OUR BELOVED MASTER,
DAIO ONCE SAID TO A MONK: THE PEAK EXPERIENCE, THE FINAL ACT -- AS SOON AS YOU TRY TO PURSUE IT IN THOUGHT, THERE ARE WHITE CLOUDS FOR A THOUSAND MILES. BUT EVEN IF YOU GO BACK UPON SEEING THE MONASTERY FLAGPOLE AT A DISTANCE, OR HEAD OFF FREELY UPON SEEING A BECKONING HAND, THIS IS STILL ONLY HALF THE ISSUE; IT IS NOT YET THE STRATEGIC ACTION OF THE WHOLE CAPABILITY.
YOU HAVE TRAVELED AND STUDIED VARIOUS PLACES AND SPENT A LONG TIME IN MONASTERIES. DON'T STICK TO THE RUTS IN THE ROAD OF THE ANCIENTS -- YOU MUST TRAVEL A LIVING ROAD ON YOUR OWN.
EAST, WEST, FOOT UP, FOOT DOWN, USING IT DIRECTLY -- ONLY THEN WILL YOU KNOW THAT THE PEAK EXPERIENCE ILLUMINES THE HEAVENS AND COVERS THE EARTH, ILLUMINES THE PAST AND FLASHES THROUGH THE PRESENT. THIS IS YOUR OWN PLACE TO SETTLE AND LIVE. WHEN I SAY THIS, I AM ONLY USING WATER TO OFFER FLOWERS, NEVER ADDING ANYTHING EXTRA.
ON ANOTHER OCCASION DAIO SAID TO A ZEN NUN, "AT THE TOP OF THE HUNDRED-FOOT POLE, GO FORWARD."
THE NUN REPLIED, "AT THE TOP OF THE HUNDRED-FOOT POLE, THERE IS NO PLACE TO GO."
DAIO SAID, "WHERE THERE IS NO PLACE TO STEP, GO A HUNDRED THOUSAND STEPS FARTHER -- ONLY THEN WILL YOU BE ABLE TO WALK ALONE IN THE RED SKIES, PERVADING THE UNIVERSE AS YOUR WHOLE BODY."
THE NUN AGREED AND DAIO CONTINUED: "THAT'S ALL. NOW YOU WANT TO RETURN TO YOUR OLD CAPITAL AND HAVE COME WITH INCENSE IN YOUR SLEEVE TO ASK FOR A SAYING. I ONCE MADE A VERSE OF PRAISE ON THE MASTER OF IKUSAN, SO I WILL WRITE THAT:
"`ATOP THE POLE, WALK ON BY THE ORDINARY ROUTE. IT IS MOST PAINFUL, WHEN TAKING A TUMBLE IN A VALLEY. EARTH, MOUNTAINS, AND RIVERS CANNOT HOLD YOU UP, AND SPACE SUPPRESSES LAUGHTER, FILLING A DONKEY'S CHEEKS.'
"I ASK YOU, ZEN NUN," CONTINUED DAIO, "TO BRING THIS UP AND LOOK AT IT TIME AND AGAIN: HOW TO GO FORWARD FROM ATOP THE POLE? SUDDENLY, WHEN THE TIME COMES, YOU CAN GO FORWARD A STEP, AND SPACE WILL SURELY SWALLOW A LAUGH. REMEMBER, REMEMBER."
SATCHIDANAND SAYS...
The Hundred Foot Pole again
Again, there is that Zen story about the student climbing up a
100-foot pole. After many arduous efforts he eventually gets to
the top and looks down at the Master sitting in Meditation below.
He asks; "What next Master?"
The Master replies, "Take one step higher!"
…End!
You are now at the top of your 100ft pole. This is the height of
your evolution. This is how high you have built your Antakarana
over your many lifetimes.
Whether you inhabit your Soul or have just had little glimpses of
it. Or higher, whether you have got in touch with you spiritual
guide or Master, or Ascended Master. Whether you have seen all
your past lives in that storage space above the Soul. Or whether
you are in touch with your guiding stars- The Spiritual Triad,
connecting with the three higher chakras. Or whether you inhabit
the Monad, our all father endlessness, I Am, or have just had a
little glimpse.
Energy Enhancement teaches how
to contact the Soul.
How to build the Antakarana
higher
EXCERPT FROM THE ENERGY ENHANCEMENT BOOK - "SUPER ENERGY AND SACRED SYMBOLS"
Maneesha, before I discuss these very significant statements, I have to inaugurate Avirbhava's Museum of Gods. She has brought a few great gods, but before she brings her gods before you I have to say something about them.
"Octopus: On the island of Corfu in the Greek archipelago, the octopus was worshipped as an incarnation of one of the Greek gods.
Known as the most evil of the sea animals, the innocent octopus acquired the name `devil-fish' by fearful ancient fishermen."
The second is, "Crocodile: Among the southern Bantus of Africa, the crocodile is considered sacrosanct.
The Egyptian god Sebek was believed to take the shape of a crocodile; sometimes he was represented as wholly animal, sometimes only with a crocodile head. Offerings of cake, meat, and honey wine were made to the sacred crocodiles, some of which were tamed by priests. Oracles were drawn from the crocodiles' behavior, and they were embalmed at death."
