Tomorrow is the last day of the year and then we start a New Year…

Tomorrow is the last day of the year and then we start a New Year....
What promise will we make that will be broken...
Same as last year?
We enter each year with a promise to be a better person..
Eat less, make more money,
be nicer...
All to be broken and forgotten within a week of thge New Year,,,
The easy solution is to realise that each day we have, is a good day.

Today is a good day....

'Zen Mondo'...

A monk asked
Yun-men:
"Should one leave home
without a parents consent?"
The master said:
"Shallow!"
"I do not understand,"
"Deep!" said Yun-men.

Yun-men(864-949)
Zen Master

Yun-men addressed the assembly and said:
"I am not asking you about the days before the fifteenth of the month.
But what about after the fifteenth?
Come and give me a word about those days."
He then gave the answer for them:
"Every day is a good day."

In 949AD he gave his final talk to his monks and said:
"Coming and going are continuous,
I must be on my way."
He then sat in the lotus position and died.

Yen-men gave one word answers to most questions.
Always sharp, to the point,
most did not understand.
To the few who did spend some time in contemplation of his words, came clarity and awareness.
His belief that we think too much was a revelation in his time. Maybe, today we need to adopt some of his thinking.

"The less we think,
the more we see."

What a great way
to start the year.

Nathan


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With love

Nine Dragons

It was amazing, when we burnt incense at the temple where the nine dragons converge, this dragon appeared, descending down into the smoke.

Waste of time....

"When you walk the Way, 

it is not near, it is not far. 

If you are deluded, you are mountains and rivers away from it.

I respectfully say to those who seek enlightenment: 

do not waste your time."

Shih-T'ou (700-790)

Also known as 

Sekito Kisen, (Japanese)

Student of Hui-Neng 6th Patriach

Ts'ao-Hsi Mountain Temple in China.

Shih-T'ou's body was mummified in black lacquer and due to a fire during the Chinese revolution in 1911, was brought to Japan.

It can be viewed today at the Soto Zen Temple in Yokohama....

       ...........................

So....

 A potential student went to see a Master and asked;

"If I work really hard, how long will it take me to become enlightened?"

"Ten years" the Master replied.

"No, I mean really work at it."

the student said.

The Master replied,

" I am sorry I misunderstood you, it will take you twenty years."

The student then said,

" I am serious, I am willing to do anything to gain enlightenment."

"Oh that's different,"

said the Master,

"it will take you thirty years."

           ......................

So.....

What say you?

Do we seek, or not, is it a total waste of time, sitting, trying so hard to find something we already possess?

Why not take Shih-T'ou's advise;

Be simple,

walk the Way....

Nathan

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http://www.dharmamaster.com

With love

Infinite

The infinity of things....

"There will always be an infinity of things to do. We can never get our life or business or our kitchen running exactly the way we want it to run. No matter how we envision it, it can't be that way.

Life is not predetermined to the point that we can get to some stage and then see how it all works. What happens is that we have a better and better understanding of things, we have more and more clarity and ability to deal with things as they arise. But they keep arising, endlessly.

The empty sky is always creating new clouds.

The pot is always boiling..."

Kosho Uchiyama Roshi. (1911-1998)

Soto Priest, Zen Master, 

Teacher and Author.

Sadly missed......

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With love