tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87707771392364358692024-03-19T04:58:49.083-05:00Gathering Wisdom"The Wise Man Knows without going, Sees without seeing, Does without doing."Tom Langleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04254601519058396299noreply@blogger.comBlogger156125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770777139236435869.post-27424313228417954222018-07-01T20:12:00.001-05:002018-07-01T20:12:11.107-05:00God/Brahman is the Ocean of Love and All-Consciousness: Shiva and Shakti<a href="http://brahmanistheoceanofallbliss.blogspot.com/2018/04/shiva-and-shakti.html?spref=bl">God/Brahman is the Ocean of Love and All-Consciousness: Shiva and Shakti</a>: Shiva and Shakti Consciousness and Energy https://brahmanistheoceanofallbliss.blogspot.ca/2018/04/shiva-and-shakti.html Amongst t...Tom Langleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04254601519058396299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770777139236435869.post-43105258955445641422014-08-31T01:18:00.000-05:002014-08-31T01:18:00.610-05:00The Breath Can Lead to Realizing the Natural State <div dir="ltr">
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">The article below describes how to teach yourself to Calm the discursive thought in your mind and to live, truly Live, your life as the Naturally Blissful Being you really are. It is not magic nor is it complicated in any way but it does take a continuous effort to refocus your mind back onto your body where it should naturally Be. The mind and the body are not two separate things but have become "separated" by the chaotic habit of discursive thought or thinking that we humans fell into long ago. We got "Lost" thinking about Reality instead of just Living IT! I will save the when and the how this happened for another time because it gets into the very complex topic of the evolution of the brain. Also, it is not necessary to understand how we got "Lost" in order to find our Way back. Enjoy this very important article, put the information to use, and please check out the other articles at the bottom of this post. They contain more information that can help you get back to your True Nature.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Namaste'</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">The Breath Can Lead to Realizing the Natural State</span> </b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">There is a technique that has been around for thousands of years and has been used to point countless sentient beings toward their natural state. Simply following the breath. There are many variations of this but we want to keep it very simple. Our true nature, our natural state is very simple. But because it is so simple we completely miss it. It is always there yet it goes completely unnoticed. It's the foundation for all appearances. It exists before thought and interpretation arises in mind. It is before language. It is beyond conceptual thought. It is our foundation. Our basic, eternally free, pristine, primordial, free from suffering state of being. It is consciousness without content.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;"> Techniques are used as aids to help calm and center the mind. When thoughts have subsided, and there is more empty space between thoughts. When the chain of unending thoughts has been broken, it is easier for insight or wisdom to arise. You see, everything that we believe we know, all of our opinions, judgments and interpretations are simply thoughts. They have no existence apart from the thinking mind. Reality functions perfectly without them. What we think about existence has nothing to do with existence. They are only thoughts superimposed onto reality. Existence cannot be known through thought. We can speculate about the observed using thought and language but thought can never penetrate reality. It will only be speculation based on observation. Thought can only be on the surface.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">We are not separate from existence. We do not live life. We are life itself. We do not live within the universe, we are the universe. We are existence itself. All that is seen and unseen is nothing separate from who we are. The thinking, dualistic mind separates all things experienced into parts and pieces. When abiding in the natural state, there is no separation. There is no this or that. Everything simply exists as it is. All of these things aforementioned are simply thoughts about reality. The mind has added these things to reality from its previous conditioning. The mind has been conditioned by the society, the family, the friends. The mind is conditioned to express what it experiences with words, labels and gives everything attributes. Reality is wordless, thoughtless and without attribute. Although who we really are is inexpressible, we must use words in order to communicate that there is something which is inherent to us all that is naturally free and communicate methods which point to that. Whether it's following the breath, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindfulness_%28psychology%29" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Mindfulness (psychology)">mindfulness practices</a>, pranayama, or many of the countless meditative practices that exists today. All genuine practices are simply pointers to your natural state.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">When you breathe, notice where the sensation of the breath is the most dominate. Maybe the sensation of the breath is dominate at the tip of the nose. Maybe the sensation of the chest moving up and down is the most dominate. Maybe the sensation of the abdomen moving in and out from the breathing process is most dominate. Whatever is most dominate within the attention, use that as your breath spot. When one moves the attention to the breath, move it to that spot.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">In the beginning it may be very difficult to keep your attention on the sensation of your breath. The mind is not used to being held hostage at one point. It hops about from thought to thought like a monkey hopping from tree to tree. In some traditions the mind is referred to as "the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_monkey" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Mind monkey">monkey mind</a>". Because it never stops moving from thought to thought like the energetic monkey hopping from place to place. It will take a lot of practice to tame this monkey mind. And the practice must be continuous.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Whenever you remember, bring your attention to the breath spot for as long as possible. If the attention wanders away from the breath that's fine. If it happens 1000 times that's normal. You have to tame the mind. Not forcefully. Gently. When an emotion (emotions are rooted in thought) or thought pops up, quickly bring the attention to the breath spot. Don't follow the thought or finish it. Just let go by moving the attention to the place where the breath sensation is most dominate. Practice this way when ever you remember. You will forget many times. You may even forget for an entire day. Don't despair. That's normal for an untamed mind. You see, what will eventually happen is following the breath will become habitual. Your attention, from continuous practice, will naturally go to the breath as its natural resting place. Now, your attention endlessly follows every thought in the mind. Thoughts in the average worldly person are like links in a chain that is endless. The mind babbles away about everything it experiences. With breath practice, the attention is being habituated to the breath so that its natural resting place will be the body and not your thoughts. If your attention is on the body and not on your thoughts, what is there to trouble you? Your thoughts are at the root of all your troubles. Just keep practicing at all times when you remember. It will not be easy. Eventually through continuous practice you will not even need the support of the breath. Your breath is just an aid to help bring the attention away from thoughts and also the mind will become naturally one-pointed as a result. This creates a situation which allows tranquility to gain dominance over thoughts and it becomes natural within consciousness. When the mind is tranquil, there will be a clarity that you have never before known. When you experience your life without thoughts, you will have experience and will be able to compare it to your life with thoughts. You can purposely observe life around you without thoughts then compare it to observations with thought. You will see from direct experience how thought defile all that is experienced or perceived ( because it adds to the experience, instead of allowing the experience to be as it naturally is). You will know without doubt that thought is the root of all misery.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Abidance in the natural state is bliss beyond imagining. In this case, the word "bliss" does not refer to some over stimulation of the physical body. Although in the absence of thought (concentrated mind) there are sometimes physical sensations in the body that are beyond any physical sensation normally felt. There is a feeling of rapture. All the cells in the body are exploding with energy. But in this case "bliss" is the absence of all that you are not (thoughts). When all that you are not (thoughts) has been seen through, suffering will be no more.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Just keep practicing. Don't give up. It will be very difficult. Maybe frustrating. It happens to everyone like this. At times it may even seem as though it's hopeless. I think it's like that for all seekers. At some point, all seekers have felt this way. Unless you're a rare one like <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramana_Maharshi" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Ramana Maharshi">Ramana Maharshi</a> who spontaneously came into his natural state without effort, there will be hardships. When an emotion arises, switch the attention to the breath spot. When a thought arises switch the attention away from the thought to the breath. Don't engage in the thought. When you engage in the thought, it proliferates. Before you even become aware, you have completely wandered off into fantasy land from that thought. If this happens, don't beat yourself up about it. That only creates more thought. Just try it again, and again, and again. Any judgment on your part will just create more thoughts. Don't judge! Simply practice wholeheartedly. That's all that is required. And don't think of it as a chore. The mind must come to love and adore the breath. The more the mind adores the breath the easier it will be. Also do not alter the breath process. Let the breath be natural. Any intentional alteration of the breath is subtle thinking. But even if there is some involuntary controlling, that's not unusual. Just do your best and allow the breath to be natural. When you watch the breath, don't mentally verbalize the process. Just try to remain internally silent as best you can. </span></div>
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Tom Langleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04254601519058396299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770777139236435869.post-11654025261040940902014-04-04T00:59:00.000-05:002014-04-04T00:59:28.010-05:00Instantaneous Awakening<div style="text-align: left;">
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br />This is why we are here - to Awaken to who/what we Really are. Jesus of Nazareth experienced this, overcame this world, and tried to teach his disciples "The Way", as he called it. There is absolutely no difference whatsoever between his teachings, those of Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha), Lao-tse (Tao Te Ching), and every other Teacher like him of the One and Only <i><b>Ineffable</b></i> <b><i>Truth</i></b> since the beginning of time. The Truth is the same everywhere in the world but the terminology, oral and written, is necessarily different because the perspectives of this Singular Truth are based upon their respective cultures and the life-long experiences of every individual. Nothing more! </span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Namaste'</span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /><b><span style="font-size: large;">Instantaneous Awakening</span></b><br /><br />"Sudden Illumination means deliverance while still in this life. How shall I make you understand that? You may be compared to lion cubs, which are genuine lions from the time of their birth; for, with those who undertake to become suddenly illumined, it is just like that. The moment they practise it, they enter the Buddha-stage, just as the shoots put forth by bamboos in spring will have grown to resemble the parent plants without the least difference remaining even before spring has departed."<br /><br /><br /><br />Once a man who practised Chan asked <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hui_people" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Hui people">Hui</a> Hai: “It is said that mind is identical with the Buddha, but which of these is really the Buddha?” Hui Hai: “What do you suppose is not the Buddha? Point it out to me!” As there was no answer, the Master added: “If you comprehend (the mind), the Buddha is omnipresent to you; but if you do not awaken to it, you will remain astray and distant from him for ever."<br /><br /><br /><br />~ by Chan Master Hui Hai*, Translation of the Tun Wu Ju Tao Yao Mên Lun and Tsung Ching Record by John Blofeld.**<br /><br /><br /><br />* Hui Hai was a student of <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazu_%28goddess%29" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Mazu (goddess)">Ma Tsu</a> (709–788; Japanese, Baso) and from the same line as Huai-hai Pai Chang, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huangbo_Xiyun" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Huangbo Xiyun">Huang Po</a>, and Rinzai (Lin-chi). <br /><br /><br /><br />**John Blofeld (1913-1987), a noted Buddhist writer and translator, was one of the few Englishmen to experience life in China prior to the Communist revolution. His love of that country and of Buddhism enabled him to translate the texts with feeling and insight.</span></div>
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Tom Langleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04254601519058396299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770777139236435869.post-79816506257136460622014-01-16T19:47:00.000-06:002014-12-07T03:28:36.558-06:00Return to Eden: Discovering Paradise Within<div dir="ltr">
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Here is a beautiful Creation Story from the Sioux Nation that expounds the same Wisdom as Jesus, Buddha, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laozi" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Laozi">Lao-tse</a>, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhuangzi" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Zhuangzi">Chuang-tse</a>, and All Enlightened Beings since the beginning of time. I particularly like this story because I have used the same terminology for a long time so people here in the West can relate to "Within". Enjoy!</span><br>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Namaste'</span><br>
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<b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Return to Eden: Discovering Paradise Within</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Tuesday January 8, 2013 by <a href="http://www.gatherinsight.com/freshinsights/munishwarji/return-to-eden.html" target="_blank">Munishwarji</a> Walking Tall</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">In the center of our own Being lies one of the greatest esoteric mysteries — a Holy Sanctuary where we can take refuge from the trials and tribulations of daily life. That Sanctuary has been referred to throughout the ages as the mythical Garden of Eden—a place where we can go to seek renewal, healing, and inspiration anytime we desire. Far from being "cast out" of the Garden, we have never truly left it, for it is right inside of each one of us and it is always accessible to us. The Garden is waiting for us to discover its majesty and beauty.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">There is a Sioux Creation Story which speaks of this Great Esoteric Secret. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">The Great Creator, the Spirit that Moves Through All things, called a meeting of all creatures great and small under the sun. The Great Creator sought their advice and counsel. He said, </span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">“I want to hide something from human beings until they are ready to experience it. It is the Truth that God dwells within.”</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">"Give it to me," said the eagle. "I will carry it high into the sky."</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">"No," said the Creator. "They will go there one day and find it."</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">"Give it to me," said the buffalo. "I will burry it deep beneath the Great Plains."</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">"No," said the Creator. "One day, they will dig into the Earth and find it."</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">"Give it to me," said the Dolphin. "I will carry it far under the sea."</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">"No," said the Creator. "They will find it even there."</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Just then, wise little Grandmother Mole, who lived deep within the breast of mother Earth and who did not have physical eyes, but saw with spiritual eyes said, </span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">“Put it inside of them.”</span><br>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">And the Great Creator said, "It is done."</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">We begin to cultivate awareness of our Inner Sanctuary and the fact that God dwells within by becoming still. In Genesis, the Old Testament tells us that God "placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way of the tree of life." For those of you who are familiar with the Teachings of the Eastern Occult Doctrine or the Tarot, you will know that swords mystically refer to the mind, and a flaming sword refers to a I'mmind burning with activity. Only through quieting the mind can we move past the flaming sword and return to Paradise. We do so through deep meditation. By regularly quieting the mind and seeking refuge in our Heart, we attune our senses to the stillness within, and that stillness begins to permeate our life. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Here's a Guided Visualization for the purpose of Returning to Eden.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">1. Find A Still Quiet Place where you will be undisturbed for 20 minutes. In the Eastern Occult Teachings, the Number "2" refers to Major Forces at work (with Capital "M" and Capital "F"), referring to God teaching in the Dark and in Silence; the Number "0" refers to the Wise Fool, meaning one who displays Enlightened Action. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">2. Focus on Your Breath, Watching Every Inhalation and Exhalation. Inhale and exhale through the nose. Allow your breath to be slow, steady deep and uniform. Allow your inhale and exhale to be of equal length.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">3. Experience the Mind Become Still, Like a Clear Mountain Lake. If thoughts come into the mind, simply let them float by like clouds floating through a sunny blue sky.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">4. As you watch your breath, notice that there is a space in between the inhalation and exhalation wherein there is stillness in the midst of movement — in that space, become very aware of your Human Heart. As you continue to breathe, experience the space of stillness open up more and more until it beings to permeate your meditative experience.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">5. Continue this practice for a full 20 minutes, and then slowly, gently and with all your love, bring back your conscious awareness to the room. Notice the peace, tranquility and harmony that you feel having Returned to Eden.</span><br>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-weight: normal;">The link to the blog below contains many posts on Wisdom that you will find useful. Here, though, is the link to the specific post "Return to Paradise": </span></h4>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">http://suryasanmiguel.wordpress.com/2013/12/31/return-to-paradise</span></h4>
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Tom Langleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04254601519058396299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770777139236435869.post-32393208152481093532013-11-14T23:57:00.000-06:002013-11-14T23:57:49.494-06:00Beginning Zazen or Zen Meditation Instructions<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Below is a very good instructional video for the Practice of Zazen or <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zazen" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Zazen">Zen Meditation</a>. Everything you need to know to start this form of very effective meditation is shown and explained in this video. This Roshi is from the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rinzai_school" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Rinzai school">Rinzai School</a> of <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zen" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Zen">Zen</a> as opposed to the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C5%8Dt%C5%8D" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Sōtō">Soto School</a> that I am familiar with but the Zazen is done the same way. The only difference is in how he holds his hands or the Mudra but he also shows the Mudra that I use. Either is fine. Give it a try and see how you like it. Happy sitting!</span><br />
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</span> <span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Namaste'</span><br />
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Zazen, or formal seated meditation, is a core practice of Zen. This video for beginners instructs basic zazen from the standpoint of three aspects: posture, breathing and method. Grab a cushion, sit down and follow along! Advice regarding establishing an ongoing meditation practice is also given.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There is a lot of interesting information in the articles below so check them out too :)</span><br />
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Tom Langleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04254601519058396299noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770777139236435869.post-21520302267688343242013-10-06T01:19:00.000-05:002013-10-06T01:19:04.134-05:00The Art of Meditation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #3d85c6;">Here is a short article explaining the basics of meditation and the reasons for incorporating it as a daily Practice in your life. Everyone can do this! Detailed instructions for various forms of meditation are available in earlier posts - particularly Zazen and Vipassana Meditation. I will gladly assist anyone who is truly interested in establishing this necessary Practice in their life. Just email me from this blog or leave a comment with your question(s). I will respond as soon as possible. My office has been offline for months and will be until Windows 8.1 becomes available and I can get my tower, etc replaced and operating. It may take a few days to reply until then. Patience is truly a Virtue.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #3d85c6;">Namaste'</span></div>
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<a href="http://wahiduddin.net/meditation/crum.htm" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: black; color: #3d85c6;">The Art of Meditation</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #3d85c6;">Becoming quiet in a busy world is something we would all love to do. When people recognize that they can achieve that by taking time to center, they want more of it. Living from center on a daily basis is certainly enhanced by the discipline of meditation.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #3d85c6;">One of the difficulties that many people have in considering meditation is that they think it is one more thing that they have to do in their lives, another entry on that great list of things to do, much like working out, eating right, being on time, doing your job well. But meditation practice is not an effort, it is a time to spend each and every day in that place inside ourselves in which there is deep security and peace. So meditation is not some stoic physical position or arduous mental exercise. It is really a letting go.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #3d85c6;">Taking time to meditate daily will actually save you time in the end because of the increased clarity you gain. But, since the normative system doesn't hit a gong at 8 a.m. or 5 p.m. for the world to settle down and return to its higher self, you have to establish the practice. This is where discipline takes place.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #3d85c6;">All cultures are steeped in an esoteric practice of one form or another to help people get in touch with that higher aspect of themselves. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, it is contemplative prayer - quietly listening to God's voice rather than throwing out a list of demands or requests as if writing to Santa Claus. In the far Eastern traditions, the vehicles of meditation often have to do with the autonomic aspects of the nervous system such as the breathing or the heartbeat. In India, mantras from Sanskrit are used as a vehicle to take us inside. In the Zen Buddhist tradition, it is sitting with awareness of thoughts without clinging to them.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #3d85c6;">In all of these disciplines, the practice is not to force yourself into a state of peace, it is simply to acknowledge the mind's thinking nature and to relax into center so that you can settle down into deeper levels of thought, to the source of thought where the vibration level is most powerful. It is achieving a place of deep connection and tranquility, where you are accessing a field of intelligence that is far greater than that derived from the ego or intellect.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #3d85c6;">The particular type of meditation practice that you follow is an individual choice. It is important to explore various types of meditation that have come down to us and choose one that you are comfortable with. Some people are more visual so a technique that uses images may suit them; for others, sound may be more useful. You need to find a vehicle that you are comfortable with so you can practice regularly. The important point is to let go and let God. The vehicle needs to be simple so you can return to it effortlessly when your mind is consumed in thoughts.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #3d85c6;">Whether you sit in a chair or on the floor, you should begin by getting into a centered state with the spine straight and comfortable, in a position that allows you to easily be with the vehicle being used: the breath, the mantra, etc. This doesn't require conscious intellect or trying. An analogy would be sitting on the banks of a river watching the boats, leaves or debris go by. These represent thoughts. You don't hang on to them, you just let them go. And as you continue this process of letting go, you will start to dive down into deeper levels of thought. Your awareness will be less drawn to surface thoughts. In this state, stress is naturally released and your system is given a chance to realign itself.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #3d85c6;">Nature's way of healing is through deep rest. Taking time to dive down to deeper levels of thoughts on a daily basis will produce great peace that will, over time, superimpose itself on your daily life. You will find that you will remember to center; a deep sense of well-being and connection will permeate all activity. The ability to witness - to have a perspective larger than the one presented by ego - emerges, allowing us to make distinctions between what is really valuable and our patterned needs and desires. The ego has been running the show for most of our entire lives, tricking us into thinking that its desires will bring fulfillment when in fact, they create stress and suffering. To know that you have an ego, and that it can be your servant rather than your master, is critical training. Daily practice of meditation and centering provides us with this awareness.</span></div>
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<span nodeindex="213" style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"> ~ by Tom Crum © <a href="http://www.aikiworks.com/" nodeindex="214" style="cursor: pointer; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none;">Aiki Works</a></span></span></div>
