Zen
A Buddha
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
In Tokyo in the Meiji era there lived two prominent teachers of opposite characteristics. One, Unsho, an instructor in Shingon, kept Buddha's precepts scrupulously. He never drank intoxicants, nor did he eat after eleven o'clock in the morning. The other teacher, Tanzan, a professor of philosophy at the Imperial University, never observed the precepts. Whenever he felt like eating, he ate, and when he felt like sleeping in the daytime he slept.
One day Unsho visited Tanzan, who was drinking wine at the time, not even a drop of which is suppposed to touch the tongue of a Buddhist.
"Hello, brother," Tanzan greeted him. "Won't you have a drink?"
"I never drink!" exclaimed Unsho solemnly.
"One who does not drink is not even human," said Tanzan.
"Do you mean to call me inhuman just because I do not indulge in intoxicating liquids!" exclaimed Unsho in anger. "Then if I am not human, what am I?"
"A Buddha," answered Tanzan.
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A Speaker of The Way
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
The Buddha was asked:
-To what extent can a person be a speaker of the way?
He answered:
-If a person teaches the way in order to transcend the tyranny of the
material things and to teach how to transcend feelings, perceptions,
impulses, and consciousness - teaching nonattachments with regard
to these - then that person can be called a speaker of the way.
If he is himself trying to transcend the pull of the material world and
feel nonattachment toward it, then it is fitting to say he is living in
accordance with the way.
If he is liberated by this transcendance an nonattachment,
then you can say he has found nirvana here and now.
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Breathing Practice
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
Find a place where you are alone and train yourself
in this way:
When you breathe in, experience breathing in.
When you breathe out, be fully conscious that
you are breathing out.
If you cherish and practice this, it will bear great fruit.
Whatever you are doing and wherever you are, you
will find steadiness, calm, and concentration if
you
become conscious of your breathing.
From "Majjhima Nikaya" of the Buddha
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Chao-chou Asked for the Direction
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
When a monk was traveling on the road, he met an old woman, and asked:
-I would like to know which way that leads to Chao-chou, would you please give me the direction?
The old waman replied:
-Just go straight, don't make any left turn or right turn.
When the monk met Cha-chou, he said:
On the road comming here, I met an old woman, it seemed that she understood Ch'an very well.
Chao-chou said:
-Let me see the old woman and test her for you.
Chao-chou then went to see the old woman. When he met her, he asked:
-I would like to know which way that leads to Chao-chou, would you please give me the direction?
She replied:
-Just go straight, don't make any left turn or right turn.
When Chao-chou was back to his place, he said to the monk:
-The old woman did not know at all. It was that Chao-chou stood right in front of her, wasn't it?
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Eshun and the Monks
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
Twenty monks and one nun, who was named Eshun, were practicing meditation with a certain Zen master.
Eshun was very pretty even though her head was shaved and her dress plain. Several monks secretly fell in love with her. One of them wrote her a love letter, insisting upon a private meeting.
Eshun did not reply. The following day the master gave a lecture to the group, and when it was over, Eshun arose. Addressing the one who had written to her, she said: "If you really love me so much, come and embrace me now."
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Everyday Mind
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
One day a Vinaya master asked a Zen master:
-How should one practice Tao?
The Zen master replied:
-Eat when you are hungry, sleep when you are tired.
The Vinaya master said:
-Most people do that.
The Zen master explained:
-No, no, not so. When they eat, they do not want to just eat but think of this or that;
when they go to sleep, they do not want to just sleep but think of this or that.
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Eyes Are Filled with Blue Mountains
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
One day when Fa-yen Wen-i (885-958), one of the well known Chinese Ch'an masters,
has ascended his seat. From the assembly, a monk came out and asked:
-What is one drop of water from the fount of Tsao-ch'i?
Fa-yen repied:
-It's one drop of water from the fount of Tsao-ch'i.
The monk was dumbfound and withdrewn.
At the time, Te-shao, who was also in the assembly, was suddenly greatly awakened when heard
those words. He then presented Fa-yen the following verse:
"The summit of the peak of the mystic passover
Is not the human world;
Outside the mind, there are no things-
The eyes are filled with blue mountains."
Fa-yen gave him his seal and approval, and said: "This one verse alone can sustain my school.
In the future, kings will honor you. I am not equal to you."
Later, Te-shao appeared in the world as one of Fa-yen's successors, and was made as
a National Teacher by a king who had been a prince-student of Te-shao.
.........
Tsao-ch'i: referred where the Sith Patriarch Hui-neng resided, here meant Hui-neng's Ch'an.
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Free From Imaging
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
One should not imagine oneself to be one with the eye or
independent of it or the owner of it.
The same with ear and all the other senses, including the mind.
Nor should one imagine oneself to be identical with the world or
contained in it or independent of it or the owner of it.
In this way, free from imaging, one no longer clings to the things
of the world. When one no longer clings, there is no more agitation,
insecurity, and worry. Being no longer worried, one can reach into
the depth of oneself and understand that where there has been lost
there is now fulfillment.
From "Samyutta Nikaya" of the Buddha
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Gudo and Mu-nan
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
Gudo was the emperor's teacher of his time. Nevertheless, he used to travel alone as a wandering mendicant. Once when he was on his way to Edo, the cultural and political center of the shogunate, he approached a little village named Takenaka. It was evening and a heavy rain was falling. Gudo was thoroughly wet. His straw sandals were in pieces. At a farmhouse near the village he noticed four or five pairs of sandals in the window and decided to buy some dry ones.
The woman who offered him the sandals, seeing how wet he was, invited him in to remain for the night in her home. Gudo accepted, thanking her. He entered and recited a sutra before the family shrine. He was then introduced to the women's mother, and to her children. Observing that the entire family was depressed, Gudo asked what was wrong.
"My husband is a gambler and a drunkard," the housewife told him. "When he happens to win he drinks and becomes abusive. When he loses he borrows money from others. Sometimes when he becomes thoroughly drunk he does not come home at all. What can I do?"
"I will help him," said Gudo. "Here is some money. Get me a gallon of fine wine and something good to eat. Then you may retire. I will meditate before the shrine."
When the man of the house returned about midnight, quite drunk, he bellowed: "Hey, wife, I am home. Have you something for me to eat?"
"I have something for you," said Gudo. "I happened to be caught in the rain and your wife kindly asked me to remain here for the night. In return I have bought some wine and fish, so you might as well have them."
The man was delighted. He drank the wine at once and laid himself down on the floor. Gudo sat in meditation beside him.
In the morning when the husband awoke he had forgotten about the previous night. "Who are you? Where do you come from?" he asked Gudo, who was still meditating.
"I am Gudo of Kyoto and I am going on to Edo," replied the Zen master.
The man was utterly ashamed. He apologized profusely to the teacher of his emperor.
Gudo smiled. "Everything in this life is impermanent," he explained. "Life is very brief. If you keep on gambling and drinking, you will have no time left to accomplish anything else, and you will cause your family to suffer too."
The perception of the husband awoke as if from a dream. "You are right," he declared. "How can I ever repay you for this wonderful teaching! Let me see you off and carry your things a little way."
"If you wish," assented Gudo.
The two started out. After they had gone three miles Gudo told him to return. "Just another five miles," he begged Gudo. They continued on.
"You may return now," suggested Gudo.
"After another ten miles," the man replied.
"Return now," said Gudo, when the ten miles had been passed.
"I am going to follow you all the rest of my life," declared the man.
Modern Zen teachings in Japan spring from the lineage of a famous master who was the successor of Gudo. His name was Mu-nan, the man who never turned back.
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He Who Perceives
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
He who perceives kensho as kensho, satori as satori, a part as a part,
the One as the One, etc... Having perceived kensho as kensho, satori
as satori, a part as a part, the One as the One, ect..., he conceives
himself as kensho, himself as satori, himself as the part, himself as the
One, ect..., he conceives kensho to be his, satori to be his, the part to
be his, the One to be his, he delights in kensho, he delights in satori,
he delights in the part, he delights in the One, etc... Why is that?
