Buddha practices zazen, not you

 

 

 

While you do zazen you will come to understand yourself completely and realize that there is no such thing as an “I” which exists.  Still, in this moment, there is something participating in cosmic activity.  In this moment, something exists as a part of cosmic activity, or as a part of temporal existence and in this way “I” has an absolute value in itself.

If you think, “I practice zazen,” that is a misunderstanding.  Buddha practices zazen, not you.  If you think, “I practice zazen,” there will be many troubles.  If you think, “Buddha practices zazen,” there will be no trouble.  Whether or not your zazen is painful or full of erroneous ideas, it is still Buddha’s activity.  There is no way to escape from Buddha’s activity.

Thus you must accept yourself and devote yourself to yourself, or to Buddha, or to zazen.  When you become yourself, zazen will become zazen.

 

Suzuki-roshi

 

 

Sjá dharma talks ofl. með Suzuki roshi hér: http://suzukiroshi.sfzc.org/

Wanting to reform the world ...

 

Wanting to reform the world without discovering one's true self is like trying to cover the world with leather to avoid the pain of walking on stones and thorns. It is much simpler to wear shoes.

Ramana Maharshi - Happiness and God's Grace

Stutt viðtal við Jakusho Kwong-roshi

 

 

Hér getið þið horft á stutt viðtal við Jakusho Kwong roshi.

 

Jakusho Kwong er kennari Zen á Íslandi.

 

Í morgun settist lítill fugl í gluggakistuna mína og söng undurfagra söngva sína. Ég veit ekki hvers vegna, en þannig er náttúran. Fuglinn var agnarsmár, en söng af ótrúlegri snilld. Aftur og aftur söng hann sönginn sinn af öllu hjarta en flaug að lokum í burtu. Hvernig er þetta gert? Með öðrum orðum hvernig getur maður sýnt hjarta sitt? Hvernig er hægt að vera hér og nú af öllu hjarta, hvar sem er, hvenær sem er og hver sem maður er? Hvernig er því skilað til annarra? Þetta eru stórar spurningar. 

Jakusho Kwong-roshi – No beginning, No End

 

 

www.zen.is                       www.smzc.net

Yoga

 

Yoga means union. Although many people think this term refers to union between body and mind or body, mind and spirit, the traditional acceptance is union between the Jivatman and Paramatman that is between one's individual consciousness and the Universal Consciousness.
Therefore Yoga refers to a certain state of consciousness as well as to methods that help one reach that goal or state of union with the divine.

 

Sivananda

The Future of Buddhism: Genpo Roshi í dag kl. 18

 

The Future of Buddhism:
Big Mind, Big Heart, and the Evolution of the Dharma
with Genpo Roshi

 

Saturday, June 18th, 11:00am Pacific;
12:00 Mountain; 1:00 Central; 2:00 Eastern;
18:00 GMT

 

Genpo Roshi is changing the face of Zen--now and for the future. He is part traditional Zen Master and part modern spiritual innovator and his original teaching method, Big Mind, Big Heart, enables even the novice student to have a direct and potentially life changing experience of their own true nature. In this teleseminar, Genpo Roshi will share with us the essence of Big Mind, Big Heart and will speak about why it is vital that we find new ways of understanding, teaching and practicing the timeless spiritual paths of the East. Experience for yourself how his unique combination of tools and methods successfully weds Western psychology and science with the ancient wisdom traditions.

 
About Genpo Merzel Roshi
 
Dennis Genpo Merzel Roshi (born 1944) founded the Kanzeon International Sangha in 1982. He has been Abbot of Big Mind Western Zen Center, (formerly known as Kanzeon Zen Center) in Salt Lake City, Utah, since 1987. He received dharma transmission in both the Soto Zen and Rinzai Zen traditions. He is the second Dharma Successor of Taizan Maezumi Roshi, with whom he began his Zen practice in 1972. In 1996 he received inka (final seal of approval
as Zen Master) from Roshi Bernard Glassman, Glassman being Maezumi's first Dharma Successor. In 1999 he originated the Big Mind process, which has become central to his teaching since then.  Roshi's publications include: The Eye Never Sleeps, Beyond Sanity and Madness, 24/7 Dharma, and The Path of The Human Being. His latest book, Big Mind/Big Heart: Finding Your Way, was published in the Fall of 2007.

