Saturday, April 21, 2007

Zen is simple




It is to live in the present and let the present live in us.







It is to rest with things as they are, take the time to value and live fully what is happening.


"Those who see the lightning
And think nothing:
How precious they are!" Bassho


No separation, nothing but the lightning, nothing but being this very moment, in all its uniqueness.


Letting go of everything...


"Lost to myself I stayed
My face upon my lover having laid
From all endeavor ceasing:
And all my cares releasing
Threw them among the lilies there to fade." St John of The Cross


...we experience the facts.


"A cool breeze;
A whispering in the pines
Fills the air." Onitsura


By dropping preconceptions and projections, we cultivate an inner silence.
While judgments and desires fade away, innocence creeps in.


The Silence is the voice of our original nature. It speaks through us.


"Your speech is simple, my Master, but not theirs who talk of you.
I understand the voice of your stars and the silence of your trees."
Rabindranath Tagore


Connected with our ground, we react freshly and appropriately, the energy emerging like a clear spring.


The intuitive response to life is our one and only commandment.


"A good traveler has no fixed plans
And is not intent upon arriving.
A good artist lets his intuition
Lead him wherever it wants.
A good scientist has freed himself of concepts
And keeps his mind open to what is." Tao Te Ching



By clearing up the complexity of our mind, we set free an outpouring of love.



"Love needs our inner purity and emptiness of intention in order to bring its knowing into life. The moment we try to condition love, to determine its form or way of expression, we limit its potential."
Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee




In the silence we recognize our own gifts and talents; we are led to rely on our own strength.
There is no path but our own.


"Listen to no one who tells you how to love.
Your love is like no other, and that is what makes it beautiful.
Your self is your divinity.
Express your self." Paul Williams



Each action, each moment, each being is a unique manifestation of the absolute.
They all invite us to an experience of the deepest intimacy.



A world of wonder opens to us when discovering the depth and glory of the simple little things.
Bypassing thoughts and accumulated knowledge, we are led to recover our childhood innocence and to live in awe the mystery of existence.
Simplicity helps us to take part again in the spontaneous and unexpected miracle of each moment...


"The birds have vanished into the sky,
And now the last cloud drains away.
We sit together, the mountain and me,
Until only the mountain remains." Li Po



"I feel that all the stars shine in me,
The world breaks into my life like a flood,
The flowers blossom in my body." Rabindranath Tagore



Stop!


"Love knows what is needed in every situation".




Monday, April 16, 2007

Any question?



"If you think about a question, it is a marvelous thing. Suddenly we don't just expect that our breakfast will be there in the morning, the way the dog does. We wonder, where does it come from? How do I come to be here? Who am I? How on earth did I get to be doing this? And the question is a seed which grows in us and it changes us as it grows."

In this beautiful piece, John Tarrant reminds us what our Zen quest is also about...sitting with our questions and allowing them to transform us.

This is an excerpt of a teisho entitled "The Luminous Life" given by John Tarrant Roshi. To be connected to Boundless Way Zen and read the complete teisho... click here






Sunday, April 1, 2007

"I hate quotes. Tell me what you know." Emerson


"Finish each day and be done with it.
You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense."

Ralph Waldo Emerson



If you are interested by Ralph Waldo Emerson's numerous quotes, ...click here.
It is an interesting site, rich and very well organized where you'll find much more than just his quotes...