life sucks and Dogen's death poem

[Kyotai]

Re: life sucks and Dogen's death poem

Thank you

Shawn

[Seiryu]

Re: life sucks and Dogen's death poem

Life sucks indeed. Yet within all that craziness and suffering that is life, is beauty, happiness, everything perfect just the way it is.

Life sucks because we put ourselves in the way. Our little "I" doesn't like wants happening and begins to complain and get scared when the floor begins to be taken away from it. This is where our gentle practice really begins to manifest itself in the world. To allow ourselves to just be with what is, and be OK with it, while at the same time looking for a "better" moment to live in.

just my useless thoughts...

[Marek]

Re: life sucks and Dogen's death poem

Life sucks and it is OK!

I'm gonna sit with these words today.

_/_

[Jiken]

Re: life sucks and Dogen's death poem

If life sucks and its OK then I should probably stop worrying so much.

Awesome and to the point. Don't add more suck to it since there is nothing more to add. It can suck enough on its own sometimes

[Shugen]

Re: life sucks and Dogen's death poem

I don't know why but this thread made me smile.

Ron

[Dosho]

Re: life sucks and Dogen's death poem

Thank you for this teaching Taigu.

Gassho,
Dosho

[Onken]

Re: life sucks and Dogen's death poem

Gassho...

[BrianW]

Re: life sucks and Dogen's death poem

Taigu,

Much thanks for this. I faintly remember hearing this poem, but your presentation seems to have made an impression. Sometimes things just don't stick and you hear them again with a bit of a twist and bang!

Gassho,
Jisen/BrianW

[pinoybuddhist]

Re: life sucks and Dogen's death poem

Thank you so much Taigu. THis really resonates with me at the moment. My two-year-old son is down with a urinary tract infection and a respiratory tract infection, and there's a possibility that he has dengue fever (we're waiting for the results as I type). What's more, my wife is down with what seems to be the flu as well. AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!! LIFE SUCKS! AND IT'S OKAY! I don't actually feel ok BUT THAT'S OKAY TOO! _/|_ and now that I've typed this I feel more like this :lol: Ahh, life...

[Bids]

Re: life sucks and Dogen's death poem

Thank you Taigu for the beautiful teaching, a timely reminder for me also …" we are fleeting, changing, fragile " remembering this helps me see through my constructions … at the same time the issue of trust makes itself felt .... I take it to the zafu.
Deep bow.
Nadi

[Yugen]

Re: life sucks and Dogen's death poem

To accept and embrace that life sucks sometimes (without being fatalistically resigned to it), to accept the passions and emotions as part of life rather than something to be rejected..... I have been doing a lot of reading of Nikos Kazantzakis (author of Zorba the Greek, The Last Temptation of Christ, and Report to Greco, among others) - here is something from Zorba the Greek:

"[Y]ou must sometimes rejoice that the dark forces of destruction are so numerous and invincible: for thus your aim to live almost without hope becomes more heroic and your soul acquires a more tragic greatness."

Now, rejoicing in my own "dark forces of destruction" may be a bit much for me, but to accept sickness, illness, death, sadness, anger, and events in my life as friends, or companions.... then life indeed becomes full in its richness... or at least grounded in reality...

Kazantzakis' words to me have a great significance. I am only beginning to understand the complexity of his work on Bergson, Nietsche, Buddha, Christ....

Gassho,
Yugen

[chessie]

Re: life sucks and Dogen's death poem

Both dramatic and so simple. Thanks so much to each of you and all of the sangha.

Gassho,

Ann (Josho)

[AlanLa]

Re: life sucks and Dogen's death poem

Ah, my initial reaction to Dogen's death poem was to laugh out loud,
Honest.
Make that leap! If you are caught, wonderful.
And if you die
Find out for yourself
And live accordingly afterwards, as such I have tried
As best I can, honest.
Yet what is happening to Sada and others with life threatening illness is sad,
Very sad.
So what is our role as Buddhists in such a situation?
Attention.
Metta.
But change (as in death) is the leap we are all attending to,
The leap we are all wishing well,
As in better
As in LIFE
Others and ours
Ours and others
How dare we sort it out.

[mrsedwards]

Re: life sucks and Dogen's death poem

Thank you

[Nindo]

Re: life sucks and Dogen's death poem

Thank you.
Yes life sucks. Boredom, sadness, fear, depression of a loved one, pain ... And then - the stars, a hug, a phone call, laughter, coyotes running on the frozen river ... life humming along, just as it is. Catching whenever we want it to be different ... and coming back - here - now. One breath. And another one.