Because he has not fully understood it.
(Adapted from "Majjhima Nikaya" of the Buddha)
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Hoshin's Departure
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
The Zen Master Hoshin lived in China many years. Then he returned to the northeastern part of Japan, where he taught his disciples. When he was getting very old, he told them a story he had heard in China. This is the story:
One year on the twenty-fifth of December, Tokufu, who was very old, said to his disciples: "I am not going to be alive next year so you fellows should treat me well this year."
The pupils thought he was joking, but since he was a great-hearted teacher each of them in turn treated him to a feast on succeeding days of the departing year.
On the eve of the new year, Tokufu concluded: "You have been good to me. I shall leave tomorrow afternoon when the snow has stopped."
The disciples laughed, thinking he was aging and talking nonsense since the night was clear and without snow. But at midnight snow began to fall, and the next day they did not find their teacher about. They went to the meditation hall. There he had passed on.
Hoshin, who related this story, told his disciples: "It is not necessary for a Zen master to predict his passing, but if he really wishes to do so, he can."
"Can you?" someone asked.
"Yes," answered Hoshin. "I will show you what I can do seven days from now."
None of the disciples believed him, and most of them had even forgotten the conversation when Hoshin called them together.
"Seven days ago," he remarked, "I said I was going to leave you. It is customary to write a farewell poem, but I am neither a poet or a calligrapher. Let one of you inscribe my last words."
His followers thought he was joking, but one of them started to write.
"Are you ready?" Hoshin asked.
"Yes sir," replied the writer.
Then Hoshin dictated:
I came from brillancy
And return to brillancy.
What is this?
This line was one line short of the customary four, so the disciple said: "Master, we are one line short."
Hoshin, with the roar of a conquering lion, shouted "Kaa!" and was gone.
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How Is Suffering Created and How Is It Ceased?
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
One day the Buddha was asked by the naked ascetic Kassapa:
-Master Gotama, is suffering created by oneself?
The Buddha replied:
-Not so, Kassapa.
-Then, is suffering created by another?
-Not so, Kassapa.
-Then, is suffering created by both oneself and another?
-Not so, Kassapa.
-Then, has suffering arisen by chance?
-Not so, Kassapa.
-Then, is there no suffering?
-It is not that there is no suffering, Kassapa; there is suffering.
-Then is that Master Gotama does not know and see suffering?
-It is not that I do not know and see suffering.
-So please, Master Gotama, teach me about suffering.
-Kassapa, [if you think,] "The one who acts is the same as the one
who experiences," with reference to one who existing from the beginning:
"Suffering is created by oneself." When you assert thus, this is called
the view of eternalism.
And Kassapa, [if you think], "The one who acts is one and the one who
experiences is another," then with reference to one stricken by feeling:
"Suffering is created by another." When you assert thus, this is called
the view of annihilationism.
Without taking either of those extremes, the Tathagata teaches the
Dhamma by the middle:
"With ignorance as condition, volitional formations [come to be];
with volitional formations as condition, consciouness [comes to be]....
Such is the origin of this whole mass of suffering.
With the cessation of ignorance, cessation of volitional formations;
with the cessation of volitional formations, cessation of consciousness....
Such is the cessation of this whole mass of suffering."
From "Samyutta Nikaya" of the Buddha
Adapted from Vietnamese version
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How To Develop Your Faculties
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
The Buddha was talking with Uttara, a young pupil of the bhramin Parasariya:
-Uttara, does Parasariya teach you how to develop your faculties?
-Yes, Master Gotama, he does teach us how to develop our faculties
-How does he do this?
-We are taught not to see material forms with the eye nor to hear sounds with the
ear. That is how to develop the faculties.
-But in that case, Uttara, the blind and the deaf must be in total development of their
faculties, for the blind does not see and the deaf does not hear.
Uttara was silent.
-Well, Uttara, Parasariya teaches you one way and here we teach a different way.
Let me tell you what we teach. When a monk sees a form with the eye, usually a
feeling of liking and disliking come into being. The monk then understand that
liking or disliking has arisen but that either one is not inevitable but is conditioned
and dependent on causes. So he heads for a state in which there is equanimity
and finds that in so doing the liking and disliking has vanished and he sees things
as they are. That is how he develop his faculties. That is what we teach.
From "Majjhima Nikaya" of the Buddha
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I Do Not Hide Anything From You
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
One day Huang Sanku, a Confucian scholar asked Hui-tang Tsu-hsin (1025-1100), a Chinese Ch'an master:
-What is the Great meaning of Budhha dharmas?
Hui-tang replied:
-Confucius once said:"I do not hide anything from you." Zen does not hide anything from you, either.
Do you understand what this means?
Sanku said:
-No. I do not.
Therefore, Hui-tang said:
-Follow me to the back side of this mountain...
When they were at the place where some osmanthus flowers were blooming and the fragrance was very sweet.
Hui-tang asked:
-Do you smell the sweet osmanthus?
-Yes, I do.
-See, I do not hide anything from you, either.
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If Nothing Is Found There to Delight In,...
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
The Buddha once said this to the Bhikkhus:
"Bhikkhus, as to the source through which perceptions
and notions tinged by mental proliferation beset a man:
if nothing is found there to delight in, welcome and hold to,
this is the end
of the underlying tendency to lust,
of the underlying tendency to aversion,
of the underlying tendency to views,
of the underlying tendency to doubt,
of the underlying tendendy to conceit,
of the underlying tendency to desire for being,
of the underlying tendency to ignorance;
this is the end
of resorting to rods and weapons,
of quarrels, brawls, disputes, recrimination, malice and false speech;
here these evil unwholesome states cease without remainder."
From "Madhupindika Sutta" of the Buddha
translated by Bhikkhu Nanamoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi
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Inward View and Outward View
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
To cling to onself as Buddha, oneself as Ch'an or the way,
making that an understanding, is called clinging to the inward view.
Attainment by causes and conditions, practice and realization,
making this an understanding, is called clinging to the outward view.
Master Pao-chi said, "The inward view and the outward view are both mistaken."
Ch'an master Pai-chang
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Is that so?
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
The Zen master Hakuin was praised by his neighbours as one living a pure life.
A beautiful Japanese girl whose parents owned a food store lived near him. Suddenly, without any warning, her parents discovered she was with child.
This made her parents angry. She would not confess who the man was, but after much harassment at last named Hakuin.
In great anger the parent went to the master. "Is that so?" was all he would say.
After the child was born it was brought to Hakuin. By this time he had lost his reputation, which did not trouble him, but he took very good care of the child. He obtained milk from his neighbours and everything else he needed.
A year later the girl-mother could stand it no longer. She told her parents the truth - the real father of the child was a young man who worked in the fishmarket.
The mother and father of the girl at once went to Hakuin to ask forgiveness, to apologize at length, and to get the child back.
Hakuin was willing. In yielding the child, all he said was: "Is that so?"
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It's Used Everyday but Not Known
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
When Gensha Shibi, a Chinese Zen master, and a general
were eating cakes together,
the general asked:
- What is it that's used everyday but not known?
The master handed a piece of cake to the general and said:
- Eat this piece of cake.
The general ate the piece of cake, then repeated the question.
The master said:
-That's what's used everyday but not known.
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Just Follow the Flow.
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
Ta-mei Fa-chang (752-839) was a Chinese Ch'an master. After he got awakened under
the Great master Ma-tsu Tao-i (709-788), he went to the Ta-mei mountain and resided there.
One day there was a traveling monk who got lost in the Ta-mei mountain and unexpectedly saw
the Ch'an master. The monk asked:
-How long have you been here, Sir?