And the third is, "Lobster: The lobster was generally considered sacred among the ancient Greeks.
In New Caledonia, the crab goddess, or demon, is known to have a sacred grove. On the trees in her grove are hung little packets of food for her. She is the enemy of married people, and is known to cause elephantiasis.
Even today, the lobster is worshipped in the Isa district fishing villages of Japan. Huge replicas are paraded through the towns during their festivals."
Before I ask Avirbhava to bring her newly acquired gods, I have heard a joke about an octopus:
Klopski is overjoyed with his new pet octopus, Clyde. The magnificent creature drinks vodka like a fish, but also can play any musical instrument in the world.
One evening, after polishing off a few bottles of vodka together, Clyde and Klopski go out to the Jumpin' Jellyfish Jazz Club.
Klopski shouts, "Hey, everybody! I will bet anyone here that my octopus can play anything anyone gives him."
Laughter fills the bar. Then Benny the banjo player says, "Okay, I bet you fifty dollars he can't play my banjo."
Klopski nods enthusiastically, swallows back a shot of vodka and gives one to Clyde. The octopus swallows his drink and crawls onto the stage, grabbing not one but two banjos on the way.
As he plays "God Save The Queen," he sneaks out a free tentacle and snatches another glass of vodka.
"Hey, man," yells Pete the piano player, "that is cool. But I will bet you a hundred bucks he can't play my grand piano."
"Right!" yells Klopski, swallowing his vodka, and pouring one for the octopus. Clyde knocks back the vodka and jumps on the piano. Waving all his arms about wildly, Clyde plays the Polish national anthem stylishly.
"That is fine," comes a shout from the corner, "but I will bet you five hundred dollars he will never be able to play this!" It is Hamish MacTavish, and be brings a big, old Scottish bagpipe up to Klopski.
"Okay," says Klopski. But before Klopski can touch it, Clyde leaps on the bagpipe, squeezing and tangling his arms all over it. Then the octopus and the bagpipe fall onto the floor in a knotted heap, making only a pitiful gasping sound.
Losing the bet, an enraged Klopski grabs the octopus, holds him up in the air and cries, "What the hell went wrong with you?"
"Well," grins the octopus, drunkenly, "she looked so beautiful, but I just couldn't get her cotton panties off!"
Now, Avirbhava, come on.
(A GREY VELVETY OCTOPUS APPEARS IN FRONT OF THE PODIUM, HOLDING BETWEEN HIS TENTACLES A FLUTE, PLAYING THE BEATLES TUNE "IN AN OCTOPUS' GARDEN," AND DANCING UP AND DOWN IN FRONT OF THE MASTER.)
So let him settle on the Stonehead, now...
(BUT THE OCTOPUS LANDS ON NIRVANO'S HEAD INSTEAD. MEANWHILE, A LARGE CROCODILE IS INCHING ALONG THE PODIUM, WHILE A RED, CUDDLY LOBSTER IS DANCING IN THE AIR. FINALLY, THE OCTOPUS GETS TO HIS DESTINATION -- STONEHEAD'S HEAD. THE MASTER IS CHUCKLING AND ENJOYING THE SHOW TREMENDOUSLY, AS WELL AS THE ASSEMBLY, WHICH IS SIMPLY DROWNING IN AN OCEAN OF LAUGHTER.)
Great, Avirbhava! Take your gods away.
DAIO ONCE SAID TO A MONK:
THE PEAK EXPERIENCE, THE FINAL ACT -- AS SOON AS YOU TRY TO PURSUE IT IN THOUGHT, THERE ARE WHITE CLOUDS FOR A THOUSAND MILES. BUT EVEN IF YOU GO BACK UPON SEEING THE MONASTERY FLAGPOLE AT A DISTANCE, OR HEAD OFF FREELY UPON SEEING A BECKONING HAND, THIS IS STILL ONLY HALF THE ISSUE; IT IS NOT YET THE STRATEGIC ACTION OF THE WHOLE CAPABILITY.
YOU HAVE TRAVELED AND STUDIED VARIOUS PLACES AND SPENT A LONG TIME IN MONASTERIES. DON'T STICK TO THE RUTS IN THE ROAD OF THE ANCIENTS -- YOU MUST TRAVEL A LIVING ROAD ON YOUR OWN.
THIS CAN BE CALLED ONE OF THE VERY FUNDAMENTALS OF ZEN: DON'T STICK TO THE RUTS IN THE ROADS OF THE ANCIENTS -- YOU MUST TRAVEL A LIVING ROAD ON YOUR OWN.
The fact is, you cannot travel on anybody's road because that road will never lead you to yourself. It will lead you to somebody else, whose road it is. Never be a follower; always be a path finder. And the path in the unknown reality of your inner world is made by walking into the unknown, without any road prepared by others for you.
All the religions are doing that: they are preparing roads for millions of people -- highways, super highways. There are six hundred million Catholics walking on one road. They are not going to reach anywhere; not a single one of them has reached even to the state of Jesus Christ. And nobody even thinks about it. Six hundred million Catholics for eighteen hundred years following a certain road persistently, and they have not produced a single Jesus worth the name. It is not their fault, it is our whole mental makeup. We have been told that we have to walk on paths which are prepared. But this is a different path.