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Tom Langleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04254601519058396299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770777139236435869.post-80126703565580552112013-06-21T00:07:00.000-05:002016-03-13T03:56:32.218-05:00"IT", Revisited<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9Owt2YowtAEJ09wMBGv_ZqoIXrletqqJDhyWqFqfhdtcXw3AMZ9HuXFoNwQ7iJ_LnBcg2S6FP3OIGXVIrPcLL64p42Fa6ja-QFbjJ4hAmVYfjblwf5wKP5c8LZlaf7PnkLv4xEfOdfxkI/s1600/you-are-the-universe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9Owt2YowtAEJ09wMBGv_ZqoIXrletqqJDhyWqFqfhdtcXw3AMZ9HuXFoNwQ7iJ_LnBcg2S6FP3OIGXVIrPcLL64p42Fa6ja-QFbjJ4hAmVYfjblwf5wKP5c8LZlaf7PnkLv4xEfOdfxkI/s400/you-are-the-universe.jpg" width="400"></a></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">"IT" is at the core of every belief since the beginning of man. It is called by countless names but it can not be named. It is outside of the tiny illusion of reality created by the illusory "self" we think we are. It is the Infinite Creative Energy behind All things material and not-material. Christians call it the "<a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Spirit" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Holy Spirit">Holy Spirit</a>" or God. Neither name nor any others given by different religions or beliefs Is What IT Is. It is "that which can not be named" so I prefer to use the Zen name, "IT". I have experienced "IT" several times in my life. One very powerful and life-changing experience of "IT" is briefly explained in an earlier post below. I included Part II because the two Lessons occurred together, can not be separated, and this life-changing Lesson is the Ultimate Lesson, the Ultimate Goal, the Ultimate Wisdom that one can attain in All martial arts systems - the final Lesson before One can become a True Warrior.</span><br>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">The incredible explanation of "IT" by the great 20th Century scholar of Theology, Divinity, and <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_philosophy" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Eastern philosophy">Eastern Philosophy</a>, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Watts" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Alan Watts">Alan Watts</a>, came to me as an Agreement, an Acknowledgement of Right Doing, from a sharing of Wisdom about "IT" with a bright young man in town while I was having pizza at my favorite place, Valentino's Pizza, in San Marcos, Texas. I got home later, was uploading some files to the Cloud, and the book by Alan Watts below popped up. I started reading the Introduction and the Table of Contents appeared. My eyes immediately fixated on the title of Chapter 6, "IT". That is called an "Agreement", a sign from my, Our, True Nature or Self, ie; "IT", that my Teaching or sharing was and Is correct. If you pay Attention, you will eventually realize that every question you have is being answered in the most unlikely ways no matter where you are or when or whether in company or "alone". I tell people all of the time that they are Not in Control of Anything and that Everything Is exactly the Way IT is supposed to Be - Perfect! It is when you Think something is wrong and your Ego tries to "fix "IT", someone or some thing gets hurt or worse - like War. With this in mind, I offer this scholarly work below in hopes that you will come to an understanding of what "IT" is All about and learn to Let Go. Enjoy!</span><br>
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<h4 style="font-family: sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: rgb(61, 133, 198);">Letting Go Part I: IT</span></b></h4>
<a href="http://gatheringwisdom.blogspot.com/2011/06/letting-go-part-i-it.html"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">http://gatheringwisdom.blogspot.com/2011/06/letting-go-part-i-it.html</span></a><br>
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<b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Letting Go Part II: Enter the Dragon</span></b></h4>
<a href="http://gatheringwisdom.blogspot.com/2011/07/letting-go-part-ii-enter-dragon.html"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">http://gatheringwisdom.blogspot.com/2011/07/letting-go-part-ii-enter-dragon.html</span></a><br>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Namaste'</span><br><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br><br><br><br></span><span style="font-family: sans-serif; color: rgb(61, 133, 198);"><br></span><span style="font-family: sans-serif;"></span><b style="font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="color: rgb(61, 133, 198);"><span style="font-size: large;">IT</span> </span></b><div><b style="font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="color: rgb(61, 133, 198);"> ~ by Alan Watts </span></b><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br></span><b><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br></span></b>
<b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">From Chapter 6 of his book: "On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are"</span></b><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br></span>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br></span></div><div><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br></span></div><div><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br></span></div><div><span style="color: #3d85c6;">To go anywhere in philosophy, other than back and forth, round and<br><br>round, one must have a keen sense of correlative vision. This is a<br><br>technical term for a thorough understanding of the Game of Black-and-<br><br>White, whereby one sees that all explicit opposites are implicit allies—<br><br>correlative in the sense that they "gowith" each other and cannot exist<br><br>apart. This, rather than any miasmic absorption of differences into a<br><br>continuum of ultimate goo, is the metaphysical unity underlying the<br><br>world. For this unity is not mere one-ness as opposed to multiplicity,<br><br>since these two terms are themselves polar. The unity, or inseparability,<br><br>of one and many is therefore referred to in <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vedanta" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Vedanta">Vedanta philosophy</a> as "nonduality"<br><br>(advaita) to distinguish it from simple uniformity. True, the<br><br>term has its own opposite, "duality," for insofar as every term<br><br>designates a class, an intellectual pigeonhole, every class has an outside<br><br>polarizing its inside. For this reason, language can no more transcend<br><br>duality than paintings or photographs upon a flat surface can go beyond<br><br>two dimensions. Yet by the convention of perspective, certain twodimensional<br><br>lines that slant towards a "vanishing-point" are taken to<br><br>represent the third dimension of depth. In a similar way, the dualistic<br><br>term "<a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nondualism" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Nondualism">non-duality</a>" is taken to represent the "dimension" in which<br><br>explicit differences have implicit unity.</span><br>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">It is not at first easy to maintain correlative vision. The <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upanishads" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Upanishads">Upanishads</a><br><br>describe it as the path of the razor's edge, a balancing act on the sharpest<br><br>and thinnest of lines. For to ordinary vision there is nothing visible<br><br>"between" classes and opposites. Life is a series of urgent choices<br><br>demanding firm commitment to this or to that. Matter is as much like<br><br>something as something can be, and space is as much like nothing as<br><br>nothing can be. Any common dimension between them seems<br><br>inconceivable, unless it is our own consciousness or mind, and this<br><br>doubtless belongs on the side of matter—everlastingly threatened by<br><br>nothingness. Yet with a slight shift of viewpoint, nothing is more<br><br>obvious than the interdependence of opposites. But who can believe it?<br><br>Is it possible that myself, my existence, so contains being and<br><br>nothing that death is merely the "off" interval in an on/off pulsation<br><br>which must be eternal—because every alternative to this pulsation (e.g.,<br><br>its absence) would in due course imply its presence? Is it conceivable,<br><br>then, that I am basically an eternal existence momentarily and perhaps<br><br>needlessly terrified by one half of itself because it has identified all of<br><br>itself with the other half? If the choice must be either white or black,<br><br>must I so commit myself to the white side that I cannot be a good sport<br><br>and actually play the Game of Black-and-White, with the implicit<br><br>knowledge that neither can win? Or is all this so much bandying with<br><br>the formal relations between words and terms without any relation to<br><br>my physical situation?</span><br>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">To answer the last question affirmatively, I should have to believe<br><br>that the logic of thought is quite arbitrary—that it is a purely and strictly<br><br>human invention without any basis in the physical universe. While it is<br><br>true, as I have already shown, that we do project logical patterns (nets,<br><br>grids, and other types of calculus) upon the wiggly physical world—<br><br>which can be confusing if we do not realize what we are doing—<br><br>nevertheless, these patterns do not come from outside the world. They<br><br>have something to do with the design of the human nervous system,<br><br>which is definitely in and of the world. Furthermore, I have shown that<br><br>correlative thinking about the relation of organism to environment is far<br><br>more compatible with the physical sciences than our archaic and<br><br>prevalent notions of the self as something confronting an alien and<br><br>separate world. To sever the connections between human logic and the<br><br>physical universe, I would have to revert to the myth of the ego as an<br><br>isolated, independent observer for whom the rest of the world is<br><br>absolutely external and "other." Neither neurology nor biology nor<br><br>sociology can subscribe to this.</span><br>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">If, on the other hand, self and other, subject and object, organism and<br><br>environment are the poles of a single process, THAT is my true<br><br>existence. As the Upanishads say, "That is the Self. That is the real.<br><br>That art thou!" But I cannot think or say anything about THAT, or, as I<br><br>shall now call it, IT, unless I resort to the convention of using dualistic<br><br>language as the lines of perspective are used to show depth on a flat<br><br>surface. What lies beyond opposites must be discussed, if at all, in terms<br><br>of opposites, and this means using the language of analogy, metaphor,<br><br>and myth.</span><br>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">The difficulty is not only that language is dualistic, insofar as words<br><br>are labels for mutually exclusive classes. The problem is that IT is so<br><br>much more myself than I thought I was, so central and so basic to my<br><br>existence, that I cannot make it an object. There is no way to stand<br><br>outside IT, and, in fact, no need to do so. For so long as I am trying to<br><br>grasp IT, I am implying that IT is not really myself. If it were possible, I<br><br>am losing the sense of it by attempting to find it. This is why those who<br><br>really know that they are IT invariably say they do not understand it, for<br><br>IT understands understanding—not the other way about. One cannot,<br><br>and need not, go deeper than deep!</span><br>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">But the fact that IT eludes every description must not, as happens so<br><br>often, be mistaken for the description of IT as the airiest of abstractions,<br><br>as a literal transparent continuum or undifferentiated cosmic jello. The<br><br>most concrete image of God the Father, with his white beard and golden<br><br>robe, is better than that. Yet Western students of Eastern philosophies<br><br>and religions persistently accuse Hindus and Buddhists of believing in a<br><br>featureless and gelatinous God, just because the latter insist that every<br><br>conception or objective image of IT is void. But the term "void" applies<br><br>to all such conceptions, not to IT.</span><br>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Yet in speaking and thinking of IT, there is no alternative to the use<br><br>of conceptions and images, and no harm in it so long as we realize what<br><br>we are doing. Idolatry is not the use of images, but confusing them with<br><br>what they represent, and in this respect mental images and lofty<br><br>abstractions can be more insidious than bronze idols.</span><br>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">You were probably brought up in a culture where the presiding<br><br>image of IT has for centuries been God the Father, whose pronoun is<br><br>He, because IT seems too impersonal and She would, of course, be<br><br>inferior. Is this image still workable, as a functional myth to provide<br><br>some consensus about life and its meaning for all the diverse peoples<br><br>and cultures of this planet? Frankly, the image of God the Father has<br><br>become ridiculous—that is, unless you read Saint Thomas Aquinas or<br><br>Martin Buber or Paul Tillich, and realize that you can be a devout Jew<br><br>or Christian without having to believe, literally, in the Cosmic Male<br><br>Parent. Even then, it is difficult not to feel the force of the image,<br><br>because images sway our emotions more deeply than conceptions. As a<br><br>devout Christian you would be saying day after day the prayer, "Our<br><br>Father who art in heaven," and eventually it gets you: you are relating<br><br>emotionally to IT as to an idealized father—male, loving but stern, and<br><br>a personal being quite other than yourself. Obviously, you must be other<br><br>than God so long as you conceive yourself as the separate ego, but when<br><br>we realize that this form of identity is no more than a social institution,<br><br>and one which has ceased to be a workable life-game, the sharp division<br><br>between oneself and the ultimate reality is no longer relevant.<br><br>Furthermore, the younger members of our society have for some time<br><br>been in growing rebellion against paternal authority and the paternal<br><br>state. For one reason, the home in an industrial society is chiefly a<br><br>dormitory, and the father does not work there, with the result that wife<br><br>and children have no part in his vocation. He is just a character who<br><br>brings in money, and after working hours he is supposed to forget about<br><br>his job and have fun. Novels, magazines, television, and popular<br><br>cartoons therefore portray "Dad" as an incompetent clown. And the<br><br>image has some truth in it because Dad has fallen for the hoax that work<br><br>is simply something you do to make money, and with money you can<br><br>get anything you want.</span><br>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">It is no wonder that an increasing proportion of college students want<br><br>no part in Dad's world, and will do anything to avoid the rat-race of the<br><br>salesman, commuter, clerk, and corporate executive. Professional men,<br><br>too—architects, doctors, lawyers, ministers, and professors—have<br><br>offices away from home, and thus, because the demands of their<br><br>families boil down more and more to money, are ever more tempted to<br><br>regard even professional vocations as ways of making money. All this is<br><br>further aggravated by the fact that parents no longer educate their own<br><br>children. Thus the child does not grow up with understanding of or<br><br>enthusiasm for his father's work. Instead, he is sent to an understaffed<br><br>school run mostly by women which, under the circumstances, can do no<br><br>more than hand out mass-produced education which prepares the child<br><br>for everything and nothing. It has no relation whatever to his father's<br><br>vocation.</span><br>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Along with this devaluation of the father, we are becoming<br><br>accustomed to a conception of the universe so mysterious and so<br><br>impressive that even the best father-image will no longer do for an<br><br>explanation of what makes it run. But the problem then is that it is<br><br>impossible for us to conceive an image higher than the human image.<br><br>Few of us have ever met an angel, and probably would not recognize it<br><br>if we saw one, and our images of an impersonal or suprapersonal God<br><br>are hopelessly subhuman—jello, featureless light, homogenized space,<br><br>or a whopping jolt of electricity. However, our image of man is<br><br>changing as it becomes clearer and clearer that the human being is not<br><br>simply and only his physical organism. My body is also my total<br><br>environment, and this must be measured by light-years in the billions.<br><br>Hitherto the poets and philosophers of science have used the vast<br><br>expanse and duration of the universe as a pretext for reflections on the<br><br>unimportance of man, forgetting that man with "that enchanted loom,<br><br>the brain" is precisely what transforms this immense electrical pulsation<br><br>into light and color, shape and sound, large and small, hard and heavy,<br><br>long and short. In knowing the world we humanize it, and if, as we<br><br>discover it, we are astonished at its dimensions and its complexity, we<br><br>should be just as astonished that we have the brains to perceive it.<br><br>Hitherto we have been taught, however, that we are not really<br><br>responsible for our brains. We do not know (in terms of words or<br><br>figures) how they are constructed, and thus it seems that the brain and<br><br>the organism as a whole are an ingenious vehicle which has been<br><br>"given" to us, or an uncanny maze in which we are temporarily trapped.<br><br>In other words, we accepted a definition of ourselves which confined<br><br>the self to the source and to the limitations of conscious attention. This<br><br>definition is miserably insufficient, for in fact we know how to grow<br><br>brains and eyes, ears and fingers, hearts and bones, in just the same way<br><br>that we know how to walk and breathe, talk and think—only we can't<br><br>put it into words. Words are too slow and too clumsy for describing<br><br>such things, and conscious attention is too narrow for keeping track of<br><br>all their details.</span><br>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Thus it will often happen that when you tell a girl how beautiful she<br><br>is, she will say, "Now isn't that just like a man! All you men think about<br><br>is bodies. OK, so I'm beautiful, but I got my body from my parents and<br><br>it was just luck. I prefer to be admired for myself, not my chassis." Poor<br><br>little chauffeur! All she is saying is that she has lost touch with her own<br><br>astonishing wisdom and ingenuity, and wants to be admired for some<br><br>trivial tricks that she can perform with her conscious attention. And we<br><br>are all in the same situation, having dissociated ourselves from our<br><br>bodies and from the whole network of forces in which bodies can come<br><br>to birth and live.</span><br>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br><br>Yet we can still awaken the sense that all this, too, is the self—a self,<br><br>however, which is far beyond the image of the ego, or of the human<br><br>body as limited by the skin. We then behold the Self wherever we look,<br><br>and its image is the universe in its light and in its darkness, in its bodies<br><br>and in its spaces. This is the new image of man, but it is still an image.<br><br>For there remains—to use dualistic words—"behind," "under,"<br><br>"encompassing," and "central" to it all the unthinkable IT, polarizing<br><br>itself in the visible contrasts of waves and troughs, solids and spaces.<br><br>But the odd thing is that this IT, however inconceivable, is no vapid<br><br>abstraction: it is very simply and truly yourself.</span><br>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">In the words of a Chinese Zen master, "Nothing is left to you at this<br><br>moment but to have a good laugh!" As James Broughton put it:<br><br><br>This is It<br><br>and I am It<br><br>and You are It<br><br>and so is That<br><br>and He is It<br><br>and She is It<br><br>and It is It<br><br>and That is That.(4)</span><br>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">True humor is, indeed, laughter at one's Self—at the Divine Comedy,<br><br>the fabulous deception, whereby one comes. to imagine that a creature<br><br>in existence is not also of existence, that what man is is not also what<br><br>everything is. All the time we "know it in our bones" but conscious<br><br>attention, distracted by details and differences, cannot see the whole for<br><br>the parts.</span><br>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">The major trick in this deception is, of course, death. Consider death<br><br>as the permanent end of consciousness, the point at which you and your<br><br>knowledge of the universe simply cease, and where you become as if<br><br>you had never existed at all. Consider it also on a much vaster scale—<br><br>the death of the universe at the time when all energy runs out, when,<br><br>according to some cosmologists, the explosion which flung the galaxies<br><br>into space fades out like a skyrocket. It will be as if it had never<br><br>happened, which is, of course, the way things were before it did happen.<br><br>Likewise, when you are dead, you will be as you were before you were<br><br>conceived. So—there has been a flash, a flash of consciousness or a<br><br>flash of galaxies. It happened. Even if there is no one left to remember.<br><br>But if, when it has happened and vanished, things are at all as they<br><br>were before it began (including the possibility that there were no<br><br>things), it can happen again. Why not? On the other hand, I might<br><br>suppose that after it has happened things aren't the same as they were<br><br>before. Energy was present before the explosion, but after the explosion<br><br>died out, no energy was left. For ever and ever energy was latent. Then<br><br>it blew up, and that was that. It is, perhaps, possible to imagine that<br><br>what had always existed got tired of itself, blew up, and stopped. But<br><br>this is a greater strain on my imagination than the idea that these flashes<br><br>are periodic and rhythmic. They may go on and on, or round and round:<br><br>it doesn't make much difference. Furthermore, if latent energy had<br><br>always existed before the explosion, I find it difficult to think of a<br><br>single, particular time coming when it had to stop. Can anything be half<br><br>eternal? That is, can a process which had no beginning come to an end?<br><br>I presume, then, that with my own death I shall forget who I was, just<br><br>as my conscious attention is unable to recall, if it ever knew, how to<br><br>form the cells of the brain and the pattern of the veins. Conscious<br><br>memory plays little part in our biological existence. Thus as my<br><br>sensation of "I-ness," of being alive, once came into being without<br><br>conscious memory or intent, so it will arise again and again, as the<br><br>"central" Self—the IT—appears as the self/other situation in its myriads<br><br>of pulsating forms—always the same and always new, a here in the<br><br>midst of a there, a now in the midst of then, and a one in the midst of<br><br>many. And if I forget how many times I have been here, and in how<br><br>many shapes, this forgetting is the necessary interval of darkness<br><br>between every pulsation of light. I return in every baby born.<br><br>Actually, we know this already. After people die, babies are born—<br><br>and, unless they are automata, every one of them is, just as we ourselves<br><br>were, the "I" experience coming again into being. The conditions of<br><br>heredity and environment change, but each of those babies incarnates<br><br>the same experience of being central to a world that is "other." Each<br><br>infant dawns into life as I did, without any memory of a past. Thus<br><br>when I am gone there can be no experience, no living through, of the<br><br>state of being a perpetual "has-been." Nature "abhors the vacuum" and<br><br>the I-feeling appears again as it did before, and it matters not whether<br><br>the interval be ten seconds or billions of years. In unconsciousness all<br><br>times are the same brief instant.</span><br>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">This is so obvious, but our block against seeing it is the ingrained</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br>and compelling myth that the "I" comes into this world, or is thrown out<br><br>from it, in such a way as to have no essential connection with it. Thus<br><br>we do not trust the universe to repeat what it has already done—to "I"<br><br>itself again and again. We see it as an eternal arena in which the<br><br>individual is no more than a temporary stranger—a visitor who hardly<br><br>belongs—for the thin ray of consciousness does not shine upon its own<br><br>source. In looking out upon the world, we forget that the world is<br><br>looking at itself—through our eyes and IT's.</span><br>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br><br>Now you know—even if it takes you some time to do a double-take<br><br>and get the full impact. It may not be easy to recover from the many<br><br>generations through which the fathers have knocked down the children,<br><br>like dominoes, saying "Don't you dare think that thought! You're just a<br><br>little upstart, just a creature, and you had better learn your place." On<br><br>the contrary, you're IT. But perhaps the fathers were unwittingly trying<br><br>to tell the children that IT plays IT cool. You don't come on (that is, on<br><br>stage) like IT because you really are IT, and the point of the stage is to<br><br>show on, not to show off. To come on like IT—to play at being God—is<br><br>to play the Self as a role, which is just what it isn't. When IT plays, it<br><br>plays at being everything else.</span><br>
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</div>Tom Langleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04254601519058396299noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770777139236435869.post-91028403526541663872013-06-16T21:53:00.001-05:002013-06-16T21:53:53.445-05:00The Bliss from Fulfilling My Destiny<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">I wrote this post last Tuesday night upon my return home from an evening in town but inadvertently deleted it on my smartphone. Such is Life and it was meant to happen for reasons unknown to me. Perhaps, I left something important out of it so, hopefully, this post will be just right :) I had been socializing with the remarkable youth in San Marcos, Texas and experienced a real Blessing indeed. Most of the youth are students at Texas State University, my Alma Mater, and a true joy to be around. As you should know by now, I am a Teacher/Guide of/to Wisdom and seem to attract the company of so many of these beautiful and intelligent people. There are no strangers in my life, just people I have yet to meet, so I greet everyone as if I have known them forever. Maybe I have. Anyway, about a week or two before, some friends I had been sitting with at a local establishment left and a couple of beautiful women joined me. They were having a problem between them and I became involved in their conversation. They listened intently to me discuss the importance of Being Present and Living Now because you can not change the Past. We had a wonderful conversation and parted ways. Last Tuesday night I was at the same place visiting with and enjoying the company of some other new friends when one of the women from the previous encounter noticed me, waved, and ran over to me. She was thrilled to see me, hugged me, and told me that what I had said the last time had changed her and her friend's life. She said that they had taken it to heart, applied it to their situation, and that everything was fantastic now. She glowed with Joy as she hugged me again and said good night. Needless to say, I was stunned with incredible Bliss - overwhelmed, in fact. Helping others is my Calling, my Destiny, but you rarely get to see or hear about the effects of your words or actions. It is a feeling beyond words - Pure Magic! Magic that is meant to happen and is the greatest Agreement or Acknowledgement that you are on the Right Path and doing or Not-Doing the Right thing. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj48hzeERx5qIcrFo5CwxD2W8Y-gDeexbsk4pWAuLs7BpkfgjXZG0BiERoybrlfV_F8wspBEP-00SL6-qgIidnBae-Mlc8K_T2P5BUXvG1HlcHOfjjaQ-OxXDow2mq0JzzD82Adzab6Aj6I/s1600/Fulfilling+Your+Purpose.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj48hzeERx5qIcrFo5CwxD2W8Y-gDeexbsk4pWAuLs7BpkfgjXZG0BiERoybrlfV_F8wspBEP-00SL6-qgIidnBae-Mlc8K_T2P5BUXvG1HlcHOfjjaQ-OxXDow2mq0JzzD82Adzab6Aj6I/s320/Fulfilling+Your+Purpose.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Realization of the Power that your words have on the lives of others is crucial to Living a Life like mine. I paid the ultimate price twice back in 1975 when I bled to death two times while being rushed into emergency surgery where the finest surgeons within hundreds of miles work feverishly to keep me from leaving again while they spent six hours getting me stable enough for death watch in ICU. As an extremely rare quadriplegic with Brown - Sequard Syndrome and amputee of my right leg, I have climbed countless mountains infinitely higher and more rugged than Everest and continue to accept the non-stop challenges of moment-to-moment living on my own and maintaining two out of several acres in the rugged Texas Hill Country. This is how I have gained and continue to gain so much Wisdom. A price well worth paying to Live the Life of a True Warrior and Be able to Guide and Help others I encounter along my Path with Heart. I Live in Paradise and "See" the Magic of Reality As IT Is! What a Blessing!!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Namaste'</span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">ps: Writing this has been very difficult with my office still down but I will try to blog whenever possible. It may be a while before I can replace all of my office equipment so please be patient. Thank you!</span><br />
<br />Tom Langleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04254601519058396299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770777139236435869.post-66978045333292875432013-04-08T22:15:00.000-05:002013-04-08T22:15:35.609-05:00The Reset Boogie<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwpWFsiAsowS45ZMkPcT8S4eXjHF01DTksQ6-KEvHNWuiSoFc3TEUP1FqnWFhUZnyMiusniSFzyfEtBXh1wdwOBCruT88iGEwbb1LFfTg-m0ixmY51oZDCE4OJAv4NIOr4Y26Ir6jGGoXJ/s1600/Bliss%252520-%252520ocean11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwpWFsiAsowS45ZMkPcT8S4eXjHF01DTksQ6-KEvHNWuiSoFc3TEUP1FqnWFhUZnyMiusniSFzyfEtBXh1wdwOBCruT88iGEwbb1LFfTg-m0ixmY51oZDCE4OJAv4NIOr4Y26Ir6jGGoXJ/s640/Bliss%252520-%252520ocean11.jpg" /> </a></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Some beautiful prose to show the amazing life-changing
and Blissful benefits that meditation adds to your daily life.
