Gate Fifty-one
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.
Realization of nonappearance* is a gate of Dharma illumination; for [with it] we experience the truth of cessation.
By “Dharma Gate”, We mean 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:
From Dogen zenji's Zanmai-o-Zanmai**: "We should realize that the universe in sitting is far different from other universes. Clarifying this principle, Buddhist Ancestors resolve and realize the aspiration to first practice, the practice itself, the state of awakening, and the final nirvana of the Buddhas and Ancestors."
Jundo roshi's commentary: "The world experienced before sitting and the world experienced during and after sitting are very different. It is the same world, yet both our experience and expression are not the same as before sitting. We are always Buddha, originally enlightened, but one view is awakened to the fact and one is not. With that truth in mind, the Buddhas and Ancestors resolve to first begin to practice, then they practice, awaken, and pass away at the end of their earthly lives. Awakening can happen while alive, but when a Buddha dies he or she is said to enter "final nirvana."
Most note worthy replies :
*-"nonappearance" is a traditional reference to nirvana
** -三昧王三昧 Zanmai is the Japanese pronunciation of the phonetic rendering in Chinese of the Sanskrit
word “sam‡dhi,” which means the state in Zazen; that is, the balanced state of body and
mind. O means “king.” We can consider that there are many kinds of sam‡dhi in our daily
lives. However, according to Buddhist theory the most important and best sam‡dhi is just
the sam‡dhi that we can experience in Zazen. Therefore, we call the state in Zazen “the king
of sam‡dhis.” In this chapter, Master Dogen explains what Zazen is, and so he chose the ti-
tle Zanmai-o-zanmai, The Sam‡dhi That Is King of Sam‡dhis.
*** - Upon seeing the Morning Star Buddha declared (something like), "I and all sentient beings are awakened!"
合掌 仁道 生開 - gassho, Jindo 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.
Realization of nonappearance* is a gate of Dharma illumination; for [with it] we experience the truth of cessation.
By “Dharma Gate”, We mean 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:
From Dogen zenji's Zanmai-o-Zanmai**: "We should realize that the universe in sitting is far different from other universes. Clarifying this principle, Buddhist Ancestors resolve and realize the aspiration to first practice, the practice itself, the state of awakening, and the final nirvana of the Buddhas and Ancestors."
Jundo roshi's commentary: "The world experienced before sitting and the world experienced during and after sitting are very different. It is the same world, yet both our experience and expression are not the same as before sitting. We are always Buddha, originally enlightened, but one view is awakened to the fact and one is not. With that truth in mind, the Buddhas and Ancestors resolve to first begin to practice, then they practice, awaken, and pass away at the end of their earthly lives. Awakening can happen while alive, but when a Buddha dies he or she is said to enter "final nirvana."
-Jundo Cohen's The Zen Mastr's Dance , pg76
the Lion's Roar***
Most note worthy replies :
Extinguishing self—
Every day
A brand new sunrise
*-"nonappearance" is a traditional reference to nirvana
** -三昧王三昧 Zanmai is the Japanese pronunciation of the phonetic rendering in Chinese of the Sanskrit
word “sam‡dhi,” which means the state in Zazen; that is, the balanced state of body and
mind. O means “king.” We can consider that there are many kinds of sam‡dhi in our daily
lives. However, according to Buddhist theory the most important and best sam‡dhi is just
the sam‡dhi that we can experience in Zazen. Therefore, we call the state in Zazen “the king
of sam‡dhis.” In this chapter, Master Dogen explains what Zazen is, and so he chose the ti-
tle Zanmai-o-zanmai, The Sam‡dhi That Is King of Sam‡dhis.
*** - Upon seeing the Morning Star Buddha declared (something like), "I and all sentient beings are awakened!"
合掌 仁道 生開 - gassho, Jindo Shokai
stlah
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