All paths that go outwards are prepared beforehand. You can go to the north, you can go to the south; you can go anywhere, the road is ready. But to go inside, no road is ready, you will have to create it by walking. It will remain always an individual pathway. Nobody else will ever walk on it and nobody else should ever walk on it, because that will lead him into a hypocrisy. He will become someone else that he is not. It is a very important message:
DON'T STICK TO THE RUTS IN THE ROAD OF THE ANCIENTS.
All the religions emphasize the opposite; all the religions try to prove that they are the most ancient -- to be an ancient religion is a great value. The reality is, the more ancient a religion is, the more rotten it is bound to be. The more ancient, the farther away from you. There is no question of following any ancient way. You should not follow even a modern way, because all ways that are created by others may only be suitable for them.
This is a great challenge of existence, that you have to create your own path to your own temple. No help is possible, and it is the grandeur of humanity, a tremendous dignity, that you can follow only your own path.
All religions are leading people wrongly; they are destroying people, making them into sheep. An authentic religion will make a man into a lion who walks alone, who never walks in a crowd. The crowd never suits him, because with the crowd you have always to compromise. With the crowd you have always to listen to others: their criticism, their appraisal, their conceptions of right and wrong, their values of good and bad.
In the crowd you cannot remain natural. The crowd is a very unnatural environment. Unless you are very aware, the crowd is going to crush you into dust. It is because of this that you don't find many buddhas in the world. A buddha has to fight inch by inch for his individuality. He has not to give way to the crowd, whatever the cost. Unless such an uncompromising attitude remains constantly in you, you cannot remain unaffected by the crowd in which you live.
And unfortunately everybody is born in a crowd -- the parents, the teachers, the neighbors. Nobody is fortunate enough to be born alone, so that is out of the question. You are born in the society, in the crowd. Unless you can keep your intelligence clean of the pollution that will be surrounding you from every side, sooner or later you will become somebody else, somebody who nature had never intended you to be.
Remember constantly that you have your own destiny, just as everybody else has his own destiny. Unless you become the flower, the seeds of which you have been carrying within you, you will not feel blissfulness, fulfillment, contentment, you will not be able to dance in the wind, in the rain, in the sun. You can be in paradise only as an individual, if you have followed the path that you create by walking in. There are no ready-made pathways.
When you enter in, you enter into pure space -- not a road; there are not even footprints. Buddha used to say that the inner world is just like the sky. The birds fly but they don't leave their footprints. Nobody can follow their footprints because in the sky their footprints are not; as they have flown away, their footprints have dissolved.
The inner sky remains always pure, just waiting for you, because nobody can get inside you. He is saying:
YOU MUST TRAVEL A LIVING ROAD ON YOUR OWN. EAST, WEST, FOOT UP, FOOT DOWN, USING IT DIRECTLY -- ONLY THEN WILL YOU KNOW THAT THE PEAK EXPERIENCE ILLUMINES THE HEAVENS AND COVERS THE EARTH, ILLUMINES THE PAST AND FLASHES THROUGH THE PRESENT. THIS IS YOUR OWN PLACE TO SETTLE AND LIVE.
Following your own path, not imitating anybody, you are bound to reach the space where you will feel you have arrived at the home, where you can settle for eternity.
WHEN I SAY THIS I AM ONLY USING WATER TO OFFER FLOWERS, NEVER ADDING ANYTHING EXTRA.
He is perfectly aware that people may start following him. Such is the stupidity of humanity. To the man who is saying, "Never follow anybody," they say, "Okay." But their okay means, "Now we are going to follow you." When the person is saying, "Never follow anybody," he is included in that "anybody." Then why is he speaking, what is he doing? He says:
I AM ONLY USING WATER TO OFFER FLOWERS, NEVER ADDING ANYTHING EXTRA.
I am saying the very essential, not adding anything extra, just like watering flowers.
Such a simple thing... following yourself is such a simple thing. The flowers will start blossoming, you just go on watering them, nourishing them with your attention, with your love, with your silence, with your celebration, with your laughter. Just don't add anything extra from other sources, from scriptures, from great teachers, from buddhas. Nobody is to be included on your path. Your path has to be absolutely pure and virgin.
ON ANOTHER OCCASION DAIO SAID TO A ZEN NUN, "AT THE TOP OF THE HUNDRED-FOOT POLE, GO FORWARD."
It will look a very absurd statement.
AT THE TOP OF THE HUNDRED-FOOT POLE, GO FORWARD.
You will think that man is mad. There is no way to go anywhere, you will cling to the pole. But going inside is just like this, as if you are standing on a hundred-foot-long pole. And when you go in there is no road, just pure inner sky. It is a jump into the unknown, but a jump of tremendous beauty.
You may have heard, or you may not have heard.... On the China Wall that surrounds the whole of China -- it is the biggest wall in the world... It took one thousand years to build; it is almost a mountain. And it is so wide that you can drive a car on it, and as high as sixty feet, seventy feet, eighty feet -- as the terrain allows. It was built against the Mongol attackers, to prevent them from entering China. And of course they were absolutely unable -- a hundred-foot wall standing between Mongolia and China.
