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ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE -
Perhaps, it is a matter of degree. For myself, and for most of the people I encounter, too much time is spent depressingly ruminating about and re-living the past, or anxiously forecasting the future. "Multi-tasking" becomes the norm, regardless of the significance of the tasks themselves. We rush through life with our hair on fire, frantic, unable to stop for fear something will be missed, overlooked or that we will somehow fall behind. When we stop re-living the past, or worrying about the future, we are left with the only thing that is "real", the only thing that we can actually affect - the present. For me, more of that brings peace.
Gassho
Dick
sat/lahComment
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I have a feeling that it's not about being in the moment but being the space between the moments. A moment is like a movie frame, all moments separated from each other and yet creating illusion of continuity, illusion of our solid selves, our lives, continuity of time. And yet in this constantly changing moment, there is something timeless.. Please know the timeless stillness that is the heart of each moment, even the most tumultuous moments in life.
It's been "bothering" me for a while.
"All day long the pillar goes back and forth. Why am I unable to move?" Daito Yuikai.
Gassho
SatComment
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That's been "bothering" me too. And brought to mind a quote I came across recently : "Zhiyi had denied “that the mind is a pure, undifferentiated cosmic principle from which all things arise.” Instead, he had privileged “entering emptiness from conventional existence,” which reflects an “emphasis on concrete particulars as instantiating ultimate truth: “Of every form and fragrance, there is none that is not the Middle Way.”. [Original Enlightenment and transformation of Medieval Japanese Buddhism by Jacqueline Stone]
Gassho
SatComment
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I believe that this is the Zen stance: There is no show if just the light, only a boring blank screen. Who wants to stare at that!?
That's been "bothering" me too. And brought to mind a quote I came across recently : "Zhiyi had denied “that the mind is a pure, undifferentiated cosmic principle from which all things arise.” Instead, he had privileged “entering emptiness from conventional existence,” which reflects an “emphasis on concrete particulars as instantiating ultimate truth: “Of every form and fragrance, there is none that is not the Middle Way.”. [Original Enlightenment and transformation of Medieval Japanese Buddhism by Jacqueline Stone]
Gassho
Sat
On the other hand, some people fall into the suffering of the movie so deeply, that it is truly Dukkha and misery.
Best to see the light and the show, sometimes more one than the other (I like to remember that it is just a movie during the really scary parts of horror movies!
), sometimes just enjoying the show, but not sucked in so deeply that one is lost. Light is show, show is light.
Like that.
Gassho, J
STLahALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLEComment
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Thank you, Jundo, for the wonderful teachings in this thread.
Gassho,
Onkai
Sat/lah美道 Bidou Beautiful Way
恩海 Onkai Merciful/Kind Ocean
I have a lot to learn; take anything I say that sounds like teaching with a grain of salt.Comment
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I am in awe of the teachings that appear on these pages.
Thank you Jundo and Sangha
Gassho
Seikai
ST/LhComment
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"Moderation is enlightenment."
- Jundo Cohen (but you'll have to wait until the next episode of The Zen of Everything, this Friday, to hear it).
He also said "Goldilocks is the Buddha," and that was pretty entertaining. :-)
Gassho,
Ryūmon
sat
In case you don't know about The Zen of Everything, do check out the podcast: www.zen-of-everything.comI know nothing.Comment
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I’m waiting for The Zen of Everything with great expectations.
Gassho
sat/ lah
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ProPeaceful, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive,
for positive poetry 優婆塞 台 婆Comment
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Yes of course. Shall we Surly.
sat/ lah
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ProPeaceful, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, for positive poetry 優婆塞 台 婆Comment
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Thank you Jundo
I feel like this post goes really well with the one you did about goals/having no goals. Having goals while being goalless at heart. Doing different things while being present at the same time. Ultimately, it is all the body of reality, a unification of dualities/contradictions. Refreshing perspective
Gassho,
Tomás
Sat&LaHComment
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Yes, in principle I think "be in the moment" or, as Ram Dass used to say "be here now" is good advice. In reality, however, we have to be able to learn from our past and plan for the future. Taking the advice to "be in the moment" too literally can cause a lot of problems, and it seems that taking these axioms too literally is generally not a great way to go through life. This is a bit of a spoiler for Star Trek Discovery Season 3 (so don't read past this point if you plan to watch it) but I like that in the 32nd Century, the Vulcans have done away with their old axioms ("the needs of the many...", etc) because they found they were all too often being used as excuses to be intellectually and morally lazy - I feel as though that's a good lesson for us non-fictional human beings here in the 21st Century, too.
Gassho
Kyōsen
Sat|LAH橋川
kyō (bridge) | sen (river)Comment
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Thanks for this Jundo. I used to think that Zen was about hyper-focus (e.g. shooting and arrow, fixing a motorcycle, etc). I've been surprised to learn since coming here that it's more about opening up and letting everything through, rather than narrowing focus to one thing and shutting everything else out.
Gassho,
Kevin
ST LaHComment
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