Combining dance, a moving meditation itself with </span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">daily seated Mindfulness Practice is a very powerful combination indeed! Enjoy!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Namaste'</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><a href="http://soundofheart.org/galacticfreepress/blogs/lauriergg" target="_blank">The Reset Boogie</a></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">By <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: url(http://soundofheart.org/galacticfreepress/sites/all/themes/marinelli/img/user.gif); background-origin: initial; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 21px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">lauriergg</span> - Posted on <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: url(http://soundofheart.org/galacticfreepress/sites/all/themes/marinelli/img/clock.gif); background-origin: initial; background-position: 2px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 21px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">28 March 2013</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">And so it begins . . . . the future.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Clasping hands, moving to an inner voice,</span></div>
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</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">dance is the only friend I know.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Solar flares communicate an expansive waltz.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">When I push, nothing pushes back. It is strange t<em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">o be </em>feeling bored.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><strong style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Reset</strong>: Detached from back bending limbo and</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">leaps that press against gravity,</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">my inner male-female gracefully merge into a slow dance.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Pause. My mind taps nervous fingers.</span></div>
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</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><strong style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Reset:</strong> Country western music plays.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Hands on hips, right foot, left foot stepping-out,</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">co-creating relationships, freedom and adventures.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Why do I feel so uneasy?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><strong style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Reset</strong>: Music fades. Spotlight stills and dancers stand frozen.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Lack of self-compassion and not feeling safe causes fatigue.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">My body cries even in sleep. Completely frustrated, I sit it out.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><strong style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Reset</strong>: Photonic belts explode me forward.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Tapping a frenzy tempo of clicking toes and</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">clogging heels produces rapid beats.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Shamanic drumming calls me.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;"> I long for home.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><strong style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Reset</strong>: A fun dance of jazz originality perks my interest.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Bold, dramatic improves sweep my feet away.</span></div>
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</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Lack of connection makes isolated movements.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">At times I am so lonely, where are you?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><strong style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Reset</strong>: Soft hula of mellow movements.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Hips swaying right, left while arms lift filters.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Triggers move towards consciousness.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">I question the status quo but why am I so unsure?</span></div>
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</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
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</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><strong style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Reset</strong>: Zumba trips me up.</span></div>
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</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Is there judgment? Issues seem to be clustered together.</span></div>
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</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Shaking causes contracting and releasing, people change their tune.</span></div>
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</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">It makes for an interesting pace.</span></div>
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</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
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</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><strong style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Reset</strong>: Ballet, arms in fifth, high position becomes too rigid,</span></div>
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</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">some obligations hold no joy.</span></div>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">
</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Time to reframe the issue or just say no. It is time for gratitude. </span></div>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">
</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">I feel a stirring of passion.</span></div>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">
</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
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</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><strong style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Reset:</strong> Even boredom has purpose in Modern Dance.</span></div>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">
</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Body weight enhances a deliberate fall on the floor.</span></div>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">
</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Uncomfortable slogging keeps me moving to find something better.</span></div>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">
</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">I focus on what is right, hold the frequency and dance in relaxed, broad strokes.</span></div>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">
</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
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</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><strong style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Reset: </strong>Hip Hop’s creative energy requires skill and experience.</span></div>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">
</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Perfect basic steps set intention of know thy self.</span></div>
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</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Movements that appear simple when performed take</span></div>
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</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">continual practice. Habits offer opportunity to</span></div>
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</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">hold and pulse out heart frequency.</span></div>
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</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
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</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><strong style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Reset: </strong>Flamenco, I stand motionless to gather momentum.</span></div>
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</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Timing comes right when you need it.</span></div>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">
</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Hand clapping, percussive footwork and intricate hand,</span></div>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">
</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">arm and body move in divine order.</span></div>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">
</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">My human journey expresses passion, rage, ecstasy and boredom.</span></div>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">
</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
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</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><strong style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Reset:</strong></span></div>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">
</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">On stage, The Soul Family Band plays on.</span></div>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">
</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">My dance communicates my innermost to the audience.</span></div>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">
</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">After fierce stomping, a new lighter style breaks out.</span></div>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">
</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">I surrender to slow breath and steady heart beats.</span></div>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">
</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">I am feeling hopeful.</span></div>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">
</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">
</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><strong style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Reset: </strong>Pointed toes express the I Am twirl.</span></div>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">
</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Embracing my life force, I dance like if it is not expressed in the now moment, the mystery will be lost.</span></div>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">
</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Sharp, jagged shadows become light and airy with a discovery.</span></div>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">
</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">I am home.</span></div>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">
</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">
</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><strong style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Reset:</strong> Curtains fall, I sit on a bench and take off my ballet slippers.</span></div>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">
</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Long pink, satin laces integrate human emotions through movement.</span></div>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">
</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">I hang them on a hook and place my red reset button on the bottom shelf.</span></div>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">
</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">I close the locker and grab my water bottle.</span></div>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">
</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Boredom gives way to patience.</span></div>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">
</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">
</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><strong style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Reset:</strong> Stepping into a new vista, my unique song plays inside my head.</span></div>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">
</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">My head tilts, arms saunter, steps lighten, my being shifts</span></div>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">
</span><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">and suddenly, I’m doing the Reset Boggie.</span></div>
<div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.65em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
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Tom Langleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04254601519058396299noreply@blogger.com0オースティン=ラウンド・ロック, null30.122963 -97.61142tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770777139236435869.post-72097305617310187962013-03-25T18:03:00.000-05:002013-03-25T18:03:34.316-05:00In Search of the Still Pond<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">In Search of the Still Pond</span></b></div>
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<br /><br />Wind keeps on <br /><br />reminding the waves<br /><br />something cryptic,<br /><br />even the leaves<br /><br />perking up their ears,<br /><br />fail to grasp it!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Though wind<br /><br />repeated it,<br /><br />again and again,<br /><br />leaves vacuously<br /><br />rustled, remained silent.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />The waves in a<br /><br />spectacular pattern,<br /><br />respond to wind,<br /><br />desperately trying<br /><br />to grab the truth.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Sitting on the shore,<br /><br />between blue sea<br /><br />and mountain peaks,<br /><br />observing the grand play enchanting,<br /><br />he feels excluded,<br /><br />from this conversation,<br /><br />that remains obscure;<br /><br />unconsummated <br /><br />between the wind and the waves.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />"The meaning is right here,<br /><br />but one hardly<br /><br />gets it, unless <br /><br />desire to attain it is overpowering"<br /><br />in tears, she said<br /><br />exasperated, not able to go beyond the shore.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />"we are like waves and leaves,<br /><br />give it a miss, get confused,<br /><br />vision of ultimate truth is the crux,<br /><br />unless the eyes are opened,<br /><br />filled with light, one fails, has to repeat"<br /><br />he replied, like one tasted failure many times.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />"you've blindfolded<br /><br />your eyes, willingly<br /><br />and complain;<br /><br />be patient<br /><br />work on your <br /><br />inner world, <br /><br />let the light drive away the night"<br /><br />the master smiled as he said.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />"Roaring wind and waves<br /><br />fire, earth and space,<br /><br />the secrets they hold<br /><br />are within the inner world"<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />At the end of narrow path<br /><br />is the placid pond<br /><br />where water is still:<br /><br />truth absolute is reflected.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />"Life after life,<br /> one walks round and round<br /> seeking that blue stillness,<br /> where one would<br /> see one's true self reflected,<br /> when the moment arrives."<div>
<br /><br />~ <a href="http://hellopoetry.com/-k-balachandran/">K Balachandran</a></div>
Tom Langleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04254601519058396299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770777139236435869.post-47749213267071326412012-11-06T00:23:00.001-06:002012-11-06T00:23:17.416-06:00Introduction to Meditation <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmE7b91KqbT1tBah7DTxitTmk5iZprWSy4uBwJ8nk3WiEUlrsBv0lkl_4VKjY-8Fw1ued12qdOjODqc5vq8tNrjvQWxdjnT6LO8DD70lmbWwqckhCVTFpj-Rk1NL_lSrDod6IoaJXWFUZh/s1600/Vipassana+Meditation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmE7b91KqbT1tBah7DTxitTmk5iZprWSy4uBwJ8nk3WiEUlrsBv0lkl_4VKjY-8Fw1ued12qdOjODqc5vq8tNrjvQWxdjnT6LO8DD70lmbWwqckhCVTFpj-Rk1NL_lSrDod6IoaJXWFUZh/s400/Vipassana+Meditation.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Below is a free six week online course in Beginning <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindfulness" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Mindfulness">Mindfulness Meditation</a> by the best teacher I have ever heard, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gil_Fronsdal" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Gil Fronsdal">Gil Fronsdal</a>. He is a Zen Roshi and a <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vipassan%C4%81" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Vipassanā">Vipassana</a> (Mindfulness or Insight) Meditation Master. Each week's class has some brief written material in .pdf form included to aide you in learning this Practice. It is taught to a live group of mostly uninformed and beginning meditaters. Everyone needs to start a Path and the sooner the better. This Practice is easy to learn, very effective, but like everything truly worthwhile, it requires dedication. Gil Fronsdal is an absolute pleasure to listen to, is easy to understand, and has a wonderful sense of humor. He leads every class in a guided meditation so you will understand exactly how to do it and takes questions from the students at various times. Each weekly class is about an hour and fifteen to twenty minutes long. This is your ticket to true Happiness, Peace of Mind, Calmness, and a genuine Path to Self-Mastery and Wisdom. Enjoy!!</span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Namaste'</span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span>
<div class="series_header">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><a href="http://www.audiodharma.org/series/1/talk/1762/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Introduction to Meditation</b></span></a></span>
</div>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Several times a year Gil Fronsdal offers a 5 or 6 week
instructional series for beginning meditators. These classes provide a
good overview of insight meditation practice as well as many guided
meditation sessions which help the student learn how to establish and
sustain a daily meditation practice.</span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">For further instruction, see the <a href="http://www.audiodharma.org/series/1/talk/1761/">Intermediate Mindfulness</a> series.</span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>Related Docments</b></span><br />
<ul class="documents-list">
<li><span style="color: #3d85c6;">
Postures for Meditation
<a href="http://media.audiodharma.org/documents/Postures_for_Meditation.pdf" target="_blank" title="Download Postures for Meditation">
(PDF)
</a></span>
</li>
</ul>
<hr style="margin-top: 20px;" />
<table class="talklist"><tbody>
<tr><td class="talk_title" colspan="5"><div class="series_title">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Introduction to Meditation Online Course Talks <a href="http://www.audiodharma.org/feeds/collection/2002/"><img alt="RSS" border="0" src="http://media.audiodharma.org/images/feed-icon-14x14.png" title="RSS feed for ' Introduction to Meditation Online Course Talks'" /></a> <a href="itpc://www.audiodharma.org/feeds/collection/2002/" title="Subscribe to ' Introduction to Meditation Online Course Talks' in iTunes"><img alt="iTunes" border="0" src="http://media.audiodharma.org/images/podcast_icon_small.png" style="margin-left: 5px;" /></a></span></div>
<div class="series_additional_text">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">This course is also available in <a href="http://www.audiodharma.org/series/210/talk/2799/">Spanish</a> and <a href="http://www.audiodharma.org/series/1/talk/1960/">Chinese</a>.</span></div>
<hr style="margin: 10 auto 0 0; width: 50%;" />
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="talk_title"><div style="padding-left: 20px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Introduction to Meditation - Breath (Part 1)
</span><br />
<div class="additional_text">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">• <a href="http://www.insightmeditationcenter.org/books-articles/articles/introduction-to-meditation-transcripts/1/">Talk Transcript</a> | <a href="http://www.insightmeditationcenter.org/books-articles/articles/mindfulness-meditation-homework/1/">Homework</a></span></div>
</div>
</td>
<td class="talk_teacher"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><a class="talkteacher" href="http://www.audiodharma.org/teacher/1" title="Gil Fronsdal">Gil Fronsdal</a></span></td>
<td class="talk_date"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">2007-10-03</span></td>
<td class="talk_length"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">1:11:56</span></td>
<td class="talk_links"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><a class="audio_button" href="http://www.audiodharma.org/teacher/1/talk/1176/20071003-Gil_Fronsdal-IMC-introduction_to_meditation_breath_part_1.mp3" title="Download 'Introduction to Meditation - Breath (Part 1)'">Download</a><a class="audio_button" href="http://www.audiodharma.org/talks/audio_player/1176.html" title="Stream Audio of 'Introduction to Meditation - Breath (Part 1)'">Stream</a></span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="talk_title"><div style="padding-left: 20px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Introduction to Meditation - Body (Part 2)
</span><br />
<div class="additional_text">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">• <a href="http://www.insightmeditationcenter.org/books-articles/articles/introduction-to-meditation-transcripts/2/">Talk Transcript</a> | <a href="http://www.insightmeditationcenter.org/books-articles/articles/mindfulness-meditation-homework/2/">Homework</a></span></div>
</div>
</td>
<td class="talk_teacher"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><a class="talkteacher" href="http://www.audiodharma.org/teacher/1" title="Gil Fronsdal">Gil Fronsdal</a></span></td>
<td class="talk_date"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">2007-10-10</span></td>
<td class="talk_length"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">1:21:27</span></td>
<td class="talk_links"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><a class="audio_button" href="http://www.audiodharma.org/teacher/1/talk/1180/20071010-Gil_Fronsdal-IMC-introduction_to_meditation_body_part_2.mp3" title="Download 'Introduction to Meditation - Body (Part 2)'">Download</a><a class="audio_button" href="http://www.audiodharma.org/talks/audio_player/1180.html" title="Stream Audio of 'Introduction to Meditation - Body (Part 2)'">Stream</a></span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="talk_title"><div style="padding-left: 20px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Introduction to Meditation - Emotions (Part 3)
</span><br />
<div class="additional_text">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">• <a href="http://www.insightmeditationcenter.org/books-articles/articles/introduction-to-meditation-transcripts/3/">Talk Transcript</a> | <a href="http://www.insightmeditationcenter.org/books-articles/articles/mindfulness-meditation-homework/3/">Homework</a></span></div>
</div>
</td>
<td class="talk_teacher"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><a class="talkteacher" href="http://www.audiodharma.org/teacher/1" title="Gil Fronsdal">Gil Fronsdal</a></span></td>
<td class="talk_date"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">2007-10-17</span></td>
<td class="talk_length"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">1:23:28</span></td>
<td class="talk_links"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><a class="audio_button" href="http://www.audiodharma.org/teacher/1/talk/1194/20071017-Gil_Fronsdal-IMC-introduction_to_meditation_emotions_part_3.mp3" title="Download 'Introduction to Meditation - Emotions (Part 3)'">Download</a><a class="audio_button" href="http://www.audiodharma.org/talks/audio_player/1194.html" title="Stream Audio of 'Introduction to Meditation - Emotions (Part 3)'">Stream</a></span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="talk_title"><div style="padding-left: 20px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Introduction to Meditation - Thinking (Part 4)
</span><br />
<div class="additional_text">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">• <a href="http://www.insightmeditationcenter.org/books-articles/articles/introduction-to-meditation-transcripts/4/">Talk Transcript</a> | <a href="http://www.insightmeditationcenter.org/books-articles/articles/mindfulness-meditation-homework/4/">Homework</a></span></div>
</div>
</td>
<td class="talk_teacher"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><a class="talkteacher" href="http://www.audiodharma.org/teacher/1" title="Gil Fronsdal">Gil Fronsdal</a></span></td>
<td class="talk_date"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">2008-01-30</span></td>
<td class="talk_length"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">1:25:40</span></td>
<td class="talk_links"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><a class="audio_button" href="http://www.audiodharma.org/teacher/1/talk/1763/venue/IMC/20080130-Gil_Fronsdal-IMC-introduction_to_meditation_thinking_part_4.mp3" title="Download 'Introduction to Meditation - Thinking (Part 4)'">Download</a><a class="audio_button" href="http://www.audiodharma.org/talks/audio_player/1763.html" title="Stream Audio of 'Introduction to Meditation - Thinking (Part 4)'">Stream</a></span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="talk_title"><div style="padding-left: 20px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Introduction to Meditation - Mind (Part 5)
</span><br />
<div class="additional_text">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">• <a href="http://www.insightmeditationcenter.org/books-articles/articles/introduction-to-meditation-transcripts/5/">Talk Transcript</a> | <a href="http://www.insightmeditationcenter.org/books-articles/articles/mindfulness-meditation-homework/5/">Homework</a></span></div>
</div>
</td>
<td class="talk_teacher"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><a class="talkteacher" href="http://www.audiodharma.org/teacher/1" title="Gil Fronsdal">Gil Fronsdal</a></span></td>
<td class="talk_date"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">2008-10-29</span></td>
<td class="talk_length"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">1:25:46</span></td>
<td class="talk_links"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><a class="audio_button" href="http://www.audiodharma.org/teacher/1/talk/1764/20081029-Gil_Fronsdal-IMC-introduction_to_meditation_mind_part_5.mp3" title="Download 'Introduction to Meditation - Mind (Part 5)'">Download</a><a class="audio_button" href="http://www.audiodharma.org/talks/audio_player/1764.html" title="Stream Audio of 'Introduction to Meditation - Mind (Part 5)'">Stream</a></span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="talk_title"><div style="padding-left: 20px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Introduction to Meditation - Daily Life (Part 6)
</span><br />
<div class="additional_text">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">• <a href="http://www.insightmeditationcenter.org/books-articles/articles/introduction-to-meditation-transcripts/7/">Talk Transcript</a> | <a href="http://www.insightmeditationcenter.org/books-articles/articles/mindfulness-meditation-homework/6/">Homework</a></span></div>
</div>
</td>
<td class="talk_teacher"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><a class="talkteacher" href="http://www.audiodharma.org/teacher/1" title="Gil Fronsdal">Gil Fronsdal</a></span></td>
<td class="talk_date"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">2008-02-13</span></td>
<td class="talk_length"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">1:35:00</span></td>
<td class="talk_links"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><a class="audio_button" href="http://www.audiodharma.org/teacher/1/talk/1765/20080213-Gil_Fronsdal-IMC-introduction_to_meditation_daily_life_part_6.mp3" title="Download 'Introduction to Meditation - Daily Life (Part 6)'">Download</a><a class="audio_button" href="http://www.audiodharma.org/talks/audio_player/1765.html" title="Stream Audio of 'Introduction to Meditation - Daily Life (Part 6)'">Stream</a></span></td>
</tr>
<tr><td class="talk_title" colspan="5"><div class="series_title">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Meditation Instructions <a href="http://www.audiodharma.org/feeds/collection/3282/"><img alt="RSS" border="0" src="http://media.audiodharma.org/images/feed-icon-14x14.png" title="RSS feed for 'Meditation Instructions'" /></a> <a href="itpc://www.audiodharma.org/feeds/collection/3282/" title="Subscribe to 'Meditation Instructions' in iTunes"><img alt="iTunes" border="0" src="http://media.audiodharma.org/images/podcast_icon_small.png" style="margin-left: 5px;" /></a></span></div>
<hr style="margin: 10 auto 0 0; width: 50%;" />
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="talk_title"><div style="padding-left: 20px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Brief Instructions for Sitting Meditation
</span></div>
</td>
<td class="talk_teacher"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span></td>
<td class="talk_date"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">2001-01-01</span></td>
<td class="talk_length"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">5:13</span></td>
<td class="talk_links"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><a class="audio_button" href="http://www.audiodharma.org/teacher/213/talk/3279/venue/IMC/20010101-No_Teacher-IMC-brief_instructions_for_sitting_meditation.mp3" title="Download 'Brief Instructions for Sitting Meditation'">Download</a><a class="audio_button" href="http://www.audiodharma.org/talks/audio_player/3279.html" title="Stream Audio of 'Brief Instructions for Sitting Meditation'">Stream</a></span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="talk_title"><div style="padding-left: 20px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Instructions for Walking Meditation
</span></div>
</td>
<td class="talk_teacher"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span></td>
<td class="talk_date"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">2001-01-01</span></td>
<td class="talk_length"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">6:46</span></td>
<td class="talk_links"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><a class="audio_button" href="http://www.audiodharma.org/teacher/213/talk/3280/venue/IMC/20010101-No_Teacher-IMC-instructions_for_walking_meditation.mp3" title="Download 'Instructions for Walking Meditation'">Download</a><a class="audio_button" href="http://www.audiodharma.org/talks/audio_player/3280.html" title="Stream Audio of 'Instructions for Walking Meditation'">Stream</a></span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="talk_title"><div style="padding-left: 20px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Mindfulness Meditation as a Buddhist Practice
</span></div>
</td>
<td class="talk_teacher"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span></td>
<td class="talk_date"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">2001-01-01</span></td>
<td class="talk_length"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">6:16</span></td>
<td class="talk_links"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><a class="audio_button" href="http://www.audiodharma.org/teacher/213/talk/3281/venue/IMC/20010101-No_Teacher-IMC-mindfulness_meditation_as_a_buddhist_practice.mp3" title="Download 'Mindfulness Meditation as a Buddhist Practice'">Download</a><a class="audio_button" href="http://www.audiodharma.org/talks/audio_player/3281.html" title="Stream Audio of 'Mindfulness Meditation as a Buddhist Practice'">Stream</a></span></td>
</tr>
<tr><td class="talk_title" colspan="5"><div class="series_title">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Other Meditation Instructions <a href="http://www.audiodharma.org/feeds/collection/3283/"><img alt="RSS" border="0" src="http://media.audiodharma.org/images/feed-icon-14x14.png" title="RSS feed for 'Other Meditation Instructions'" /></a> <a href="itpc://www.audiodharma.org/feeds/collection/3283/" title="Subscribe to 'Other Meditation Instructions' in iTunes"><img alt="iTunes" border="0" src="http://media.audiodharma.org/images/podcast_icon_small.png" style="margin-left: 5px;" /></a></span></div>
<hr style="margin: 10 auto 0 0; width: 50%;" />
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="talk_title"><div style="padding-left: 20px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Introduction to Mindfulness Meditation
</span></div>
</td>
<td class="talk_teacher"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><a class="talkteacher" href="http://www.audiodharma.org/teacher/1" title="Gil Fronsdal">Gil Fronsdal</a></span></td>
<td class="talk_date"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">2005-10-02</span></td>
<td class="talk_length"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">44:12</span></td>
<td class="talk_links"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><a class="audio_button" href="http://www.audiodharma.org/teacher/1/talk/774/20051002-Gil_Fronsdal-IMC-introduction_to_mindfulness_meditation.mp3" title="Download 'Introduction to Mindfulness Meditation'">Download</a><a class="audio_button" href="http://www.audiodharma.org/talks/audio_player/774.html" title="Stream Audio of 'Introduction to Mindfulness Meditation'">Stream</a></span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="talk_title"><div style="padding-left: 20px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Mental Noting
</span><br />
<div class="additional_text">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">• <a href="http://www.insightmeditationcenter.org/books-articles/articles/noting/" target="_blank">Transcription</a></span></div>
</div>
</td>
<td class="talk_teacher"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><a class="talkteacher" href="http://www.audiodharma.org/teacher/1" title="Gil Fronsdal">Gil Fronsdal</a></span></td>
<td class="talk_date"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">2008-07-20</span></td>
<td class="talk_length"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">46:15</span></td>
<td class="talk_links"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><a class="audio_button" href="http://www.audiodharma.org/teacher/1/talk/1369/venue/IMC/20080720-Gil_Fronsdal-IMC-mental_noting.mp3" title="Download 'Mental Noting'">Download</a><a class="audio_button" href="http://www.audiodharma.org/talks/audio_player/1369.html" title="Stream Audio of 'Mental Noting'">Stream</a></span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="talk_title"><div style="padding-left: 20px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Guided Body Scan
</span></div>
</td>
<td class="talk_teacher"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><a class="talkteacher" href="http://www.audiodharma.org/teacher/1" title="Gil Fronsdal">Gil Fronsdal</a></span></td>
<td class="talk_date"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">2003-07-17</span></td>
<td class="talk_length"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">25:04</span></td>
<td class="talk_links"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><a class="audio_button" href="http://www.audiodharma.org/teacher/1/talk/353/20030717-Gil_Fronsdal-IMC-guided_body_scan.mp3" title="Download 'Guided Body Scan'">Download</a><a class="audio_button" href="http://www.audiodharma.org/talks/audio_player/353.html" title="Stream Audio of 'Guided Body Scan'">Stream</a></span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="talk_title"><div style="padding-left: 20px;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Guided Metta
</span></div>
</td>
<td class="talk_teacher"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><a class="talkteacher" href="http://www.audiodharma.org/teacher/1" title="Gil Fronsdal">Gil Fronsdal</a></span></td>
<td class="talk_date"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">2001-09-06</span></td>
<td class="talk_length"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">28:03</span></td>
<td class="talk_links"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><a class="audio_button" href="http://www.audiodharma.org/teacher/1/talk/44/20010906-Gil_Fronsdal-IMC-guided_metta.mp3" title="Download 'Guided Metta'">Download</a><a class="audio_button" href="http://www.audiodharma.org/talks/audio_player/44.html" title="Stream Audio of 'Guided Metta'">Stream</a></span></td><td class="talk_links"></td><td class="talk_links"></td><td class="talk_links"></td><td class="talk_links"></td><td class="talk_links"></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Tom Langleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04254601519058396299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770777139236435869.post-25339472691799307612012-08-14T00:54:00.000-05:002012-08-23T01:09:48.227-05:002012 International Symposia for Contemplative Studies - CORRECTED<div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #6fa8dc; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho6SKntY-sFFydgAfzY17x_HN2t5bh8bqBGXLToR_JBoYMmwVFMawhaSQ2peyGHLCn8-KjxuGfM3BiWyZIOqPQIJ1wYHi7pkdAX2MWWQEx5zWbxj-qAVgX6lchzKpkGXUTbJo3zCRZiQeU/s1600/ricard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="321" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho6SKntY-sFFydgAfzY17x_HN2t5bh8bqBGXLToR_JBoYMmwVFMawhaSQ2peyGHLCn8-KjxuGfM3BiWyZIOqPQIJ1wYHi7pkdAX2MWWQEx5zWbxj-qAVgX6lchzKpkGXUTbJo3zCRZiQeU/s400/ricard.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Correction:</span></b>: I corrected the link to the Symposia below so you can register first. The sponsor requested this so please fill out the very short registration and you are ready to view at your leisure. Sorry for any inconvenience I may have caused. Enjoy!</i></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;">Below is the information
about this incredible gathering of the greatest brain/mind research
scientists and contemplative Masters from all religious and
philosophical traditions in the world.<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><b>*</b></span> It is</span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;"> a collaborative effort among centers and laboratories around the world
to explore the correlates and consequences of contemplative practice.
