The Zen of Hui Neng

Snow flakes: Words

2011-11-10T16:02:00.003+01:00

The mountain with her
winter dress.

Shifting: The open window

2011-10-20T15:45:00.004+02:00

Shifting perception,
samsara becomes nirvana.

The eight consciounesses
become the five wisdoms.

Mind and buddha are
one and the same.

The mountain of selflessness

2011-10-06T14:43:00.003+02:00

Climbing to the summit
and leaving pieces
of ego behind.

And then coming down,
trying not to
pick them up again.

Up and down
the mountain of mind
time after time.

Fearlessness: Rigpa

2011-09-20T22:47:00.004+02:00

Lion´s Gaze

The cross of Self

2011-09-11T23:01:00.006+02:00

Coming down
from the cross
of ignorance
and suffering
it seemed
difficult.

But in fact,
there was
never
anybody
up there.

Even
the cross
was just
an illusion.

Only
mind.

The wall and the breach

2011-08-15T18:51:00.005+02:00

When there is someone
with something to say,
the wall is strong.

When there is nobody
when the words come out,
the breach is open.

Freedom: To cling or not to cling

2011-07-06T00:31:00.003+02:00

Perceiving,
sensing,
thinking.

In fact,
nothing but
empty clarity.

Seeing how
clinging
works.

Just
flowing.

Silence: Nothing to say

2011-06-28T22:37:00.006+02:00

It looks like the master of silence
took over the mind,
and now he doesn´t
know what to say.

Or maybe the mind
is just silent.

Dual mind: Binary

2011-05-31T23:55:00.003+02:00

One

Zero

Self

Not Self

Free

Fettered

Samsara

Nirvana

The same old coin

with two faces.

Insert coin

and play or...

THROW THE COIN AWAY

Pagoda

2011-04-26T04:56:00.002+02:00

In between heaven and earth,

the pagoda of ordinary mind

is shining in the darkness

of confused mind.

Satori: Cracking the wall

2011-04-08T00:54:00.006+02:00

Mind coming out

of the egg of

CONFUSION

No-thought: melting snow

2011-03-27T16:15:00.004+02:00

Thoughts melting down,
like snow at noon
in a sunny day.

Perception: Right View

2011-02-15T01:51:00.003+01:00

Until you go behind the mask,
and cut the horns,
your perception
will be mine.

The movement of mind

2011-02-13T01:32:00.003+01:00

Sometimes,
the mind dwells in peace,
and thoughts flow freely.

Sometimes,
it doesn´t.

Mushotoku

Calm abiding mind

2011-01-28T00:50:00.002+01:00

NO THOUGHT

Mind and mountain

2011-01-05T00:27:00.004+01:00

Images.

Sometimes they are part of our experience.

The mind shapes the mountain.

The mountain shapes the mind.

Mind and mountain are one.

Ice: Water

2010-12-23T00:57:00.002+01:00

When Koan and mind are one,
the master shows up.

Parinirvana

2010-12-16T00:08:00.004+01:00

Looking through the blue wall,

hearing the sound of silence.

Enso: Relative Perfection

2010-12-05T18:56:00.003+01:00

The non-existent
never ending
zen chain.

Relative masters
helping
relative apprentices.

ENSO

Looking at the all-ground

2010-11-23T23:38:00.005+01:00

It seems that consciousness is continuous,
but it is not.

It is just a succession of thoughts,
images, memories and emotions.

Focusing on the gap in-between
two thoughts may become the
door towards the store-house
consciousness.

What is the nature of this
alayavijnana?

The broken fridge: Burning and freezing

2010-11-18T00:27:00.003+01:00

When the freezer is broken,
the mind is burning with anxiety.

When the mechanic does not know how to fix it,
the mind is frozen in frustration.

Just a few more skillful actions,
and gas will become liquid.

Hot and cold are just sensations;
so are burning and freezing.

Only mind.

Koan: Shifting perception

2010-11-03T00:28:00.006+01:00

A word can not change your mind.

It is your perception of that word which can do it.

Working with a koan is working
with the shift of perception.

The answer is not as important
as the process by which you
reach that answer.

