"The path to awakening.."

"The path to awakening.."

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold Sensei is the head of Mountains and Rivers Order and abbot of the Zen Center of New York City, Fire Lotus Temple.

He explains that ordinary mind is the path itself, and that we can only see this truth if we look through unconditioned eyes.

To understand ordinary mind,
we have to understand Tao.
To understand Tao, we have to go beyond all knowing.
So to do this, we should look to the ordinary mind,
with unconditioned eyes.

Chao-chou once asked Nanchuan, "What is Tao?"
Nanchuan answered
"Ordinary mind is Tao."
"Then should we direct ourselves toward it or not?" asked Chao-chou.
"If you try to direct yourself towards it, you go away from it."
answered Nanchuan.
Chao-chou continued,
"If we do not try, how can we know that it is Tao?"
Nanchuan replied,
"Tao does not belong to knowing or not knowing. Knowing is illusion;
not knowing is blankness.
If you really attain the Tao of no-doubt, it is like the void,
vast and boundless.
How then, can there be right or wrong in Tao?"

At these words Chao-chou was suddenly enlightened.

My next question.......

'What are we doing when we sit in meditation?"

Practice is not mechanical, it's not a method or technique, it's not blank consciousness.

Buddhist meditation emphasises quieting the mind and incisive thought.
Ultimately we realise they are inseparable.'

Wu-men's commentary says,
"Nan-chuan shows us that the tile is disintegrating, the ice dissolving and no communication is possible."
"This is true intimacy" he said.

"Hundreds of flowers in spring, the moon in autumn,
A cool breeze in summer,
and snow in winter,
If there is no vain cloud in your mind,
For you it is a good season."

When Wu-men wrote this poem, he was talking about a life well lived, full and free, attending to what is needed but without a cloud in the mind.

The final question....

"What is Tao?"

It is at the very heart of Zen practice.
Tao means a passage, a path, a way. It also means the essential truth, or the underlying principle of our universe.

In Buddhism the path to awakening is not separate from enlightenment itself. As we travel the path, we practice living as an awakened person.
We tend to think of practice as a preparation for a time that hasn't arrived, however there is no future moment that we are preparing for.
Practice is living, cultivating virtue is being virtuous.
Practice is life.

Sensei tells us;
"The way is vast and boundless.
The way is not apart from this mind. Study, train, and realise your original mind, the mind of all beings, sentient and insentient."

My thanks to
'Buddhadharma,
The practitioners quarterly.'

Metta
Nathan



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http://www.dharmamaster.com
With love

Thus I have heard:

Thus I have heard:

The Buddha said;

If you speak or act with a kind
bright heart, then happiness
follows you,
like a shadow
that never leaves.
Dhp 1-2

He
insulted me,
hit me,
beat me,
robbed me,--
for those who brood on this, hostility isn't stilled.

He
Insulted me
hit me
beat me
robbed me,--
for those who don't brood on this,
hostility is stilled.

Hostilities aren't stilled
through hostility,
regardless.
Hostilities are stilled
through non-hostility :
this, an unending truth.

Unlike those who don't realise
that we are here on the verge
of perishing,
those who do,
their quarrels are stilled.
Dhp 3-6
..................

"Did you know that some people just exist to spoil others joy?
Ones whole life should not be dictated to, or even bullied by another, albeit someone mentally ill.

I suppose when one sees ones time is finishing, fear starts to take over. Unfortunately there are those who refuse to accept that this type of suffering can be overcome.
What to do?

Mental illness is so sad.
To be compassionate,
so hard.
What a lesson!

When we learn to let go of the minds rubbish, we start to see reality. We don't add extra rubbish, to the rubbish,
that's already there.

"Why does this happen to me?
What's wrong with me?
Maybe it's my fault?"
Etc, etc, etc.

We let go and avail ourselves of the wonders that are around us.

So......

"Out of every seed of adversity, comes a benefit."

When we sow seeds,
we reap huge benefits.
Hostility is stilled,
Quarrels are stilled.
Metta
Nathan
..............


Sent from my iPhone and
http://www.dharmamaster.com
With love