Zen Anybody

It is too clear and so it is hard to see.
A dunce once searched for a fire with a
lighted lantern.
Had he known what fire was,
He could have cooked his rice much sooner.

- Joshu Washes the Bowl, The Gateless Gate #7
Zen Flesh, Zen Bones, p. 176
Translated by Paul Reps and Nyogen Senzaki

I have been here many times, searching for some unknown thing.

When the mind is at peace,
the world too is at peace.
Nothing real, nothing absent.
Not holding on to reality,
not getting stuck in the void,
you are neither holy or wise, just
an ordinary fellow who has completed his work.

- Layman Pang-yun (740-808)
The Enlightened Heart, Edited by Stephen Mitchell, p. 34

I love the simplicity in this poem/quote.

[Phaelyn]

Originally Posted by ImthatIm

“Here it is – right now. Start thinking about it and you miss it.”

– Huang Po

We experience life non-conceptually all the time, probably thousands of times an hour, more or less, depending on our increments of time. It's our natural way to be. I'd guess through the process of living a human life, in this human body and cultures, we slowly over time become more and more identified with mental conceptual realities, and thus spend less and less time here as it is.

We project and experience what we are identified with at the time. And we share this space, the surface of this planet, with 8 billion other humans...that's a lot of "noise" being expressed internally and externally at any given time.

[Joe Mc]

More Master Huang Po

All sentient beings grasp form and search outside themselves. Using Buddha to seek Buddha, they thus use mind to seek Mind. Practicing in this manner even until the end of the kalpa, they cannot attain the fruit. However, when thinking and discrimination suddenly halt, the Buddhas appear.

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[Still_Waters]

Originally Posted by Joe Mc

More Master Huang Po

All sentient beings grasp form and search outside themselves. Using Buddha to seek Buddha, they thus use mind to seek Mind. Practicing in this manner even until the end of the kalpa, they cannot attain the fruit. However, when thinking and discrimination suddenly halt, the Buddhas appear.

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Along the same lines, Hazrat Inayat Khan said that "The ideal is the means; breaking it is the way."

[Phaelyn]

My thoughts at the moment.

The reality is we will never understand "this." It is above our pay grade. It is far above not only our intelligence, it is beyond our ability to understand or comprehend or to even be aware of the competent parts or the function or actions or mechanics of those parts.

The brain does a billion billion calculations a second. Scientist say the most things WE can be aware of at one time is FOUR. We are basically in a machine, this body and brain, that is far far above anything we can design, make, or comprehend. Everything around us is comprised of atomic particles, built of those. Even our body and brain is made up of atomic particles. We have zero idea what in the heck consciousness itself is made up of. What forms it and how. We don't even know what we are other than to name ourselves in some way as to somehow convince ourselves we know something. I'm awareness, I'm consciousness, I'm energy....which is just a bunch of non-sense really. We know nothing! I am aware of things.... we still don't know what awareness is, what it is made up of, how it is formed or created, we can't look at it under a microscope....I'm conscious.....but how and what is it? Energy? I might as well say I am atoms. Carbon particles in your finger that are in constant motion...making orbits around electrons... that's what "I" am?

And these questions will not be answered ever by us. We can be aware of four things at once when the brain is doing a billion billion calculations at once?

So what in the heck is this life? What is our purpose? Who or what is responsible for us merging temporarily in this reality that is more advanced than our understanding? We did not create one thing about this reality. We make stuff out of what is found here, create all kinds of stuff out of these things formed out of atomic particles, cut down trees to make houses.... moving atoms from here to there.... then one atom.....just one..... has the energy of a nuclear bomb stored in it!

So what can I do? If I will never understand any of this? What can I make or control? I can choose to create my own experience or perception of what is. I can choose what I am identifying with and as. I can control who and what I am as far as belief and actions. I can choose what of what exists I make a part of my life. I can choose which ideas to cling to and which to reject. Which to be indifferent to.

I can be more aware of the relationship between what I am paying attention to and my experience and actions. Then in understanding this relationship, I can choose not only how now is experienced, I can choose what I project to others. So I create what I am and what everything else is. To me, this is zen because the best me and the best experience is when I am nothing at all, and doing nothing. Just being awake... suspending all doing or not doing and suspending being something or someone, instead just being..... a great deal is done when not doing nor not not doing.......but done without conflict or effort or resistance or seeking...everything is done by itself, not by a "me," everything is in motion, and I within this movement where everything is made done... a quiet inside and outside, while a great deal of noise may be about...

[sentient]

Originally Posted by Phaelyn

We project and experience what we are identified with at the time. And we share this space, the surface of this planet, with 8 billion other humans...that's a lot of "noise" being expressed internally and externally at any given time.

Space itself is stillness and silence – “witnessing the present” - within and without.

https://i.pinimg.com/564x/8e/92/2e/8...4de8703353.jpg

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[sentient]

Originally Posted by sky123

' Fish aren’t aware they live in water '

Do they need to know ? Maybe if they need to know they would become aware.

Do students of Buddhism need to know about the 5 skandhas?

To understand more precisely the process of confirming the solidity of I and other, that is, the development of ego, it is helpful to be familiar with the five skandhas, a set of Buddhist concepts which describe ego a five-step process.

The first step or skandha, the birth of ego, is called "form" or basic ignorance. We ignore the open, fluid, and intelligent quality of space.
(Trungpa)

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[Joe Mc]

Originally Posted by Still_Waters

Along the same lines, Hazrat Inayat Khan said that "The ideal is the means; breaking it is the way."

Very nice quote too. It's difficult to say anything about those type of wisdom statements without leading yourself and others astray. Lets see what the Tarot has to say about it. I drew the 'Magician Card'. A card they say represents skillful means available to oneself and the power of action, certitude and the way. The Magician has the power to manifest his goals and with the beautiful wisdom teachings of Masters like Huang Po and Hazrat Inayat Khan he can clear his way quickly and majestically.

Irish proverb. May your home always be too small to hold all your friends !

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Originally Posted by Phaelyn

We experience life non-conceptually all the time, probably thousands of times an hour, more or less, depending on our increments of time. It's our natural way to be. I'd guess through the process of living a human life, in this human body and cultures, we slowly over time become more and more identified with mental conceptual realities, and thus spend less and less time here as it is.

We project and experience what we are identified with at the time. And we share this space, the surface of this planet, with 8 billion other humans...that's a lot of "noise" being expressed internally and externally at any given time.

I once smelled the sweetest smell of flowers on a sunny, late spring day.
I named the flower from memory, like conquering and continued on my way.

Haiku

Bright star near but far
Seen kissing the rising moon
Dawn's embracing bliss