zen | Mirrors of Encounters

And you won´t know what to say…

2013/05/07 2 Comments

I have gone through a rather turbulent period lately – this insidious Wasteland is abusively but subtly perverting everything, constantly stealing and depriving me of my force and energy, so lately, I have been very confused, no longer knowing where I am heading.

So earlier today, sitting in a cafe, I kind of heard within this voice saying clearly,
“I am the one with no past or future, I am movement without moving…”

At first I didn´t quite understand the significance of these words in that particular moment.

There were other things being “said” inside of me at the same time, but I was kind of short of words….
I felt I knew, but I didn´t know how to put it, I didn´t know what to say…

Some moments later, checking Tomas´post about meditation on heartflow2013.wordpress.com –, lo!… reading it, I felt that GENDUN RINPOCHE´S words, were the words that I felt earlier, but couldn´t utter myself !!

What an incredible serendipity. Such epiphany in the midst of my sadness. It felt that the post was almost written for me.

Here it is:

“Let go of what has passed.

Let go of what may come.

Let go of what is happening now

Don´t try to figure anything out

Don´t try to make anything happen

Relax, right now and rest.”

Furthermore:

“Leave this mind of yours

in its natural state where there is nothing artificial.

In this state, seeing a thought move,

rest on it, relaxed.

No attachment to stability

no fear of movement,

aware that there is no difference

between stability and movement,

mind arising from mind.

In this state, where there is no grasping, no attachment,

rest natural and relaxed.

In this state, natural reality itself,

the essence of your own mind,

primordial awareness, empty clarity

will arise… and you won’t know what to say.

In this state you will settle, suspended and relaxed.

Without grasping at the stability as something,

naturally in place, naturally free ;

without seizing on or rejecting the mind’s productions,

please settle… THERE.”

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Absolutely wonderful – this makes my heart sing

2012/12/14 Leave a comment

Heidi says:

I asked my 4-year-old daughter the other day:
“Does a tree still make a sound when it falls if
there is no one there to hear it?”
“No”, she said.
“Why not”? I asked.
“Because it doesn’t have a smile.”

The pure simplicity of children, the unadulterated illogic…
They don’t need ‘thought’… - they have their truth without question.

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Who is writing and who is not?

2012/12/08 5 Comments

“Life” is a concept.
We were never born.
We die like wind and live like water.
Our life is the eternal play of form…

Me:

There is this Zen story:

The disciple tells the master ” I do not exist”.
In that very second the master harshly punches
the young man in the face asking him:

Is this punch real or not…?

So I ask you now:

Who is writing these words and who is not…?

Who understands them?…

Why?

Or…

Why not…?

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No standpoint – a koan for you

2012/11/09 3 Comments

For the ones who don´t know:

A koan is a special kind of Zen riddle. Koans are not to be solved with the mundane, limited logical mind,
they are meant to suspend the intellect, to put it in a state of vacuum, out of which the secret totality of life can emerge.
A koan is indeed an opportunity to look deeply into one´s real nature, and “think” without thinking.

So let us consider this:

Your standpoint makes your perspective. My question to you is:

WHAT IS THE PERSPECTIVE OF NO STANDPOINT?

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The beginner´s mind

2012/11/08 2 Comments

In the beginner´s mind there are many possibilities. In the expert´s mind there are few.
Shunryu Suzuki
Courtesy of itstartedwithaquote

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Zen proverb

2012/10/13 Leave a comment

Let go or be dragged.

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Meditation and not thinking

2012/10/10 Leave a comment

Commenting my post http://julienmatei.com/2012/10/09/happiness-is-the-real-you/
Richard says:

The more important fact is that it is even possible to stop thinking when you are awake and conscious. The so-called meditation is nothing more than stopping thinking.

So I claim, the first step towards real happiness is to stop thinking. Not necessarily permanently but the more the merrier.