Facilitated by the <a href="http://www.mindandlife.org/" target="_blank">Mind and Life Institute</a>,
the broader Symposia considered how training the mind through the
use of contemplative practices can lead to a reduction in suffering,
enhanced health and cognitive/emotional functioning, greater happiness
and increased social harmony. </span><span style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;">They gathered together in Denver, CO from April 26, 2012 to April 29, 2012. This link will take you to the home page. Click on the first picture that says, "Free Webstreaming...Click Here to Watch". If the picture changes, you can wait for it to come back around or just click the "Home" link and it will be the first picture. </span></div>
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<a href="http://contemplativeresearch.org/">2012 International Symposia for Contemplative Studies </a></div>
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A link to the Keynote Speeches and Master Lectures on each day is on the left. I highly recommend that you watch everything in chronological order. Each Webcast contains a lot of very interesting and detailed information so start by watching one per sitting and adjust your viewing accordingly. You may want to have a pen and some paper handy too. It moves rather fast because of time constraints/scheduling so stay Mindful and be prepared to be Wowed :)!</div>
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This is the first Symposia in the 25 year history of the Mind and Life Institute where actual replicated scientific findings are presented. They are mind-blowing indeed! Take your time and Enjoy! </div>
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Namaste'</div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>*</b></span></span>The first ever International Symposia for Contemplative Studies, coordinated<br />
and cosponsored by the Mind & Life Institute, will be held at the Denver Hyatt<br />
Regency Hotel April 26-29, 2012. In this landmark cross-disciplinary<br />
conference, more than 700 neuroscientists, educators, and contemplative<br />
scholars from around the world will gather to share cutting-edge research on<br />
the nature and workings of the human mind. Keynotes, master lectures, and<br />
other presentations will explore how a scientific understanding of the mind can<br />
address a wide range of issues, including health, education, and personal and<br />
social wellness.</div>
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Symposia speakers include luminaries from the world’s most prestigious<br />
institutions, such as Harvard University, Brown University, the Max Planck<br />
Institute for Brain Research in Zurich, and the Centre National de la Recherche<br />
Scientifique in Paris. Congressman Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) will discuss his new<br />
book, A Mindful Nation, in which he advocates using contemplative practices to<br />
address a host of current national concerns. Wellesley College past-president<br />
Diana Chapman Walsh will deliver the opening keynote address on the first full day, April 27th.</div>
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The research presented at the Symposia reflects scientists’ findings that<br />
contemplative practices, such as meditation and mindfulness, can produce<br />
measurable effects that alleviate suffering and improve well-being, including<br />
reducing addiction, pain, post-partum issues depression, and anxiety disorders,<br />
as well as improving educational performance, leadership, and overall physical<br />
and mental health.</div>
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Tom Langleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04254601519058396299noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770777139236435869.post-22489456840029554082012-07-22T23:28:00.001-05:002012-07-25T03:32:14.399-05:00SHIKANTAZA<div style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiipGicERGF-WCIIJYcIV5ZciXXV0Bh6_pG8qfPwZhZ02GmgxXvCFzI4km2d12PVEojSj4bHApoq8H5bVEYtHi48m5qOLZ5nTz8abBI6U6M55XewhunJVGRdLRaaCNM6Zufi25PsmLZev1L/s1600/Zazen1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiipGicERGF-WCIIJYcIV5ZciXXV0Bh6_pG8qfPwZhZ02GmgxXvCFzI4km2d12PVEojSj4bHApoq8H5bVEYtHi48m5qOLZ5nTz8abBI6U6M55XewhunJVGRdLRaaCNM6Zufi25PsmLZev1L/s400/Zazen1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">This is a wonderful essay on Zen Meditation that describes the ideal State of Mind in which we should Be each and every waking moment. It is the State of Self, our True Nature. The author is a mysterious and Wise man whose writings I have encountered over years of doing research for my blog. He goes by the name, "the Wanderling". Each of the links within this work takes you to yet another one of his many pages around the Internet. This amazing trail of material compiled over many years is filled with an incredible amount of Wisdom so I recommend that you use this as a starting point and then enjoy the journey. Have fun!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Namaste' </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>SHIKANTAZA</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">SHIKANTAZA, or "just sitting," is alert nonselective attention which
neither pursues nor suppresses thoughts, sensations, etc., but, rather,
gives alert detached attention to whatever arises in and vanishes from
consciousness.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>I</b>. The meditation practices stressed by the <a href="http://sped2work.tripod.com/dongshan.html"><b>Soto</b></a> and <a href="http://sped2work.tripod.com/linchi.html"><b>Rinzai</b></a> schools are distinctively Zen versions of the two types of Buddhist meditation:<br />
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<li><span style="font-size: small;"><b><a href="http://www.angelfire.com/electronic/awakening101/insight.html">Mindfulness Leading to Insight</a></b><br />
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<li><span style="font-size: small;"><b><a href="http://www.angelfire.com/electronic/awakening101/absorption.html">Concentration Leading to Absorption</a></b>.<br />
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</ol>
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<ul><span style="font-size: small;">
<li>Dogen's Shikantaza is a variation on (1) above.<br />
</li>
<li>The <a href="http://the-wanderling.com/mu.html#N1"><b>Koan</b></a> exercise stressed by Rinzai is a variation on (2).<br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;"> (and also "other") is "forgotten," because awareness
of such distinctions is not present. </span><span style="font-size: small;"><b style="color: #3d85c6;">No separate Self
is present to perceive "other" things</b></span><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">. Rather, the
Self is all these things, and vice versa, in THIS
moment. From Without Thinking flows the only
identifiable "reality, " namely the unceasing,
ever-changing, impermanent unfolding of experience.
From Without-Thinking/Enlightenment, therefore, we
see things as they really are (genjokoan).</span><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;"><br />
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8770777139236435869" name="N2"><b>II</b>. Distinctive of </a><a href="http://sped2work.tripod.com/dogen.html"><b>Dogen’s</b></a> account of Zazen as Shikantaza is that <a href="http://the-wanderling.com/zazen.html"><b>Zazen</b></a> is conceived not as a means to an end but as a practice
of the end itself.<br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">A. Cultivation (shu) is not different from authentication (sho), practice from Enlightenment.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;"> B. If we are practicing Shikantaza correctly, then we are practicing</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;"> </span><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">Enlightenment itself.</span><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;"> </span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">1. This is a central paradox of Zen.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">a) But if we’re already Enlightened by our
very buddha-nature, why do we need to
practice—frequently for years?</span><br />
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Dogen struggled with the problem of Original Awakening, that is, an awakening fundemental or innate in everyone, and Acquired Awakening, an awakening attained or acquired through practice. Dogen rejected both, breaking through the relativity of original and acquired, opening up a deeper ground. He wrote: "The principle of the Buddha-nature is that it is not endowed prior to Enlightenment...the Buddha-nature is unquestionably realized simultaneously with Enlightenment." The Shobogenzo eloaborates quite lucidly his concerns with the matter, written by him in an Enlightened state following his own Realization under the guidance of Chinese Zen Master Ju-ching (1163-1228).<br /><br /> Dogen does not maintain that there is any ultimate difference between cultivation (shu) and authentication (sho) or between Original and Acquired Enlightenment. Hence, Dogen would not want to say that he is describing "Zen consciousness" or "Enlightened consciousness" to the exclusion of "ordinary consciousness." Fundamentally, our experience as experienced is not different from the Zen master's. Where we differ is that we place a particular kind of conceptual overlay onto that experience and then proceed to make an emotional investment in that overlay, taking it to be "real" in and of itself rather than to be an "expression" (dotoku) of the "occasion" (jisetsu) in which we think or talk about the given experience. In a sense, we have a double layered description. First, there is the prereflective, not yet conceptualized, experience--what we all share, Zen master and the rest of us alike. Second, there is the expression or characterization of any experience within a particular situation or occasion. If the speaker brings no personal, egotistic delusions into this expression, the occasion speaks for itself, the total situation alone determines what is said or done. Thus, in the case of the Zen master, what-is-said is simply what-is. In the case of the deluded person, however, the "what-is" includes his excess conceptual baggage with its affective components, the deluded ideas about the nature of "self," "thing," "time," and so on that constitute the person's own particular distortion of what actually is. (source)<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />III. Also distinctive of Dogen's account of Shikantaza is that it is the practice of "without thinking" (hishiryo): which is also called no-mind (mushin; wu-hsin), the essence of Zen Enlightenment. Here we shall discuss "thinking," "not-thinking," and "without thinking."<br /><br /> "Not-thinking" can be pictured as follows:<br /><br />A. THINKING (shiryo): This is our habitual tendency to stay in the mode of conceptualizing thought.<br /><br />1. About "thinking" a) Noetic Attitude: positional (either affirming or negating); b) Noematic Content: conceptualized objects.<br /><br /><br />a) Noetic Attitude is positional (either affirming or negating): A subject is adopting an intentional stance toward an object and, specifically, thinking about it in either a positive or negative way: "This is an X" or "This is not an X," "Do X" or "Do not do X."<br /><br /><br />(1) Consciousness is an intentional vector proceeding from a subject to an object. The subject is a cognitive agent.<br /><br />b) Noematic Content: X is an intentional object pointed to and conceived through our thoughts.<br /><br /><br /><br />2. "Thinking" can be pictured as follows:<br /> </div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
c) Aspects of "thinking":<br /><br /><br />(1) Subject-object division present: an active subject thinks an object.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />(2) Non-immediacy: We do not experience the object immediately but only at a distance, as removed subjects, and only through the thoughts we have of the object.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />(3) Non-fullness: We do not experience the object in its fullness or "suchness" but, rather, only as filtered through our thinking about it.<br />B. NOT-THINKING (fushiryo): About "not-thinking,": (1) noetic attitude: positional (only negating); (2) noematic content: thinking (as objectified).<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />1. Noetic attitude is positional (only negating): Subject is agent seeking to suppress its thinking.<br /><br />2. Noematic content: The object is now the "second-order" object "thinking about X."<br /> </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
3. Aspects of "not-thinking": Same as for "thinking."<br /><br /><br />a) Consciousness is still an intentional-vector proceeding from a subject to the object. The subject is still functioning as agent, even if one trying to bring an end to its own agency.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />C. WITHOUT THINKING (hishiryo): This is no-thought (munen; wu-nien) or no-mind (mushin; wu-hsin): pure immediacy in the fullness of things as they are.<br /><br /><br /><br />1. About "not-thinking,": (1) noetic attitude: nonpositional (neither affirming nor negating); (2) noematic content: pure presence of things as they are (genjokoan).<br /><br /><br />a) Noetic attitude is nonpositional (neither affirming nor negating): Consciousness is no longer an intentional vector proceeding from a subject to an object but is, rather, an open dynamic field in which objects present themselves.<br /><br />b) Noematic content: The object is no longer an object that is the target of an intentional act but is, rather, the object itself as it presents itself within the open dynamic field of consciousness.</div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br />c) Aspects of "without thinking":<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />(1) No subject-object distinction: The subject has disappeared—this being the Zen interpretation of Buddhist anatta or no-mind.<br /><br />(2) Immediacy: Without a subject standing back, the experience is one of immediacy within the dynamic field of consciousness.<br /><br /><br />(3) Fullness: Because the object is not filtered through an intentional act, it presents itself in its fullness.<br /><br /><br />(4) Such immediacy and fullness are genjokoan, "pure presence of things as they are."<br /><br /><br /><br />It is a serious mistake in the understanding of Zen to refer merely to the "denial" or "cessation" of "conceptual thinking." Regardless of whether or not it can be proven than the pre-Buddhist Sanskrit etymology of the term Dhyana can be shown to have no-thought connotations, the main concern here is the semantic development undergone by the Chinese term ch'an in the course of the production of the Ch'an texts in East Asia.<br /><br /><br /><br />It is quite clear that in Ch'an Buddhism, no-mind, rather than referring to an absence of thought, refers to the condition of not being trapped in thoughts, not adhering to a certain conceptual habit or position.<br /><br /><br /><br />The error of interpretation made by many scholars (and by Zen practitioners as well) lies precisely in taking the term "no-thought" to refer to some kind of permanent, or ongoing absence of thought. While this assumption is routinely made, it is impossible to corroborate it in the Ch'an canon. If we study the seminal texts carefully, we do find a description of the experience of an instantaneous severing of thought that occurs in the course of a thoroughgoing pursuit of a Buddhist meditative exercise.</div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br />Nowhere in the Platform Sutra, Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment, Diamond Sutra, or any other major Ch'an text, is the term "no-mind" explained to be a permanent incapacitation of the thinking faculty or the permanent cessation of all conceptual activity.<br /><br /><br /><br />The locus classicus for the concept of no-thought is the Platform Sutra, and in regards to no-thought says in so many words:<br /><br /><br /><br />"No-thought" means "no-thought within thought." Non-abiding is man's original nature. Thoughts do not stop from moment to moment. The prior thought is succeeded in each moment by the subsequent thought, and thoughts continue one after another without cease. If, for one thought-moment, there is a break, the dharma-body separates from the physical body, and in the midst of successive thoughts there will be no attachment to any kind of matter. If, for one thought-moment, there is abiding, then there will be abiding in all successive thoughts, and this is called clinging. If, in regard to all matters there is no abiding from thought-moment to thought-moment, then there is no clinging. Non-abiding is the basis.</div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br />As we can see, after the break in thought, successive thoughts continue to flow, but one no longer abides in, or clings to, these thoughts. Nowhere is there mention of any kind of disappearance of, or absence of thought. "No-thought" refers to nothing other than an absence of abiding, or clinging. Other seminal Ch'an texts, such as the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment, characterize no-thought in precisely the same manner. (source)<br /><br /><br />Genjokoan is the title of the first chapter of the Shobogenzo, and its foremost position in the text is indicative of the importance of this concept in Dogen's thought. The word is a conjunction of genjo ("presence itself") and koan. Interpretations of this concept differ; my own accords with the view that Dogen viewed genjo itself to be a koan. In one sense, then, genjokoan can be understood as the name of a koan which, when correctly grasped, indicates "things as they really are." "Correctly grasping" this koan proceeds from the prereflective experience manifested by without-thinking. A famous passage from the "Genjokoan" states:<br /><br /><br /><br />To study the Way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be Enlightened by all things.<br /><br /><br />"Being Enlightened by all things" expresses the mental activity of Without Thinking wherein the "Self" as well as No-self </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<blockquote style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br />
For Dogen, genjokoan is none other than Prajna,
or "intuitive wisdom." Furthermore, Dogen is in accord
with the Mahayana tradition in arguing that
Prajna and <a href="http://sped2work.tripod.com/4emotions.html"><b>Karuna</b></a>, "compassion, the Golden Purifier" are "not-two." He
also holds to the traditional Mahayana conception
of right moral action as proceeding from
Prajna/Karuna. Thus Dogen sees right moral action
as properly proceeding from seeing things as they
really are, which is manifest to us in moments of
without-thinking.</blockquote>
<br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" />
<br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" />
<b style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">IV</b><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">. How do we practice "without thinking" during zazen?</span><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" />
<br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" />
<blockquote style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
A. What does one do?<br />
<blockquote>
1. Answer: Nothing, because to do something is to adopt an intentional
or noetic stance as a subject.<br />
<blockquote>
<b>In no way...am I suggesting that practices should not be done,
only that there is no practitioner who is the doer behind them. This is
true of every activity. ... Just because there is no practitioner (and
never has been)) does not mean that practice will not take place. If it
is obvious for a particular spiritual practice to occur, then it will.<br />
</b><br />
<b><a href="http://www.angelfire.com/electronic/awakening101/segal2.html">SUZANNE SEGAL</a></b>, <i>A Collision with the Infinite</i></blockquote>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" />
<blockquote style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
B. But what if thoughts arise? Aren’t these part of "thinking," and don’t they, therefore, need to be
suppressed?<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
1. Answer: They ought not be suppressed, for that would be
"not-thinking."</blockquote>
<br />
C. But what other options are there?<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
1. Answer: Releasing, disengaging, suspending. In releasing thinking, we
let go of the stance of inner thinking subjects and open ourselves to the
field of immediate experience.<br />
2. And objects, no longer "rubber stamped" by conceptualizing thought,
stand forth in the field of immediate experience, presenting themselves
fully and in their true natures. <br />
<br />
3. We release ourselves from action-taking and thereby release objects
from conceptualization. In thus releasing both subject and object, we
practice immediate presence in the fullness of experience: genjokoan.<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
a) This being the Enlightenment that we
already are.</blockquote>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" />
<blockquote style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
D. See also: <a href="http://www.angelfire.com/electronic/awakening101/hua-tou.html"><b>Hua-T'ou</b></a>, the state of mind before the mind is disturbed by thought. <br />
<br />
<blockquote>
Interestingly enough, in a seeming contrast of approach to Suzanne
Segal's comments above, Aziz Kristof, a non-traditional Advaita Zen
master and Enlightened in his own right, speaking of Dogen writes:<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
<b>"His (Dogen's) concept of Shikantaza was very subtle and profound.
Zazen in his understanding was no longer a tool to become the Buddha
but an expression of Truth. Zazen is Buddha! I was very inspired by this
teaching. His teaching was for me a bridge between Advaita's vision of
'Awakening Now' and seeing Enlightenment as a future goal. However, his
concept of a never-ending cultivation proves that he was not fully
Self-realized. (Dogen) disliked strongly the idea that after
Enlightenment there is no need for practice anymore."</b></blockquote>
Which leads us to the following:</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8770777139236435869" name="N1" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br />
</a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8770777139236435869" name="N1" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>V</b>.</a><a href="http://www.angelfire.com/electronic/awakening101/fivetypes.html#N4" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>SAIJOJO</b></a><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">: Neither-nor Mindfulness Leading to Insight, neither-nor Concentration Leading to Absorption</span><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" />
<br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" />
<blockquote style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<a href="http://sped2work.tripod.com/samadhi.html#N5"><b>JISHU-ZAMMI</b></a>
<br />
<blockquote>
Before he became the Buddha, at the beginning of his
spiritual quest, Siddhartha Gautama studied with two teachers. The
first teacher taught him the <b>First Seven Jhanas</b>; the other
teacher taught him the <b>Eighth Jhana</b>. Both teachers told him they
had taught him all there was to learn. But Siddhattha still
didn't know why there was suffering, so he left each of these
teachers and wound up doing six years of austerity practises.
These too did not provide the answer to his question and he
abandoned these for what has come to be known as the Middle Way.
The suttas indicate that on the night of his Enlightenment, he
sat down under the Bodhi Tree and began his meditation by
practising the Jhanas (for example, see the Mahasaccaka Sutta -
Majjhima Nikaya #36). When his mind was "concentrated, purified,
bright, unblemished, rid of imperfection, malleable, wieldy,
steady and attained to imperturbability" he direct it to the
"true knowledges" that gave rise to his incredible breakthrough in
consciousness known in the sutras as <a href="http://wanderling.tripod.com/anuttara.html"><b>Anuttara Samyak Sambodhi</b></a>, beyond the beyond of the Eighth Jhana. <a href="http://www.angelfire.com/electronic/awakening101/janas.html"><b>(source)</b></a></blockquote>
</blockquote>
<br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" />
<blockquote style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<blockquote>
<br />
Duality, such as the fundamental
distinction between subject and object, is obliterated in
deep sleep and in <a href="http://sped2work.tripod.com/samadhi.html"><b>Samadhi</b></a>,
as well as in other conditions
such as fainting, but duality is only temporarily obliterated
for it reappears when one awakes from sleep or regains
consciousness after fainting, and it also reappears when the
yoga (meditator) arises from Samadhi. The reason why duality persists
is
because false knowledge (mithyajana) has not been removed. Since false
knowledge is the cause of bondage, Samadhi cannot therefore be the
cause of liberation. <a href="http://www.angelfire.com/electronic/awakening101/comans.html"><b>(source)</b></a><br />
<br />
There is a little known deep-meditation awake-state-continuum, beyond <a href="http://www.angelfire.com/indie/anna_jones1/samadhi2.html#N1"><b><i>dharma-megha-samadhi</i></b></a>
and beyond the beyond of the Eighth Jhana, based in part from Dogen's
Shikantaza, neither entering into nor rising out of, that alleviates the
above, entertained in essence by <a href="http://the-wanderling.com/profile.html"><b>the Wanderling</b></a>
and others that is neither Mindfulness Leading to Insight nor not
Mindfulness Leading to Insight; it is as well neither Concentration
Leading to Absorption nor
not Concentration Leading to Absorption and called by some as <a href="http://www.angelfire.com/indie/anna_jones1/samadhi2.html#N2"><b><i>kaivalya</i></b></a>,
but, because in the end it is NOT and has no name, in things-Zen it is
simply refered to if it must be mentioned as Jishu Zammi, where Ji means
"self," Shu means "mastery," and Zammi means "Samadhi,"...<b><i>Samadhi of Self Mastery</i></b>.<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
<b>Zen master Tai-yung, passing by the retreat of
another Zen master named Chih-huang, stopped and during his visit
respectfully asked, "I am told that you frequently enter into Samadhi.
At the time of such entrances, does your consciousness continue or are
you in a state of unconsciousness? If your consciousness continues, all
sentient beings are endowed with consciousness and can enter into
Samadhi like yourself. If, on the other hand, you are in a state of
unconsciousness, plants and rocks can enter into Samadhi." Huang
replied, "When I enter into a Samadhi, I am not conscious of either
condition." Yung said, "If you are not conscious of either condition,
this is abiding in Eternal Samadhi, and there can be neither entering
into a Samadhi nor rising out of it."<a href="http://the-wanderling.com/luminosity.html">(source)</a></b>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<a href="http://www.angelfire.com/indie/anna_jones1/vip-jhana.html#N1"><b>KHANIKA SAMADHI</b></a><br />
<br />
<blockquote>
<b>KHANIKA SAMADHI</b> is called <i>momentary concentration</i>
(sequential momentary deep concentration) because it occurs only at the
moment of noting and, in the case of Vipassana, not on a fixed object as
Samatha-Jhana meditation but on changing objects or phenomena that
occur in the mind and body. But when the <a href="http://www.angelfire.com/indie/anna_jones1/silabbata.html#N50"><b>Vipassana</b></a>
meditator develops strength and skill in noting, his Khanika
concentration occurs uninterruptedly in a series without a break. This
concentration, when it occurs from moment to moment without a break,
becomes so powerful that it can overcome <a href="http://www.angelfire.com/electronic/awakening101/absorption.html#N3"><b>The Five Hindrances</b></a>,
thus bringing about purification of mind (citta visuddhi) which can
enable a meditator to attain all the insight knowledges up to the level
of <a href="http://www.angelfire.com/indie/anna_jones1/arhat_way.html"><b>Arahat</b></a>.
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" />
<br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" />
<b style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">VI</b><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> The very foundation of Shikantaza is based on an unshakeable faith that:</span><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" />
<br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" />
<ul style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<li>Sitting as the Buddha sat, with the mind void of all conceptions, of all
beliefs and points of view, is the actualization or unfoldment of the
inherently Enlightened Bodhimind with which all are endowed.
</li>
<li>At the same
time this sitting is entered into in the faith that it will one day
culminate in the sudden and direct perception of the true nature of this
Mind-- in other words, Enlightenment.<br />
</li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
Therefore to strive self-consciously
for </span><a href="http://sped2work.tripod.com/satori.html" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>Satori</b></a><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> or any other gain from Zazen is as unnecessary as it is
undesirable.</span><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" />
<br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" />
<blockquote style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<b>The conscious thought "I must get Enlightened" can be as much of an impediment as any other which hangs in the mind. <a href="http://www.angelfire.com/electronic/awakening101/zen-fear.html#N6">(see)</a></b></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
In authentic Shikantaza neither of these two elements of faith can
be dispensed with. To exclude Satori from Shikantaza would necessarily
involve stigmatizing as meaningless and even masochistic the Buddha's
strenuous efforts toward Enlightenment, and impugning the patriarchs'
and Dogen's own painful struggles to that end. This relation of Satori
to Shikantaza is of the utmost importance. Unfortunately it has often
been misunderstood, especially by those to whom Dogen's complete writings
are inaccessible. It thus not infrequently happens that Western students
will come to a Soto temple or monastery utilizing Koans in its teaching
and remonstrate with the roshi over his assignment of a Koan, on the
ground that Koans have as their aim Enlightenment; since all are
intrinsically Enlightened, they argue, there is no point in seeking Satori.
