Cast away all speech…

“Cast away all speech.
Our words may express it,
but cannot hold it.
The way of letters leaves no trace,
yet the teaching is revealed.”
(Dogen Kigen 1200-1253)

Can anything else be said now..?

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Can’t Think Your Way Out

In the head is a noise machine. It thinks…especially when we believe there is some problem confronting us.  The problem is when those thoughts speed up or become oppressive.  True liberation is freedom from the noise machine in the mind.  Becoming aware of the “thought machine” with yourself as the watcher, gives you a glimpse of that freedom.

J. Krishnamurti, who’s one of the deepest spiritual thinkers of our time, taught about liberation outside the religious box.  If you had to sum up his message, it would be, “To realize enlightenment, don’t think. “  Yet, this is not quite the way it sounds.  It is not about becoming a stupid person unable to use the mind.  It is about being able to realize that you are more than your thoughts.  There is a part of each of us that can become aware of thought.  You must be conscious to think, but consciousness does not depend on thought.  This realization opens the door to enlightenment, and is the core of all true spiritual paths.

When free from the grip of the mind, it puts us in control.  We become better able to use the mind rather than being used by it.  This concept is talked about quite plainly by the modern spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle.  In his book The Power of Now he states:

When you listen to a thought,
you are aware not only of the thought
but also of yourself as the witness of the thought.
A new dimension of consciousness has come in.

What does he mean?  How do we listen to a thought?  To find out, try this.  Sit in a quiet room.  Close your eyes.  Breathe calmly and deeply.  Soon you’ll notice your mind is quite active.  It will be thinking of plans, people, bills, regrets, sex, you name it!  It rarely sits still.  Just noticing this is listening to, or watching, your thoughts.  The more we do this, the more we realize the one who is doing the listening and watching.  This simple awareness is very profound!  At that point, a whole new world of opportunity opens.

Once that happens, a new journey has begun.  The challenge?  Staying with it!  That is what Zen Buddhists spend a lot of time working on.  Staying with the present moment and watching the mind.  Living mindfully, initially, may seem like an impossible task, but it gets easier the more we do it–like most other things.

Why would we want to live in present moment awareness?  To be happy, relieve suffering and live more effectively.  Ultimately, if you are completely content with no worries or troubles whatsoever, you may have no need for such a practice.  My hat goes off to you.  For those feeling like life can be overwhelming at times, and it will get worse with old age and dying, consider these parting words by Eckhart Tolle:

When you listen to the
voice in your head,
listen to it impartially.
That is to say, do not judge.
You’ll soon realize: there is the voice,
and here I am listening to it.
This I am realization,
this sense of your own presence,
is not a thought.
It arises from beyond the mind.

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Spiritual Awakening with Eckhart Tolle

Eckhart and Oprah

One of my favorite authors and spiritual teachers is Eckhart Tolle.  Long before he appeared on the Oprah show, I’d discovered his teachings by chance.  My first of his books was The Power of Now. This was not the first spiritual book I’d read, but the changes it helped start in me were quite profound.  Tolle does not align himself with any particular religious tradition, but speaks from many.  His approach is quite Zen, yet without the religious aspects.  He speaks from the Bible, the Tao Te Ching, Course in Miracles and many other sources.  He doesn’t advocate anything strange or exotic.  His appearance is quite ordinary from a Western perspective.  What is most fascinating is listening to him on audio or watching him on video.  His main teaching?  Living in the present moment fully.  Nothing new here, but his presentation is very accessible for many in the West.  If you are interested in what Zen can offer but are of another spiritual tradition, check out Eckhart Tolle’s books!  They can help a person in any spiritual tradition or religion.

“Spiritual awakening is
awakening from the
dream of thought.”
–Eckhart Tolle

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Living in the Mountain Forest

A beautiful Zen poem by Li Po…

You ask why I live
alone in the mountain forest,

and I smile and am silent
until even my soul grows quiet.

The peach trees blossom.
The water continues to flow.

I live in the other world,
one that lies beyond the human.

- Li Po (701-762)

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My Mother in the Tao

The following passage from the Tao Te Ching resonated within me when I read it the other day.  Why?  Surrounded by concrete in the city, I long for Nature, my Mother.  Why have we made our cities so unlike Nature?  It seems due to our minds–the true source of our suffering.  Nature has endowed us with life and to Nature must it return, but must we fuss constantly?  Must we live with excessive speed and ado?  Transcending the noise of the mind, to realize the clear perception of inner stillness, this, this is where we discover the Tao, Dharma-nature, Buddha-nature, our essential being.

Have done with learning,
And you will have no more vexation.
How great is the difference between “eh” and “o”?
What is the distinction between “good” and “evil”?
Must I fear what others fear?
What abysmal nonsense this is!
All men are joyous and beaming,
As though mounting the Spring Terrace;
I alone am placid and give no sign,
Like a babe which has not yet smiled.
I alone am forlorn as one who has no home to return to.
All men have enough and to spare:
I alone appear to possess nothing.
What a fool I am!
What a muddled mind I have!
All men are bright, bright:
I alone am dim, dim.
All men are sharp, sharp:
I alone am mum, mum!
Bland like the ocean,
Aimless like the wafting gale.
All men settle down in their grooves:
But wherein I am most different from others is
In knowing to take sustenance from my Mother!
-Tao Te Ching 20 (Lao Tzu – Translated by John C. H. Wu)

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This Moment is Enough

What is your relationship with this moment?

Who is the one in you that notices that you are thinking?

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Eras of Earth: One Kalpa for Human Evolution

Found this chart of the eras of the Earth while browsing a dictionary yesterday.  In Buddhism, there is the term called kalpa to represent over 4 billion years, which happens to be about the age of the Earth.  The scientific description of the origin of humans is quite fascinating!  Because of the fairly recent mapping of the human genome, we are just beginning to see our evolution more clearly and our interrelatedness with all living beings.

Eras of Earth: One Kalpa for Human Evolution

Check out this great, yet old, video on evolution by Carl Sagan on the TV series Cosmos…

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The Ten Grave Precepts of Zen

Lately, I’ve been thinking about this list of Ten…  What enlightenment is there without the fruit of these precepts?  Time to sit, time to practice, time to water the seeds of understanding.

The Ten Precepts of Zen Buddhism are:

1. No killing
2. No stealing
3. No misusing sex
4. No speaking falsely
5. No giving or taking drugs
6. No discussing faults of others
7. No praising yourself while abusing others
8. No sparing the Dharma assets
9. No indulging in anger
10. No defaming the Three Treasures

This is the list from the sangha I’ve been attending, which is pretty much the same as most Zen groups.  Thich Nhat Hanh has a list of Fourteen Precepts he recommends in the book Interbeing for Engaged Buddhism.

Robert Aitken Roshi’s has done and extensive elucidation of the Ten Grave Precepts, which may be found at SpringHillZen.org

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Chai Tea with Han-Shan

So I’m opening this blog over a hot cup of chai spice tea on a cold November day in the Inland Northwest, wondering how to start.  The Zen life is a moment by moment experience.  The setting sun is reflecting off a window across the street straight into my window and onto the computer screen.  The reflection is a reddish amber color.  So taking in each moment, each part, those seen as good and those seen as bad, yet together as a right whole–an enso expressing the suchness of this.  It brings to mind a favorite poem by Han-Shan:

When men see Han-shan
They all say he’s crazy
And not much to look at–
Dressed in rags and hides.
They don’t get what I say
& I don’t talk their language.
All I can say to those I meet:
“Try and make it to Cold Mountain.”

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