Gate Sixteen
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.
Joy is a gate of Dharma illumination; for [with it] we abandon all unpleasant things.
By “Dharma Gate”, we mean a teaching or practice we can study to gain insights into the deepening our practice. It's a way to integrate our understanding of approaching reality.
The Koan:
Shortly after Shayamuni Buddha attained awakening, He entered a grove and sat under a tree. Soon thirty mencame to picnic nearby with their wives. One of them didn't have a wife,so he brought a courtesan. While they enjoyed themselves, this woman stole their valuables and fled. The men ran around looking for her.As they wandered they found the Buddha sitting under a tree. They approached him and asked if he had seen the courtesan.
The Buddha asked, "Why are you looking for her?" They told him what had happened. Then the Buddha said, "What do you think, yound men? Which is better; searching for a woman or searching for the self?" They replied, "It is betterto search for the self."
Instead of seeking meaning and how to live, most people pursue external things to avoid facing themselves and to gain excitement and satisfaction that last only for a short while; when the true joy in life is finding the self.
-The Zen Teachings of Homeless Kodo 30 pg 85
Most note worthy replies :
Joy warms the heart and opens our minds towards the world. Without joy, we remain isolated within our own sadness and despair.
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.
Joy is a gate of Dharma illumination; for [with it] we abandon all unpleasant things.
By “Dharma Gate”, we mean a teaching or practice we can study to gain insights into the deepening our practice. It's a way to integrate our understanding of approaching reality.
The Koan:
Shortly after Shayamuni Buddha attained awakening, He entered a grove and sat under a tree. Soon thirty mencame to picnic nearby with their wives. One of them didn't have a wife,so he brought a courtesan. While they enjoyed themselves, this woman stole their valuables and fled. The men ran around looking for her.As they wandered they found the Buddha sitting under a tree. They approached him and asked if he had seen the courtesan.
The Buddha asked, "Why are you looking for her?" They told him what had happened. Then the Buddha said, "What do you think, yound men? Which is better; searching for a woman or searching for the self?" They replied, "It is betterto search for the self."
Instead of seeking meaning and how to live, most people pursue external things to avoid facing themselves and to gain excitement and satisfaction that last only for a short while; when the true joy in life is finding the self.
-The Zen Teachings of Homeless Kodo 30 pg 85
Most note worthy replies :
Joy warms the heart and opens our minds towards the world. Without joy, we remain isolated within our own sadness and despair.
A mind full of joy
Still has room
For everything else
gassho, Shokai
stlah
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