Buddhas

[Jundo]

Re: Buddhas

That quote I posted in the Adyashanti thread (the most recent quote) haunts me. Why, with so many practicing with so much earnest effort, do so few awaken?

Chet

I do not know anyone who's been following this path for many years, and sitting each day ... who has not tasted that which keeps them following this path for many years and sitting each day.

If they had not found what makes that so, they would not be so ... day in day out, for so many years of Practice.

'Tis a hike up a mountain. Almost anyone following the path for some time will come to realize that there is no place in need of getting to, that the mountain is always underfoot ... and, anyway, that there is no mountain, or path, or walker, but just the walking ... maybe not even that. Once in awhile, most will catch a glimpse through the trees, or reach a summit, where there is an amazing panorama ... or by which all drops away in all directions. Almost anyone walking this mountain, day in day out for several years, will experience just that.

The wise ones will realize too that such scenery, though breathtaking, is not the real point of the walk. You will know them because of the way they walk ... no longer searching, merely walking forward ... step by step for many thousands of miles, sometimes smooth sometimes tripping, always arriving.

So, I do not think that what you write is true.

(Other folks, by the way, may need some other religious path to help them make sense of this world ... be it a god or savior or Buddha to pray to. Our path is not for everyone).


Gassho, Jundo

PS - Be cautious of anyone who says "too few awaken" unless you follow his path. That's like a guide who, for a fee, offers to run you up to the mountain scenic spots in a jeep, all to find a store selling souvenir trinkets. :wink: The truth is that those folks who will awaken will do so, and on many paths.

Re: Buddhas

Zazen can become, like all things, appropriated by the ego and used against the shadow of ourselves that we wish to deny. It's the same with the precepts. It's the same with anything.

Nonetheless, zazen is the most effective means by which I've ever experienced to study or forget the self.

That quote I posted in the Adyashanti thread (the most recent quote) haunts me. Why, with so many practicing with so much earnest effort, do so few awaken?

Chet

[Jundo]

Re: Buddhas

A wonderful post, Will. Thank you.

Rings true as a wonderful "non-plan" for Practice and living life . Getting no place, and a great way to get there. As you say, "Not to become better. To become balanced and more whole, and learn from our mistakes. Do we stop practicing and sitting Zazen? I can't say, but my guess is "no"."

Gassho, J

[will]

A bit of a long post today:

Why do all those monks walk around bowing and chanting?

Why did Suzuki Roshi emphasize religion?

You see, when we drop all the guessing games, and realize a taste for something bigger than ourselves through out our body and mind, what do you do?

Do you think that you will become radiant with wisdom on your own? This practice was not meant to be done by oneself. What happens when you think that you can realize Buddhadharma on your own? You become isolated. You mistake the teachings for some personal idea.

It is not personal. The precepts are important part of practice. When we have a taste for emptiness, or realize that we are part of something bigger, we then have no choice. We must use this Body and Mind for good.

What use is the Dharma if you are going to keep it to yourself. It is not that one should try hard to uphold something, but it is important to realize that one's actions do effect one's experience.

I have no clue what someone may have realized. Perhaps they don't need to sit Zazen and they carry Zazen with them wherever they go. However, for us mortals it is a bit different in that Zazen is part of what we are after. It is a practice that sets the body and mind right. From this practice we go about our day, and perhaps realize how giving thanks is intertwined. Enjoying yourself, being kind, not holding yourself back. Being perfectly you. However, this perfectly you needs some direction.

What's left after experiencing Buddha nature? The expression of it. The thankfulness of it. The importance of it and how it is integral to living this life well.

What would happen if one stops sitting Zazen (on the bus or cushion)? We will be led down the same road that we've always been. Suffering. What does this "suffereing" mean? It means being greedy, and selfish. It means taking things too seriously. It means causing yourself and other so much trouble. However, one can not end suffering by just following the precepts and avoiding what one "thinks" is wrong. One must realize what suffering is through BodyMind, and experience. How does mind react to slouching, and overeating? How does it react to craving? What is craving? How does it arise? What is it that make one think they are not fine they way they are? Finding balance. Dropping. Studying the self.

Here's an experience that somehow started and I don't know when or how:

The forum. Posting on the forum.
I would over think what I had posted on the forum. What I said, how it would be taken. "Should I change it?" All these overwhelming thoughts that followed me through out the day. would do that not only with the forum, but with my classes that I taught, and anything else that might come up. Holding on to my views and opinion, which would change from moment to moment. I dreaded shopping (which at the time was mostly craving.) Thinking about what I would by, and when I would get home, and everything was JUST OUT OF SYNC. I would become flustered, and agitated. Sometimes I would be very curt, and testy with people. I would raise my voice, and so on. Somehow through practice, and studying the self, I started to notice how I cling to thought, and just couldn't let it go. Somehow I just started to let it go. I would post something on the forum, and forget about it (move on) learning to drop. It really took out a lot of trouble that I had previously had in my life. How did that happen? My only answer is practice. Sitting Zazen, and studying the self, which you may find helps to drop the self.

What you did is what you did. There is nothing that can take that back. The only thing that you can do is practice. Not to become better. To become balanced and more whole, and learn from our mistakes. Do we stop practicing and sitting Zazen? I can't say, but my guess is "no".

Ok I should sit now.

Gassho