Mumonkan

Bloggerkan

Flaming mind: compassion

2010-10-28T00:40:00.002+02:00

There has never been anybody
struggling to reach a non-existent

SATORI,

and there will never be.

No-Mind: Mushin no shin

2010-10-15T00:41:00.003+02:00

Detachment: Beyond the three times

2010-10-05T22:57:00.003+02:00

The past is happening now.

The future takes place now.

The present is the door to now.

The three relative faces of the
absolute NOW.

The key that opens the door
is called

DETACHMENT

Karma: Wrath

2010-09-28T23:38:00.003+02:00

It seems that emotional patterns
erode slower than rocks.

They are always waiting in the
shadow, ready to take over the mind.

Traces of the past,
shining in the present.

My wrathful past.

Self-liberated state: Satori

2010-09-16T00:17:00.002+02:00

A heap of rocks we call it a mountain.

A heap of drops we call it a lake.

A heap of desires, beliefs, thoughts
and emotions we call it a Self.

Mountains, lakes and Selves
are all empty of inherent existence.

Wake up from this nightmare.

Harmony: The flow of thoughts

2010-09-02T23:17:00.004+02:00

Are the thoghts that cross your mind
harmonic?

Watch them

Beyond the path: Hell´s peak

2010-08-14T01:05:00.002+02:00

When the path disappears
on the slope of hell´s peak,
the ego vanishes,
and the north face,
always waiting silently,
utters the sound of silence.

Reaching out: emptiness

2010-08-06T23:07:00.003+02:00

The snow is the skin of the dawn peak;
uttering the sound of silence,
calls the shravaka
to go beyond heaven,
following the perfume
of emptiness.

The breach is open.

Who is looking at the still water?

2010-07-26T23:14:00.002+02:00

LOOK AT THE ROCKS MOVING

WHILE THE WATER IS STILL.

CAN YOU SEE IT?

Now and not-Now: The lake of peace

2010-07-10T23:33:00.003+02:00

When peace prevails,
the moon shines,
and the mirror
reflects clearly
the empty
mountains.

Self-liberated state: Spontaneous presence

2010-06-16T00:18:00.003+02:00

Past, present and future
are just an illusion
binding the mind.

Let the mind
rest in the
Self-liberated
state.

NOW

Thinking: Hishiryo

2010-05-30T19:13:00.007+02:00

What is the sound of thought?

The rose window

2010-05-13T00:17:00.002+02:00

Awareness is light.

Turn your mind into a nice rose window,
so everybody can enjoy your presence.

Steps: Snow and fear

2010-05-03T23:30:00.005+02:00

Trekking across the snow
allows my hidden fears
to show up.

It is a lonely business,
step after step.

Snow, wind, fog and the height:
just dependently originated conditions.

Who is this one who goes up to the summit,
just to come back soon afterwards?

Maybe these risky steps are the necessary
conditions to uncover the profound hidden fears
of an empty spiritual self.

The mountain,
my dangerous
mother.

No- thought: No- Mind

2010-04-30T00:05:00.002+02:00

In a famous Chan lineage story we hear that the Fifth Patriarch’s leading student, Shen Hsiu, composed a verse that equated practice with continually removing dust. When the illiterate Huineng heard a boy chanting the verse, he composed his own, which ended,

Since all is void,
Where can the dust alight?

For this, he was recognized as the Sixth Patriarch. The void he experienced is wunien, a mind that cannot be defiled by any dust of thought. As a result Huineng (638-713), the illiterate wood-cutter, was probably the first master who taught wunien (thoughtlessness) as the central tenet of Chan Buddhism.

Wunien is reflected in the approach Chan practitioners take in even basic meditation methods, such as counting the breath. The meditator hopes that with continued practice discursive thoughts will subside and therefore regards a state of less discursive thought—or more thoughtlessness—as signifying improvement in meditation practice. Indeed, the word wunien itself would seem to indicate as much. In Chinese, wu means “no,” “without,” “nothing” or “empty of,” and nien refers to “thoughts” or “objects of the mind.” So, taken together, they could be rendered sensibly as “no-thought” or “thoughtlessness.”