Fa-chang replied:
-I've only seen the green mountain turns into the yellow one.
The monk then asked:
-Would you please give me the direction to go out of this mountain?
Fa-chang replied:
-Just follow the flow.
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Kan-feng's One Road
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
A monk asked the priest Kan-feng:
-Bhagavats in the ten directions got one straight road to Nirvana. I dare to ask where that road is?
Kan-feng lifted up his staff, drew a line in the air, and said:
-Here it is.
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Man of Wisdom Does Not Realize Tao
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
One day a monk paid a visit to Tinh Khong (1091-1170), a Vietnamese Zen master,
who was of the tenth generation of Vo Ngon Thong lineage, and asked:
-From old days it was talked about "direct pointing", what does that mean?
The master replied:
-One goes to the farm and harvests everyday,
but the storage is always empty.
-I do not understand.
-The sun and the moon are ever bright,
but clouds arise and cover.
Then the master gave this verse:
"A man of wisdom did not realize Tao.
A man of delusion realized Tao.
One who is sleeping soundly
does not know what is fale or what is true."
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Mountain and Water
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
Ching-yuan Wei-hsin, a Chinese Ch'an master, once said this:
Thirty years ago, when having not studied Ch'an,
this monk saw mountain was mountains and water was water.
Later, when following the good teacher's guide, this monk could enter the gate of Ch'an,
and saw mountain was not mountain and water was not water.
Now, in the realm of joy and peace and tranquility where everything as-it-is,
this monk sees mountain is just mountain and water is just water.
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Mountain Flowers Valley Streams
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
A monk asked Ta-lung - a Chinese Ch'an master:
-The physical body will decompose, what about the hard and fast Dharma body?
Ta-lung replied:
-The mountain flowers bloom like brocade,
the valley streams are blue like indigo.
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Nan-in and the Cup of Tea
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen.
Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor's cup full, and then kept on pouring.
The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. "It is overfull. No more will go in!"
"Like this cup," Nan-in said, "you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?"
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No Other Form
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
On one occasion, the Buddha said to the monks this:
"No other form do I know, O monks, that so persists in obsessing the mind of a man as the form of a woman.
The form of a woman persists in obsessing the mind of a man.
"No other sound do I know that so persists in obsessing the mind of a man as the sound of a woman...
No other scent do I know ... No other taste do I know ... No other touch do I know that so persists in obsessing
the mind of a man as the touch of a woman. The touch of a woman persists in obsessing the mind of a man.
"No other form do I know, O monks, that so persists in obsessing the mind of a woman as the form of a man.
The form of a man persists in obsesssing the mind of a woman.
"No other sound do I know that so persists in obsessing the mind of a woman as the sound of a man...
No other scent do I know... No other taste do I know ... No other touch do I know that so persists in obsessing
the mind of a woman as the touch of a man. The touch of a man persists in obsessing the mind of a woman."
Anguttara Nikaya
translated by Nyanaponika Thera and Bhikkhu Bodhi
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Nothing Exists
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
Yamaoka Tesshu, as a young student of Zen, visited one
master after another. He called upon Dokuon of Shokoku.
Desiring to show his attainment, he said: "The mind,
Buddha, and sentient beings, after all, do not exist.
The true nature of phenomena is emptiness.
There is no realization, no delusion, no sage, no mediocrity.
There is no giving and nothing to be received."
Dokuon, who was smoking quietly, said nothing.
Suddenly he whacked Yamaoka with his bamboo pipe.
This made the youth quite angry.
"If nothing exists," inquired Dokuon, "where did this anger come from?"
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Objectivity and Subjectivity
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
Things have never declared themselves empty, nor have they declared
themselves form; and they have not declared themselves right, wrong,
defiled or pure. Nor is there a mind that binds and fetters people.
It is just because people themselves give rise to vain and arbitrary
attachments that they create so many kinds of opinions, and give rise
to many various likes and fears.
Just understand that things do not originate of themselves. All of them
come into existence from your own single mental impulse of imagination
mistakenly clinging to appearances.
If you know that mind and objects fundamentally do not contact each other,
you will be set free on the spot. Everything in a state of quiescence right
where it is; this is the very site of enlightenment.
Ch'an master Pai-chang
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One Is Liberated By Nonclinging
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
At Savatthi. Then the Venerable Suradha approached the Buddha...and said to him:
"Venerable sir, how should one know, how should one see so that, in regard to this body
with consciousness and in regard to all external signs, the mind is rid of I-making, mine-
making, and conceit, has transcended discrimination, and is peaceful and well liberated?"
"Any kind of form whatsoever, Suradha, whether past, futre, or present...far or near - having
seen all form as it really is with correct wisdom thus: "This is not mine, this I am not, this is
not myself," one is liberated by nonclinging.
"Any kind of feeling whatsoever... Any kind of perception whatsoever... Any kind of volitional
formations whatsoever... Any kind of consciouness whatsoever, whether past, future, or
present, internal or external, gross or subtle, inferior or superior, far or near - having seen
all consciouness as it really is with correct wisdom thus: "This is not mine, this I am not,
this is not myself," one is liberated by nonclinging.
"When one knows and sees thus, Suradha, then in regard to this body with consciousness
and in regard to external signs, the mind is rid of I-making, mine-making, and conceit, has
transcended discrimination, and is peaceful and well liberated."
Then the Venerable Suradha...became one of the arahants.
From the Samyutta Nikaya" of the Buddha
Translated by Bhikkhu Bodhi
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Only When You Have Examined
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
Posted on Aug.10.2009 @ 11:40PM EDT by chontri
Accept my words only when you have examined them for yourselves;
do not accept them simply because of the reverence you have for me.
Those who only have faith in me and affection for me will not find the
final freedom. But those who have faith in the truth and are determined
on the path, they will find awakening.
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Reality As It Is
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
[Seeing] reality as it is becomes the right view of the meditator.
Thinking of it as it is becomes the right thought.
Awareness of it as it is becomes the right awareness.
Concentration on it as it is becomes the right concentration.
Actions of body and speech are then aligned to reality as it is.
In this way the meditator develops and is fulfilled.
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Realize This and Grasp at Nothing
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
A student asked:
-For all the different people who have come to listen to your words, please
tell us about the way you have found and know.
The Buddha answered:
-When you take things it is because of a thirst, a clinging and a grasping.
You should lose that, and lose it altogether, above, below, around, and within.
It makes no difference what it is you are grasping. When you grasp, you are
losing your freedom. Realize this and grasp at nothing. Then you will cease
being a creature of attachment, tied to the power of death.
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Returning with Empty Handed
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
Shih-tou Hsi-chien (700-790) was a very well known Chinese Ch'an master.
As a young monk, he was one of the disciples of the Sixth Patriarch Hui-neng.
After Hui-neng passed away, Shih-tou continued his pilgrimage...
He paid a vist to the Great master Hsing-szu at the Ching-yuan mountain.
Hsing-szu asked:
-Where did you come from?
Shih-tou replied:
-From Tsao-chi [referring where Hui-neng resided].
-What did you get at Tsao-chi?
-Before I was at Tsao-chi, I was not lacking anything.
-If so, why were you there?
-If I were not there, how could I know I did not lack anything?
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Ryokan and the Thief
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
Ryokan, a Zen master, lived the simplest kind of life in a little hut at the foot of a mountain. One evening a thief visited the hut only to discover there was nothing to steal.
Ryokan returned and caught him. "You have come a long way to visit me," he told the prowler, "and you should not return empty-handed. Please take my clothes as a gift."
The thief was bewildered. He took the clothes and slunk away.
Ryoken sat naked, watching the moon. "Poor fellow," he mused, "I wish I could have given him this beautiful moon."
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Shoun a Teacher of Soto Zen
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
Shoun became a teacher of Soto Zen. When he was still a student his father passed away, leaving him to care for his old mother.