 
Access Instructions
 
To listen live by phone, dial 712-432-8900
Access code: 59618#
 
To listen live online, click here or go to http://www.instantteleseminar.com/?eventid=8348223.
 
To download the audio after the teleseminar is complete, click here or go to http://www.instantteleseminar.com/?eventid=8348223.

 

The Bodhisattva Ideal - Buddhism and the Aesthetics of Selflessness

 

 

A group of people was once traveling through a desert, when it so happened that three of them strayed away and got lost. Tired and thirsty this trio wandered around the desert in the hope of finding some respite. Finally their quest came to an end when they discovered a high well. The first man rushed to it, looked over the wall and found it full of delicious ambrosial water. He immediately exclaimed in a gesture of frenzied euphoria and jumped into it never to come back. The second too did the same. The third man finally walked over quietly over to the well, peeped over its high wall and then turned around and went back, returning to the desert to search for his other fellow travelers, to help guide them to this paradise.

  

The life of a bodhisattva too is made of similar stuff. In strictly canonical terms a bodhisattva is defined as an individual who discovers the source of the Ultimate Truth better known as nirvana, but postpones his own enlightenment until he has guided all his fellow beings to this same source of fulfillment. A formidable task to say the least. The path of the bodhisattva is thus one of extreme self-denial and selflessness. According to the Lankavatara sutra (4th century BC):

 

"A bodhisattva wishes to help all beings attain nirvana. He must therefore refuse to enter nirvana himself, as he cannot apparently render any services to the living beings of the worlds after his own nirvana. He thus finds himself in the rather illogical position of pointing the way to nirvana for other beings, while he himself stays in this world of suffering in order to do good to all creatures. This is his great sacrifice for others. He has taken the great Vow: "I shall not enter into final nirvana before all beings have been liberated." He does not realize the highest liberation for himself, as he cannot abandon other beings to their fate. He has said: "I must lead all beings to liberation. I will stay here till the end, even for the sake of one living soul."

  

The word 'bodhisattva' itself is prone to a rich etymological analysis. It is composed of two words 'bodhi' and 'sattva' both of which connote deeply spiritually meanings. Bodhi means "awakening" or "enlightenment," and sattva means "sentient being." Sattva also has etymological roots that mean "intention," meaning the intention to enlighten other beings. Thus the composite word bodhisattva signifies the very essence of the divine beings it refers to.

 Nitin Kumar

We Have to Let Go

 

People always ask: How can I integrate my spiritual realization into my everyday life? But that question doesn’t really make sense. Consciousness has no beginning and no end. Spirit is absolute in nature, and that’s why it’s so completely liberating. We simply cannot fit that which is infinite and absolute into a relative context that is limited, fixed, and restricted. We have to be willing to open up our minds and our hearts and our souls and allow ourselves to be carried away. And once we’ve let go, really let go, then and only then can we look at our lives and see what makes the most sense.

 

 Andrew Cohen

We sit together, the mountain and me ...

 

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 T'ai-po (701-?)

Do not pursue the past. Do not lose yourself in the future.

 

Do not pursue the past.
Do not lose yourself in the future.
The past no longer is.
The future has not yet come.
Looking deeply at life as it is
In the very here and now,
The practitioner dwells
In stability and freedom.
We must be diligent today.
To wait until tomorrow is too late.
Death comes unexpectedly.
How can we bargain with it?
The sage calls a person who knows
How to dwell in mindfulness
Night and day
"One who knows the better way to live."

Bhaddekaratta Sutra

 

Those who seek liberation for themselves alone cannot become fully enlightened

 

Those who seek liberation for themselves alone cannot become fully enlightened. Though it may be said that one who is not already liberated cannot liberate others the very process of forgetting oneself to help others is itself liberating. Therefore those who seek to benefit themselves alone actually harm themselves by doing so, while those who help others also help themselves by doing so.

Muso Kokushi (1275-1351)