China had suffered so much from the Mongols that it took on this tremendous task -- almost inhuman. It took one thousand years to make the wall, and millions of people were engaged in the work. But it had to be done because great Mongols like Genghis Khan... he alone killed forty million people. Killing was their joy. His son killed thirty million people; another Mongol, Tamerlane, again killed forty million people. The successor of Tamerlane, Nadir Shah, is thought to have killed more than any of his forefathers, but there are no records available. The whole of China must have become so threatened by these monsters -- murderers for no reason, just for the simple joy they would burn a whole city alive -- that they made this China Wall.
A fictitious story is connected with the China Wall. There is a place in the China Wall where it is said that if you stand there and look at the other side, you simply give a good laughter and jump, you never return. Many people tried but they simply laughed and jumped. And it is one hundred feet high, a mountainous terrain. The fiction became so much of a reality that the government had to put soldiers there to prevent people from looking from that place. Nobody could explain it. What happens? Why do they simply laugh? What do they see? And then without saying anything to anybody, they simply jump.
I don't think it is a historical fact but I understand it as mythological, and a very beautiful phenomenon. When you look in, you are looking into a tremendous nothingness. And all that the mystics have done is, they have given a laugh and jumped. They have simply said goodbye and jumped.
It is so enchanting, so magnetically pulling; the gravitation is so much that once you look in, you cannot resist taking the jump. It is risky, it is dangerous, you may be lost. But on the contrary, you find yourself for the first time. You were lost before; hence the laughter. And now you have come home, which was just looking inwards, and everything that you ever wanted is fulfilled. You have entered the lotus paradise.
This statement -- AT THE TOP OF THE HUNDRED-FOOT POLE, GO FORWARD -- is not concerned with an actual pole. It is concerned with your hundred-foot-long ego. That is your pole, where you are standing.
Look within and take a jump!
Then go forward.
THE NUN REPLIED, "AT THE TOP OF THE HUNDRED-FOOT POLE, THERE IS NO PLACE TO GO."
DAIO SAID, "WHERE THERE IS NO PLACE TO STEP, GO A HUNDRED THOUSAND STEPS FARTHER -- ONLY THEN WILL YOU BE ABLE TO WALK ALONE IN THE RED SKIES, PERVADING THE UNIVERSE AS YOUR WHOLE BODY."
Zen has a language of its own. It is simple, but because we are complicated we cannot understand the simple language. A hundred-foot-long pole... you would never have thought that it could be representative of the ego.
Once you see the metaphor, it becomes very clear that everybody is standing on a very long pole. And people are trying to get on longer poles. When Henry Ford was dying, before his death he was asked, "What have you learned in your whole life? Because you became the world's greatest rich man -- from poverty to riches."
Henry Ford said, "Don't remind me. I have learned only one thing: climbing poles. And when you have climbed the pole, you look so awkward, so stupid. Fortunately you are alone there sitting on your pole. I have learned the art of climbing poles, that has been my whole life. I have not learned anything. I am dying without having learned anything from life."
But Daio's interpretation:
WHERE THERE IS NO PLACE TO STEP...
`Place' is always outside. Inside there is no place, there is only space. And you should understand the difference between place and space.
You are sitting here. The place you are sitting in is one thing and the space that you are within is another. It is nothing material, so there is no question of falling. There is no fear of falling into a ditch. There is no place of any kind, just pure silence and spaciousness. Where there is no place to step, that is the real place from where to begin the journey.
Howsoever absurd, he has said a great truth.
GO A HUNDRED THOUSAND STEPS FURTHER --
ONLY THEN WILL YOU BE ABLE TO WALK ALONE
IN THE RED SKIES, PERVADING THE UNIVERSE
AS YOUR WHOLE BODY.
THE NUN AGREED AND DAIO CONTINUED: "THAT'S ALL. NOW YOU WANT TO RETURN TO YOUR OLD CAPITAL AND HAVE COME WITH INCENSE IN YOUR SLEEVE TO ASK FOR A SAYING. I ONCE MADE A VERSE OF PRAISE ON THE MASTER OF IKUSAN, SO I WILL WRITE THAT:
`ATOP THE POLE, WALK ON BY THE ORDINARY ROUTE. IT IS MOST PAINFUL, WHEN TAKING A TUMBLE IN A VALLEY. EARTH, MOUNTAINS, AND RIVERS CANNOT HOLD YOU UP, AND SPACE SUPPRESSES LAUGHTER, FILLING A DONKEY'S CHEEKS.'"
Once you have taken the jump into the inner space, everything is easy. Before taking the jump everything is difficult. You have never thought that you have any interiority, you have never thought that there is any space inside.
When I say "your interiority" I don't mean your bones and your heart and your brain. These are all outside coverings of your inside nothingness. When you detach yourself from your body and mind and heart, you find that place from where the journey begins. That is the true pilgrimage, the only pilgrimage that is of any worth. All others are unnecessarily running here and there, not knowing where they are going.