Whenever Shoun went to a meditation hall he always took his mother with him. Since she accompanied him, when he visited monasteries he could not live with the monks. So he would built a little house and care for her there. He would copy sutras, Buddhist verses, and in this manner receive a few coins for food.
When Shoun bought fish for his mother, the people would scoff at him, fo a monk is not supposed to eat fish. But Shoun did not mind. His mother, however, was hurt to see others laugh at her son. Finally she told Shoun: "I think I will become a nun. I can be vegetarian too." She did, and they studied together.
Shoun was fond of music and was a master of the harp, which his mother also played. On full-moon nights they used to play together. One night a young lady passed by their house and heard music. Deeply touched, she invited Shoun to visit her the next evening and play. He accepted the invitation. A few days later he met the young lady on the street and thanked her for her hospitality. Others laughed at him. He had visited the house of a woman of the streets.
One day Shoun left for a distant temple to deliver a lecture. A few months afterwards he returned home to find his mother dead. Friends had not known where to reach him, so the funeral was in progress.
Shoun walked up and hit the coffin with his staff. "Mother, your son has returned," he said.
"I am glad to see you have returned, son," he answered for his mother.
"Yes, I am glad too," Shoun responded. Then he announced to the people about him: "The funeral ceremony is over. You may bury the body."
When Shoun was old he knew his end was approaching. He asked his disciples to gather around him in the morning, telling them he was going to pass on at noon. Burning incense before the picture of his mother and his old teacher, he wrote a poem:
For fifty-six years I lived as best I could,
Making my way in this world.
Now the rain has ended, the clouds are clearing,
The blue sky has a full moon.
His disciples gathered around him, reciting sutra, and Shoun passed on during the invocation.
|
Subhuti's Emptiness
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
Subhuti was Buddha's disciple. He was able to understand the potency of emptiness, that nothing exists except in its relationship of subjectivity and objectivity. One day, in a mood of sublime emptiness, Subhuti was resting underneath a tree when flowers began to fall about him.
"We are praising you for your discourse on emptiness," the gods whispered to Subhuti.
"But I have not spoken of emptiness," replied Subhuti.
"You have not spoken of emptiness, we have not heard emptiness," responded the gods. "This is the true emptiness." The blossoms showered upon Subhuti as rain.
|
Suiwo and the Sound of One Hand Clapping
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
Suiwo, the disciple of Hakuin, was a good teacher. On a certain day a certain pupil came to him, and Suiwo gave him the problem, "Hear the sound of one hand."
The pupil remained three years, but could not pass the test. One night he came to Suiwo in tears. "I must return
to my home in shame," he said, "for I cannot solve the problem."
"Wait another week," said Suiwo. "Meditate constantly." Still no enlightenment came to the pupil. "Try for another week," said Suiwo. The pupil obeyed, but to no avail.
"Still another week," requested Suiwo, but in vain. In despair the pupil begged to be released, but Suiwo asked for one more meditation of five days. They too were without result. Then Suiwo said: "Mediate for three days longer. If you still fail to attain enlightenment, you had better kill yourself."
On the second day the pupil was enlightened.
|
Tanzan and the Girl on the Road
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
Tanzan and Ekido were once traveling together down a muddy road. A heavy rain was still falling.
Coming around a bend, they met a lovely girl in a silk kimono and sash, unable to cross the intersection.
"Come on, girl" said Tanzan at once. Lifting her in his arms, he carried her over the mud.
Ekido did not speak again until that night when they reached a lodging temple. Then he no longer could restrain himself. "We monks don't go near females," he told Tanzan, "especially not young and lovely ones. It is dangerous. Why did you do that?"
"I left the girl there," said Tanzan. "Are you still carrying her?"
|
That Which Is Now
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
Posted on Aug.15.2009 @ 09:32AM EDT by chontri
Sakuladayi the Wanderer asked the Buddha:
-What is the past and what is the future?
The Buddha answered:
-Let the past be and forget the future. I will teach you that which is now:
When this condition is, that condition comes to be,
With the arising of this, that arises,
When this is not here, that does not come to existence,
With the ceasing of this, that too ceases.
|
The Best Way to Live Independently
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
Do not go after the past,
Do not lose yourself in the future.
For the past no longer exists,
And the future is not yet here.
By looking deeply at things just as they are,
In this moment, here and now,
The seeker lives calmly and freely.
You should be attentive today,
For waiting until tomorrow is too late.
Death can come and take us by surprise -
How can we gainsay it?
The one who knows
How to live attentively
Night and day
Is the one who knows
The best way to be independent.
|
The End of the World
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
Posted on Aug.01.2009 @ 09:07PM EDT by chontri
Not to be reached by traveling is the end of the world,
Yet there is no release from sorrow
Unless you reach the end of the world.
The one who is wise and lives a loving life
Begins to know the world's end.
And then he will neither long for this world
Nor for any world.
|
The Eye
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
Posted on Sep.06.2009 @ 09:29AM EDT by chontri
In the teachings it says that:
"All compounded things are like dreams,
illusions, bubbles, and shadows;
they are like dew and like lightning,
and should be seen in this way."
What eye do you see with?
When you have fully attained this eye,you will see
the mountains, rivers, and earth do not ruin or adulterate yourself,
nor do yourself ruin or adulterate the mountauns, rivers, and earth.
There is no more sacred doctrines therein to make for understading
or obstruction.
And there is no ordinary convention to make for
understanding or obstruction.
But can you believe it?
If you can believe it, then consciouness conditioned by ignorance
turns into endless meditation.
If you can't belive it, endless meditation turns into consciousness
conditioned by ignorance.
Ch'an master Tsu-hsin
|
The Great Waves
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
In the early days of the Meiji era there lived a well-known wrestler called O-nami, Great Waves.
O-nami was immensely strong and knew the art of wrestling. In his private bouts he defeated even his teacher, but in public he was so bashful that his own pupils threw him.
O-nami felt he should go to a Zen master for help. Hakuju, a wandering teacher, was stopping in a little temple nearby, so O-nami went to see him and told him of his trouble.
"Great Waves is your name," the teacher advised, "so stay in this temple tonight. Imagine that you are those billows. You are no longer a wrestler who is afraid. You are those huge waves sweeping everything before them, swallowing all in their path. Do this and you will be the greatest wrestler in the land."
The teacher retired. O-nami sat in meditation trying to imagine himself as waves. He thought of many different things. Then gradually he turned more and more to the feeling of the waves. As the night advanced the waves became larger and larger. They swept away the flowers in their vases. Even the Buddha in the shrine was inundated. Before dawn the temple was nothing but the ebb and flow of an immense sea.
In the morning the teacher found O-nami meditating, a faint smile on his face. He patted the wrestler's shoulder. "Now nothing can disturb you," he said. "You are those waves. You will sweep everything before you."
The same day O-nami entered the wrestling contests and won. After that, no one in Japan was able to defeat him.
|
The Meaning of the Sutras and That of the Patriarch
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
A monk asked the Chinese Ch'an master Chien Paling:
-What is the difference between the meaning of the Sutras and that of the Patriarch?
The master replied:
-When it is cold, hen would go up on a tree and duck down to water.
|
The Middle Path
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
Let me tell you about the middle path.
Dressing in rough and dirty garments, letting your hair grow matted,
abstaining from eating any meat or fish, does not clean the one who is deluded.
Mortifying the flesh through excessive hardship does not lead to a triumph over the
senses. All self-inflicted suffering is useless as long as the feeling of self dominant.
You should lose your involvement with yourself and then eat and drink naturally,
according to the needs of your body. Attachment to your appetites - whether you
deprive or indulge - can lead to slavery, but satifying the needs of daily life is not wrong.
Indeed, to keep a body in good health is a duty, for otherwise the mind will not stay trong and clear.
