66 / 108 Gates of Dharma Illumination

[Shokai]

23 Quaint gate.jpg
一百八法明門
IPPYAKUHACHI-HOMYOMON
One Hundred and Eight Gates of Dharma-Illumination

[66] The power of balance28 is a gate of Dharma-illumination; for [with it] we discontinue all thoughts.

The power of balance, often referred to as the Middle Way, is a foundational principle that avoids the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification. It is not a static, rigid center, but a dynamic, continuous adjustment—a "dance" of navigating life's opposites to achieve inner peace, clarity, and liberation. The Buddha taught that true liberation comes from avoiding the extremes of chasing sensual pleasures and punishing the body (asceticism). Just as a lute string that is too tight breaks and too loose makes no sound, life's efforts must be balanced to be effective. It represents a balanced approach to all life situations—work and rest, giving and taking, stability and change.

How does this work for you in your practice??

合掌,生開
gassho, Shokai
stlah
仁道 生開 / Jindo Shokai
"Open to life in a benevolent way"

[Ryūdō-Liúdào]

Ah... balance. There’s something I really enjoy about those moments of equilibrium, dancing on the needle's head, one with the wave as it flows, floating at the peak of a jump... While I know it's not something to cling to or chase, I can still enjoy it, right?

"A 'dance' of navigating life's opposites" is a great way to see it. When we are in the flow of a dance, our thoughts become calm and drifting. They may still be there, but they become background notes, almost like an audience to the show. Balanced, the mind chatters… yet no one is obligated to reply...

Gasshō,
流道-Ryūdō-Liúdào
Satlah

[Tenryu]

When balance is there, nothing feels forced. Effort isn’t tight, attention isn’t heavy. Things just rest where they are.

Thoughts still appear, but they don’t build on themselves so quickly. There’s less leaning into or away from what’s happening. It’s not that thinking stops. It’s more that it doesn’t take over. That quiet space feels like the power of balance at work.

Gasshō,
Tenryū
st lah

[dorgan]

The distinction between a faculty (indriya, 根) and a power (bala, 力) is technically precise: what functions as a faculty can be disturbed or overturned; what becomes a bala cannot. Samādhi, as bala, names a concentration that has stabilized beyond the reach of distraction; it holds its ground. The discontinuation of all thoughts is the discontinuation of the restless mental commentary that interposes itself between awareness and phenomena, preventing direct apprehension. Balance is neither grasping nor aversion, neither forcing stillness nor abandoning to agitation. This is the functional meaning of equanimity (upekkhā) as it operates within concentration (samādhi): a dynamic poise.

Sitting zazen, poised, correct posture, correct breathing, restlessness set aside, observing thoughts come and go.

gassho, david
stlah

[Tairin]

Thank you Shokai

I am not sure there is much to say here. Balance is key to life. Extremes are …. Well … extreme. Living life on a rollercoaster is not a life I want to live. I aim to approach life with balance and equanimity.


Tairin
sat today and lah

[Choujou]

In my practice on the Zafu, I do my absolute best to not be too hard on myself when I stray in thoughts and delusion, being too hard is a form of punishment and not a balanced approach… likewise though, I will inwardly give myself a disappointed look like my parents did at times, or quietly remind myself “ZAZEN!” when I need to. The great thing is that I am more aware and able to bring myself center, neither blindly lost in delusion all the time, nor am I trying to control or stop thoughts, but just to accept and sit with what is.
In the practice of life, I am an emotional person… I will admit that I am very sensitive and I tend to feel things very deeply. When I was a younger man, I used to react strongly to those feelings. I called it “passion”… most called it anger. I would suddenly erupt… react. This was because I didn’t have a balance within. I would bottle my feelings, seal them, and then stamp the expiration date on it. Once the date was met… BOOM. It would all explode into whatever was currently upsetting me and fuel my negative emotions. I was not proud of it and for years I tried my best to change, and I did to a degree (also the fires of youth have calmed some as I have aged) but I didn’t really know how to completely. I had better control of my reaction, but not of the bottling factory, and instead of erupting outward, it seemed now to be erupting inward. (Disease after all is dis-ease in the body) It wasn’t until practicing with Treeleaf, and making changes to my life to heal from within, that I am finally starting to feel more of the balance I have wanted. I don’t bottle up, I don’t explode, I don’t hold it in… I just address everything as it comes as calmly and skillfully as I can. The same went for my weight loss, no extreme diets, just a middle way of eating. Balanced and healthy… along with exercise of course too. I find that you slowly balance out all aspects of your life as you begin the path of the middle way. I am not perfect, but I am much more balanced than I ever was before.

Gassho,
Choujou

sat/lah today

[Seikan]

I was finding myself at a loss of words for this Gate that aren't just repetitive of Gate 61, so I compared our Nishijima translation with the SZTP, and for both Gate 61 and 66 (this one), they translate the word as "concentration" instead of balance (full Gate translation: "The power of concentration is a gateway to the illumination of the dharma, for one eliminates all thoughts"). To be honest, this feels like one of the biggest differences so far between the two translations. They both reference the discontinuation or "elimination" of all thoughts. Those seem to share the same spirit of reducing thoughts, but there does seem to be a tangible difference between discontinuing a stream of thoughts and eliminating them altogether. Perhaps the difference is more subtle than it seems on the surface. But now I'm rambling . . .

I suppose that by concentrating our awareness in a balanced way (neither too tight or loose) we might allow thoughts to quickly pass us by without feeding into them. This, in turn, may help to diminish the flow of thoughts overall.

So my reflection today is more of a speculative work-in-progress as I'm just starting to uncover new meaning in this Gate. Yet that is what I love about this practice.

Gassho,
Seikan
stlah

[Chikyou]

Balance is an exercise in adaptability and flexibility. It requires mindfulness to recognize unbalanced states, and skill to return to balanced states. Returning to balance often requires something different than it did the last time, so it becomes an exercise in recognizing what is needed and when.

Gassho,
SatLah,
Chikyō