So what they ask to practice is Shikan-taza, which they believe does not
involve the experience of Enlightenment.</span><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" />
<br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" />
<br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" />
<br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" />
<br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
Such an attitude reveals not only a lack of faith in the judgment of
one's teacher but a fundamental misconception of both the nature and the
difficulty of Shikantaza, not to mention the teaching methods employed in
Soto temples and monasteries. A careful reading of the encounters of </span><a href="http://the-wanderling.com/yasutani.html" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>Yasutani Hakuun Roshi</b></a><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> with ten Westerners, for example, will make it
clear why genuine Shikantaza cannot be successfully undertaken by the rank
novice, who has yet to learn how to sit with stability and equanimity, or
whose ardor needs to be regularly boosted by communal sitting or by the
encouragement of a teacher, or who, above all, lacks strong faith in his
own Bodhimind coupled with a dedicated resolve to experience its reality
in his daily life.</span><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" />
<br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" />
<br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" />
<br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" />
<br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
Because today, Zen masters claim, devotees are on the whole much less
zealous for truth, and because the obstacles to practice posed by the
complexities of modern life are more numerous, capable Soto masters seldom
assign Shikantaza to a beginner. They prefer to have him first unify his
mind through concentration on counting the breaths; or where a burning
desire for Enlightenment does exist, to exhaust the discursive intellect
through the imposition of a special type of Zen problem called a </span><a href="http://the-wanderling.com/mu.html#N1" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>Koan</b></a><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
and thus prepare the way for Kensho.</span><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" />
<br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" />
<br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" />
<br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" />
<br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
By no means, then, is the Koan system confined to the Rinzai sect as
many believe. Yasutani Hakuun Roshi is only one of a number of Soto masters who
use Koans in their teaching. Genshu Watanaberoshi, the former abbot of
Soji-ji, one of the two head temples of the Soto sect in Japan, regularly
employed Koans, and at the Soto monastery of Hosshinji, of which the
illustrious Harada-roshi was abbot during his lifetime, Koans are also
widely used.</span><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" />
<br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" />
<br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" />
<br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" />
<br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
Even </span><a href="http://sped2work.tripod.com/dogen.html" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>Dogen Zenji</b></a><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> himself, as we have seen, disciplined himself in Koan Zen
for eight years before going to China and practicing Shikantaza. And though
upon his return to Japan Dogen wrote at length about Shikantaza and
recommended it for his inner band of disciples, it must not be forgotten
that these disciples were dedicated truth-seekers for whom Koans were an
unnecessary encouragement to sustained practice. Notwithstanding this
emphasis on Shikantaza, Dogen made a compilation of three hundred well-
known Koans, to each of which he added his own commentary. From this and
the fact that his foremost work, the Shobogenzo (A Treasury of the Eye of
the True Dharma), contains a number of Koans, we may fairly conclude that
he did utilize Koans in his teaching.</span><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" />
<br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" />
<br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" />
<br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" />
<br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" />
<br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" />
<b style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Note:</b><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" />
<br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" />
<br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" />
<br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" />
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<i>Fundamentally, our experience as experienced is not different from the Zen master's. Where<br /> we differ is that we place a fog, a particular kind of conceptual overlay onto that experience<br /> and then make an emotional investment in that overlay, taking it to be "real" in and of itself.</i></div>
<div>
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<a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/?px" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_c.png?x-id=7c866548-08f3-43b6-8612-a1946fd7caf1" style="border: none; float: right;" /></a></div>Tom Langleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04254601519058396299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770777139236435869.post-25776377547969813662012-06-06T03:25:00.001-05:002017-06-07T04:39:44.876-05:00A Wonderful Legend: The Origin of the Bonzai Tree?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">I think you will enjoy this ancient legend which may give insight to the origins of the Bonsai tree if not far more "magic" than meets the eye at first. Please enjoy this gem as I work on other posts of my own and from the great Masters of old.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Namaste'</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>FEI JIANG-FANG </b></span></div>
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Fei Jiang-fang [Fei Chang-fang or Pi Chang-fang] was a legendary magician during the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_Dynasty" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Han Dynasty">Eastern Han dynasty</a> (25-220 C.E. ). He was said to have had "the power of shrinking and collecting in an urn mountains and streams, birds and animals, people, pavilions, terraces, and buildings, boats and carriages, trees and rivers." </div>
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A story from the Jin dynasty (265-420 C.E .) and then alluded to at the end of the fifth century tells of how Fei, as a marketplace provost, once discovered that an old man selling herbs there was actually an immortal punished for a mistake. The old man had hung a gourd-shaped hu vessel in front of his shop. Whenever the market closed, he jumped up and entered this vessel, without being seen by the people in the marketplace. Only Fei saw him, from the top of his lookout. Fei confronted the old man who told him to return the following day. Doing so, he was then taken into the old man's confidence and the two of them were allowed to enter inside the magical hu. There they feasted and drank from a wine vessel that did not empty. The old man insisted his punishment was now finished and invited Fei to follow him in search of the Dao. </div>
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Both of them entered into the depths of a mountain and, after several tests, Fei Jiang-fang became a magician famous for his power over demons and for curing sicknesses. </div>
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Seekers after medicinal herbs go into the heart of the mountains equipped with a staff to which they have attached a protective talisman, consisting of a picture of the sacred mountains, along with a little gourd intended to hold the fruits of their journey. </div>
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Now, in tales from the East, the market theme has been used as a meeting place for adepts and spirits. Other hu-kung ("Gourd Elders") besides Fei Jiang-fang are mentioned in Daoist alchemical lore through the centuries. Another version of this story from the late third century indicates that the old man magically appeared to Fei, coming from "far countries" inhabited by barbarians, monsters, demons, and spirit. Inside the hu vessel one only saw a world full of palaces of the immortals. </div>
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The banished immortal herb seller replaces his home Isles of the Blessed -- which have all the treasures of the mountain there contained -- with his gourd, which also includes these treasures in their entirety. The gourd is the container for drinks and herbs, concentrating in this little place the essential powers of a remote and isolated mountain. The narrowed opening or gate through which the adept passes with some difficulty opens into another world, closed off and completely sufficient to itself. This paradisiacal, perfect, happy place is far from this vulgar world, just like the miniature gardens that play the same role for those who cultivate them. </div>
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This legend shows up in several other works, including a Daoist encyclopedia of the seventh century (i.e., early Tang dynasty) which contains a number of rituals or magical practices to which the legend contributed. One detailed procedure allegedly allows one to be able to transform a pint container so that it contains Heaven and Earth. Another ritual lets one reduce one's size as well as reducing distances. </div>
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Were Fei Jiang-fang’s magical miniatures actually only detailed dwarf potted trees and other landscapes which transported the imaginations of viewers to other lands? Was his story indicative of the potential of the miniature landscape? Or, were the earliest pen gardens actually attempts to recreate Fei's works? And for how many years or centuries might individual or sects of Daoists have developed the cultivation of these tiny gardens as a memory aid and focusing device for their attempts to be like Fei? </div>
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At this point we cannot credit Fei with originating magical miniature landscapes: the earliest graphic images of these comes several centuries later and shows much more primitive compositions than are told of in his legend. 1 </div>
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NOTES </div>
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1. Stein, Rolf A. The World in Miniature (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press; 1990), pp. 54-55, 66-70, with Fig. 29 b&w photo on pg. 68, pg. 78, notes 129-134 on pp. 294-295. See pp. 58-78 for much more information concerning hu (calabash gourd-shaped) vessels and miniature/magical worlds. Depictions of the three Blessed Isles in the fourth century, for instance, resembled hu vessels, and they were known by the names Peng-hu, Fang-hu, and Ying-hu. In addition, the gourd represents in all of Chinese East Asia the cornucopia: Chinese doctors pack their drugs into little empty gourds or into vials of the same shape, which also makes the fruit the symbol of curing. Other examples of magic and miniature landscapes are found on pp. 50-54.; </div>
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Mentioned in Wu, Yee-Sun Man Lung Artistic Pot Plants (Hong Kong: Wing-Lung Bank Ltd.; 1969, 1974. Second edition), pg. 62; Lesniewicz, Paul Bonsai: The Complete Guide to Art & Technique (Poole, Dorset: Blandford Press; 1984), pg. 13; Lesniewicz, Paul and Hideo Kato Practical Bonsai, Their Care, Cultivation and Training (London: W. Foulsham & Co., Ltd.; 1991), pg. 8; Webber, Leonard Bonsai For the Home and Garden (North Ryde, NSW, Australia: Angus & Robertson Publishers; 1985), pg. 1; Koreshoff, Deborah R. Bonsai: Its Art, Science, History and Philosophy (Brisbane, Australia: Boolarong Publications; 1984), pg. 3; </div>
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cf. Samson, Isabelle and Rémy Samson The Creative Art of Bonsai (London: Ward Lock Ltd.; 1986), pg. 8: "Then, during the Tang dynasty and the later Song dynasty (960-1276) public records refer to a man who 'had learnt the art of creating the illusion of immensity enclosed within a small space and all this contained within a single pot.'"; </div>
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The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen (Boston: Shambhala Publications, Inc.; 1991), pp. 53, 143; </div>
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Yanagisawa, Soen Tray Landscapes ( Bonkei and Bonseki ) (Tokyo: Japan Travel Bureau; 1955, 1956, 1962, 1966), pp. 2, 77; </div>
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Behme, Robert Bonsai, Saikei and Bonkei, Japanese Dwarf Trees and Tray Landscapes (New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc.; 1969), pg. 15; </div>
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Cahill, James Scholar Painters of Japan: The Nanga School (New York: Asia House Gallery; 1972), pg. 89. </div>
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cf. "Zhang Guo was a Daoist magician who could ride vast distances on a magical mule; when he stopped to rest, he would fold it up like paper and put it in his hat-box. He could bring it back to life when needed by spraying it with water from his mouth. In an ink and color on silk handscroll by Ren Renfa (1255-1328), Zhang is seen demonstrating his magic powers before the Tang emperor Minghuang (Empress Wu's grandson Hsüan Tsung, the last great figure of the dynasty, 712-756). As the old magician looks on with a crafty smile, a boy releases the miniature mule, which flies along the floor toward the emperor. The mule is perhaps the size of a rat but has perfect equine proportions, complete with a tiny saddle. Minghuang leans forward, credulous but reserved, while a courtier standing nearby clasps his hand and opens his mouth in wonderment. (The painter of Zhang Guo Having an Audience with Emperor Minghuang followed a career of official service under the Mongols and as a painter specialized in portrayals of horses.)" Per Yang, Xin et al Three Thousand Years of Chinese Painting (New Haven & London: Yale University Press and Beijing: Foreign Languages Press; 1997), pp. 150-151.</div>
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"Let me put this another way. The world in which alchemy was practiced recognized no sharp distinctions between mental and material events. In such a context, there was no such thing as 'symbolism' because everything (in our terms) was symbolic, that is, all material events and processes had psychic equivalents and representations. Thus alchemy was -- from our viewpoint -- a composite of different activities. It was the science of matter, the attempt to unravel nature's secrets; a set of procedures which were employed in mining, dyeing, glass manufacture, and the preparation of medicines; and simultaneously a type of yoga, a science of psychic transformation. Because matter possessed consciousness, skill in transforming the former automatically meant that one was skilled in working with the latter -- a tradition retained today only in fields such as art, poetry, or handicrafts, in which we tend (rightly or wrongly) to regard the ability to create things of great beauty as a reflection of the creator's personality. We say then, that the talent of the alchemist in his laboratory was dependent on his relationship with his own unconsciousness, but in putting it that way we indicate the limits of our understanding. 'Unconscious,' whether used by Jung or anyone else, is the language of the modern disembodied intellect. It was all one to the alchemist: there was no 'unconscious.' The modern mind cannot help but regard the occult sciences as a vast welter of confusion about the nature of the material world, since for the most part the modern mind does not entertain the notion that the consciousness with which the alchemist confronted matter was so different from its own. If the state of mind can at all be imagined, however, we can say that the alchemist did not confront matter; he permeated it.</div>
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"It is thus doubtful that the alchemist could have described what he was doing to us, or to the modern chemist, transported back to the fourteenth century, even if he had wanted to. His was (again, from our point of view) partly a psychic discipline that no nonpsychic method (save neutron bombardment in a nuclear reactor) can possibly accomplish. The maunfacture of gold was not a matter of replicating a material formula. Indeed, its manufacture was part of a much larger work, and our attempt to extract the material essence from a holistic process reveals how contracted our own knowledge of the world has become. We cannot know the alchemical process of making gold until we know the 'personality' of gold. We, here and now, have no real sympathetic identity with the process of becoming golden; we cannot fathom the relationship between becoming gold and making gold. The medieval alchemist, on the other hand, was completed by the process; the synthesis of the gold was his synthesis as well."</div>
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-- Berman, Morris The Reenchantment of the World (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press; 1981), pp. 92-93.</div>
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Substitute "magical miniature landscape" for "alchemy" in the above two paragraphs. What does this now mean for us?</div>
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"United with its rock womb, the pine tree grows old and acquires medicinal and magical properties; it becomes an "essence" (jing [ching]), a word that has also come to mean spirits or goblins... '...[C]ertain large trees, majestic in their branching and remarkable because of their great age[, have been held in awe]. As they grow old, they become ling [full of spiritual power]... In China, any old object, animate or inanimate, can rise to the ranks of the spirits as it grows older, even if it is a statue, a stone, or a block of metal.' ...All these objects share the nature of gu-jing [ku-ching], "old essences." At the end of a thousand years, the essence of blood is changed into a precious stone and that of a pine tree into yellow amber... Jing [ching] means the quintessence of materials that have gone through a refining process. It is white rice, distilled alcohol, purified metal[, and the non-ejaculated sperm in men]. Thus, old objects are remarkable for the concentration of their properties and for the transformation of their ordinary qualities into spiritually powerful, precious, or medicinal properties. Old trees and ancient stones characterize the sites depicted in the pagoda enclosures of cults dedicated to healing, health, longevity, and posterity -- the supreme desiderata of the Far East. A gu-shu [ku-shu] (old tree) is also the term for a twisted, strange, dwarf tree growing in a miniature garden... To cultivate such a miniature garden in one's own home brings [one in contact with the old essences which leads to] longevity and the shining, firm skin of one in the full vigor of maturity...</div>
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"The spiritual powers, essences of trees (jing [ching])... are... female spirits with disheveled hair, also a characteristic of [Daoist] female mediums in China. The theme of disheveled hair is, in fact, closely associated with vegetation. 'Plants and trees live upside down; animals live horizontally; only people live upright. This is why humans have consciousness, plants have none, and animals have some, but only a bit.' The head and hair of plants are thus at their bottom (their roots), and this fact is tied to their lack of understanding. In addition, plants are the fur of the earth or the hair of mountains. But the theme of being upside down is the predominant one. No description of places full of wonders omits a note of any plants, or especially stones, that grow upside down [, i.e., especially stalagmites in caves]. This theme is clearly connected with the problem of the circulation of the sap, which has always preoccupied the Chinese. The [D]aoist who imitates animals and plants in his rituals achieves a state of unconsciousness and spontaneous life, which is that of nature itself. He hangs himself, like the trees, upside down, making his sperm go back into his brain. Trees that are old and dwarfed by twisting, which results from a technique used to slow down the sap and lengthen the vessels that it must pass through, are behaving like a [D]aoist who adopts the special gymnastic ritual." </div>
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-- Stein, pp. 96-98. Additional relevant material is then presented through pg. 101.</div>
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*Thanks to original source of this article:<br />
<a href="http://www.magiminiland.org/BigPicture/FeiJiangfang.html">http://www.magiminiland.org/BigPicture/FeiJiangfang.html</a> - <br />
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He is the actual author and "great Master of old," Robert J. Baran, bonsai researcher and historian.<br />
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Tom Langleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04254601519058396299noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770777139236435869.post-79990487159810418172012-05-31T03:05:00.000-05:002012-05-31T03:05:30.894-05:00Crossing the Stream<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This is a very beautiful and moving poem about one's quest for that "place" of enduring Peace, great Beauty, and constant Joy far away from the pain and suffering of everyday life. The words and story flow effortlessly onward as the journey unfolds, gripping your attention to the very end. I just had to share this with you. Enjoy!</div>
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Namaste'</div>
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<a href="http://justthis.austinzencenter.org/2012/03/crossing-stream-maku-mark-frank.html" target="_blank"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Crossing the Stream</span></b></a></div>
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<span>By Maku Mark Frank</span></h3>
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I set out to cross the stream once long ago.<br />
Or maybe it was yesterday.<br />
Funny, time can be like that.<br />
I remember gazing at the other side—<br />
The grassy lowlands beckoning,<br />
The cool, green forest foothills<br />
Rising gently into snowcapped glory ...<br />
I remember wondering of the sights up there—<br />
Above the clouds,<br />
Beyond all worldly cares.<br />
Oh, how I longed to tread that path unseen!<br />
Sloping toward sunlit transcendence ...<br />
But first I had to cross that stream. <br />
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I found a raft of four logs lashed together,<br />
Hidden in the reeds there, half submerged.<br />
And though the vessel’s simple nature had me wondering,<br />
That I could see the other side left me assured.<br />
And so I poled my humble raft into deep waters<br />
With thoughts already soaring high above. <br />
And it was clear that I’d gone way too far to turn back<br />
By the time I felt the current’s tug.<br />
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Down, down, down the river took me<br />
Till I’d have gladly kissed the ground on either side,<br />
Past sleeping beachside towns and sweeping bayous,<br />
And out into the ocean deep and wide.<br />
Then just as my raft’s lashings were unraveling<br />
And I was wondering what worse fate I could have met<br />
The wind and waves began to rise up<br />
And the sun began to set.<br />
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There was a time I thought myself much stronger<br />
With ample will and strength in store,<br />
But down, down, down those waters pulled me<br />
Till I could fight their power no more.<br />
And as I sank into the blackness<br />
I could think of nothing but that shore<br />
From which I’d gazed up at those snowfields<br />
Feeling in need of something more.<br />
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And so I died to all I’d once been.<br />
I died as well to all my dreams.<br />
And as I settled on the ocean floor,<br />
I died to every separate thing.<br />
For one last breath I viewed existence,<br />
For one last cold and watery sigh –<br />
Upon the bottom of the ocean<br />
Immersed within a star-filled sky…<br />
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There was a time when crossing to the other side<br />
Still seemed as real as each new breath,<br />
Way back when sun and moon, and stream and tide<br />
Were as distinct as life and death,<br />
Before that death to all illusion<br />
There upon the ocean floor,<br />
Before realizing that just this moment</div>
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Is the long sought after other shore.</div>
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</div>Tom Langleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04254601519058396299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770777139236435869.post-84988592393748150452012-05-28T22:43:00.000-05:002012-05-28T22:43:46.913-05:00Buddha Space Meditation<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container zemanta-img" style="color: #3d85c6; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10101046@N06/4264352234" imageanchor="1" style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: clear:right;"><img alt="Buddha and Peaceful Mediation" border="0" class="zemanta-img-inserted" height="280" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4033/4264352234_db51e3f1b1_m.jpg" style="border: medium none; font-size: 0.8em;" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption zemanta-img-attribution" style="text-align: center; width: 240px;">Buddha and Peaceful Meditation (Photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10101046@N06/4264352234" target="_blank">Beverly & Pack</a>)</td></tr>
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This is a beautiful poem I stumbled upon while researching a particular work by the great Zen scholar and Roshi, D.T. Suzuki. I found it on a wonderful blog named, "Buddha Space", and you can see much more by clicking the title below. There is great Wisdom within these words so please take your time and "see" the Way. Enjoy!</div>
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Namaste'</div>
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<a href="http://buddhaspace.blogspot.com/2010/03/buddha-space-meditation.html?spref=bl" target="_blank">Buddha Space Meditation</a></h3>
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Meditating on a daily basis can be a wonderful thing to do. It helps the
mind to let go of its pet likes and hates and open up to the way things
are right now. It enables awareness to see thoughts as thoughts,
emotions as emotions, opinions as opinions, memories as memories, and
sensations as sensations. In this plain knowing, identification with
these various stimuli is loosened, even completely abandoned, and then
the bright nature of the mind - 'Buddha Space' - comes to the fore,
lighting up experience with a calm gaze: </div>
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Each moment merges into the next,<br />falling out of a nothingness<br />that cannot be grasped<br />between the whistle of birdsong<br />and the wind gushing from a fan<br />that tickles against the skin.<br /> <br /> Thoughts are born into clarity,<br /> then pop like mental bubbles <br /> dissipating into the void of now<br /> which is the very Wisdom Eye <br /> of Buddha, forever awakened.<br /> <br /> Silence washes everything clean,<br /> an endless ocean of serenity<br /> upon which each mind ship bobs,<br /> before sinking into the depths<br /> of this glorious flowing expanse.<br /> Happily submerged in the deep.</div>
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<a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/?px" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=86702432-f232-4a7c-9268-0bc1e476fed0" style="border: none; float: right;" /></a></div>Tom Langleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04254601519058396299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770777139236435869.post-31395083025358628962012-05-10T03:18:00.000-05:002012-05-12T02:56:03.253-05:00My Humble Life as a Warrior<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidjLgLLk9N5glIPTjxFscDMlHw7EFy4nVnLhZpsh8bXqihf_PCq8t0ffno2H1-DwAmbcuDHiogey3FkJiT8j6b7fkHka4wPBIRlAHw-Iyfavj4fILBtzPBhu1zkc_GTmZrFL9yt0hcR_Vi/s1600/Serving+Others.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidjLgLLk9N5glIPTjxFscDMlHw7EFy4nVnLhZpsh8bXqihf_PCq8t0ffno2H1-DwAmbcuDHiogey3FkJiT8j6b7fkHka4wPBIRlAHw-Iyfavj4fILBtzPBhu1zkc_GTmZrFL9yt0hcR_Vi/s400/Serving+Others.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Last night was a truly rewarding and incredible Agreement with the Way I choose to Accept whatever comes into my life and the corresponding Action I choose to employ. Since I am Blessed with Awakening to and Living in a beautiful Paradise on a few acres in the Texas Hill Country, my ventures to the multifaceted Wonders and incredible beauty of San Marcos, TX are intentionally limited to twice each week for my mandatory physical therapy at the gym and to take care of personal business. One night each week I go to a favorite place of mine to have dinner and drinks with a dear friend. After she leaves, I always stay around to visit with the wonderful young friends I have made there and inevitably, to meet and make more friends with these incredibly respectful, intelligent, and surprisingly Wise (at least in a few cases) Texas State University students. Last night was a particularly interesting, incredibly heart-warming, and afterwards, quite important and rewarding one of these Ad-ventures.</div>
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When I finished with the sincere and loving good-byes at my favorite place, my next stop was my truck outside. As I headed for my vehicle, there was a heated exchange going on between a young man and a beautiful young lady. I immediately stopped and was prepared to move quickly to her aid, if necessary, when they saw me. The young man being aggressive realized my intention and quickly reassured me, along with the young lady and another young man with them, that everything was fine. As I approached them, the one watching the "heated conversation" remembered me from a time in the past when we had sat together inside, visiting over a beer. He assured them that I was not only "cool" but had a lot of Wisdom. I was very humbled and honored to hear him describe me in this way and went on to calm them down from the excitement using a brief guided meditation technique. After a few deep breaths while showing them how to shake off the stress in their upper bodies, everyone was relaxed and clear-minded. All was well! The young man who remembered me wanted to meet inside soon for conversation - an honor to me. The young lady hugged me and thanked me for coming to her aid - an honor and a pleasure indeed. The "angry" young man ask me if we could visit awhile, which I happily agreed to, and told his friends to go ahead without him for now. He felt comfortable with me and shared a lot about his life. All was very personal and much of it was obviously painful. This really helped me to understand his behavior earlier and to share some insight about the importance of remaining calm. This surprised him some because he had been ask to lower his voice while talking to two prospective employers earlier in the day. We had a very enjoyable conversation. He then received an important call and had to go so we parted company. He said that he was eager to meet again very soon to share more and to learn about me. </div>
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This is just an example of what I do - my Purpose here. My Destiny is to Serve others and to show them as best I can, Who they Are, What they must Do (Not- Do), and, hopefully, to get them started on their own Path with Heart back Home to their True Nature. This is the my vastly rewarding life - the life of a true Warrior. A Way of Wisdom for which I have paid an unspeakable price to achieve. I would never give It up, though, even if that meant getting my leg back and becoming whole again from my extremely rare form of quadriplegia which affects my entire body with varying levels of paralysis and clumsiness yet allows me to walk with great effort. I Must stay Mindful of everything happening within me physically, mentally, emotionally, and Aware of my proximity to insure that I maintain my Balance and know for sure where each step is landing. Never a dull moment for me...lol! I truly love this challenging life and the infinite Blessings that continuously showering me with immense Joy, Laughter, and Beauty while increasingly allowing me to "See" past the Veil of Ego-self and into the Infinite Wonders and Wisdom of our True Nature.</div>
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Namaste'</div>
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<br /></div>Tom Langleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04254601519058396299noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770777139236435869.post-62630661619926576232012-04-25T02:29:00.001-05:002012-04-25T02:29:17.240-05:00Rising from the Dust...Again!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #3d85c6; text-align: center;">
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Please forgive me for not posting very much. My shoulder surgery left me with another permanent disability to deal with besides my very rare form of quadriplegia (<a href="http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/791539-overview#showall" target="_blank">Brown - Sequard Syndrome</a>), an amputated right leg just below the knee, severe intractable pain at and radiating from the C-2 to C-7 area of my neck, and much more from my trauma over 35 years ago. These have been and still are the greatest tools imaginable for gaining Wisdom. Every Moment and every Breath are Blessings that give me another Opportunity to Excel in the form of another Challenge to Overcome - a Lesson. I have been a Warrior for a long time now and found my Bliss within around my 17th year of Tai Chi. It radiates from my lower Dan Tien, fills my Being with Joyful Energy, and is a welcome Presence that is always with me. In these last few years, I have been getting happier and more content with my simple but beautiful life living on a few acres in the Texas Hill Country. Laughter comes effortlessly, especially when I trip, fall, make mistakes, and even when I "see" how ridiculously difficult my life has been and is to this day. When I fell and really tore my right rotator cuff to shreds, the 3 1/2 hour surgery to completely remove it, remove 1/3rd of my long bicep tendon, grind the massive bone spurs And the lip on the shoulder bone completely off, left me with my right arm in a sling, my left hand pretty useless, missing my right leg and having to manipulate my prosthesis on and off, not knowing where my left leg was half of the time because of my spinal cord injury, and in so much pain that temporary insanity set in. Now that is funny! It became so hilarious when I would come out of a temporary coma from lack of sleep to find myself in excruciating pain and could not get to the edge of the bed to sit up in the only position where I could get a little relief. After falling back onto the bed following the third attempt, I just started laughing hysterically. This laughter got me through the first 3 weeks until the pain settled down to only a "12" on a scale of 10. Whew! What a big Lesson that was! Wisdom was flowing out my ears and then the Blessings showered upon me and have not stopped to this day. However, Life, the Real School, never stops teaching.</div>
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We all have our share of family problems and dealing with these situations can be difficult and painful. One caught me completely by surprise last month and knocked me off Center and ran over me. You never expect to hear that a close friend, much less a family member, has committed suicide but that is exactly what happened to me. My Brother apparently faced a challenge too great and took his own life. I have grieved a lot in private and probably will for a long time. My short term memory has been affected some but this is supposed to be fairly common in these situations. My Joyful life is interrupted with periods of great sadness whenever I think of him. Seeing his picture fills me with painful sadness and visions of how I imagine it happening. So many questions and no answers. I may never know what got him to this point of deadly desperation either. No closure makes this Lesson much harder but this Warrior is picking himself up, dusting off, and heading full-steam back into battle with a Roar of Laughter and a Fierce Calmness. Death is my Ally! This situation is extremely tough and I will gain great Wisdom from dealing with it properly but it is barely negligible compared to the Challenges I have faced, Overcome, and continue to face every moment. My life has been filled with death, carnage, and human suffering. Such is Life! I need look no further than my own life experience - And my own Death. I died twice from lack of blood as the top-notch surgical team worked furiously to pump back into me the ten units left in the gutter while the last three in my body were quickly exiting out my smashed calf and broken femur sticking out of my thigh. However, it was not my Destiny to die that time for My Path had just begun. These two Destined visits with the Ineffable Bliss and Sublime Beauty of our Source allowed me to Know who I Am, what I Am, and where I Am returning when it Is that time. They also allow me to Know that my Brother is finally at Peace for once in his life and resting deservingly until the next School Bell rings for him Again.</div>
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And the Circle of Life and Death and Life and......continues!</div>
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Namaste'</div>
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<i>"<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica; font-size: x-small;">Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful."
