Zen Anybody

[sentient]

Basho favourites .....

The crane's legs
have gotten shorter
in the spring rain

*

Even in Kyoto --
hearing the cuckoo's cry;
-- I long for Kyoto.

*

Breaking the silence
Of an ancient pond,
A frog jumped into water —
A deep resonance.

*

[Miss Hepburn]

What is this mind?
Who is hearing these sounds?
Do not mistake any state for
Self-realization, but continue
To ask yourself even more intensely,
What is it that hears?

Bassui

[Joe Mc]

Originally Posted by jonesboy

Zen seems to be misunderstood a lot. A few years ago there was a lot of talk about Zen.

I believe Bodhidharma said the only Sutra you need is the Lakavatara Sutra. It is my favorite Buddhist Sutra, unlike any other.

I started a thread on it so that we could all try to learn from it but it went downhill fast.

I think there might be some Bodhidharma sermons/teachings in the section that I have posted as well.

Excellent stuff and look forward to you posting more about it.

Thanks for the heads up @ Lakavatara Sutra and ill have a look for that thread.

[Joe Mc]

Originally Posted by Phaelyn

It's kind of funny for those disciples to look for the "meaning" in mental words, thoughts, and images. Better to perceive the beauty of the lotus, and the light upon it, and everything that exists and is here now, and to perceive that wondrous mystery and lightness of being. The meaning is there is no meaning, just being in awe of the magic and beauty of this now. Well plus Buddha was right there holding that lotus! Those disciples were a foot away from the living Buddha! Feel the meaning of that!

Thanks for your posts which remind me about the qualities of the immediate, the now, the spontaneous without major architectural intellectual intervention as such. It brought up an idea that I haven't really given much weight or thought to, the idea that to become a Zen practitioner, a monk in many cases, you did not need to hold degrees of learning or schooling, you just needed a body and of course a mind to practice Not sure how this compares to what else was going on in those ancient cultures of China and Japan regarding 'state' lead learning and the spiritual path. Just a thought that your own learned posts provoked. Thanks be well.

[Joe Mc]

Originally Posted by sentient

Basho favourites .....

The crane's legs
have gotten shorter
in the spring rain

*

Even in Kyoto --
hearing the cuckoo's cry;
-- I long for Kyoto.

*

Breaking the silence
Of an ancient pond,
A frog jumped into water —
A deep resonance.

*

Beautiful and will remain so ! Also I listened to that song you posted in your
signature, The Russian musicians, really nice too. thanks.

[Joe Mc]

Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn

What is this mind?
Who is hearing these sounds?
Do not mistake any state for
Self-realization, but continue
To ask yourself even more intensely,
What is it that hears?

Bassui

Thank you.

[Joe Mc]

I went to Yosemite National Park, and I saw some huge waterfalls. The highest one there is [1,430] feet high, and from it the water comes down like a curtain thrown from the top of the mountain. It does not seem to come down swiftly, as you might expect; it seems to come down very slowly because of the distance. And the water does not come down as one stream, but is separated into many tiny streams. From a distance it looks like a curtain. And I thought it must be a very difficult experience for each drop of water to come down from the top of such a high mountain. It takes time, you know, a long time, for the water finally to reach the bottom of the waterfall. And it seems to me that our human life may be like this. We have many difficult experiences in our life. But at the same time, I thought, the water was not originally separated, but was one whole river. Only when it is separated does it have some difficulty in falling. It is as if the water does not have any feeling when it is one whole river. Only when separated into many drops can it begin to have or to express some feeling. When we see one whole river we do not feel the living activity of the water, but when we dip a part of the water into a dipper, we experience some feeling of the water, and we also feel the value of the person who uses the water. Feeling ourselves and the water in this way, we cannot use it in just a material way. It is a living thing.

........... When the water returns to its original oneness with the river, it no longer has any individual feeling to it; it resumes its own nature, and finds composure. How very glad the water must be to come back to the original river! ...........

This extract is from Zen Mind Beginners Mind by Shunryu Suzuki Roshi..from a talk called 'The Waterfall.' Worth reading the whole talk.
I stumbled on this one which is kinda contexted in christianity but i think most of the talk is there.
https://intersecting.weebly.com/lear...shunryu-suzuki

Just my 2 cents worth of quotes.They may be zen but then maybe not.

Where can I find a man who has forgotten words so I can talk with him? Zhuangzi

Love all. Serve all. Help ever. Hurt never. Sathya Sai Baba

** * * *
)) ((
^^^^^^

[sentient]

Originally Posted by ImthatIm

Just my 2 cents worth of quotes.They may be zen but then maybe not.

Where can I find a man who has forgotten words so I can talk with him? Zhuangzi

Ha haa, that was my number one favourite quote for yeeeeears!!!
It is Taoism – and definitely nondual …. but as such - it is of course barking at the same tree as Zen …

Another one by him:

Once upon a time, I dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was myself. Soon I awaked, and there I was, veritably myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man.

When there is a non-dual moment with another person or even with an animal – there is no boundary between self and other, so ‘direct inner knowing - silent communication’ just happens ….

[sky]

Huike said to Bodhidharma, “My mind is anxious. Please pacify it.”
Bodhidharma replied, “Bring me your mind, and I will pacify it.”
Huike said, “Although I’ve sought it, I cannot find it.”
“There,” Bodhidharma replied, “I have pacified your mind.”