Is wunien, then, equivalent to a state of mind where all thoughts cease? If this is the goal of practice, then what is the difference between an enlightened master and a rock, which also entertains no thoughts? Simply stated, are there thoughts or no thoughts after enlightenment?

To find answers to these pivotal questions, we can first look at passages from Huineng’s Platform Sutra, the foremost text of the Chan tradition. Secondly, it will be valuable to explore the idea of “no-leaking” as presented in the teachings on silent illumination meditation by Master Hongzhi (1091-1157) of the Caodong sect, which is the precursor to Soto Zen. The no-leaking teaching helps us to distinguish between purified thoughts and discursive thoughts.

In one of the key passages of the Platform Sutra, the Sixth Patriarch says, “Learned Audience, it has been the tradition of our school to take idealessness as our object.” In the translation of the sutra quoted here, Wong Mou Lam chose to translate wunien variously as “idealessness,” “thoughtlessness,” or “free from idle thoughts.” Huineng went further to say:

Learned Audience, in this system of mine one prajna produces eighty-four thousand ways of wisdom, since there are that number of defilements for us to cope with; but when one is free from defilements, wisdom reveals itself, and will not be separated from the essence of mind. Those who understand this dharma will be free from idle thought. To be free from being infatuated by one particular thought, from clinging to desire, and from falsehood; to put one’s own essence of tathata into operation; to use prajna for contemplation, and to take an attitude of neither indifference nor attachment towards all things – this is what is meant by realizing one’s own essence of mind for the attainment of buddhahood.

Huineng is indicating that there is no need to chase after wisdom. Rather, when one is freed from eighty-four thousand defilements (meaning simply a very large number), eighty-four thousand wisdoms reveal themselves, all of which are manifestations of the essence of mind. When he says, “Those who understand this dharma will be free from idle thought,” he is referring to the state of wunien, wherein the mind is not carried away by objects and images of the past or the future. The mind does not fixate on any particular instance of thought or past experience in any way that suffocates the free functioning of the mind. There are no self-inflating thoughts or false views of any kind. In dealing with all things in the world, one does not hold a fixed predisposition. There is neither attachment nor detachment.

As noted above, reducing or eliminating the arising of discursive thoughts is often taken as the sign of achievement in meditation practice, and in Huineng’s time, some teachers advocated the cessation of all thoughts as the ultimate goal. But Huineng considered these views heretical, saying, “There is also a class of foolish people who sit quietly and try to keep their mind blank. They refrain from thinking of anything and call themselves ‘great.’ On account of their heretical view one can hardly talk to them.”

An enlightened mind, if it truly deserves to be called that, is clearly different from a blank, dysfunctional mind resulting from great efforts to quench all thoughts. Wunien is to be free of discursive thoughts of defilement. It is not the termination of the brain’s thinking function. Huineng elaborated further on the nature of enlightenment when he said,

Thoughtlessness is to see and to know all dharmas with a mind free from attachment. When in use it pervades everywhere, and yet it sticks nowhere. What we have to do is to purify our mind so that the six vijnanas [aspects of consciousness] in passing through the six gates will neither be defiled by nor attached to the six sense-objects. When our mind works freely without any hindrance, and is at liberty to come or to go, we attain samadhi of prajna, or liberation. Such a state is called the function of thoughtlessness. But to refrain from thinking of anything, so that all thoughts are suppressed, is to be dharma-ridden, and this is an erroneous view.

Far from a mind blank of all thoughts, the “thoughtless” mind is able to see and to know all dharmas free from attachment. It pervades everywhere, functioning freely and smoothly without any fixation, attachment or hindrance. The crucial difference between the wunien state and the ordinary person’s mind is that the thoughts in wunien no longer produce defilement nor attachment in the process of cognition. Huineng emphatically pointed out that suppressing all thoughts and refraining from thinking of anything is a misunderstanding of the dharma, and indeed one who did that was being tied up by the dharma, instead of being liberated by it.