This is the middle path.
From "Discourse II"
Edited by Anne Bancroft
|
The Night Interview of the Nun Myotei
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
Myotei was a widow and a woman well known for her strength of character. She trained for some years
under Kimon, the 150th Master of Enkakuji temple [in Japan]; on a chance to visit the temple she had an
experience while listening to a sermon by him on the Diamond Sutra. In the year 1568, she took part in
the Rohatsu training week. [This is the most severe training week of the year; it is at the beginning of
December, when according to tradition the Buddha meditated six days and nights, then looked at
the morning star and attained the full realization. There is almost continuous meditation broken only by
interviews with the teacher, sutra chanting, meals and tea; this goes on for a week, with very little or no
sleep according to the temple. On the morning after the last night's meditation and interviews the participants
look together the morning star.]
Before one of the night interviews, she took off her robes and came in without anything at all.
She lay down before the teacher, who picked up the iron nyo-i [ceremonial stick] and thrust
it out towards her thighs, saying:
-What trick is this?
The nun said:
-I present the gate by which all the Buddhas of the three realms come into this world.
The teacher said:
-Unless the Buddhas of the three realms go in, they cannot come out. Let the gate be entered
here and now.
And he sat astride the nun.
She demanded:
-He who should enter, what Buddha is that?
The teacher said:
-What is to be from the beginning has no "should" about it.
The nun said:
-He who does not give his name is a barbarian brigand, who is not allowed to enter.
The teacher said:
-Maitreya Buddha, who was to be born to save people after the death of Shakyamuni Buddha,
enters the gate.
The nun made as if to speak and the teacher quickly cover her mouth. He pressed the iron stick
between her thighs, saying:
-Maitreya Buddha enters the gate. Give birth this instant.
The nun hesitated, and the teacher said:
-This is not true womb; how could this give birth to Maitreya?
The nun went out, and at the interview the next morning, the teacher said:
-Have you given birth to Maitreya?
The nun cried out with great force:
-He was born quietly last night.
She caught hold of the teacher and put her hands round the top of his head, saying:
-I invite the Buddha to take the top of this head as the Lion Throne. Let him graciously preach a sermon from it.
The teacher said:
-The way is one alone, not two, not three.
The nun said:
-In their abilities, the beings differ in ten thousand ways. How should you stick them to one way.
The teacher said:
-One general at the head of ten thousand men enters the capital.
Edited by Trevor Leggett
|
The Old Woman and a Monk
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
There was an old woman in China who had supported a monk for over twenty years. She had built a little hut for him and fed him while he was meditating. Finally she wondered just what progress he had made in all this time.
To find out, she obtained the help of a girl rich in desire. "Go and embrace him," she told her, "and then ask him suddenly: 'What now?'"
The girl called upon the monk and without much ado caressed him, asking him what he was going to do about it.
"An old tree grows on a cold rock in winter," replied the monk somewhat poetically. "Nowhere is there any warmth."
The girl returned and related what he had said.
"To think I fed that fellow for twenty years!" exclaimed the old woman in anger. "He showed no consideration for your needs, no disposition to explain your condition. He need not have responded to passion, but at least he should have evidenced some compassion."
She at once went to the hut of the monk and burned it down.
|
The Past, The Present and The Future
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
Posted on Aug.08.2009 @ 10:26PM EDT by chontri
If you want to know the past,
to know what has caused you,
look at yourself in the present,
for that is the past's effect.
If you want to know your future,
look at yourself in the present,
for that is the cause of the future.
|
The Shining Mind
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
The brightly shining mind is never absent but is colored by the thoughts and
emotions that people put upon it. if you were to see the luminous freedom of this
mind, you would cultivate it before any other, keeping it free from all attachments.
|
The Sound of Rain Drops
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
Ching Ch'ing, a Chinese Ch'an master, asked a monk:
-What is the sound outside?
The monk answered:
-That is the sound of rain.
The master said:
-Sentient beings are upside down, they lose themselves in pursuit of things.
The monk asked:
-What should I do?
Ching Ch'ing replied:
-I am the sound of the rain.
|
The Teaching Is Like A Raft
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
Posted on Aug.17.2009 @ 07:39PM EDT by chontri
O monks, even if you have insight that is pure and clear but you cling to
it, fondle it and treasure it, depend on it and are attached to it, then you
do not understand that the teaching is like a raft that carries you across
the water to the other shore but is then to be put down and not clung to.
From "Majjhima Nikaya" of the Buddha
Edited by Anne Bancroft
|
The Visible Nibbana
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
Posted on Sep.11.2009 @ 10:04PM EDT by chontri
Once the brahmin Janussoni approached the Buddha... and
spoke to him thus:
"It is said, Master Gotama, 'Nibbana is directly visible.' In
what way, Master
Gotama, is Nibbana directly visible, immediate, inviting one to come and see,
worthy of application, to be personally
experienced by the wise?"
"When, brahmin, a person is impassioned with lust...depraved
through hatred...
bewildered through delusion, overwhelmed
and infatuated by delusion, then he
plans for his own harm, for
the harm of others, for the harm of both; and he
experiences in
his mind suffering and grief.
But when lust, hatred and delusion have been abandoned,
he neither plans for
his own harm, nor for the harm of others,
nor for the harm of both; and he does
not experience in his
mind suffering and grief. In this way, brahmin, Nibbana is
directly visible, immediate, inviting one to come and see,
worthy of application,
to be personally experienced by the
wise.
Since he experiences the complete destruction of lust,hatred,
and delusion, in
this way, brahmin, Nibbana is driectly visible,
immediate, inviting one to come
and see, worthy of application,
to be personally experienced by the wise."
From the "Anguttara Nikaya" of the Buddha
translated by Nyanaponika & Bhikkhu Bodhi
|
The Way Toward Liberation
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
Posted on Aug.13.2009 @ 07:45PM EDT by chontri
The way toward liberation is to train yourself to live in the present
without wanting to become anything. Give up becoming this or that,
live without cravings, and experience this present moment with full
attention. Then you will not cringe at death or seek repeated rebirth.
|
There Is or There Is Not
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
Chang-ch'o, an educated man, once asked the Chinese Ch'an master Chih-t'sang:
-Is there paradise or hell?
Chih-t'sang replied:
-No.
Chang-ch'o protested:
-That is not correct. When I was studying under the
priest Ching-shan, he always replied, "Yes."
Chih-t'sang asked:
-Do you have wife and kids?
Chang-Ch'o answered:
-I have a wife and two kids.
Chih-t'sang again asked:
-Does the priest Ching-shan have any wife and kids?
Chang-ch'o said:
-He is a monk, how could he have wife and kids?
Chih-t'sang said:
-So, wait until when you are like the priest Ching-shan who does not have wife and kids, then say,"No."
|
To See Beyond This Conditioned World
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
Posted on Aug.11.2009 @ 08:05PM EDT by chontri
Different winds come from all directions. Some are clear, some carry dust,
some are cold or hot, fierce gales or gentle breezes. In the same way
sensations arise in the body - pleasant or unpleasant or neutral.
When a meditator sees sensations as he does the winds, coming and
going, clear or dust laden, fierce or gentle, he will fully understand them
and be free from dependence on them. When he understands sensations
perfectly, he will see beyond this conditioned world.
|
To View Things As They Are
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
Posted on Jul.28.2009 @ 07:08PM EDT by chontri
Every created thing is like
A dream, an illusion, a bubble,
A dewdrop, a flash of lightning.
View all created things like this.
The Diamond Sutra
translated from Chinese Version.
|
Undersatnding Zen
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
In reading scriptures and studying the doctrines, you should turn all words
right around and apply them to yourself. All the verbal teachings point to
the inherent nature of the immediate mirroring awareness. As long as this
is not affected by anything, existent or otherwise, it is your guide. It can shine
through all realms, whether they exist or not.
