Homeless Kodo's "TO YOU" - Chapters 3, 4 & 5

[ZenKen]

Two that hit me are:
Chapter 3

The question isn't who's right. You're simply seeing things from different points of view.

I found this to be very powerful as we are all so often stuck in our view of how we see the world and believing ourselves to have the correct opinion and have it 'all worked out.'

Chapter 4

If you aren't careful, you'll spend your whole life doing nothing besides waiting for your ordinary-person hopes to someday be fulfilled.

I like this one as a gentle reminder that while there are things we 'need' to do to function and be productive members of society, there are other things we can choose not to do that detract from our awareness of life in the moment.

Gassho
Anna
st

[Tai Do]

When you’re fighting with your husband or wife, you don’t realize that the
argument is about an illusion. But in zazen, you recognize illusion as illusion.
This is why it is important to look at life with the eyes of zazen.

This truly resonates with me. I tend to only perceive the futility of our couple arguments only after the fact. Recently, I’ve being perceiving hour greed, anger and ignorance play the biggest role in all our disputes.

Whatever you were thinking just now, it’s gone already.

So true!

What a shame to have been born a human being and to spend your whole life
worrying.

You should reach the point where you can be happy to have been born a human.

I coupled it with these other quotes:

It’s no small matter to be born into this world as a human being.
[…]
Now that you’ve been born as a human being, you should lead a life which is truly
worth living.

Buddhism teaches us that it’s a joy to be born into this world as a human being.

Samadhi means seriously asking yourself the question, “How must this life be
lived?”

This really puts all the weight and responsibility of existence in our shoulders. A great guarda teaching. A lot to think about how we’ve been living and should livre from now on.

Gassho,
Mateus
Sat LAH

[Tairin]

This really puts all the weight and responsibility of existence in our shoulders. A great guarda teaching. A lot to think about how we’ve been living and should livre from now on.

This is one of the things I appreciate most about our practice.


Tairin
Sat today and lah

[Onki]

Wow! Chapter 3… I wonder if Sawaki had any positive relationships as the tone of Chapter 3 seems somewhat negative.
I really love this quote: “Whatever you were thinking just now, it’s gone already.”
As someone with ADHD I can completely relate to this! I will be thinking of something and my brain shoots to the next thought and the next thought; never really holding onto the thought for very long.
Another quote that I liked was “It all begins when we say “I.” Everything that follows is illusion.” This is so true. Once I put “I” I’ve already lost it. I’ve been thinking of the world as how “I” relate to it. Very interesting. Makes me think for sure.

Gassho,

Finn

Sat today

[Amelia]

"That which can’t be made into an individual possession fills the entire universe. Where personal thoughts come to an end is where the buddha-dharma begins.

"Dōgen says:
The fowers that bejewel the sky of my heart,
I offer them to the buddhas of the three worlds."



Gassho
Sat, lah

[Heiso]

I'm a bit late to the party but having just returned from a family holiday in a small mobile home, I feel this from chapter 3 in my bones and marrow:

Family is the place where parents and children, husband and wife simultaneously all get on each other’s nerves.

Gassho,

Heiso

StLah

[Soka]

What a shame to have been born a human being and to spend your whole life worrying

Don't be so helpless that you start saying you need money to live. In this world you can lead a fine life without savings

I could almost pair these two together.

Money still sometimes worries me, and while you can lead a fine life without savings, having a bit of a savings buffer would take that worry away. I think the main time I worry is when I have to buy something or pay to fix something on the van - which is usually what reminds me money is a thing. It can sometimes take a bit of effort to remember the above lessons. After all, even savings are an illusory safety net, banks could go bust, hyperinflation could occur. So, why worry?

Gassho,
Sōka
sat

[Mark-us]

We were simply born and we will simply die-and you ask about the meaning of life. (...) Isn’t it clear from the start that life is good for nothing? It is simply coming and going, that’s all. Your problem is that there’s something in you that just can’t accept that.

In a large, grand scheme of things, I understand this. Everything ultimately changes, and even if you make a mark on this world (as I thought the meaning of life was initially), your accomplishments will fade away into history one day. And even more so, when you die, you "forget" about what you have done. But, I feel like even though, life is good for nothing, we all should still strive to help each other and make at least one person's world better. There is no separation between "self" and "the universe/reality" and "others" I still feel like the "goal" a person should have is to help others (or the universe/reality should help itself). Even though, it doesn't matter. If I helped one person for 5 seconds, that is worth it. Maybe I just can't accept that just yet!

Sorry for running long
Gassho,
Markus (satlah)

[Uran]

A brief journey through Chapter Four:

...

Life in the floating world...
Stupefied with boredom...
Led astray by confusion...
Misled by personal fabrication and karma...
Our wobbly legs carrying us off track...
What is beyond all of this is the absolute...
Joy, stability, happiness...
A Buddha is someone who untangles what is confused...
Zazan - simply practicing what isn't good for anything.

...

I feel like my mind is moving and chattering and moving and talking and moving and worrying all the time. So last Sunday, as part of my Ango commitments, I turned off all the devices and existed in the real world for an entire day. And during this day I chose to pick up Kōdō at Chapter Four - To you who have just begun brooding over life. It seemed perfectly appropriate for a mind that wants to find deeper layers of reality and quiet.

And what a beautiful journey. And the perfect day to take exactly that path.

With joy, gratitude and sometimes quiet,

Gassho,

Aimee
sat lah this day