I have heard.... Once George Bernard Shaw was caught in a railway train without a ticket. He had purchased a ticket, but where had he put it? He had much luggage. He must have been like Avirbhava -- she travels with twelve suitcases! So he looked into this suitcase, into that suitcase. The whole compartment was filled with his clothes and things and books, and the ticket collector finally said in desperation, "I know you, everybody knows you. I cannot conceive that you are traveling without a ticket. It must have got lost -- you have so much luggage. Don't be worried, I will not come again, and I will give the message to the other ticket collectors on the train not to bother you."
George Bernard Shaw shouted at him, "You idiot! You think I am taking all this trouble for you? The problem is not the ticket, the problem is that without the ticket I don't know where I am going. The train is going so fast and I don't know which station I am to get out at. And why are you standing here like an idiot? Just do your work and let me find my ticket!" He was a world famous man, but he was a man with a very bad memory.
A similar story is told about Mulla Nasruddin, but juicier. The ticket collector comes, and Mulla Nasruddin looks into everything -- his bags, his pockets. The ticket collector is standing there and he says, "You have looked in every pocket, but you don't look in the left-side pocket of your coat."
Mulla Nasruddin said, "Don't interfere in my work. Never mention that pocket!"
He said, "You are strange. I am simply helping you because you cannot find the ticket. Perhaps... why are you leaving out that pocket?"
Mulla Nasruddin said, "That is my only hope. If the ticket is not in the left pocket, I am finished. So first I will look into everything else. Only as the last resort may I touch that pocket. That is my last hope, don't destroy it."
"I ASK YOU, ZEN NUN," CONTINUED DAIO, "TO BRING THIS UP AND LOOK AT IT TIME AND AGAIN: HOW TO GO FORWARD FROM ATOP THE POLE?"
I give you this poem. Remember, that this is my message: that you have to leave the place and enter into space.
"SUDDENLY, WHEN THE TIME COMES, YOU CAN GO FORWARD A STEP, AND SPACE WILL SURELY SWALLOW A LAUGH. REMEMBER, REMEMBER."
Don't be afraid of laughing. Just take a step from place into space, have a good laugh and just go on. We are doing that every day -- not one laugh but many laughs.
(A LOUD LAUGH IS HEARD FROM SARDAR GURUDAYAL SINGH.)
Sardar Gurudayal Singh, wherever this caravan is going you will be needed. Without you life will not be so juicy.
A haiku by Sodo:
AFTER THE MOON-VIEWING,
MY SHADOW WALKING HOME
ALONG WITH ME.
AFTER THE MOON-VIEWING... A full moon -- that has become traditional in Zen. On the full-moon night the Zen seekers don't sleep, they walk into the mountains where the moon has made waterfalls look as if silver is falling, where the moon has made the whole surroundings a dream.
Sodo says, AFTER THE MOON-VIEWING... This is called moon-viewing; it is a tremendously aesthetic experience.
MY SHADOW WALKING HOME
ALONG WITH ME.
Such silence. Nobody is with me, just my shadow walking along with me. After seeing this whole beautiful world, when you enter into your home nobody will be with you, not even your shadow. Your aloneness will be total.
Every meditation is a preparation for enjoying the aloneness which is our nature.
Issa wrote:
NOT YET HAVING BECOME A BUDDHA,
THIS ANCIENT PINE TREE,
IDLY DREAMING.
According to those who have awakened, everything is full of buddhahood. Buddhahood is just the nature of existence. Issa's haiku is saying:
NOT YET HAVING BECOME A BUDDHA,
THIS ANCIENT PINE TREE,
Although it is ancient, it has not yet become a buddha.
IDLY DREAMING.
It is still dreaming. Someday it may wake up. This can be said about everybody. We are all unconscious of our ultimate reality, and we go on dreaming, we go on sleeping, we go on desiring, we go on longing for this and that, not knowing that the greatest treasure is within our awakening.
There is no more than becoming a buddha. You have come to the highest peak of consciousness.
Next: Chapter 1: Remember, remember!, Question 1
Energy Enhancement Enlightened Texts Zen The Language of Existence
Chapters
- Talks on Zen, The Language of Existence Chapter 1: Remember, remember!
