suchness of the moment, the as-is-ness.
Ajahn Sumedho, Tathata or suchness
with thanks to Jackie for the prompt.
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