Action / Awareness

[Chris]

What are we aside from Action and Awareness?

[Rich]

Re: Action / Awareness

What are we aside from Action and Awareness?

The fact that you are able to ask the question indicates consideration / thinking. Jundo covers this nicely in
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2248

Maybe its the freedom to move between action and non action, thinking and non thinking, oneness and dualism. Or maybe just feeling comfortable with not knowing.

Models of reality must be dropped.

[Chris]

Re: Action / Awareness

What is it that should be discussed?

[Jundo]

Re: Action / Awareness

What is it that should be discussed?

Lots of stuff.

There is a face (Original Face!) of our Zen practice that is completely beyond words ... words and thoughts must be cast aside to embody that face. We simply act, we simply are aware, we simply sit still ... In fact, we can never be other than this face even if we wish to be. In fact, no "we" and no "Original Face" in need of becoming!

But Zen like that won't get you very far (literally ... cause there is no place you can go).

Master Dogen (and all the Zen Greats .. Uchiyama Roshi in something I linked to today on another thread) said that we must then get on with life ... and that takes words and thoughts and choices and confusion and ethical dilemmas and falling downs and gettings back up again ... (All of which, by the way, is also the Original Face, even if they do not seem as such. That face is always embodied, even if we do not know it to be so. Original Face falls down, Original Face gets up).

Words and thoughts are necessary there. In fact, pointed out Dogen and so many others ... words are not just the finger pointing at the moon of the Original Face ... they are the moon light. They are the Original Face talking though its mouth, in words that are just the Original Face. All those Masters were just folks with their own words and thoughts, falling down and getting up. This was so nicely put in Rich's words and thoughts ...

Maybe its the freedom to move between action and non action, thinking and non thinking, oneness and dualism. Or maybe just feeling comfortable with not knowing.

Anyway, just some more words and thoughts. 8)

Gassho, Jundo

[Chris]

Re: Action / Awareness

Thank you Rich and thank you Jundo.

Usually things arise and then fall away, but other times I find that things arise and will not go away until they are paid some $attention. Most of the time I have enough change in my pocket to pay the fee but sometimes my pocket is empty, and in these situations I am fortunate to a Sangha to help share this cost :lol: .

_/_