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<b>Joshua J. Marine</b></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><b>"</b></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica; font-size: x-small;">Your thoughts make your life. Things that happen, both the good and the bad, are just part of life.
<br />The important thing is how you deal with those things when they happen. What is your attitude towards them?
<br />Peace lies within your mind and that is the key to living a life of
tranquility. Control your thoughts and you control your happiness."
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<b>Bohdi Sanders</b></span></i><i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><b> </b></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i><b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">One of six verses composed in An'yoin Temple in Fukakusa, 1230 A.D.:</span></b></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">by </span></i></span></span><a href="http://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/Poets/D/DogenEihei/index.html"><big><b> </b><span style="font-size: small;"><i></i></span></big></a><big><span style="font-size: small;"><i><a href="http://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/Poets/D/DogenEihei/index.html">Eihei Dogen</a></i></span></big><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i></i></span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span><i></i></span></b><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Drifting pitifully in the whirlwind of birth and death,<br />As if wandering in a dream,<br />In the midst of illusion I awaken to the true path;<br />There is one more matter I must not neglect,<br />But I need not bother now,<br />As I listen to the sound of the evening rain<br />Falling on the roof of my temple retreat<br />In the deep grass of Fukakusa.</i></span>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica; font-size: x-small;"> </span></i> </div>Tom Langleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04254601519058396299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770777139236435869.post-49932344707094792722012-04-13T01:10:00.000-05:002012-05-11T00:48:18.863-05:00The Inner History of a Day: A Poem on Birth and Rebirth<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>The Inner History of a Day</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>by <a href="http://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/Poets/O/ODonohueJohn/index.html" target="_blank">John O'Donohue</a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">No one knew the name of this day;<br />Born quietly from deepest night,<br />It hid its face in light,<br />Demanded nothing for itself,<br />Opened out to offer each of us<br />A field of brightness that traveled ahead,<br />Providing in time, ground to hold our footsteps<br />And the light of thought to show the way.<br /><br />The mind of the day draws no attention;<br />It dwells within the silence with elegance<br />To create a space for all our words,<br />Drawing us to listen inward and outward.<br /><br />We seldom notice how each day is a holy place<br />Where the eucharist of the ordinary happens,<br />Transforming our broken fragments<br />Into an eternal continuity that keeps us.<br /><br />Somewhere in us a dignity presides<br />That is more gracious than the smallness<br />That fuels us with fear and force,<br />A dignity that trusts the form a day takes.<br /><br />So at the end of this day, we give thanks<br />For being betrothed to the unknown<br />And for the secret work<br />Through which the mind of the day<br />And wisdom of the soul become one.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Notes:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The article below is quite interesting and Karma is very Real but I can not vouch for the accuracy of the information because I am not yet fully versed in the historical documents quoted. All comments are welcome and appreciated!</span></div>
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<a href="http://articles4friends.com/2012/05/10/karma-and-reincarnation-ii/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: small;">Karma And Reincarnation</span></a></h1>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> Namaste'</span></div>
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<big style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></big>Tom Langleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04254601519058396299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770777139236435869.post-44700007247317219372012-03-15T04:22:00.000-05:002012-03-17T02:30:37.727-05:00Living with Death<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
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Lao-tse speaks of the death of a loved one, or anyone for that matter, as a time to rejoice and a birth as a time to mourn. He is right, you know. He was and Is one of the greatest Sages in history, the acclaimed author of the Tao Te Ching, and the founder of ancient Taoist philosophy. Zen, the non-religious philosophy and Practice of Mahayana Buddhism or Ch'an Buddhism expresses the Wisdom of Non-attachment to the good, the bad, the pain, and the suffering we encounter within the illusory "realities" created by our Egos. These two Ways of Wisdom are very similar and both absolutely correct teachings of the One Truth. Getting to this level of self-mastery is a Path that removes the accumulated garbage we suppress over eons and clears up the "interference" that conceals our calm Center, our True Nature or Self. However, the "tool(s)", such as meditation, Tai Chi, et al, we use to follow and clear this Path can take a lifetime or more of dedication. So what do we do when tragedy hits?</div>
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I just found out that my only brother died a tragic death so once again I am faced with this enormous obstacle on my Path. If I go with the Wisdom and Flow around it unattached, if possible, it will appear heartless and callous. Plus, if I just suppress my deep sorrow, it will have to be faced later. The only solution that feels Right is to allow my Mind and Body to Be naturally One, open the floodgates, and Let Go. It will painfully surface and eventually dissipate. This is the plan. When and where, I do not know.</div>
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I love you John, Always have, Always will, and we shall meet again along this vicious cycle of Life and Death. For now though, Rest in Peace. You deserve it!</div>
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In loving memory of my Brother...</div>
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Namaste' </div>
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<b>Obituary:</b> http://amarillo.com/obituaries/2012-03-09/john-benton-langley</div>Tom Langleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04254601519058396299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770777139236435869.post-22465355655667826542012-02-20T03:59:00.000-06:002012-03-17T02:13:58.281-05:00Sharing Wisdom on My Path<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2vVoed36MM1Jctnp4XXtXBMTvO3W1j86zmZ5nIiett3yRFR9LADi7tl3M9t6rtZ1axNDUDpf8F0Bxz3c_CxDYrWteBmPpSGGRORW2NfFkvfVU0ajtUQsdWVMHA4mERY2vLBciiktYe-Pm/s1600/Sharing+Wisdom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2vVoed36MM1Jctnp4XXtXBMTvO3W1j86zmZ5nIiett3yRFR9LADi7tl3M9t6rtZ1axNDUDpf8F0Bxz3c_CxDYrWteBmPpSGGRORW2NfFkvfVU0ajtUQsdWVMHA4mERY2vLBciiktYe-Pm/s400/Sharing+Wisdom.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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My Path is such a Joyful one whether I am alone or amongst a crowd of people. There is at least one day each week where I leave the beautiful sound of Silence out here in my paradise in the Texas Hill Country to go to the incredibly unique and stunningly beautiful city of San Marcos - home to my Alma Mater. One night each week is one just for enjoying the social life here and, particularly, Being amongst and conversing with the wonderfully inspiring, intelligent, and beautiful young men and women who are attending Texas State University. Their perspectives on life are of great interest to me and indeed quite enlightening in so many ways. There is never a night, an encounter, an in-depth conversation, or a newly-formed friendship that leaves me anything but refreshed, filled with joy, and very impressed with their Present overall level of worldly knowledge and, in the occasional meeting, some actual Wisdom of their True Nature. The other night was no exception. There was one particular conversation I had with three young students right before leaving town that made the entire evening very special indeed.</div>
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My greatest obstacle to fulfilling my honorable and humbling "assignment" here has Always been, "How do I explain the One Truth to them, or anyone, when such Truth is ineffable?". I have failed miserably in almost every case except, possibly, for the aforementioned conversation. My insistence that Reality, that Life itself exist only in the moment, the Infinite Present, actually took hold of them. Their grasp of this Truth, this Ultimate Truth, set my Being alive and "buzzing" with the Blissful Energy of the Universe(s), Source, God, our True Nature, and our Oneness with All. Hopefully, our next conversation will be one with sincere questions about who we are, why we are here, and "where" do we go from here.</div>
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After such a night of realizing their willingness to truly "hear" my words, I am fully prepared and honored to help them to begin building their Foundation of Wisdom upon the necessity to Relax, to naturally Breathe deeply, and to Stop for a moment just to Observe, to Witness, and to realize the Folly of their <a href="http://www.klab.caltech.edu/%7Ekoch/unconscious-homunculus.html" target="_blank">Homunculus</a> (internal dialogue), and to see that the reality "it" creates is Not the actual Reality in which we Live. These three actions are the simple tools everyone must learn to use throughout the day to realize the incredible amount of useless noise their Ego is creating before beginning their Path back to the Present. Hopefully, they will remember to do this and Be amazed at the level of distractions it is creating. I eagerly look forward to hearing about this Awakening and our next "Learning Event"!</div>
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For now, I am just beginning my journey into Part V. of Section IV. "From the Chinese Zen Masters' in the Manual of Zen Buddhism translated by the arguably, and in my opinion, the greatest scholar and Zen Master of the Twentieth Century, D. T. Suzuki. Although I may compose and post other entries beforehand, each one of the teachings from this ancient text contains the very essence of the One Truth that constantly shines a Great Light upon our individual Paths with Heart - All eventually intercepting the One Path that lead us back Home to our True Nature, the Paradise within, to which We All Must return. Be well!</div>
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Namaste'</div>
<br />Tom Langleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04254601519058396299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770777139236435869.post-79378617017469672352012-02-08T03:20:00.000-06:002012-02-11T05:36:18.907-06:00YOKA DAISHI'S "SONG OF ENLIGHTENMENT"<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
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Continuing with the next ancient teaching from the " Manual of Zen Buddhism", I present Part IV. of this Section: <br />
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IV. FROM THE CHINESE ZEN MASTERS</h1>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">YOKA DAISHI'S "SONG OF ENLIGHTENMENT"</span></b><br />
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This is an incredible ancient Zen teaching on Enlightenment from a very early Zen Master. The original text by Master Yoka Daishi, <i>Cheng-tao Ke</i>, "realization-way-song", is more complex than the previous teachings and is filled with ancient terminology so I have spent quite some time contemplating whether I should post it here or not. After reading it many times and studying it thoroughly, though, the answer is now obvious. The great Wisdom contained within this very important teaching is a Must-read for everyone who is serious about their respective Practice(s). Please take your time with this one and it's beauty, it's true clarity, and it's infinite importance will be revealed. As always, domo arigato' to the late, great Zen Master and scholar, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._T._Suzuki" target="_blank">D.T.Suzuki,</a> for translating the original text and presenting it's great Wisdom here for the benefit of all. Enjoy!<br />
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Namaste'<br />
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<a href="http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/mzb/mzb04.htm" target="_blank"><b>YOKA DAISHI'S "SONG OF ENLIGHTENMENT"[1]</b></a></div>
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1. Knowest thou that leisurely philosopher who has gone beyond learning and is not exerting himself in anything?</div>
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He neither endeavours to avoid idle thoughts nor seeks after the Truth;</div>
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[For he knows that] ignorance in reality is the Buddha-nature,</div>
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[And that] this empty visionary body is no less than the Dharma-body.</div>
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2. When one knows what the Dharma-body is, there is not an object [to be known as such],</div>
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The source of all things, as far as its self-nature goes, is the Buddha in his absolute aspect;</div>
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The five aggregates (<i>skandha</i>) are like a cloud floating hither and thither with no fixed purpose,</div>
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The three poisons (<i>klesa</i>) are like foams appearing and disappearing as it so happens to them.</div>
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3. When Reality is attained, it is seen to be without an ego-substance and devoid of all forms of objectivity,</div>
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And thereby all the karma which leads us to the lowest hell is instantly wiped out;</div>
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Those, however, who cheat beings with their false knowledge,</div>
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Will surely see their tongues pulled out for innumerable ages to come.</div>
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4. In one whose mind is at once awakened to [the intent of] the Tathagata-dhyana</div>
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The six paramitas and all the other merits are fully matured;</div>
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While in a world of dreams the six paths of existence arc vividly traced,</div>
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But after the awakening there is vast Emptiness only and not even a great chiliocosm exists.</div>
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5. Here one sees neither sin nor bliss, neither loss nor gain;</div>
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In the midst of the Eternally Serene no idle questionings are invited;</div>
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The dust [of ignorance] has been since of old accumulating on the mirror never polished,</div>
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Now is the time once for all to see the clearing positively done.</div>
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6. Who is said to have no-thought? and who not-born?</div>
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If really not-born, there is no no-birth either;</div>
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Ask a machine-man and find out if this is not so;</div>
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As long as you seek Buddhahood, specifically exercising yourself for it, there is no attainment for you.</div>
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7. Let the four elements go off your hold,</div>
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And in the midst of the Eternally Serene allow yourself to quaff or to peck, as you like;</div>
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Where all things of relativity are transient and ultimately empty,</div>
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There is seen the great perfect enlightenment of the Tathagata realized.</div>
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8. True monkhood consists in having a firm conviction;</div>
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If, however, you fail to have it, ask me according to your ideas, [and you will be enlightened].</div>
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To have a direct understanding in regard to the root of all things, this is what the Buddha affirms;</div>
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If you go on gathering leaves and branches, there is no help for you.</div>
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9. The whereabouts of the precious <i>mani</i>-jewel is not known to people generally,</div>
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Which lies deeply buried in the recesses of the Tathagata-garbha;</div>
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The sixfold function miraculously performed by it is an illusion and yet not an illusion,</div>
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The rays of light emanating from one perfect sun belong to the realm of form and yet not to it.</div>
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10. The fivefold eye-sight<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[1]</span></b> is purified and the fivefold power<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">[2]</span> </b></span>is gained,</div>
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When one has a realization, which is beyond [intellectual] measurement;</div>
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There is no difficulty in recognizing images in the mirror,</div>
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But who can take hold of the moon reflected in water?</div>
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11. [The enlightened one] walks always by himself, goes about always by himself;</div>
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Every perfect one saunters along one and the same passage of Nirvana;</div>
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His tone is classical, his spirit is transparent, his airs are naturally elevated,</div>
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His features are rather gaunt, his bones are firm, he pays no attention to others.</div>
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12. Sons of the Sakya are known to be poor;</div>
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But their poverty is of the body, their spiritual life knows no poverty;</div>
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The poverty-stricken body is wrapped in rags,</div>
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But their spirit holds within itself a rare invaluable gem.</div>
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13. The rare invaluable gem is never impaired however much one uses it,</div>
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And beings are thereby benefited ungrudgingly as required by occasions;</div>
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The triple body<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-small;"><b>[3]</b></span> and the fourfold jnana<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-small;"><b>[4]</b></span> are perfected within it,</div>
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The eightfold emancipation<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-small;"><b>[5]</b></span> and the sixfold miraculous power<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[6]</span></b> are impressed on it.</div>
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14. The superior one has it settled once for all and forever</div>
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The middling one learns much and holds much doubt;</div>
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The point is to cast aside your soiled clothes you so dearly keep with you;</div>
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What is the use of showing off your work before others?</div>
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15. Let others speak ill of me, let others spite me;</div>
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Those who try to burn the sky with a torch end in tiring themselves out;</div>
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I listen to them and taste [their evil-speaking] as nectar;</div>
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All melts away and I find myself suddenly within the Unthinkable itself.<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[7]</span></b></div>
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16. Seeing others talk ill of me, I acquire the chance of gaining merit,</div>
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For they are really my good friends;</div>
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When I cherish, being vituperated, neither enmity nor favouritism,</div>
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There grows within me the power of love and humility which is born of the Unborn.</div>
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17. Let us be thoroughgoing not only in inner experience but in its interpretation,</div>
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And our discipline will be perfect in Dhyana as well as in Prajna, not one-sidedly abiding in Sunyata (emptiness);</div>
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This is not where we alone have finally come to,</div>
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But all the Buddhas, as numerous as the Ganga sands, are of the same essence.</div>
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18. The lion-roaring of the doctrine of fearlessness--</div>
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Hearing this, the timid animals' brains are torn in pieces,</div>
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Even the scented elephant runs wild forgetting its native dignity;</div>
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It is the heavenly dragon alone that feels elated with joy, calmly listening [to the lion-roaring of the Buddha].</div>
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19. I crossed seas and rivers, climbed mountains, and forded freshets,</div>
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In order to interview the masters, to inquire after Truth, to delve into the secrets of Zen;</div>
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And ever since I was enabled to recognize the path of Sokei,<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-small;"><b>[8]</b></span></div>
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I know that birth-and-death is not the thing I have to be concerned with.</div>
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20. For walking is Zen, sitting is Zen,</div>
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Whether talking or remaining silent, whether moving or standing quiet, the Essence itself is ever at ease;</div>
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Even when greeted with swords and spears it never loses its quiet way,</div>
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So with poisonous drugs, they fail to perturb its serenity.</div>
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21. Our Master, [Sakyamuni], anciently served Dipankara the Buddha,</div>
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And again for many kalpas disciplined himself as an ascetic called Kshanti.</div>
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[I have also] gone through many a birth and many a death;</div>
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Births and deaths-how endlessly they recur!</div>
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22. But ever since my realization of No-birth, which quite abruptly came on me,</div>
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Vicissitudes of fate, good and bad, have lost their power over me.</div>
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Far away in the mountains I live in an humble hut;</div>
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High are the mountains, thick the arboreous shades, and under an old pine-tree</div>
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I sit quietly and contentedly in my monkish home;</div>
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Perfect tranquillity and rustic simplicity rules here.</div>
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23. When you are awakened [to the Dharma], all is understood, no strivings are required;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
Things of the <i>samskrita</i><b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[9]</span></b> are not of this nature;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
Charity practised with the idea of form (<i>rupa</i>) may result in a heavenly birth,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
But it is like shooting an arrow against the sky,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
When the force is exhausted the arrow falls on the ground.</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
Similarly, [when the heavenly reward comes to an end], the life that follows is sure to be one of fortune.</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
Is it not far better then to be with Reality which is <i>asamskrita</i> and above all strivings,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
And whereby one instantly enters the stage of Tathagatahood?</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
24. Only let us take hold of the root and not worry about the branches;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
It is like a crystal basin reflecting the moon,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
And I know now what this <i>mani</i>-gem is,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
Whereby not only oneself is benefited but others, inexhaustibly;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
The moon is serenely reflected on the stream, the breeze passes softly through the pines,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
Perfect silence reigning unruffled-what is it for?</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
25. The morality-jewel inherent in the Buddha-nature stamps itself on the mind-ground [of the enlightened one];</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
Whose robe is cut out of mists, clouds, and dews,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
Whose bowl anciently pacified the fiery dragons, and whose staff once separated the fighting tigers;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
Listen now to the golden rings of his staff giving out mellifluous tunes.</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
These are not, however, mere symbolic expressions, devoid of historical contents;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
Wherever the holy staff of Tathagatahood moves, the traces are distinctly marked.</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
26. He neither seeks the true nor severs himself from the defiled,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
He clearly perceives that dualities are empty and have no reality,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
That to have no reality means not to be one-sided, neither empty nor not-empty,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
For this is the genuine form of Tathagatahood.</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
27. The Mind like a mirror is brightly illuminating and knows no obstructions,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
It penetrates the vast universe to its minutest crevices;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
All its contents, multitudinous in form, are reflected in the Mind,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
Which, shining like a perfect gem, has no surface, nor the inside.</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
28. Emptiness negatively defined denies a world of causality,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
All is then in utter confusion, with no orderliness in it, which surely invites evils all around;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
The same holds true when beings are clung to at the expense of Emptiness,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
For it is like throwing oneself into a flame, in order to avoid being drowned in the water.</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
29. When one attempts to take hold of the true by abandoning the false,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
This is discrimination and there are artificialities and falsehoods;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
When the Yogin, not understanding [what the Mind is], is given up to mere discipline,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
He is apt, indeed, to take an enemy for his own child.</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
30. That the Dharma-materials are destroyed and merit is lost,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
Comes in every case from the relative discriminatory mind;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
For this reason Zen teaches to have a thorough insight into the nature of Mind,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
When the Yogin abruptly by means of his intuitive power realizes the truth of No-birth.</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
31. A man of great will carries with him a sword of Prajna,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
Whose flaming Vajra-blade cuts all the entanglements of knowledge and ignorance;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
It not only smashes in pieces the intellect of the philosophers</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
But disheartens the spirit of the evil ones.</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
32. He causes the Dharma-thunder to roar, he beats the Dharma-drum,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
He raises mercy-clouds, he pours nectar-showers,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
He conducts himself like the lordly elephant or dragon and beings innumerable are thereby blessed,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
The three Vehicles and the five Families are all equally brought to enlightenment.</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
Hini the herb grows on the Himalaya where no other grasses are found,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
And the crows feeding on it give the purest of milk, and this I always enjoy.</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
One Nature, perfect and pervading, circulates in all natures;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
One Reality, all comprehensive, contains within itself all realities;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
The one moon reflects itself wherever there is a sheet of water,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
And all the moons in the waters are embraced within the one moon;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
The Dharma-body of all the Buddhas enters into my own being,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
And my own being is found in union with theirs.</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
33. In one stage are stored up all the stages;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
[Reality] is neither form, nor mind, nor work;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
Even before fingers are snapped, more than eighty thousand holy teachings are fulfilled;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
Even in the space of a second the evil karma of three asamkhyeya kalpas is destroyed;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
Whatever propositions are made by logic are no [true] propositions,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
For they stand in no intrinsic relation to my inner Light.</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
34. [This inner Light] is beyond both praise and abuse,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
Like unto space it knows no boundaries;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
Yet it is right here with us ever retaining its serenity and fulness;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
