Good to see Zen and Haiku's make a reappearance on the KMSA blog, so lets not waste space on what I think.... just read on.
If you cannot find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it?
The obstacle is the path.
First there is a mountain, then there is no mountain, then there is
No snowflake ever falls in the wrong place.
We shape clay into a pot, but it is the emptiness inside that holds whatever we want.
The quieter you become, the more you are able to hear.
Before enlightenment, I chopped wood and carried water.
After enlightenment, I chopped wood and carried water.
The only Zen you find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you take up there.
Zen opens a man's eyes to the greatest mystery as it is daily and hourly performed; it enlarges the heart to embrace eternity of time and infinity of space in its every palpitation; it makes us live in the world as if walking in the garden of Eden.
In Zen, poverty is voluntary, and considered not really as poverty so much as simplicity, freedom, unclutteredness.
Begin to see what is in front of you, rather than what you learned is there.
Zen ... does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes.
Zen is not some kind of excitement, but concentration on our usual everyday routine.
Zen is mind-less activity, that is, Mind-ful activity, and it may often be advisable to emphasize the mind, and say, Take care of the thoughts and the actions will take care of themselves.
Not to be bound by rules, but to be creating one's own rules--this is the kind of life which Zen is trying to have us live.
Zen says: be empty. Look without any idea. Look into the nature of things but with no idea, with no prejudice, with no presupposition.
Zen is not a philosophy, it is poetry. It does not propose, it simply persuades. It does not argue, it simply sings its own song.
For Zen, man is the goal; man is the end unto himself. God is not something above humanity, God is something hidden within humanity. Man is carrying God in himself as a potentiality.
Do not seek the truth, only cease to cherish your opinions.
Zen lives in the present. The Whole teaching is: how to be in the present; how to get out of the past which is no more and how not to get involved in the future which is not yet, and just to be rooted, centered, in that which is.
When the pupil is ready to learn, a teacher will appear.
Zen says everything is divine so how can anything be special? All is special. Nothing is non-special so nothing can be special.
The tighter you squeeze, the less you have.
The future of humanity will move closer and closer toward the approach of Zen, because the meeting of the East and West is possible only through something like Zen, which is earthly and yet unearthly.
Sir Dayvd of Zenobia
Good to see the Zen Knight illustration you did about a year ago again! Great reminder of our own glorious journey through life.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the Zen Circle still reminds me of how the past, present and future form the eternal truth. I'm still able to live in the past and future during the present. Perhaps I'm just special...more than likely just crazy...but non the less...accurate for my life anyway.
Long before KMSA, when I was asked my "religion", I always responded that I'm a Zen Cherokee Christian! It's a BIG Bowl to fill with all kinds of Zenful Delights!
Smashmouth Football
Creates Excitement
In My Soul
Off to see the Colts beat up on the Texans in Indy.
Sir Hook the Zenful Dog of Warrick
round two... heh
ReplyDeleteZen, is all about letting go of the past completely , and dismissing the future.
( zen teacher )
Two monks were once traveling together down a muddy road.
A heavy rain was falling. Coming around the bend,
they met a lovely girl in a silk kimono and sash,
unable to cross the intersection.
"Come on, girl," said the first monk. Lifting her
in his arms, he carried her over the mud.
The second monk did not speak again until that night
when they reached a lodging temple. Then he no longer
could restrain himself. "We monks don't go near females,"
he said. "It is dangerous. Why did you do that?"
"I left the girl there," the first monk said.
"Are you still carrying her?"
Sir Dayvd ( the Now master ) of the Zen O
Ah! But he had to remember that he left her behind! That's still the past. No doubt the Now is the most important, but the past and future make the zen circle that surrounds the now. Dare I say, shape the now!
ReplyDeleteSir Hook the Zen Master of All of Warrick
Back to U ZenO!
I fear H, the Zen O is being misappropriated here, and is merely a Chinese caligraphists demonstration of unwavering mental attunement between mind and hand, with literally no thoughts of the past and future causing a less than perfect circle between birth and death.
ReplyDeleteIt is perfect possible, indeed preferable, to function in the present without any past what so ever in your life. We may wish to study it, cherish it or honor it, but it is totally superfulous and un-necessary in shaping the present.
As for the Future, it is only our actions in the Now that shape our future, it is impossible to be the other way round.
If you understand, things are just as they are;
if you do not understand, things are just as they are.
Sir Dayvd ( the future and past are like looking for fish tracks in a dry riverbed. )
of The UK where Manchester Utd are just about to play Chelsea FC...now that is a FOOTBALL Game.
Brit pride #2 David Haye; WBA Heavyweight Champion of the world, after giving away 90 pounds in weight and 1 ft in height. David did indeed beat Goliath
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/boxing/8269454.stm
Boys, boys.
ReplyDeleteIf you look closely, you'll see that the image is not a circle, but a GUM BALL!
Zen spirituality is just to rake the gum balls!
First there is a gum ball, then there no gum ball, then there is
Sir Bowie "Nez Master" who's got it all backwards of Greenbriar
Quite so master. :))
ReplyDeleteD of gummy Bear
around these deep thoughts
ReplyDeleteof past, future and present
I'm wrapping my mind
Glory of the Ride
whether Zen-like or God-lead
we're living it NOW
Lady S
I was singing Donavon in my head all the way to the Colts game yesterday. Let's see, that song was from 1969. I believe that was in my past. I recalled the lyrics, like the monk who left the woman behind, and it shaped my present as I drove through the countryside of Indiana. It also gave me great enjoyment in anticipating the future when Sir D would once again try to prove me wrong!
ReplyDeleteOne man's Zen is another man's O! It appears that my version of Zen is the Gumball in Sir D's britches! LOL!
Sir Hook Who Relishes A Good Barqument, Especially Over A Pint of Zen, of Warrick
P.S. Beautiful phrasing Lady S!