This adamantine wisdom, wherein you have your share of freedom and
independence. If you cannot understand in this way, then even you could
recite the whole canon and all its branches of knowledge, that would only
make you conceited. Paradoxically, it shows contempt for Buddhas; it is
not true practice.
Ch'an master Pai-chang
translated by Thomas Cleary
|
Wandering in the Mountain
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
One day, Chang-sha Ching-tsen (d. 868), one of the well-known Chinese Ch'an masters,
wandered in the mountain. When he was back just at the gate of the temple, the head monk asked him:
-Where have you been, Sir?
Chang-sha replied:
-I was wandering in the mountain.
The head monk asked again:
-Where did you go and then come back?
Chang-sha replied:
-First, pursuing the fragrant grasses I went, then following the falling flowers I returned.
The head monk said:
-It's very much like the sense of springtime.
Chang-sha said:
-It's even more than the autunm dew dripping on the lotuses.
|
What Is Called Ignorance?
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
Posted on Aug.20.2009 @ 11:07PM EDT by chontri
Bhikkhus, what is ignorance?
Not knowing suffering,
Not knowing the origin of suffering,
Not knowing the cessation of suffering,
Not knowing the path leading to the cessation of suffering.
This is called ignorance.
From "Samyutta Nikaya" of the Buddha
Adapted from the Vietnamese version.
|
What Is Not Buddha Dharma?
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
A monk came to say good bye to Ch'an master Niaowo (Bird's Nest). He said:
-Thank you, Sir, for everything you've done for me. Now I got to go.
Niaowo asked:
-Where will you go?
-Any place where I can learn Buddha dharmas.
-Of Buddha dharmas, I got some.
-Where is it?
Niaowo pulled a thread out of his cloth sleeve, and asked:
-Is this not a Buddha dharma?
|
What Is The All?
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
The Buddha once taught the Bhikkhus about the All:
"I will teach you the All. Listen closely. What is the All? It is eye and visible object,
ear and sound, nose and scent, tongue and taste, body and feelings, mind and ideas.
This is the All.
If anyone says, "This All is not enough. I will claim another All," can it be done?
The speaker might believe it can, but he will not be able to show another All."
[from "Samyutta Nikaya" edited by Anne Bancroft.]
|
What Is The World?
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
Posted on Aug.08.2009 @ 10:58PM EDT by chontri
What, monks, is the world? The eye and shapes, the ear and sounds,
the nose and smells, the tongue and tastes, the body and tactile objects,
the mind and mental objects - these form the world as we know it.
When an eye and a shape are there, then the consciousness of seeing arises.
From this consciousness of seeing comes sensation; that which is sensed is
thought over; that which is thought over is projected outward as the external world.
So I declare that in this six-foot-long body with its perceptions and thinking lies the world,
the beginning of the world, the ending of the world, and the way to the ending of the world.
From "Majjhima Nikaya" of the Buddha
Edited by Anne Bancroft
|
What Is To Know For?
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
Phap Hien was a Vietnamese Zen master. He lived in the late 5th century and early the 6th century.
When he was a young monk at the Phap Van Temple he met Vinitaruci (?-594) who was one of the
successors of Seng-tsan, the Third Patriarch of the Chinese Ch'an. Vinitaruci was from South India and
met the Patriarch Seng-tsan in China. He then came to Vietnam from China.
Vinitaruci asked Phap Hien:
-What is your last name
Phap Hien asked back:
-What is your last name, Sir?
Vinitaruci then asked again:
-Don't you have your last name?
Phap Hien replied:
-Yes, I have, but how do you know?
Vinitaruci asked back:
-What is to know for?
Phap Hien suddenly was awakened and did prostration. Vinitaruci gave his seal approval to him
and he became Vinitaruci's successor and he was the only one of the first generation of the lineage.
Vinitaruci was the First Patriarch of the first lineage of Zen in Vietnam, the Vinitaruci lineage.
|
Where There Is Buddha, Do not Stay!
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
When a monk came to say good bye to Chao-chou Tsung-shen (778-897), a brilliant Chinese Ch'an master.
Chao-chou asked:
-Where will you go?
The monk answered:
-Any place where I can learn Buddha dharma.
Chao-chou stood up his duster and said:
-Where there is Buddha, do not stay; where there is no Buddha, run away as fast as you can.
Don't be in error to give Buddha dharma to someone who is three thousand miles far away.
...........
Note:
CT has no talents to create anything at all. One thing he could do is to mimic.
And he's going to mimic Chao-chou in saying something like this:
-Where there is Buddha-nature, do not stay;
where there is no Buddha-nature, run away as fast as you can.
-Where there is Shunyata, do not stay;
where there is no Shunyata, run away as fast as you can.
-Where there is God, do not stay;
where there is no God, run away as fast as you can.
The same with Brahma, Allah, YHWH, etc...
Also, don't be in error to come and give CT your views or theories about any of what
mentioned above or ask him about them, because he knows nothing about any of them.
|
Who Is in the Well?
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
When Yang-shan Hui-chi (807-883), as a young monk, paid a visit to the Ch'an master
Hsing-k'ung, there was a monk who asked Hsing-k'ung:
-What is the meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West?
Hsing-k'ung replied:
-Suppose there is a man in a thousand foot deep well, if you could get him out without
using an inch of rope, then I would tell you the meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West.
The monk said:
-Recently the priest Ch'ang of Hunam was talking in this way or that for people, too.
Hsing-k'ung then called Yang-shan:
-Novice, take this corpse out of here.
Later, Yang-shan took this up to Tan-yuan and asked:
-Sir, how could you get that man out of the well?
Tan-yuan said:
-Idiot! Who is in the well?
Yang-shan did not understand. Later he asked Kuei-shan the same question.
Kuei-shan immediately called out [Yang-shan's name]:
-Hui-chi!
Yang-shan responded:
-Yes!
Kuei-shan said:
-He's out.
At this, Yang-shan was greatly awakened. He said:
-At Tan-yuan I got the essence; at Kuei-shan I got the function.
|
Who Is the One Who Does Not Know?
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
One day when P'ang layman (740-808)was selling bamboo baskets at the market place of Hung-chou.
Seeing a monk begging alms, he took out a cash and said:
-Can you tell me how to appreciate alms?
The monk had nothing to say.
P'ang layman said:
-Ask me and I will tell you.
The monk asked:
-What is it to appreciate alms?
P'ang layman replied:
-Man seldom hears it.
Then he asked the monk:
-Do you understand?
The monk said:
-I do not understand.
P'ang layman asked:
-Who is the one who does not understand?
|
Why Didn't You Tell Me?
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
A monk who had studied under the Zen master Kassan for a period of time.
Then he left him to go to many other places for more Zen enquiry.
However, he could not find any place that fitted him.
Furthermore, at any place visited, he hread that Kassan was praised as
one of the great Zen masters.
Therefore, the monk was back with Kassan and asked him:
-At any place I visited, it was said that you, Sir, have very deep understanding,
why didn't you tell me about that?
Kassan replied:
-When you started to cook, I kindled the fire. When you shared the food,
I gave you my bowl. Was there any time I disappointed you?
Right under the words, the monk awaked.
|
Why Is There Still Dust?
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
One day, when the brilliant Chinese Cha'n master Chao-chou was sweeping
the court of the monastery, a man asked him:
-Ch'an monastery supposed to be clean and pure. Why is there dust to sweep?
Chao-chou replied:
-It came trom outside.
On another day, when the same thing happening, a monk asked him:
-Sir, you are a man of good understanding, why do you still have dust?
Chao-chou replied:
-Look! another dust again.
|
Yao-shan Ascended His Seat
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
One day Yao-shan Wei-yen (750-834), one of the well-known Chinese Ch'an master,
was asked by the host of the monastery to give his sermon to the assembly who
for a long while was expecting his teaching. Yao-shan said: "Strike the bell."