Talks on Zen, The Language of Existence Chapter 1: Remember, remember!, DAIO ONCE SAID TO A MONK: THE PEAK EXPERIENCE, THE FINAL ACT -- AS SOON AS YOU TRY TO PURSUE IT IN THOUGHT, THERE ARE WHITE CLOUDS FOR A THOUSAND MILES. BUT EVEN IF YOU GO BACK UPON SEEING THE MONASTERY FLAGPOLE AT A DISTANCE, OR HEAD OFF FREELY UPON SEEING A BECKONING HAND, THIS IS STILL ONLY HALF THE ISSUE; IT IS NOT YET THE STRATEGIC ACTION OF THE WHOLE CAPABILITY at energyenhancement.org
- Talks on Zen, The Language of Existence Chapter 1: Remember, remember!, Question 1
Talks on Zen, The Language of Existence Chapter 1: Remember, remember!, Question 1, DAIO ONCE SAID TO A MONK: THE PEAK EXPERIENCE, THE FINAL ACT -- AS SOON AS YOU TRY TO PURSUE IT IN THOUGHT, THERE ARE WHITE CLOUDS FOR A THOUSAND MILES. BUT EVEN IF YOU GO BACK UPON SEEING THE MONASTERY FLAGPOLE AT A DISTANCE, OR HEAD OFF FREELY UPON SEEING A BECKONING HAND, THIS IS STILL ONLY HALF THE ISSUE; IT IS NOT YET THE STRATEGIC ACTION OF THE WHOLE CAPABILITY at energyenhancement.org
- Talks on Zen, The Language of Existence Chapter 2: Go like an arrow
Talks on Zen, The Language of Existence Chapter 2: Go like an arrow, HAKUIN SAID: THE STUDY OF ZEN IS LIKE DRILLING WOOD TO GET FIRE. THE WISEST COURSE IS TO FORGE STRAIGHT AHEAD WITHOUT STOPPING. IF YOU REST AT THE FIRST SIGN OF HEAT, AND THEN AGAIN AS SOON AS THE FIRST WISP OF SMOKE ARISES, EVEN THOUGH YOU DRILL FOR THREE ASAMKHYEYE KALPAS, YOU WILL NEVER SEE A SPARK OF FIRE. MY NATIVE PLACE IS CLOSE TO THE SEASHORE, BARELY A FEW HUNDRED PACES FROM THE BEACH. SUPPOSE A MAN OF MY VILLAGE IS CONCERNED BECAUSE HE DOES NOT KNOW THE FLAVOR OF SEA WATER, AND WANTS TO GO AND TASTE IT FOR HIMSELF. IF HE TURNS BACK AFTER HAVING TAKEN ONLY A FEW STEPS, OR EVEN IF HE RETURNS AFTER HAVING TAKEN A HUNDRED STEPS, IN EITHER CASE WHEN WILL HE EVER KNOW THE OCEAN'S BITTER, SALTY TASTE? at energyenhancement.org
- Talks on Zen, The Language of Existence Chapter 2: Go like an arrow, Question 1
Talks on Zen, The Language of Existence Chapter 2: Go like an arrow, Question 1, HAKUIN SAID, 'THE WISEST COURSE IS TO FORGE STRAIGHT AHEAD WITHOUT STOPPING.' BUT IF WE KNEW WHERE STRAIGHT AHEAD WAS, WOULD WE NEED TO WALK IT? at energyenhancement.org
- Talks on Zen, The Language of Existence Chapter 2: Go like an arrow, Question 2
Talks on Zen, The Language of Existence Chapter 2: Go like an arrow, Question 2, IS NOT OUR UNCERTAINTY, OUR GROPING, BECAUSE WE HAVE TO DISCOVER FOR OURSELVES WHAT IS STRAIGHT AHEAD AND WHAT IS GOING OFF TRACK? at energyenhancement.org
- Talks on Zen, The Language of Existence Chapter 2: Go like an arrow
- Talks on Zen, The Language of Existence Chapter 3: Seek nothing outside
Talks on Zen, The Language of Existence Chapter 3: Seek nothing outside, FOLLOWERS OF THE TAO, SAID RINZAI, THIS MOUNTAIN MONK'S VIEW DOES NOT DIFFER FROM THAT OF SAKYAMUNI BUDDHA. IN ALL THE VARIETY OF OUR DAILY ACTIVITIES, IS THERE ANYTHING LACKING? THE SPIRITUAL LIGHT MANIFESTING THROUGH THE SIX SENSES HAS NEVER BEEN INTERRUPTED. HE WHO IS ABLE TO PERCEIVE IT IN THIS MANNER CAN BE AN UNCONCERNED MAN FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE at energyenhancement.org
- Talks on Zen, The Language of Existence Chapter 3: Seek nothing outside, Question 1
Talks on Zen, The Language of Existence Chapter 3: Seek nothing outside, Question 1, WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT NIRVANA, OR ANYTHING ELSE THAT OUR MINDS DO NOT KNOW, IT IS EASY ENOUGH TO LISTEN WITHOUT THE MIND -- JUST ALLOWING YOUR WORDS TO FILTER THROUGH OUR CONSCIOUSNESS, TO USE YOUR WORDS TO MEDITATE. HOWEVER, WHEN YOU SPEAK ON AN ISSUE THAT MIGHT AFFECT OUR DAILY LIFE, IT IS MORE DIFFICULT TO LISTEN WITHOUT ENGAGING THE MIND. FOR EXAMPLE, APPARENTLY, THE OTHER NIGHT SOME OF US HEARD YOU ENDORSE DRUGS; SOME OF US HEARD YOU SAY THEY WERE OF NO HELP FOR SEEKERS. IF WE USE OUR MIND AT ALL IN LISTENING TO YOU, HAVE WE MISSED THE POINT OF SITTING HERE? at energyenhancement.org
