NEW BOOK - Opening the Hand of Thought - Chapter 1

[Tai Shi]

The book is here, and so now I have two chapters to read--I've been busy with Jukai--thinking what this means to me, getting everything just so--learning a new name--Calm Poetry--so this is more of a direction, and when my wife says, "Why not try some hearts and flowers poetry?" I'm thinking it is time to put down time cudgel and participate in the Universe of Zen. The very basics of my universe are created when I write.

Calm Poetry
Elgwyn
sat this morning
Gassho
To learn to say my name in Japanese

[Kyotai]

"In order to truly see that using your thoughts as a standard is invalid, you simply have to practice. And to sustain your practice over time..."

Lots of gems. This one spoke to me too.

Gassho, Kyotai
Sat today

[Hoseki]

Hello Adam,

thanks for that - I feel what you suggest is a clearer reading. Uchiyama Roshi's writing is about truth rather than 'absolute truth' in a first principle kind of way. I guess there is an 'absolute' in there in the sense that reality has 'an absolute or undeniable nature'. I prefer the term undeniable because it has a more human ring about it.

Regarding philosophy - or philosophizing - despite not aiming -or wanting - to throw his life into 'a philosophical pursuit of the truth' - as with Dogen and many
of our contemporary writers on Zen - the questioning is there between the lines. I feel Philosophy can also be a practice of the heart as well as the mind and can assist us as long as we are mindful of not getting too tied up with words.

I think it's a shame if we become over conscious of our own stumbling attempts because eventually words of wisdom are surely built upon this? It may have taken Uchiyama forty years before he felt confident to set his thoughts down - but I'm sure during that time he thought deeply. explored, studied, and discussed with others.

Anyway - enough words - sitting is of course of the essence.

Gassho

Willow

sat today

Hi Willow,

I agree with you about the value of a philosophizing. I believe Jundo said something to the effect that most of the Zen masters read the old texts before they threw them away But for someone like me philosophizing can become the whole enterprise. I end up trying to take refuge in an abstract concept(s). I think my weariness came through in my reading. As a side note, I enjoyed and continue to enjoy reading about certain philosophical issues and ideas. Reading Plato made me want to be a better person... its a work in progress

Gassho
Adam
Sattoday

[Jundo]

... But for someone like me philosophizing can become the whole enterprise. I end up trying to take refuge in an abstract concept(s). I think my weariness came through in my reading.

Hi Dude,

I believe that is the question. It is the difference between being tangled in abstract concepts and experiencing/living, being a Buddhist who sits in an armchair and one who sit on the Zafu then rises up to life. Uchiyama, Nishijima, Dogen, the 6th Ancestor ... I would call all great philosophers (Uchiyama was a student of Western Philosophy). The point is where to draw the line, and most importantly, how to see right through points and lines.

The old expression "A Way Beyond Words And Letters" simply meant to see through and tread lightly on traditional Buddhist Doctrines and Perspectives (such as Non-Self, Impermanence, Emptiness many others), not get tangled in the complications of philosophy and see through the mere words. Yes, most of the old monks had read or were familiar with the general content and perspectives of the old books before they "burned them".

Gassho, J

SatToday

[Kyonin]

Hi all,

I just finished the first chapter. I got it in Spanish, so I might have lost something in translation.

It really really spoke to me in some parts like how accepting death as part of our experience is liberating. I have found that accepting the fact that I will die someday has ended a lot of fears I grew up with.

Roshi also speaks about how all ideas are just formations in our minds, like secretions. The mind will secrete thoughts because it's its job to do so. Realizing this helps us to let go of mental formations and just accept reality as it is, which is perfect.

Lastly, what made my mind spin was his concept of time and space. Past and future are only a part of our present experience.

Need to sit with all this a little bit more

Gassho,

Kyonin
#SatToday

[Hoseki]

Hi Dude,

I believe that is the question. It is the difference between being tangled in abstract concepts and experiencing/living, being a Buddhist who sits in an armchair and one who sit on the Zafu then rises up to life. Uchiyama, Nishijima, Dogen, the 6th Ancestor ... I would call all great philosophers (Uchiyama was a student of Western Philosophy). The point is where to draw the line, and most importantly, how to see right through points and lines.

The old expression "A Way Beyond Words And Letters" simply meant to see through and tread lightly on traditional Buddhist Doctrines and Perspectives (such as Non-Self, Impermanence, Emptiness many others), not get tangled in the complications of philosophy and see through the mere words. Yes, most of the old monks had read or were familiar with the general content and perspectives of the old books before they "burned them".

Gassho, J

SatToday

Gassho
Adam
Sat today


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[CK732]

Excellent material.

Gassho

Nanto

Sat2Day


Sat2Day

[Banto]

Grateful to read through this again and read through everyone's thoughts about it.

When I read the part in this chapter about seeing the cup from different angles I was reminded of my own pondering as a child if we see the same colors for example. Turns out, we probably don't, at least as far as I understand from reading and talking to people in the neuroscience fields. That what we perceive as color doesn't necessarily really exist on the object but rather when the reflected light hits the cells in our eyes and the signal is sent to the brain, the brain builds a perception for us to relate to this sensory input. What you see as green might not be what I see is green but we can relay the consistency through labeling. So how complex and disjointed it must be when we move from objects in the field of vision to situations or events or whatever we talk about and fight about and agree upon. Messy! That's a pretty hacked description but it came to mind reading this chapter, that we have layers of perception and notions of things in our minds, and I wonder if that's the world he talks about in the areas discussed of "when I die, my world dies with me" and so forth. It's all in my head in one sense.

I like the areas mentioned of the idea of letting go of our notions of things. And the fourth seal, first referred to as Nirvana, then mentioned as all things s they are, to let go of the artificial attachments.

My challenge is although I might at least partially understand the concept, am I completely blind to my own attachments and notions, and continue to grasp them? I'm sure. What remains when I do let go of the layers of concept and perception that I have on top of situations or people or the things right in front of me?

I feel I claim to want to meet the real dragon and too will faint when he peers down through my window. So I want to want to meet the real dragon haha

Gassho
Banto SatToday