When everyone was together in the hall and ready to listen to him, he immediately descended
the seat and went back to his quarter. The host of the monastery followed him and asked:
-Sir, you promised to give the community a sermon, why you did not speak any words like this?
Yao-shan replied:
-If the community want to hear about the sutras, they have sutra-teachers;
if they want to hear about the sastras, they have sastra-teachers,
there is no reason to blame this old monk.
|
You Monk Talkative
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
The Chinese Ch'an master Yao-shan wrote the word "Buddha," and asked Tao-wu Yuan-chih (768-835),
one of his successors:
-What is that word?
Tao-wu answered:
-It is the word "Buddha".
Yao-shan said:
-You monk talkative.
Another monk then asked:
-I am not clear, please teach me.
Yao-shan kept silent for a little while then said:
-It is not hard for me to tell you some words today, but it would be better if you immediately
realize it yourself. If you keep thinking about it, then it will be my fault. This is not as good as
if everyone keeps his mouth shut in order to not get involved.
|
|
A Path to Zen Gate
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
One day, a monk traveled into the mountain where Gensha Shibi resided
to see the Zen master and study Zen with him. The monk said to Gensha:
-I am a new comer, please be kind to tell me where I can enter the Zen gate.
Gensha asked:
-On the path you came here, you passed a brook, didn't you?
The monk replied:
-Yes, I did.
Gensha asked again:
-You heard the sound of running water, didn't you?
The monk answered:
-Yes, I did.
Gensha said:
-At the place where you heard the sound of running water is the path leading to the Zen gate.
|
Hakuin and the Samurai
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
A soldier came to Hakuin and asked "Is there really a paradise and a hell?"
"Who are you?" inquired Hakuin.
"I am a samurai," the warrior replied.
"You, a samurai!" exclaimed Hakuin. "What kind of ruler would have you as his guard? Your face looks like that of a beggar!"
The soldier became so angry that he began to draw his sword, but Hakuin continued. "So you have a sword! Your weapon is probably as dull as your head!"
As the soldier drew his sword Hakuin remarked "Here open the gates of hell!"
At these words, the samurai, perceiving the discipline of the master, sheathed his sword and bowed.
"Here open the gates of paradise," said Hakuin.
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Happy Chinaman or Laughing Buddha
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
Anyone walking about Chinatowns in America with observe statues of a stout fellow carrying a linen sack. Chinese merchants call him Happy Chinaman or Laughing Buddha.
This Hotei lived in the T'ang dynasty. He had no desire to call himself a Zen master or to gather many disciples about him. Instead he walked the streets with a big sack into which he would put gifts of candy, fruit, or doughnuts. These he would give to children who gathered around him in play. He established a kindergarten of the streets.
Whenever he met a Zen devotee he would extend his hand and say: "Give me one penny." And if anyone asked him to return to a temple to teach others, again he would reply: "Give me one penny."
Once he was about his play-work another Zen master happened along and inquired: "What is the significance of Zen?"
Hotei immediately plopped his sack down on the ground in silent answer.
"Then," asked the other, "what is the actualization of Zen?"
At once the Happy Chinaman swung the sack over his shoulder and continued on his way.
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It Is Like to Become a Thief
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
Once upon a time, there were a father and a son of a family in a busy city. The father was a very skillful thief in the city. He was getting older and older and worried about his son, who was still rather young and knew nothing about his great art, would not be able to take care of himself and the great art will be missing when he dies. Afterall, the time was coming.
One late night, he made his son came along with him to a rich family at the center of the city. They hid themselves in a bush in the backyard of the rich family and were waiting until there were no more people by-passed on the street and all the members of the family were in deep sleep. And both of them started digging and digging and made a narrow and short tunnel passed under the wall and opened up inside the house. Both of them finally were in there. They saw many antique expensive things, and jewery, and diamonds, and gems... sitting on the desks in the treasure-room. The father took some jewery and diamonds, then quitely walked to the tunnel. The son was still picking up some more and did not know his father was gone until he was ready to be gone with him.
But there were many loud noises was made by his father outside the wall to wake up the people in the house. He was so upset with his father's actions but he could not do anything stop him.
Meanwhile, the homeowner lit up lamps and tried to find thieves. He knew he could not escape right away, and his eyes glanced around in seconds, he saw a big box with a lid on. Immediately, he opened the box and put himself in there and covered the lid gently to avoid making any noises. He kept himself as silent as he could in the box. When one of the people held a lamp coming close to him. He opened the lid, came out, blew out the lamp and ran back to the tunnel. People were running after him in his direction but he was faster than they were and he got into the tunnel quickly.
When he got out the tunnel and on the wayside he came to a well which he had seen before he got in the house. He picked up a rather big stepstone near the well and threw it into the well make a sound like a man falling into it.
People now got to the spot and thought that the thief should be falling into the very deep well and would be drowsy and dead in a short time and they got back into the house and got more sleep.
When the son was back to his house, his father was very glad to see his son back home in safe.
The son was still very upset with his father and complained:
-Why did you do that to me? You wanted me arrested there?
His father quietly said:
-Congratulations! My son. From now on you are able to take care of yourself. So, I will not worry about you anymore."
The art of teaching and learning in Zen is something similar to this art. No Scriptures, no Bible could help you in a situation like that. You are on your own in any situation you'd be in. At that moment you are wisdom and wisdom is you.
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It Was Really a Trial
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
A Japanese Zen trainee monk named Nantembo who was highly praised by the Zen master Mokurai -
an abbot of the Kennin-ji temple in Kyoto - as a good example of sheer force of will in zazen.
Nantembo had raging erections whenever visions of beautiful women appeared before him
during Zen meditation. Nantembo cursed the erections and suppressed the enticing fantasies
by sheer force of will. Nantembo himself told this tale:
"Once I was traveling on a ship, and at one port my fellow passengers summoned a bevy of whores
to entertain them. They got a girl for me, too, but I paid her off and told her to leave. The quarters were very
cramped, and I had no choice but to place my self right in the center of the orgy and do zazen. It was really a trial!"
Edited by John Stevens
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Let's Leave It at That
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
One day a girl in geisha house hailed the Japanese Zen master Mokudo by name.
He went inside and discovered that the girl was a childhood acquaintance.
The crops had failed one year in their village, and she had become a courtesan to
support her family. They talked long into the evening about old times,
and then she asked him to stay the night. He paid the fee to the house master,
and the girl spread out the bedding. She pulled back the cover and said:
-Come join me. No one knows.
Mokudo repiled:
-It is kind of you to invite me, but right now I'd rather do zazen. Your present occupation
is to sleep with customers, and my current job is to sit in meditation. Let's leave it at that.
Edited by John Stevens
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My Coffin Simply Is
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
Once upon a time, in a certain town there was a coffin maker who opened and was running a store where he sold the coffins he made himself to the customers in the neighborhood. The popuplation in the town increased day-by-day.
The more crowded the population, the harder the making living. The harder the making living, the more serious and intensive the struggles and fights for foods, clothes, and medicine. The number of the dead also increased fast.
The more the people were dead the more coffins were made and sold, and of course, the more works to do and the coffin maker got to hire other people to help him in selling and delivering coffins to customers.
Among the number of employees, there were two young men who were muscle and strong handled the devliver coffins to the families of the dead and they wanted to make some more extra money, therefore, they helped the relatives of the dead to put the corpses into the coffins which they sold to them.
Their jobs became more complicated. They both wanted to make it easy for themselves but each of them followed two different ways.
One realized that the sizes of the dead varied and requested his boss - the coffin maker - make coffins in different sizes from which he could select the one which fited best the corpse in each case. Therefore, his relationship to the customers was good.
Unlike this salesman, the other one requested the coffin maker make one-size coffins for him. He did not care the sizes of the dead varied at all.