- Talks on Zen, The Language of Existence Chapter 3: Seek nothing outside, Question 2
Talks on Zen, The Language of Existence Chapter 3: Seek nothing outside, Question 2, SOMETIMES DURING MEDITATION THERE IS THE SENSATION OF CONSCIOUSNESS ARISING AND EXPANDING. IS THAT THE SAME PHENOMENON THAT IS INVOLVED IN WATCHING? at energyenhancement.org
- Talks on Zen, The Language of Existence Chapter 4: Beyond life-and-death
Talks on Zen, The Language of Existence Chapter 4: Beyond life-and-death, BUKKO SAID: THE WAY OUT OF LIFE-AND-DEATH IS NOT SOME SPECIAL TECHNIQUE; THE ESSENTIAL THING IS TO SEE THROUGH TO THE ROOT OF LIFE-AND-DEATH. THAT ROOT IS NOT SOMETHING THAT FELL FROM HEAVEN OR SPRANG UP FROM EARTH. IT IS AT THE CENTER OF THE FUNCTIONING OF EVERY MAN, LIVING WITH HIS LIFE, DYING WITH HIS DEATH, BECOMING A BUDDHA, MAKING A PATRIARCH. THESE ARE ALL IN DEPENDENCE OF IT, AND ONE WHO GOES INTO ZEN HAS TO PIERCE AND BREAK THROUGH TO THIS THING at energyenhancement.org
- Talks on Zen, The Language of Existence Chapter 4: Beyond life-and-death, Question 1
Talks on Zen, The Language of Existence Chapter 4: Beyond life-and-death, Question 1, I AM SERIOUSLY CONCERNED: LAST NIGHT WHEN YOU WERE SPEAKING OF THE SENSES, AS TRADITIONALLY CLASSIFIED, YOU DID NOT MENTION THE EIGHTH SENSE, THE SENSE OF HUMOR. WHAT HAPPENED? at energyenhancement.org
- Talks on Zen, The Language of Existence Chapter 4: Beyond life-and-death
- Talks on Zen, The Language of Existence Chapter 5: The gateway of the buddhas
Talks on Zen, The Language of Existence Chapter 5: The gateway of the buddhas, TOREI SAID: IF YOU WANT TO BE FREE FROM THIS WORLD OF SUFFERING, FIRST YOU MUST CONTEMPLATE IMPERMANENCE. THOSE WHO ARE BORN MUST INEVITABLY DIE. EVEN THE YOUNG ARE NOT EXEMPT; EVEN THE STRONG ARE IN DANGER. EVEN A LONG LIFE DOES NOT LAST MORE THAN EIGHTY YEARS OR SO. IF YOU DON'T ANNIHILATE THE NATURE OF AFFLICTIONS SOMEHOW, AND ARRIVE ON THE PATH OF LIBERATION, EVEN IF YOU ASCEND TO THE RANK OF SOVEREIGN OF A NATION, GREAT MINISTER, DEITY, SPIRIT, OR WIZARD, IT IS STILL EVANESCENT AS LIGHTNING AND MORNING DEW, LASTING ONLY FOR A WHILE at energyenhancement.org
- Talks on Zen, The Language of Existence Chapter 5: The gateway of the buddhas, Question 1
Talks on Zen, The Language of Existence Chapter 5: The gateway of the buddhas, Question 1, CAN IT HELP TO CONTEMPLATE ON A CONCEPT? IF THE CONCEPT IS JUST ONE'S INTELLECTUAL UNDERSTANDING, OR SOMEONE ELSE'S INSIGHT, WHAT IS THE VALUE? AND EVEN IF IT IS OUT OF ONE'S OWN INSIGHT, WHAT IS THE POINT? -- IF YOU HAVE KNOWN IT, YOU HAVE KNOWN IT at energyenhancement.org
- Talks on Zen, The Language of Existence Chapter 6: Be a rare person
Talks on Zen, The Language of Existence Chapter 6: Be a rare person, A MONK ASKED BANKEI, 'THE ANCESTRAL TEACHERS SINCE ANCIENT TIMES WERE GREATLY ENLIGHTENED THROUGH DIFFICULT AND PAINFUL PRACTICES. I HAVE HEARD THAT YOU, TOO, ACCOMPLISHED THE GREAT TEACHING THROUGH VARIOUS DIFFICULT PRACTICES. BUT FOR PEOPLE LIKE ME, WHO DON'T CULTIVATE PRACTICE, AND ARE NOT ENLIGHTENED, JUST REALIZING THAT MY VERY STATE IS THE UNBORN, ENLIGHTENED NO-MIND DOES NOT REALLY SETTLE ANYTHING.' at energyenhancement.org
- Talks on Zen, The Language of Existence Chapter 6: Be a rare person, Question 1
Talks on Zen, The Language of Existence Chapter 6: Be a rare person, Question 1, I HAVE MET SOMEONE WITH ENLIGHTENED EYES WHO DOES NOT JUST BRING US WATER TO DRINK, BUT SHOWERS US WITH IT. AND YET, AND YET.... ARE WE SO NEUROTIC, SO COMPLEX, SO FAR REMOVED FROM INNOCENCE, THAT WE CAN ONLY RECEIVE THAT FOR WHICH WE HAVE SUFFERED? at energyenhancement.org
