The landscape of our lives paints us as individuals,
Each of us shaped by the rain, wind and sun of our life's path.
If you stand back and look you will see,
Each landscape gently blend into the next
With no definitive lines between Mountain and Desert.
Through the quite morning mist of our meditation, We will see the Rivers that cut through the landscapes of our lives.
The Rivers that teach us the Dharma.
“Ten thousand flowers in spring
ReplyDeletethe moon in autumn,
a cool breeze in summer,
snow in winter.
If your mind isn’t clouded by unnecessary things,
this is the best season of your life.” Wu-men
Mind at Peace
ReplyDeleteWhen the mind is at peace,
the world too is at peace.
Nothing real, nothing absent.
Not holding on to reality,
not getting stuck in the void,
you are neither holy or wise, just
an ordinary fellow who has completed his work.
P'ang Yün
Searching for the Dharma
ReplyDeleteby: Master Hsu Yun
You've traveled up ten thousand steps in search of the Dharma.
So many long days in the archives, copying, copying.
The gravity of the Tang and the profundity of the Sung make heavy baggage.
Here! I've picked you a bunch of wildflowers.
Their meaning is the same
but they're much easier to carry.
The color of the mountains is Buddha's body; the sound of running water is his great speech.
ReplyDeleteDogen Zenji (1200 - 1253)
I have had several great teachers in my life. But what I have profoundly learned I learned from being in nature, from watching small children and from listening to the rhythm of silence. The great Dharma lives all around us and is always willing to teach. But as Nan-in said "we must first empty our minds"
ReplyDeleteSee a bowl, the most ordinary one, he's usefull by his emptiness to can contain food, offerings and so on.
ReplyDeleteSee a wall, his empty parts are the windows, if he hasn't any, it's said to be a blind one, and we need these empty places to see, learn, teach...
Going Beyond Desire:
ReplyDeleteStriving to leave the wilderness
You become part of what's wild.
Striving to cease grasping
Is, itself, grasping.
So how do you gain control and get beyond desire?
Open those eyes... the ones that were born in your own skull.
by Master Hsu Yun
And remember Sansui kyô (mountains and rivers as sutras) from Master Dôgen in the Shôbôgenzô...
ReplyDelete"If your hermitage is deep in the mountains
ReplyDeleteSurely the moon flowers and maple trees
Will become your friends."
Ryokan
Some of my bamboos are growing again (Fargesia robusta) in my garden: nice wake up... Waiting for this moment each spring...
ReplyDelete