Tag: Buddhism

A finite world

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File:Road Closed in Green County (7790632878).jpg

If to enjoy even an enjoyable present we must have the assurance of a happy future, we are “crying for the moon.” We have no such assurance. The best predictions are still matters of probability rather than certainty, and to the best of our knowledge every one of us is going to suffer and die. If, then, we cannot live happily without an assured future, we are certainly not adapted to living in a finite world where, despite the best plans, accidents will happen, and where death comes at the end.

Alan Watts, The Wisdom of Insecurity

On being fully in the moment

Karl Duffy3 Comments

File:Midsummer bonfire closeup.jpg

A thought prompted by the traditional fires lit on this important Celtic feast day of Samhain which marks the start of winter or the “darker half” of the year and which have transferred over into the celebration of Halloween.

When you do something,

you should burn yourself completely,

like a good bonfire,

leaving no trace of yourself.

Shunryu Suzuki

photo janne karaste

Where to look

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File:Ordinary-seamen-swabbing-deck.JPG

A similar thought to that seen in the last two posts, but this time from the Western tradition, showing a corresponding understanding of the need to stay in the present moment and not in some thought about how an ideal life or an ideal day should be.

You seek perfection, but it lies in everything that happens to you.

Setbacks, actions and impulses  are the mysteries under which God reveals himself to you.

He will never show himself in the shape of that exalted image to which you are attracted to.

Jean Pierre de Caussade, 1675 – 1751, a French jesuit,  whose ideas Alan Watts compared to ones found in Zen Buddhism.

Sunday Quote: Nowhere to go, nothing to say

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mellerey

Beyond words,

in the silencing of thought,

we are already there

Alan Watts

photo monastery walk, mount mellerey October 11

Just passing clouds

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sun through clouds

The sun shines day after day without fail, yet if clouds appear to make the sky overcast, it can’t be seen. It still comes up in the east every morning and goes down in the west. The only difference is that you can’t see it because it’s hidden behind the clouds. The sun is your Original Mind, the clouds are your illusions. You are unaware of your Original Minds because they’re covered by illusions and can’t be seen. But you never lose them, not even when you go to sleep. The unborn Original Mind that your mothers have given you is thus always there, wonderfully clear and bright and illuminating.

Bankei

Not being identified

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looking at clouds

A student came to Zen Master Bankei and said: “Master, I have an ungovernable temper – how can I cure it?” “Show me this temper,” said Bankei, “it sounds fascinating.” “I haven’t got it right now,” said the student, “so I can’t show it to you.” “Well then” said Bankei, “bring it to me when you have it.” “But I can’t bring it just when I happen to have it,” protested the student. “It arises unexpectedly, and I would surely lose it before I got it to you.” “In that case,” said Bankei, “it cannot be part of your true nature. If it were, you could show it to me at any time. When you were born you did not have it, and your parents did not give it to you — so it must come into you from the outside.”

While anger is happening, if you suddenly become conscious it drops. Try it. Just in the middle, when you are feeling very hot and would like to commit murder, suddenly become aware, and you will feel something has changed: a gear inside – you can feel the click. Something has changed, now it is no more the same thing. Your inner being has relaxed. It may take time for your outer layer to relax, but the inner being has already relaxed. The cooperation is broken; now you are not identified.

Osho, And the Flowers Showered

Bankei, 1622 – 1693,  was a hugely influential Japanese Zen Master, who emphasized our Original Mind – the natural, unchanging,  goodness within – which he felt we simply had to tune in to,  and not identify with the different moods which pass through each day.