You see
It is tricky: can thinking put a stop to itself? If to “stop thinking” entails a volitional act, “non thinking” will surely become even more thinking – quite obvious, nothing but a wishful projection. Consider this: Who is the inner authority wanting to stop thinking?…If I sit down and meditate with the purpose of putting a conscious stop to thought, tell me – is that meditation? No, it’s delusion, the ego’s way to fool itself. Ego says: I meditate I am egoless…
The kind of non thinking I talk about is not to be found within the frame of duality. Non thinking is not an ideal – it is not something attainable with any of our inner tools…

Non thinking is grace…- the prerogative of enlightenment. Illumination is indeed very rare. Why do you think that Zen disciples spend years with mind–blowing koans and very few – if any – become enlightened…?

As I said, the first step to real understating is to recognize the hopelessness of our dualistic predicament…Only that kind of non selective and non controlled Attention is the only key. This non–volitional Attention, so to say, is the beginning to real change, the first step to Freedom.

Only in this Awareness we might find out what is beyond duality.
Only this awareness is the glimpse of “the real” reality.

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Transcendence is beyond the negative or positive

2012/10/04 Leave a comment

“Why not try and see positive things, to just touch those things and make them bloom?” says Thich Nhat Hanh.

For sure, it sounds right and fair. But in order to see “the positive” we have to be aware of “the negative” as well. That´s indeed the most difficult part: we have to delve into the pit and see what darkness is about. Cause of we don´t take the trouble of comprehending thoroughly the psychology of “Evil”, our being “positive” is naught but the reiteration of the negative. Evil is running away from evil. In plain words, shunning wickedness, gives us a false sense of being positive, as this positiveness is escape – we still remain within the frame of the negative, being good, but evil…Look at most peoples´ life – good intentions, dire outcome.

The kind of “positiveness” I am talking about comes naturally by itself when Darkness has been understood and dealt with. We have to take the trouble of dealing all the way with opposites if we want to gain a clear vision.

Clear vision, that is, the real “Positive” is the derivative of “Transcendent”… and Transcendence is the middle point beyond opposites.

Filed under English, uncategorized Tagged with environment, let it bloom, Philosophy, positiveness, psychology and science, religion, science, spirituality, Thich Nhat Hanh, transcendence, zen

A university professor went to visit a famous Zen master. While the master quietly served tea, the professor talked about Zen. The master poured the visitor’s cup to the brim, and then kept pouring. The professor watched the overflowing cup until he could no longer restrain himself. “It’s overfull! No more will go in!” the professor blurted. “You are like this cup,” the master replied, “How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup.”

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Nothing Real can be established

2012/09/19 Leave a comment

Richard says:

Thanks for your post here. It means a lot to me …. making progress in non-thinking.

All those comments are like lights from different perspectives to the whole “thing”. Quite a lot of what is said is logically contradictory and that confuses us. We’ve been taught throughout our life that contradictory statements are nonsense. What if they are not?

Think about that for a few moments.

Either I get completely nuts right now or I begin to understand.

My answer:

Whatever we knew yesterday is no longer valid today. To approximate this very moment through the filter of yesterday deprives us the joyful freedom and clarity to a fruitful approach.

Thus – although I get what you say – there cannot be any “progress in non-thinking” – thought must stop, if we are to get a clear picture of the ongoing reality.

You say that “quite a lot of what is said is logically contradictory and that confuses us”- but what or who within us gets confused…?
Give it a thought, or better even – give it no thought
Although valuable, our Logic is ultimately just an instrument to control and fight against something we fear and do not understand…- Life?…

We need to understand that whatever we infer is projection and not truth.

Truth therefore, is always paradoxical, inconsequent and highly contradictory – as TRUTH IS A VIVID REALITY NOT A LOGICALLY DERIVED ENTITY. For sure many a scientist of the Old School, would find this perspective of Truth a far-fetched fabulation, yes, pure nonsense. But let us remind us of the last discoveries within quantum physics which confirm my words.

We need to comprehend that NOTHING REAL CAN BE ESTABLISHED! So, our statements are contradictory and at the same time, they are not. It all depends of the viewpoint we hold.

They say that before reaching a higher state of perception, we face and go through a phase similar to madness. The Zen Masters know this very well.

So be nuts, as you are on the verge of understanding.

Filed under English, uncategorized Tagged with Contradiction, illumination, life is contradiction, logic, Old School, Philosophy, Reality, science, Thought, truth, zen

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