When the coffin maker heard the request of the man, he was very surprised and asked the man:
-How could you make the long and the short fit into the one-size coffins?
-It's very simple, sir. If I got some dead body whose legs are longer than my coffin length, I would cut them short to fit it. When I got a dead body whose legs are shorter than it, I would use my hands, one holds and one pulls, making them longer to fit the coffin and my clients should be satisfied. Do you understand what I mean, sir?
- I am sorry I do not know what you mean, my young man. Can you explain it to me?
- Oh! It's very simple, sir! My coffin simply is, but the dead bodies are complicated. I am trying to make it simple. Do you understand, sir?
- I am sorry again, I still don't get it.
Although the owner said that to the man but he made one-size coffins for him and the salesman kept selling and delivering the one-size coffins to his customers for a while until no one bought his one-size coffins anymore with the reason: His coffin simply is!
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Obedience
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
The master Bankei's talks were attended not only by Zen students but by persons of all ranks and sects. He never quoted sutras not indulged in scholastic dissertations. Instead, his words were spoken directly from his heart to the hearts of his listeners.
His large audience angered a priest of the Nichiren sect because the adherents had left to hear about Zen. The self-centered Nichiren priest came to the temple, determined to have a debate with Bankei.
"Hey, Zen teacher!" he called out. "Wait a minute. Whoever respects you will obey what you say, but a man like myself does not respect you. Can you make me obey you?"
"Come up beside me and I will show you," said Bankei.
Proudly the priest pushed his way through the crowd to the teacher.
Bankei smiled. "Come over to my left side."
The priest obeyed.
"No," said Bankei, "we may talk better if you are on the right side. Step over here."
The priest proudly stepped over to the right.
"You see," observed Bankei, "you are obeying me and I think you are a very gentle person. Now sit down and listen."
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Shunkai's Life
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
The exquisite Shunkai whose other name was Suzu was compelled to marry against her wishes when she was quite young. Later, after this marriage had ended, she attended the university, where she studied philosophy.
To see Shunkai was to fall in love with her. Moreover, wherever she went, she herself fell in love with others. Love was with her at the university, and afterwards when philosophy did not satisfy her and she visited the temple to learn about Zen, the Zen students fell in love with her. Shunkai's whole life was saturated with love.
At last in Kyoto she became a real student of Zen. Her brothers in the sub-temple of Kennin praised her sincerity. One of them proved to be a congenial spirit and assisted her in the mastery of Zen.
The abbot of Kennin, Mokurai, Silent Thunder, was severe. He kept the precepts himself and expected the priests to do so. In modern Japan whatever zeal these priests have lost for Buddhism they seemed to have gained for having wives. Mokurai used to take a broom and chase the women away when he found them in any of his temples, but the more wives he swept out, the more seemed to come back.
In this particular temple the wife of the head priest had become jealous of Shunkai's earnestness and beauty. Hearing the students praise her serious Zen made this wife squirm and itch. Finally she spread a rumor about that Shunkai and the young man who was her friend. As a consequence he was expelled and Shunkai was removed from the temple.
"I may have made the mistake of love," thought Shunkai, "but the priest's wife shall not remain in the temple either if my friend is to be treated so unjustly."
Shunkai the same night with a can of kerosene set fire to the five-hundred-year-old temple and burned it to the ground. In the morning she found herself in the hands of the police.
A young lawyer became interested in her and endeavoured to make her sentance lighter. "Do not help me." she told him. "I might decide to do something else which will only imprison me again."
At last a sentance of seven years was completed, and Shunkai was released from the prison, where the sixty-year-old warden also had become enamored of her.
But now everyone looked upon her as a "jailbird". No one would associate with her. Even the Zen people, who are supposed to believe in enlightenment in this life and with this body, shunned her. Zen, Shunkai found, was one thing and the followers of Zen quite another. Her relatives would have nothing to do with her. She grew sick, poor, and weak.
She met a Shinshu priest who taught her the name of the Buddha of Love, and in this Shunkai found some solace and peace of mind. She passed away when she was still exquisitely beautiful and hardly thirty years old.
She wrote her own story in a futile endeavour to support herself and some of it she told to a women writer. So it reached the Japanese people. Those who rejected Shunkai, those who slandered and hated her, now read of her life with tears of remorse.
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So I Am Helping
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
P'ang Yun (740-808) was a well known Chinese Zen Layman.
He was once selling bamboo baskets. Coming down off the a bridge, he stumbled and fell.
When Ling-chao saw this she ran to her father's side and threw herself down.
" What are you doing!" cried the Layman.
"I saw Papa fall to the ground, so I am helping," replied Ling-chao.
"Luckily no one was looking," remarked the Layman.
(Ruth Fuller Sasaki's translation)
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Tetsugen and his Three Sutras
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
Tetsugen, a devotee of Zen in Japan, decided to publish the sutras, which at that time were available only in
Chinese. The books were to be printed with wood blocks in an edition of seven thousand copies, a tremendous
undertaking.
Tetsugen began by travelling and collecting donations for this purpose. A few sympathizers would give him a
hundred pieces of gold, but most of the time he received only small coins. He thanked each donor with equal
gratitude. After ten years Tetsugen had enough money to begin his task.
It happened that at that time the Uji River overflowed. Famine followed. Tetsugen took the funds he had
collected for the books and spent them to save others from starvation. Then he began again his work of
collecting.
Several years afterward an epidemic spread over the country. Tetsugen again gave away what he had collected.
For a third time he started his work, and after twenty years his wish was fulfilled. The printing blocks which
produced the first edition of sutras can be seen today in Obaku monastery in Kyoto.
The Japanese tell their children that Tetsugen made three sets of sutras, and that the first two invisible sets surpass
even the last.
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The Elephant and the Five Blind Men
[10 Mar 2010 at 4:46pm]
Once upon a time in a very nice city of ancient India, there were five blind young men were living together and getting along very well. They could share together many things they acquired materially and mentally. They could shared each other what they had learned, known or experienced. For example, they had learned and known how a hose, a broom, a post, a drum, a belly...looks like by listening to the descripton of someone who got good eyes and words, by using their hands touching it, or their noses smelling it, or their tongues tasting it...
One day it was very nice out, all the five of them were together taking a walk to the beautiful park at the center of the city. When they were in the park, it happened to be there an elephant with the hamout. After talking to each other, they agreed to come and ask the hamout allow them to take a "look" and "see" what the elephant really looks like. When heard the request, the hamout was very surprised but also interested in seeing how could they take a look and see the elephant. He agreed.
The hamout told the first blind man come close to the elephant's trunk and "see" it.
After used his both hands touching over the trunk of the elephant, he felt it, thought of it and finally said:
-The elephant looks exactly like a big hose, brothers!
-No! The elephant looks exactly like two big posts standing side-by-side!
The second one protested the first one because he was touching over the two fore-legs of the elephant.
-No! You both are wrong! The elephant looks exactly like a huge drum!
The third one negated the others because he was touching over the big belly of the elephant.
-Not like that at all! Three of you are wrong! The elephant looks exactly like a big broom!
The fouth one asserted, after touching the tail of the elephant for a while.
-None of you is correct! The elephant looks exactly like two fans.
The fifth declared after touching over two ears of the elephant.
The argument, at first, was going fine. Then it became a big quarrel, and afterall, a big fight.
The hamout witnessed all of what was going on, he was moved and felt pity for the five blind young men, and told them:
-Please stop fighting! None of you were correct and none of you are really wrong. Why? Because each of you only touched and knew some part of the elephant and not the whole elephant, therefore, what you touched and "saw" is separate and incomplete.
When heard these words of the hamout, the five blind young men understood. They stopped fighting, quarelling, arguing, and palm-to-palm said to the hamout, "Thank you very much! We really appreciate this."
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Bonsai Tree
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