It is only when you seek it that you lose it.</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
You cannot take hold of it, nor can you get rid of it;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
While you can do neither, it goes on its own way;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
You remain silent and it speaks; you speak and it is silent;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
The great gate of charity is wide open with no obstructions whatever before it.</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
35. Should someone ask me what teaching I understand,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
I tell him that mine is the power of Mahaprajna;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
Affirm it or negate it as you like-it is beyond your human intelligence;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
Walk against it or along with it, and Heaven knows not its whereabouts.</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
36. 1 have been disciplined in it for ever so many kalpas of my life;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
This is no idle talk of mine, nor am I deceiving you;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
I erect the Dharma-banner to maintain this teaching,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
Which I have gained at Sokei and which is no other than the one proclaimed by the Buddha.</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
37. Mahakashyapa was the first, leading the line of transmission;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
Twenty-eight Fathers followed him in the West;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
The Lamp was then brought over the sea to this country;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
And Bodhidharma became the First Father here:</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
His mantle, as we all know, passed over six Fathers,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
And by them many minds came to see the Light.</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
38. Even the true need not be [specifically] established, as to the false none such have ever been in existence;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
When both being and non-being are put aside, even non-emptiness loses its sense;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
The twenty forms of Emptiness are not from the first to be adhered to;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
The eternal oneness of Tathagatahood remains absolutely the same.</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
39. The mind functions through the sense-organs, and thereby an objective world is comprehended--</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
This dualism marks darkly on the mirror;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
When the dirt is wiped off, the light shines out;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
So when both the mind and the objective world are forgotten, the Essence asserts its truth.</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
40. Alas! this age of degeneration is full of evils;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
Beings are most poorly endowed and difficult to control;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
Being further removed from the ancient Sage, they deeply cherish false views;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
The Evil One is gathering up his forces while the Dharma is weakened, and hatred is growing rampant;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
Even when they learn of the "abrupt" school of the Buddhist teaching,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
What a pity that they fail to embrace it and thereby to crush evils like a piece of brick!</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
41. The mind is the author of all works and the body the sufferer of all ills;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
Do not blame others plaintively for what properly belongs to you;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
If you desire not to incur upon yourself the karma for a hell,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
Cease from blaspheming the Tathagata-wheel of the good Dharma.</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
42. There are no inferior trees in the grove of sandalwoods,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
Among its thickly-growing primeval forest lions alone find their abode;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
Where no disturbances reach, where peace only reigns, there is the place for lions to roam;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
All the other beasts are kept away, and birds do not fly in the vicinity.</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
43. It is only their own cubs that follow their steps in the woods,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
When the young ones are only three years old, they roar.</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
How can jackals pursue the king of the Dharma?</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
With all their magical arts the elves gape to no purpose.</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
44. The perfect "abrupt" teaching has nothing to do with human imagination;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
Where a shadow of doubt is still left, there lies the cause for argumentation;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
My saying this is not the outcome of my egotism,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
My only fear is lest your discipline lead you astray either to nihilism or positivism.</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
45. "No" is not necessarily "No", nor is "Yes" "Yes";</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
But when you miss even a tenth of an inch, the difference widens up to one thousand miles;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
When it is "Yes", a young Naga girl in an instant attains Buddhahood,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
When it is "No", the most learned Zensho[<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">10]</span></b> while alive falls into hell.</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
46. Since early years I have been eagerly after scholarly attainment,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
I have studied the sutras and sastras and commentaries,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
I have been given up to the analysis of names and forms, and never known what fatigue meant;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
But diving into the ocean to count up its sands is surely an exhausting task and a vain one;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
The Buddha has never spared such, his scoldings are just to the point,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
For what is the use of reckoning the treasures that are not mine?</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
All my past achievements have been efforts vainly and wrongly applied-I realize it fully now,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
I have been a vagrant monk for many years to no end whatever.</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
47. When the notion of the original family is not properly understood,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
You never attain to the understanding of the Buddha's perfect "abrupt" system;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
The two Vehicles exert themselves enough, but lack the aspirations [of the Bodhisattva];</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
The philosophers are intelligent enough but wanting in Prajna;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
[As to the rest of us] they are either ignorant or puerile;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
They take an empty fist as containing something real, and the pointing finger for the object pointed;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
When the finger is adhered to as the moon itself, all their efforts are lost;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
They are indeed idle dreamers lost in a world of senses and objects.</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
48. The Tathagata is interviewed when one enters upon a realm of no-forms,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
Such is to be really called a Kwanjizai (Avalokitesvara)</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
When this is understood, the karma-hindrances are by nature empty;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
When not understood, we all pay for the past debts contracted.</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
49. A royal table is set before the hungry, but they refuse to eat;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
If the sick turn away from a good physician, how are they cured?</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
Practise Zen while in a world of desires, and the genuine power of intuition is manifested;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
When the lotus blooms in the midst of a fire, it is never destroyed.</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
Yuse (Yung-shih) the Bhikshu<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-small;"><b>[11]</b></span> was an offender in one of the gravest
crimes, but when he had an enlightened insight into No-birth</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
He instantly attained to Buddhahood and is still living in another world.</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
50. The doctrine of fearlessness is taught as loudly as a lion roars:</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
What a pity that confused minds inflexibly hardened like leather</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
Understand only that grave offences are obstructions to Enlightenment,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
And are unable to see into the secrets of the Tathagata's teaching.</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
51. Anciently, there were two Bhikshus, the one committing murder and the other a carnal offence:</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
Upali's insight was like that of the glowworm, and ended only in tightening the knots of offence;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
But when they were instantly enlightened by the wisdom of Vimalakirti,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
Their griefs and doubts melted away like the frost and snow before the blazing sun.</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
52. The power of incomprehensible emancipation</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
Works wonders as innumerable as the sands of the Ganga and knows no limits;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
[To him] the four kinds of offerings are most willingly made,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
By him thousands of pieces of gold are disbursed without involving anybody in debts;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
The bones may be crushed to powders, the body cut</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
up to pieces, and yet we cannot repay him enough for what he does for us;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
Even a phrase [issuing from him] holds true for hundreds of thousands of kotis of kalpas.</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
53. He is the Dharma-king deserving the highest respect;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
The Tathagatas, as many in number as the Ganga-sands, all testify to the truth of his attainment;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
I now understand what this mani jewel is,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
And know that all those who accept it in faith are in correspondence [with it].</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
54. As to seeing it, the seeing is clear enough, but no objects are here to be seen,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
Not a person here, nor the Buddha;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
Chiliocosms numberless are mere bubbles in the ocean,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
All the sages and worthies are flashes of lightning.</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
55. However rapidly revolves the iron-wheel over my head,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
The perfect brightness of Dhyana and Prajna in me is never effaced;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
The sun may turn cold. and the moon hot;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
With all the power of the evil ones the true doctrine remains forever indestructible.</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
The elephant-carriage steadily climbs up the steepest hill,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
Before whose wheels how can the beetle stand?</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
56. The great elephant does not walk on the hare's lane,</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
Supreme Enlightenment goes beyond the narrow range of intellection;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
Cease from measuring heaven with a tiny piece of reed;</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
If you have no insight yet, I will have the matter settled for you.</div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<div style="color: #cc0000;">
<b>Notes:</b></div>
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #3d85c6;">
<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[1]</span></b> Yoka Daishi (died 713, Yung-chia Ta-shih, in Chinese), otherwise
known as Gengaku (Hsuan-chiao), was one of the chief disciples of
Hui-neng, the, sixth patriarch of Zen Buddhism. Before he was converted
to Zen he was a student of the T'ien-tai. His interview with Hui-neng is
recorded in the Tan-ching. He died in 713 leaving a number of short
works on Zen philosophy, and of them the present composition in verse is
the most popular one. The Original title reads: <i>Cheng-tao Ke</i>, "realization-way-song".</div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[2]</span></b> The fivefold eye-sight (<i>cakshus</i>) : (1) Physical, (2) Heavenly, (3) Prajna-, (4) Dharma-, and (5) Buddha-eye.</div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[3]</span></b> The fivefold power (<i>bala</i>): (1) Faith, (2) Energy, (3) Memory, (4) Meditation, and (5) Prajna.]</div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[4]</span></b> (1) The Dharma-body, (2) the Body of Enjoyment, and (3) the Body of Transformation.</div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[5]</span></b> (1) Mirror-intuition, (2) intuition of identity, (3) knowledge of doing Works, and (4) clear perception of relations.</div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[6]</span></b>The <i>Abhidharmakosa</i>, VIII, gives an explanation of the eight Vimoksha. See La Vallee Poussin's French translation, Chap. VIII, pp. 203-221.</div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[7]</span></b> For the six Riddhi, which are the supernatural products of the meditations, see op. cit., VII, 122 <i>ff.</i>]</div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-small;"><b>[8]</b></span> T'sao-ch'i is the name of the locality where Hui-neng had his monastery, means the master himself.]</div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[9] </span></b>According to Buddhist philosophy, existence is divided into two groups, <i>samskrita</i> and <i>asamskrita</i>.
The samskrita applies to anything that does any kind of work in any
possible manner, while the asamskrita accomplishes nothing. Of this
class are space regarded as a mode of reality, Nirvana, and nonexistence
owing to lack of necessary conditions.]</div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[10]</span></b> Shang-hsing, lit. "good star", was a great scholar of his age.]<br />
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[11]</span></b> The story of this Bhikshu is told in the <i>Sutra on Cleansing the Karma-hindrances</i> (<i>Ching Yeh-chang Ching</i>). </div>
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</h2>Tom Langleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04254601519058396299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770777139236435869.post-42949924812010228342012-01-09T22:55:00.000-06:002012-01-24T01:06:03.381-06:00Calm Down<h1 style="color: #3d85c6;">
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<span class="PrintFriendlyBody" style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">This article is a great introduction to some formal types of meditation practices available to everyone. They All work very well IF you will be consistent with your daily Practice and give them the necessary time to change the neural makeup of your brain. This is called "Neural Plasticity" - something amazing that Science just recently discovered and is rapidly expanding it's research in worldwide. There are several links at the bottom to more information about each of them. Doing this Practice in one of these or any other proven system is the most important thing you will ever do, Period! Enjoy!</span></h1>
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Can Sacramento meditation practices help us learn to quiet the noise and cultivate appreciation for our world?</h2>
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<span class="ContentBy"><b>B</b><b>y </b></span><a href="http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/calm-down/content?oid=1857928" target="_blank"><span class="ContentBy"><b>Nancy </b></span><span class="ContentBy"><b>Brands Ward</b></span></a></div>
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<span class="PrintFriendlyBody"><span style="font-size: small;">On one of t</span>he most exquisite days of Sacramento’s summer, three dozen people elected to spend the day indoors, sitting straight-backed in a darkened room, paying careful attention to the inner workings of their minds and the wisdom of an unassuming Zen master.</span></div>
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<span class="PrintFriendlyBody">What could motivate these ordinary people to sit silently </span></div>
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<span class="PrintFriendlyBody"> The promise of enlightenment, perhaps?<br />
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Lin Jensen, who led the retreat sponsored by the Sacramento Buddhist Meditation Group that’s met weekly to study all Buddhist traditions for the past 20 years, believes there’s an overemphasis on enlightenment in popular discourse on Buddhism and meditation.<br />
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“Soto Zen says you’re already enlightened, you just haven’t noticed it,” said Jensen, senior Buddhist chaplain to High Desert State Prison in Susanville and founder of the Chico Zen Sangha, noting that he found being asked to hold still when he first began meditation a revolutionary idea.<br />
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The stillness of meditation is all about the noticing.<br />
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Most religions incorporate some form of meditation into their traditions, and in recent years the contemplative practice has been swelling in popularity, with millions of Americans now reporting that they meditate.<br />
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That upswing can be evidenced beyond a doubt in the Sacramento region.<br />
Why do they meditate? They do it for stress relief, to control pain and to achieve emotional balance. They practice it to become familiar with a new way of perceiving themselves and the world. And they endure it to cultivate loving kindness or compassion.<br />
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Enlightenment? Maybe. Maybe not.<br />
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Meditation has been around since at least the time of the Buddha more than 2,500 years ago, and there are many methods espoused for finding peace and liberation through the practice. Dozens are represented in the Sacramento region, and SN&R visited a handful to give you the scoop on where they are and what to expect when you visit.<br />
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Nearly all are run completely by volunteers and operate through donations. Some recognize the existence of an external deity, though most speak only of the divinity within. All welcome newcomers and don’t require that you become a Buddhist, a yogi or even a Christian to engage in meditation. What SN&R found is that at their cores, they’re all aiming for the same result through contemplative practice: the equanimity to engage life with generosity and kindness.<br />
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<b>Engage the world</b><br />
<b>Theravada Buddhism: Sacramento Insight Meditation</b><br />
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Twice a month on Thursday evenings, several dozen Sacramentans gather in the Friends meeting house (Quakers) near Sacramento State to work at cultivating their minds through a practice called <i>vipassana</i>, or insight meditation, which is the simple and direct practice of moment-to-moment mindfulness.<br />
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Some sit on cushions, but most sit in chairs aligned inside the arc of the circular meeting hall. They come together as members of the Sacramento Insight Meditation group to practice the four foundations of mindfulness: contemplation of the body, feelings, mind and dharma (the teachings of Buddhism, or simply “the way things are”).<br />
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Like many meditative techniques, vipassana begins by paying attention to the breath to help calm and focus the mind. But what distinguishes insight meditation from many other practices is that in it nothing is pushed away, said Diane Wilde, a teaching mentor at SIM. “We engage with whatever comes to the forefront during meditation—a really strong feeling … the sounds of birds chirping—we investigate it.”<br />
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From this mindful awareness comes a deep understanding about the reality of the world and ultimately freedom from the often painful results of reacting in a conditioned, or not mindful, way.<br />
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“Are we aware of what we’re putting out in the world for ourselves and for others?” Wilde said in explaining the goal of mindfulness meditation. “It’s not a retreat from the world—it’s engaging the world with compassion and understanding.<br />
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<span class="PrintFriendlyBody">“God, yes, it’s hard!” she said. “However, for the people who stick with it—what a difference. I work with men at Folsom prison who are no longer suffering.<br />
“It’s possible,” Wilde said. “But the question is, do you want to make [a] commitment or not? It means less TV, less Internet, more mindfulness.”<br />
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<span class="PrintFriendlyBody">Jack Kornfield, Joseph Goldstein and Sharon Salzberg are among the most well-known American teachers in this tradition. Kornfield teaches at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Marin, and many local teachers have studied with him and teach there themselves. SIM’s supervising senior teacher, John Travis, is a member of Spirit Rock’s Senior Teachers Council and is the founding teacher of Mountain Stream Meditation Center in Auburn.</span></div>
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<b>A reputation for discipline</b><br />
<b>Soto Zen Buddhism: Valley Streams Zen Sangha</b><br />
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On a recent Monday night, 25 Zen students sat in a makeshift zendo in East Sacramento, contemplating a belief posted by the Dalai Lama on Facebook that a surefire cure for anxiety is to focus attention away from one’s self and toward others.<br />
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“Yes,” said Myo Denis Lahey, guiding teacher of the Valley Streams Zen Sangha, before posing the question: “But if there is no inherent existence, how then can compassion for fellow beings arise?”<br />
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Discussion meandered around the question for a half-hour, with both the flashes of clarity and cloudy ambiguity Zen is famous for when exploring the burning questions of existence that the tradition holds cannot be answered by dualist Cartesian reasoning. The discussion led by Lahey, teacher in residence at San Francisco’s Hartford Street Zen Center in the lineage established in the 1960s by Shunryu Suzuki-roshi, capped off the evening that began with 30 minutes of meditation.<br />
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Earlier that evening, sangha members had turned The Yoga Solution’s largest studio into a meditation hall. Students dress modestly in black or dull colors and sit on cushions or chairs facing the wall in silence.<br />
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While meditation—called <i>zazen</i> in this tradition—is about training the mind, it’s not as some mistakenly believe about eliminating all thought or transcending ordinary experience. Jim Hare, who has served as <i>ino</i>, or head of the meditation hall, since 2002, describes the practice this way: “We wouldn’t stand by a stream and say that with the power of our concentration, we make the stream flow. Similarly, we don’t say about zazen that with the power of our concentration we awaken to true mind. True mind is fully awake. Meditation is the noticing of this never-beginning, never-ending wakefulness of mind.”<br />
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Expect incense, bells, bowing, chanting and walking meditation at Valley Streams Zen Sangha. Beginning meditation instruction, which is offered before the practice period on Monday evenings and through a Tuesday-night course beginning in October, focuses on teaching newcomers the forms of practice.<br />
Zen’s reputation for strict discipline can be off-putting, and some may react to what they see as the conformity of the sitting postures, mudras for holding hands, severity of dress and seeming isolation involved in facing a blank wall. Hare notes that practicing with others supports individual resolve, and he likens the discipline of Zen to his experience of learning to play the violin.<br />
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“Anyone who’s ever played the violin knows you can’t just put your fingers down anywhere and make music,” Hare explained. “Through many people’s study of the violin, there’s developed a narrow way to play it. The more I became adept at the technique, the better I played.”<br />
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<b>Tibetan Buddhism: Davis Shambhala Meditation Center</b><br />
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Buddhism explodes into color in the Tibetan tradition. In a second-floor suite of a strip-mall-type building on D Street, practitioners enter the Davis Shambhala Meditation Center’s meditation hall through a shiny red door. There’s more color inside, with rectangular red and gold meditation blocks positioned atop neat rows of red mats facing an altar adorned with bright-colored tapestries, flowers, candles, bowls and gold-colored statues.<br />
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In a separate room on a Monday evening, senior student Richard Darsie instructed a handful of beginners in the basics of <i>shamatha</i> meditation, which is also known as peaceful, or calm, abiding. Again, the basic instruction is to focus awareness on the breath, either by feeling the sense of breath in the chest, the abdomen or the base of the nostrils, following the breath until the awareness is “riding the breath” as it moves in and out of the body.<br />
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As thoughts inevitably arise, they’re acknowledged, labeled<br />
“thinking,” and they fade from awareness. Each time a flash of awareness occurs that awareness has wandered from the breath, the instruction is to bring the focus back gently to the motion of breath. With practice, the frequency and duration of these wanderings diminishes.<br />
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Darsie was drawn to this tradition primarily because of its focus on working with emotions through meditation. Working intelligently with emotions can help us make less trouble for ourselves in our everyday lives, he explained.<br />
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“Our minds are addicted to complexity and drama,” Darsie said. “The repetition of meditation wears away our habitual ways of thinking, and helps us cultivate gentleness toward ourselves and appreciation for our world.”<br />
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Meditation is an opportunity to rest the mind by paying attention to what’s before it. Like other traditions, Shambhala aims to move mindfulness into all aspects of daily life. Darsie explained: “There’s no activity in your life that would not benefit from paying more attention to it.”<br />
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Darsie also spoke of the difficulty of meditation and cautioned newcomers against thinking it’s some sort of quick fix to the ordinary suffering of life that everyone experiences.<br />
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“You have to turn toward the parts of yourself you don’t like. It’s like sitting in a bath of manure,” he said. “But you surround yourself with space and nonjudgmental kindness as you come face to face with all your <i>stuff</i>.”<br />
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Shambhala was founded in 1973 by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, a Tibetan Buddhist meditation master, artist, author and poet. His son, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, leads the tradition today. The Northern California Shambhala senior dharma teacher is Pema Chödrön, a best-selling author and well-known teacher who has opened some previously advanced meditative practices like <i>tonglen</i> to followers in the West.<br />
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<b>Walking meditation: the labyrinth, Episcopal Church of St. Martin</b><br />
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<span class="PrintFriendlyBody">Most Buddhist and other religious traditions incorporate some form of walking meditation into their practices. But moving meditation is not what most people typically associate with Christian faiths—that is, unless they’ve tapped into the recent resurgence of interest in walking the labyrinth.<br />
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The region’s most stunning labyrinth can be found at the Episcopal Church of St. Martin in Davis. It’s modeled after the world-famous labyrinth built at the Chartres Cathedral in France around 1220. Like that one, it’s about 42 feet in diameter and leads the walker one-quarter mile along a single path over 11 different circuits.<br />
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A labyrinth isn’t a maze. There are no tricks to it, no decisions to be made and no dead ends. Some say that walking one is like holding up a mirror to reveal your life. You’re never sure where the path will lead you, but ultimately you find yourself at the center of the circle. Then you set out to return to where you began.<br />
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St. Martin members laid down the labyrinth created by famed designer Robert Ferre in just 10 days, completing it in November 2009. The church installed it to enhance parishioners’ spiritual experience, as well for outreach to the community.<br />
Walking it takes about 15 minutes, more or less, depending on your own pace and labyrinth etiquette, which demands that walkers follow the path and try to stay out the way of other walkers along the path.<br />
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“But if no one’s walking the labyrinth, there’s no problem walking across it,” said Janet Lane, senior warden and president of the church’s board. “It’s kind of sacred space, but for a recent celebration we set up a bubble machine in the center and let the kids play.”<br />
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The benefits of walking include meditation, relaxation, balance, enjoyment and contemplation or prayer, Lane said, adding that “the energy of people walking produces good vibes.”<br />
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Lane, who shepherded the labyrinth into existence, has seen students sitting in its center studying, a group of turbaned Sikhs walking it and people from the medical center across the street finding their centers along its meandering concrete and resin path.<br />
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“We’re just really glad it’s being used,” Lane said.<br />
The revival of interest has spawned other labyrinths across the region, including a monthly walk at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Midtown Sacramento, one at the Methodist church in Davis, a couple cut into the grass at the Davis Cemetery and others.<br />