- Talks on Zen, The Language of Existence Chapter 6: Be a rare person
- Talks on Zen, The Language of Existence Chapter 7: Now you have it
Talks on Zen, The Language of Existence Chapter 7: Now you have it, TOZAN SAID: THE TEACHING OF THUSNESS HAS BEEN INTIMATELY COMMUNICATED BY BUDDHAS AND PATRIARCHS. NOW YOU HAVE IT, SO KEEP IT WELL. FILLING A SILVER BOWL WITH SNOW, HIDING A HERON IN THE MOONLIGHT -- WHEN YOU ARRAY THEM, THEY ARE NOT THE SAME. WHEN YOU MIX THEM, YOU KNOW WHERE THEY ARE. THE MEANING IS NOT IN THE WORDS, YET IT RESPONDS TO THE INQUIRING IMPULSE. IF YOU ARE EXCITED, IT BECOMES A PITFALL; IF YOU MISS IT, YOU FALL INTO RETROSPECTIVE HESITATION at energyenhancement.org
- Talks on Zen, The Language of Existence Chapter 7: Now you have it, Question 1
Talks on Zen, The Language of Existence Chapter 7: Now you have it, Question 1, THOSE DIAMOND THUNDERBOLTS YOU HURTLE AROUND YOU WHEN YOU DANCE WITH US EACH EVENING -- AT THE RATE WE'RE GOING, SOMEONE COULD BE KNOCKED CONSCIOUS! BUT PLEASE, DON'T STOP! at energyenhancement.org
- Talks on Zen, The Language of Existence Chapter 8: Please, settle for no-self
Talks on Zen, The Language of Existence Chapter 8: Please, settle for no-self, BUKKO SAID: IT MAY BE ASKED, HOW IS THE SELF TO BE APPROACHED? BY LOOKING INTO IT THROUGH THIS SORT OF INQUIRY: FORTY YEARS AGO, WHERE DID IT COME FROM; AND A HUNDRED YEARS HENCE, WHERE WILL IT HAVE GONE TO? AND RIGHT NOW, WHO IS THE PERSON WHO IS MAKING THE INQUIRY? THAT TRUE FACE WHICH WAS BEFORE FATHER AND MOTHER WERE BORN, WHERE IS IT RIGHT NOW? WHEN SUDDENLY ONE DAY THE LIGHT OF LIFE, NOW SO BRILLIANT, WILL BE WITHDRAWN, WHERE DOES IT GO TO? at energyenhancement.org
- Talks on Zen, The Language of Existence Chapter 8: Please, settle for no-self, Question 1
Talks on Zen, The Language of Existence Chapter 8: Please, settle for no-self, Question 1, LATELY I HAVE FELT AWARE THAT WE ARE JUST BIG VACUUMS, EMPTINESSES, WALKING AROUND WITH A FACADE OF PERSONALITY THAT DOES THINGS AND THINKS THOUGHTS. BUT BUKKO TALKS OF 'APPROACHING THE SELF.' IS THE SELF ANYTHING OTHER THAN THAT SENSE OF EMPTINESS? ARE THE QUESTIONS JUST A MEANS TO DISCOVER THERE IS NO SELF? at energyenhancement.org
- Talks on Zen, The Language of Existence Chapter 8: Please, settle for no-self
- Talks on Zen, The Language of Existence Chapter 9: Lovers of tao
Talks on Zen, The Language of Existence Chapter 9: Lovers of tao, RINZAI SAID: FOLLOWERS OF THE TAO, I AM TALKING ONLY ABOUT THAT WHICH IS DISTINCTLY SOLITARY AND BRIGHT, AND IS LISTENING TO MY EXPOUNDING OF THE DHARMA. THIS ONE KNOWS NO OBSTRUCTIONS AND IS OMNIPRESENT IN THE THREE WORLDS OF EXISTENCE IN THE TEN DIRECTIONS OF SPACE. IT CAN FREELY AND COMFORTABLY ENTER ALL THE DIFFERENT STATES, WITHOUT BEING INFECTED BY THEM. IN THE SHORTEST INSTANT, IT WILL PENETRATE DEEPLY INTO THE DHARMA-DHATU WHERE IT WILL TALK ABOUT BUDDHAS, WHEN MEETING BUDDHAS; ABOUT PATRIARCHS, WHEN MEETING PATRIARCHS; ABOUT ARHATS, WHEN MEETING ARHATS, AND ABOUT HUNGRY GHOSTS, WHEN MEETING HUNGRY GHOSTS at energyenhancement.org
- Talks on Zen, The Language of Existence Chapter 9: Lovers of tao, Question 1
Talks on Zen, The Language of Existence Chapter 9: Lovers of tao, Question 1, LANGUAGE IS USUALLY ABOUT THE COMMUNICATION OR TRANSFER OF IDEAS; AND THE UNDERSTANDING OF MOST RELIGIONS SEEMS TO BE THAT ONE DOES NOT NEED TO BE GIVEN SOMETHING. HOWEVER, ZEN IS DIFFERENT IN THAT IT APPEARS TO BE SAYING ONE ONLY NEEDS TO UNDERSTAND WHAT ONE ALREADY HAS. IS THIS WHY YOU HAVE CALLED ZEN 'THE LANGUAGE OF EXISTENCE'? at energyenhancement.org