The Sixty-eighth Gate:
Read the following, place it in your heart and sleep on it. Then, tomorrow, live it until evening when you can leave a brief comment on what you may have received during the process.
Mindfulness, as a part of the state of truth, is a gate of Dharma illumination; for it is wisdom that accords with real dharmas.
A “Dharma Gate” is a teaching or practice that can lead to spiritual growth: some kind of positive outcome in terms of our practice. A way to approach the truth.
Koan:
I call awakening a “koan” in the sense that it’s something for us to wrestle with spiritually, and in the sense that it cannot be understood with our ordinary, discriminating mind.The extent to which the concept of awakening is taught or valued in modern, western places of Buddhist practice varies widely. Certain lineages, particularly Chan, Zen, or Korean Seon lineages that employ formal koan study, tend to emphasize the reality and importance of seeking a fundamental and radical shift in your view of the world and self – and in some cases, when a practitioner experiences that shift there’s a publicly acknowledged, or even celebrated, before and after. Many other lineages, including Theravada and Vipassana but also many Chan and Zen lineages, place less of an emphasis on awakening experiences. They can’t deny Buddhism points to such a possibility, but teachers and centers encourage people to embrace their lives as they are and practice diligently without a particular goal. Many Buddhist teachers feel that as long as someone really practices, awakening – if it happens – will happen on its own, and that deliberately striving for it can actually just get in the way. -
Rephrase the Truth.jpg
Most note worthy replies:
Mindfulness helps us see beyond our preferences. When I want X but am given Y then I will view Y as undesirable. But Y is just Y. It is my perceptions that colour Y.
gassho, Shokai
stlah
Read the following, place it in your heart and sleep on it. Then, tomorrow, live it until evening when you can leave a brief comment on what you may have received during the process.
Mindfulness, as a part of the state of truth, is a gate of Dharma illumination; for it is wisdom that accords with real dharmas.
A “Dharma Gate” is a teaching or practice that can lead to spiritual growth: some kind of positive outcome in terms of our practice. A way to approach the truth.
Koan:
I call awakening a “koan” in the sense that it’s something for us to wrestle with spiritually, and in the sense that it cannot be understood with our ordinary, discriminating mind.The extent to which the concept of awakening is taught or valued in modern, western places of Buddhist practice varies widely. Certain lineages, particularly Chan, Zen, or Korean Seon lineages that employ formal koan study, tend to emphasize the reality and importance of seeking a fundamental and radical shift in your view of the world and self – and in some cases, when a practitioner experiences that shift there’s a publicly acknowledged, or even celebrated, before and after. Many other lineages, including Theravada and Vipassana but also many Chan and Zen lineages, place less of an emphasis on awakening experiences. They can’t deny Buddhism points to such a possibility, but teachers and centers encourage people to embrace their lives as they are and practice diligently without a particular goal. Many Buddhist teachers feel that as long as someone really practices, awakening – if it happens – will happen on its own, and that deliberately striving for it can actually just get in the way. -
Domyo Burke/zenstudiespodcast.com
Rephrase the Truth.jpg
Most note worthy replies:
Mindfulness helps us see beyond our preferences. When I want X but am given Y then I will view Y as undesirable. But Y is just Y. It is my perceptions that colour Y.
With mindful presence, we meet the world
Fully awake, fully alive,
Embodying the truth of our being.
To a serene mind
The world seems
Simply as it is
Fully awake, fully alive,
Embodying the truth of our being.
To a serene mind
The world seems
Simply as it is
gassho, Shokai
stlah
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