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<b>Raja yoga: Self-Realization Fellowship</b><br />
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The Self-Realization Fellowship was founded by Paramahansa Yogananda, who is often credited with introducing Westerners to meditation and yoga. Many arrive at the SRF’s doors after reading his 1946 <i>Autobiography of a Yogi</i>.<br />
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That’s how Michael Mair, who coordinates the Self-Realization Fellowship group in Carmichael, came to practice the <i>raja</i> yoga—or meditation practices—advanced by Yogananda. Devoted practice of the highest level of meditation, called <i>kriya</i> yoga, is said to lead to “realization of God and liberation of the soul from all forms of bondage.” In his autobiography, Yogananda explained that “Elijah, Jesus, Kabir and other prophets were past masters in the use of Kriya or a similar technique, by which they caused their bodies to dematerialize at will.”<br />
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Adherents don’t get to practice the advanced techniques of kriya yoga until they’ve spent at least a year in study and preparatory exercises and have decided to enter into “the sacred guru-disciple relationship.” And no one can learn the techniques from anyone other than the original source. The reason for that, Mair said, is to prevent the kind of errors of transmission that result from passing along messages as happens in the children’s game of Chinese Whispers, or as we Americans more commonly call it, Telephone. Yogananda died in 1952, but the tradition continues on from headquarters in Los Angeles.<br />
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The local Self-Realization Fellowship center, situated in a quiet residential neighborhood, feels more like a church than any yoga studio you’ve ever visited. Rows of pews fill the main hall. In place of a cross on the altar hang the pictures of Yogananda, various Indian saints and Jesus Christ, who’s counted as a guru in the tradition’s lineage.<br />
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On a Wednesday night, a series of “energization exercises” practiced in the courtyard preceded meditation. Designed to draw “cosmic energy into the body through the medulla oblongata by the power of will,” the exercises felt more like basic calisthenics as the leader suggested they might at first glance. The resulting relaxation provided a foundation for a two-hour session of prayer, chants to the accompaniment of a squeeze-box harmonium and meditation to come.<br />
“Heavenly father, divine mother … help me convert from limited human consciousness to cosmic consciousness,” the half-dozen members of the group prayed to begin the session.<br />
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The basic meditation instruction given is to focus attention on the spiritual eye, or the space between the eyebrows. Meditators sat in straight-backed chairs in a darkened room separate from the main church facing a mini-altar showing the same guru’s images. A peculiar-looking wooden instrument—a board 3 inches wide and about 3 feet long—attached in the center to an adjustable length of pole sat on the floor next to each person’s chair. Some time into the first meditation period, each person positioned the pole on the chair between their legs, rested their arms on the flat of the board and raised their hands to their heads with splayed fingers straddling their temples.<br />
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Written lessons that promise to explain the mystery are available from SRF headquarters for a small fee to cover duplication and shipping.<br />
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Fifteen miles west of Grass Valley, the hot, dry countryside on one early fall day opened into a green oasis, where hammocks were strung between majestic shade trees, lounge chairs sat beside a seductive pond, and visitors strolled talking softly in couples or trios past an outdoor yoga platform, meditation temples, cottages, tents and corrals housing pet lamas and goats.<br />
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Some came just for the day, others were staying longer for retreats and workshops of varying lengths, and still others live at the yoga farm, which is one of the two Sivananda monastic communities in the United States. The tradition boasts that it’s a synthesis by Swami Sivananda of all the myriad traditional yoga paths. It was brought from India to the West by Swami Vishnu-devananda. Devotees dress modestly in yellow shirts—symbolic of learning—and white pants—symbolic of teaching. Peaceful relaxation is the unmistakable vibe at the 80-acre ashram, which celebrates its 40th anniversary in April.<br />
Meditation is practiced in the tradition, but it’s the end of the five points of Sivananda yoga rather than the beginning: proper exercise (<i>asanas</i>), proper breathing (<i>pranayama</i>), proper relaxation (<i>savasana</i>), proper diet (vegetarian) and meditation (<i>dhyana</i>).<br />
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Silent and guided meditation to condition the mind to be “here and now” is performed each morning and evening. The daily routine also includes two hours of yoga asanas, a half-hour of chanting and two vegetarian meals.<br />
Everything is geared to minimize distraction, said Swami Sitaramananda, who has directed the ashram for the past 15 years. Of all the traditions of yoga, this one has a reputation for completely transforming one’s life. “We lead a balanced life to bring about a balanced mind.”<br />
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Yoga exercises, or asanas, circulate energy in preparation for meditation. Specialized breathing techniques and mantras chanted in Sanskrit moderate the emotions, calming and focusing the mind. The idea is that when body and energy are under control, meditation comes naturally. Sitaramananda called meditation a “spiritual science of controlling the mind” that yogis use to inquire into their own true nature and into the nature of reality.<br />
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The meditation methods involve concentration, observing and detaching from thoughts and aims, and a complete transcendence of the mind and merging with the absolute reality. Sitaramananda said, “The goal is self-realization.”<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Find your own path</b></span><br />
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Nearly everyone SN&R talked to mentioned having found the “right path,” and they expect to follow it throughout their lifetimes. Having found vipassana 10 years ago after trying Zen, Hindu and martial arts, Sacramento Insight Meditation’s Wilde concluded: “This is the way I want to live my life.”<br />
Most have experimented with other forms of meditation practices. Many, including the guide at the yoga farm’s open house, Mair from the Self-Realization Fellowship and Darsie, now with the Davis Shambhala Meditation Center, started out practicing Zen.<br />
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“A lot of people try it—it fits for only a minority,” said the Valley Streams Zen Sangha’s Hare, quoting a saying common among Christian ministers: “‘They comes, and they goes. But mostly they goes.’<br />
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“Only a handful finds the practice moves them so that they’re willing to endure the difficulties, especially when they don’t see immediate breathtaking results,” Hare said.<br />
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“It’s very much about your own personal experience,” Mair said. “Choose what resonates with you and then follow up.”<br />
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Whether individuals meditate in a completely secular and nonideological way—with methods such as those thrust into the mainstream by teachers like Jon Kabat-Zinn, author of the best seller <i>Wherever You Go, There You Are</i>—or choose to follow one of the timeless contemplative paths, diligent practice promises liberation from suffering and peace of heart and mind.<br />
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What if you don’t find it? Roshi Wendy Egyoku Nakao, abbot of the Zen Center of Los Angeles, had some advice about that during a visit to Sacramento several years ago: “If meditation has not transformed your life, then you better ask yourself what you’ve been doing.”</span></div>
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<b>Meditate local</b><br />
<b>Davis Shambhala Meditation Center</b><br />Meditation instruction at 9 a.m. Sundays, 7 p.m. Thursdays<br />133 D Street, Suite H in Davis<br /><a href="http://www.davis.shambhala.org/">www.davis.shambhala.org</a><br />
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<b>The Episcopal Church of St. Martin</b><br />Labyrinth open during daylight hours<br />640 Hawthorne Lane in Davis<br /><a href="http://churchofstmartin.org/">http://churchofstmartin.org</a><br />
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<b>Sacramento Buddhist Meditation Group</b><br />Meets Sundays at 7 p.m.<br />Social hall, Congregation B’nai Israel<br />3600 Riverside Boulevard<br /><a href="http://www.sbmg.org/">www.sbmg.org</a><br />
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<b>Sacramento Insight Meditation</b><br />Second and fourth Thursdays at 7 p.m.<br />Sacramento Friends meeting house • 890 57th Street<br /><a href="http://www.sactoinsight.org/">www.sactoinsight.org</a><br />
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<b>Self-Realization Fellowship</b><br />Meets Sundays at 10 a.m. and Wednesdays at 8 p.m.<br />4513 North Avenue in Carmichael<br /><a href="http://sacramentocenter.org/">http://sacramentocenter.org</a><br />
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<b>Sivananda Ashram Yoga Farm</b><br />Next open house: November 21<br />14651 Ballantree Lane in Grass Valley<br /><a href="http://www.sivanandayogafarm.org/">www.sivanandayogafarm.org</a><br />
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<b>Valley Streams Zen Sangha</b><br />Meets Mondays at 7 p.m.<br />The Yoga Solution • 887 57th Street, Suite B<br /><a href="http://www.valleystreamszen.org/">www.valleystreamszen.org</a><br />
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<br /></div>Tom Langleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04254601519058396299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770777139236435869.post-63021658530893872512012-01-05T00:39:00.000-06:002012-02-17T00:23:01.151-06:00FROM HUI-NENG'S TAN-CHING<div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #3d85c6; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;"><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here is Part III of Section IV. </span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8770777139236435869" style="font-family: inherit;">From the Chinese Masters</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> from the Manual on Zen Buddhism written by the late, great brilliant scholar and Zen Master </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DT_Suzuki" style="font-family: inherit;">D. T. Suzuki.</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._T._Suzuki" style="font-family: inherit;"> </a><span style="font-family: inherit;">This teaching is so important! In essence, it explains the absolute necessity for living in the Present without the dualistic nature of thought or words and actually Being the Truth within the words. You must let go of All dogma and actually Live the Oneness of our True Nature which can not be described. Just live the meaning of the word "BE"!</span><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Everything happens for a reason and my writing this now and sharing these great words of Wisdom from an ancient Chan, or Zen, Master, are directly related to a conversation I had earlier tonight about this very aspect of Wisdom. All I can say is, "WOW"! This IS the True Nature of Reality and is realized in everyday life by those who understand the One Truth. I am constantly in Awe of the workings of this One Truth as it reveals IT's Presence and settles the waves of our illusory duality back to Reality's natural Stillness to reveal the explicit grandeur of the Calm and Peaceful Oneness within us All! With great honor and sincere humbleness, I offer you this impeccable Teaching. Enjoy!</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><br style="font-family: inherit;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Namaste' </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">FROM HUI-NENG'S TAN-CHING </span><span style="font-size: small;"><b> <span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-small;">[1]</span></b></span></h2>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /><br />24. Mahaprajnaparamita is a Sanskrit term of the Western country; in T'ang it means "great-wisdom (chih-hui), other-shore reached". This Truth (dharma=fa) is to be lived, it is not to be [merely] pronounced with the mouth. When it is not lived, it is like a phantom, like an apparition. The Dharmakaya of the Yogin is the same as the Buddha.<br /><br /><br />What is maha? Maha means "great". The capacity of Mind is wide and great, it is like emptiness of space. To sit with a mind emptied makes one fall into emptiness of indifference. Space contains the sun, the moon, stars, constellations, great earth, mountains, and rivers. All grasses and plants, good men and bad men, bad things and good things, Heaven and hell-they are all in empty space. The emptiness of [Self-] nature as it is in all people is just like this.</span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /><br /><br />25. [Self-] nature contains in it all objects; hence it is great. All objects without exception are of Self-nature. Seeing all human beings and non-human beings as they are, evil and good, evil things and good things, it abandons them not, nor is it contaminated with them; it is like the emptiness of space. So it is called great, that is, maha. The confused pronounce it with their mouths, the wise live it with their minds. Again, there are people confused [in mind]; they conceive this to be great when they have their minds emptied of thoughts--which is not right. The capacity of Mind is great; when there is no life accompanying it, it is small. Do not merely pronounce it with the mouth. Those who fail to discipline themselves to live this life, are not my disciples.</span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /><br /><br />26. What is prajna? Prajna is chih-hui (wisdom). When every thought of yours is not benighted at all times, when you always live chih-hui (=prajna, wisdom), this is called the life of Prajna. When a single thought of yours is benighted, then Prajna ceases to work. When a single thought of yours is of chih, i.e. enlightened, then Prajna is born. Being always benighted in their minds, people yet declare themselves to be living Prajna. Prajna has no shape, no form, it is no other than the essence (hsing) of chih-hui (wisdom).<br /><br /><br />What is Paramita? This is a Sanskrit term of the Western country. In Yang it means "the other shore reached". When the meaning (artha in Sanskrit) is understood, one is detached from birth and death. When the objective world (visaya) is clung to, there is the rise of birth and death; it is like the waves rising from the water; this is called "this shore". When you are detached from the objective world, there is no birth and death for you; it is like the water constantly running its course: this is "reaching the other shore". Hence Paramita.<br /><br /><br />The confused pronounce [Prajna] with their mouths; the wise live it in their minds. When it is merely pronounced, there is at that very moment a falsehood; when there is a .falsehood, it is not a reality. When Prajna is lived in every thought of yours, this is known as reality. Those who understand this truth, understand the truth of Prajna and practise the life of Prajna. Those who do not practise it are ordinary people. When you practise and live it in one thought of yours, You are equal to the Buddha.<br /><br /><br />Good friends, the passions are no other than enlightenment (bodhi). When your antecedent thought is confused yours is an ordinary mind; as soon as your succeeding thought is enlightened, you are a Buddha.<br /><br /><br />Good friends, Prajnaparamita is the most honoured, the highest, the foremost; it is nowhere abiding, nowhere departing, nowhere coming; all the Buddhas of the past, present, and future issue out of it. By means of Great Wisdom (ta-chih-hui=mahaprajna) that leads to . the other shore (paramita), the five skandhas, the passions, and the innumerable follies are destroyed. When thus disciplined, one is a Buddha, and the three passions [i.e. greed, anger, and folly] will turn into Morality (sila), Meditation (dhyana), and Wisdom (prajna)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /><br />27. Good friends, according to my way of understanding this truth, 84,000 wisdoms (chih-hui) are produced from one Prajna. Why? Because there are 84,000 follies. If there were no such innumerable follies, Prajna is eternally abiding, not severed from Self-nature. He who has an insight into this truth is free from thoughts, from recollections, from attachments; in him there is no deceit and falsehood. This is where the essence of Suchness is by itself. When all things are viewed in the light of wisdom (chih-hui=prajna), there is neither attachment nor detachment. This is seeing into one's Nature and attaining the truth of Buddhahood.</span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /><br /><br />28. Good friends, if you wish to enter into the deepest realm of Truth (dharmadhatu), and attain the Prajnasamadhi, you should at once begin to exercise yourselves in the life of Prajnaparamita; you just devote yourselves to the one volume of the Vajracchedika-prajnaparamita Sutra, and you will, seeing into the nature of your being, enter upon the Prajnasamadhi. It should be known that the merit of such a person is immeasurable, as is distinctly praised in the sutras, of which I need not speak in detail.<br /><br /><br />This Truth of the highest order is taught to people of great intelligence and superior endowments. If people of small intelligence and inferior endowments happen to hear it, no faith would ever be awakened in their minds. Why? It is like a great dragon pouring rains down in torrents over the Jambudipa: cities, towns, villages are all deluged and carried away in the flood, as if they were grass-leaves. But when the rain, however much, falls on the great ocean, there is in it neither an increase nor a decrease.<br /><br /><br />When people of the Great Vehicle listen to a discourse on the Vajracchedika their minds are opened and there is an intuitive understanding. They know thereby that their own Nature is originally endowed with Prajna-wisdom and that all things are to be viewed in the light of this wisdom (chih-hui) of theirs, and they need not depend upon letters. It is like rain-waters not being reserved in the sky; but the water is drawn up by the dragon-king out of the rivers and oceans, whereby all beings and all plants, sentient and non-sentient, universally share the wet. All the waters flowing together once more are poured into the great ocean, and the ocean accepting all the waters fuses them into one single body of water. It is the same with Prajna-wisdom which is the original Nature of all beings.<br /><br /><br /> </span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">29. When people of inferior endowments hear this "abrupt" doctrine here discoursed on, they are like those plants naturally growing small on earth, which, being once soaked by a heavy rain, are all unable to raise themselves up and continue their growth. It is the same with people of inferior endowments. They are endowed with Prajna-wisdom as much as people of great intelligence; there is no distinction. Why is it then that they have no insight even when listening to the Truth? It is due to the heaviness of hindrance caused by false views and to the deep-rootedness of the passions. It is like an overcasting cloud screening the sun; unless it blows hard no rays of light are visible.<br /><br /><br />There is no greatness or smallness in Prajna-wisdom, but since all beings cherish in themselves confused thoughts, they seek the Buddha by means of external exercises, and are unable to see into their Self-nature. That is why they are known to be people of inferior endowments.<br /><br /><br />Those beings who, listening to the "Abrupt" doctrine, do not take themselves to external exercises, but reflecting within themselves raise this original Nature all the time to the proper viewing [of the Truth], remain [always Undefiled by] the passions and the innumerable follies; and at that moment they all have an insight [into the Truth]. It is like the great ocean taking in all the rivers, large and small, and merging them into one body of water -'this is seeing into one's own Nature. [He who thus sees into his own Nature] does not abide anywhere inside or outside; he freely comes and departs; he knows how to get rid of attaching thoughts; his passage has no obstructions. When one is able to practise this life, he realizes that there is from the first no difference between [his Self-Nature] and Prajnaparamita.<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-small;"><b>[2]</b></span><br /><br /><br /> </span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">30. All the sutras and writings, all the letters, the two vehicles Major and Minor, the twelve divisions [of Buddhist literature]-these are all set forth because of the people of the world. Because there is wisdom-nature (chih-hui-hsing), therefore there is the establishment of all these works. If there were no people of the world, no multitudinous objects would ever be in existence. Therefore, we know that all objects rise originally because of the people of the world. All the sutras and writings are said to have their existence because of the people of the world.<br /><br /><br />The distinction of stupidity and intelligence is only possible among the people of the world. Those who are stupid are inferior people and those who are intelligent are superior people. The confused ask the wise, and the wise discourse for them on the Truth in order to make the stupid enlightened and have an intuitive understanding of it. When the confused are enlightened and have their minds opened, they are not to be distinguished from the people of great intelligence.<br /><br /><br />Therefore, we know that Buddhas when not enlightened are no other than ordinary beings; when there is one thought of enlightenment, ordinary beings at once turn into Buddhas. Therefore, we know that all multitudinous objects are every one of them in one's own mind.<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-small;"><b>[3]</b></span> Why not, from within one's own mind, at once reveal the original essence of Suchness? Says the Bodhisattvasila Sutra: "My original Self-nature is primarily pure; when my Mind is known and my Nature is seen into I naturally attain the path of Buddhahood." Says the Vimalakirti Sutra: "When you have an instant opening of view you return to your original Mind."<br /><br /><br /> </span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">48. The Great Master died on the third day of the eighth month of the second year of Hsien-t'ien (713 C.E.). On the eighth day of the seventh month of this year he had a farewell gathering of his followers as he felt that he was to leave them forever in the following month, and told them to have all the doubts they might have about his teaching once for all settled on this occasion. As he found them weeping in tears he said: "You are all weeping, but for whom are you so sorry? If you are sorry for my not knowing where I am departing to, you are mistaken; for I know where I am going. Indeed, if I did not, I would not part with you. The reason why you are in tears is probably that you do not yourselves know whither I am going. If you did, you would not be weeping so. The Essence of the Dharma knows no birth-and-death, no coming-and-going. Sit down, all of you, and let me give you a gatha with the title, "On the Absolute"<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-small;"><b>[4]</b></span><br /><br /><br />There is nothing true anywhere,<br />The true is nowhere to be seen;<br />If you say you see the true,<br />This seeing is not the true one.<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-small;"><b>[5]</b></span><br /><br /><br />Where the true is left to itself,<br />There is nothing false in it, which is Mind itself.<br />When Mind in itself is not liberated from the false,<br />There is nothing true, nowhere is the true to be found.<br />A conscious being alone understands what is meant by "moving";<br />To those not endowed with consciousness, the moving is unintelligible;<br />If you exercise yourself in the practice of keeping your mind unmoved, [i.e. in a quietistic meditation] <span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-small;"><b>[6]</b></span> </span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">The immovable you gain is that of one who has no consciousness.<br />If you are desirous for the truly immovable,<br />The immovable is in the moving itself,<br />And this immovable is the [truly] immovable one;<br />There is no seed of Buddhahood where there is no consciousness.<br />Mark well how varied are aspects [of the immovable one],<br />And know that the first reality is immovable;<br />Only when this insight is attained,<br />The true working of Suchness is understood.<br />I advise you, O students of the Truth<br />To exert yourselves in the proper direction;<br />Do not in the teaching of the Mahayana<br />Commit the fault of clinging to the relative knowledge of birth and death. <span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-small;"><b>[7]</b></span><br /><br /><br />Where there is an all-sided concordance of views<br />You may talk together regarding the Buddha's teaching;<br />Where there is really no such concordance,<br />Keep your hands folded and your joy within yourself.<br />There is really nothing to argue about in this teaching;<br />Any arguing is sure to go against the intent of it;</span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Doctrines given up to confusion and argumentation<br />Lead by themselves to birth and death.<br /><br /> </span><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /><br /><br /> <b style="color: #cc0000;">Notes </b></span><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /> <span style="color: #cc0000;">1.</span> The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunhuang">Dunhuang</a> copy, edited by D. T. Suzuki, 1934. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hui-neng">Hui-neng</a> = Daikan Enō; 637-712 A.D.<br /><br /> <span style="color: #cc0000;">2.</span> The text has "the </span><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prajnaparamita_Sutra">Prajnaparamita Sutra</a>" here. But I take it to mean Prajna itself instead of the sutra. <br /><br /> <span style="color: #cc0000;">3.</span> The text has the "body", while the Koshoji edition and the current one have "mind". </span><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /><br /> <span style="color: #cc0000;">4.</span> The title literally reads: "the true-false moving-quiet". "True" stands against "false" and "moving" against "quiet" and as long as there is an opposition of any kind, no true spiritual insight is possible. And this insight does not grow from a quietistic exercise of meditation. </span><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /><br /> <span style="color: #cc0000;">5.</span> That is, the Absolute refuses to divide itself into two: that which sees and that which is seen. </span><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /><br /> <span style="color: #cc0000;">6.</span> "Moving" means "dividing" or "limiting". When the absolute moves, a dualistic interpretation of it takes place, which is consciousness. </span><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /><br /> <span style="color: #cc0000;">7.</span> Chih, </span><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jnana">jnana</a> in Sanskrit, is used in contradistinction to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prajna">Prajna</a> which is the highest form of knowledge, directly seeing into the Immovable or the Absolute.<br /><br /> </span><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;"> <span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span>Tom Langleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04254601519058396299noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770777139236435869.post-38308523701734205802011-12-11T07:16:00.000-06:002012-01-04T01:43:35.470-06:00Altered Muse: Silence really is golden<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This is a blog post from a new acquaintance, Celina, the author of a wonderful blog, Altered Muse, who just discovered what meditation really is. She participated in a rapidly growing form of psychological therapy, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindfulness-based_stress_reduction" target="_blank">MBSR</a>, where Mindfulness is used to treat various forms of stress-related problems including those experienced by the returning combat veterans with PTSD. The brilliant Ph.D from MIT and founder of MBSR, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Kabat-Zinn" target="_blank">Jon Cabat-Zinn</a>, is Professor of Medicine Emeritus and founding director of the Stress
Reduction Clinic and the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health
Care, and Society at the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Massachusetts_Medical_School" title="University of Massachusetts Medical School">University of Massachusetts Medical School. </a></div>
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I hope you enjoy this post and take some time to visit Celina's blog and personal website. Be well!</div>
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Namaste'</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><a href="http://celinawyss.blogspot.com/2011/10/silence-really-is-golden.html?spref=bl" target="_blank">Altered Muse: Silence really is golden</a></b></span></div>
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Yesterday I spent the majority of my day not speaking. No it wasn't a
silent treatment directed at my husband, but a series of exercises in
pure blissful stillness. I am rounding out my 8th and final week of a
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction class based on John Cabit Zinn's
curriculum and approach to meditation. The class has been an eye opening
experience on how many of us (myself very much included) get skillfully
good at going through our days on auto-pilot. Everything from the way
we eat to the way we drive can become incredibly zoned out. The
exercises I participated in yesterday were something I did not ever
envision myself sitting through so peacefully. Which led me to the
realization that I am behind in checking off one item on my life list: <i>Learn the Art of Meditation.</i><br />
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Here is what I now know to be true about meditation:<br />
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You don't "learn" to meditate. Meditation is not a destination. It is a practice. It is not a skill, it just is what it is.<br />
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Meditation is about being gentle with yourself and what you can do in this moment. There are no "shoulds."<br />
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Taking a walk through the woods listening to the sound of the wind in
the trees and noticing the color of the grass is a meditation.<br />
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Sitting quietly in your car focusing on one breath, then another.....and
then another before stepping out into your busy day is a meditation. <br />
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Placing your attention on your toes and breathing with that tiny part of your body is a meditation. <br />
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Eating your food one slow bite at a time, tasting, feeling, smelling and seeing is a meditation.<br />
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Meditation is not about thinking about absolutely nothing, but instead
an opportunity to compassionately reel yourself back in as your mind
slips away. <br />
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You see, what I've learned over this past year is that I do in fact
already have everything inside of me I need to know to practice
meditation. Every day life is a meditation if you allow it to be. If you
practice noticing, sensing, feeling then you are practicing a form of
meditation. Something I was not aware of when I was plunking down wishes
on my life list. I realize now it isn't a skill that can be learned but
an artful practice that occurs moment to moment to moment every day of
our lives. <br />
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Namaste~
</div>Tom Langleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04254601519058396299noreply@blogger.com0