There is a popular gongan (Japanese: koan) about an elderly woman who provided a hut and offerings to a monk to support his practice. Over the many years that passed, this woman tried to test the monk’s practice. One day she asked her young daughter to bring food to the monk’s hut. The girl then suddenly embraced the monk and asked, “How do you feel now?” The monk merely replied, “It’s like a rotted wood standing by a chilly cliff, finding no warm breeze all three winters.” The girl then returned to report to her mother. When the elderly woman heard what had happened, she drove the monk out with a broom and burnt down the hut.

Much later, the monk came back to the place where the elderly woman lived. Once again, the woman asked her daughter to go alone to offer food and embrace the monk. The monk whispered, “Let only heaven and earth, you and me, know about this. But don’t ever make this known to your mother.” When the monk was first tested, he was in a state of withdrawal from the external environment. Although not affected by external stimulus, he was not truly in the state of wunien. His consciousness was screened off from the environment but was not able to function freely without hindrance, so the old woman gave him a lesson. The second time he was tested, he was completely different. He perceived fully but there was no defilement due to desire.

Many meditation methods work by focusing the scattered mind and decreasing the activity of discursive thoughts. However, focusing the mind on the method of practice is itself a thought or a subtle attachment. If one continues to focus the mind, this subtle attachment to the practice method will prevent one from entering the wunien state, which is free from any fixation, hindrance or attachment. That is why Chan seldom uses samadhi practices that focus the mind on specific objects or images. These practices lead one to attain samadhi, but not the unobstructed free functioning of the mind of wunien. To really experience wunien, one needs to experience the state of no discursive thoughts without using any method.

For most beginning practitioners, giving up the method would mean losing the strength of concentration and falling back into the discursive-thought loophole. To realize wunien, however, at some point one has to employ a “no-thought” method—or “no-method” method—of practice, or work with a method that dissolves automatically near its final stage. More advanced methods such as silent illumination and shikantaza do not focus the mind on any specific object. Lucid awareness and tranquility of mind are coupled in the practice, which is by itself a “no-thought” practice, a direct expression of wunien. When this state is perfected and effortlessly sustainable in daily life, it is enlightenment itself. That is why the Soto Zen school asserts that “practice is itself enlightenment.”

Likewise, when a gongan (koan) is practiced diligently, one is immersed in the great mass of doubt until the gongan itself dissolves. At that time, such a method also becomes a no-thought method. When the time is ripe, the great doubt mass shatters with the trigger of a sound, sight, touch or the like, and one realizes wunien and sees one’s true nature. These no-thought methods become available to practitioners who have prepared themselves with sufficient basic meditation practice, but no-thought cannot be found by forever adhering to the basic methods.

Inexperienced practitioners often confuse a cloudy mind temporarily empty of obvious concrete thoughts with the free-flowing and undefiled mind of wunien. But a cloudy, blank mind is still changeable and dependent on circumstances; it is not able to respond freely to the environment. As Huineng said, “To keep our mind free from defilement under all circumstances is called ‘idealessness.’ Our mind should stand aloof from circumstances, and on no account should we allow them to influence the function of our mind.” In wunien, thoughts arise but do not attach to any external objects that would give rise to a chain of discursive thoughts.

Given that thought is not extinguished by enlightenment, Master Hongzhi—one of the foremost teachers of silent illumination—distinguished purified thought from discursive thoughts through the notion of leakage cessation, or no-leaking. Master Hongzhi said, “When there is no leaking with no discursiveness, a monk is said to have completed his business.” In explaining leaking and no-leaking to his disciples, Master Hongzhi used the following gongan:

“A monk inquired of Qingping, ‘What is having leaking?’ Pin replied, ‘A basket.’ ‘What is no-leaking?’ Pin said, ‘A wooden spoon.’”

This blunt answer avoids intellectualization. A basket cannot contain fluids and all fluids leak away, whereas a wooden spoon holds all the fluids it contains. When a person begins to practice meditation, he or she will notice the flow of discursive thoughts in the mind. These thoughts follow one after another and their momentum is very difficult to overcome. Through concentration during meditation, a more experienced meditator may be able to maintain a calm and clear mind with few discursive thoughts; however, when the person returns to daily life, their mind easily breaks into the confused state with discursive thoughts arising again and again. There is a clear distinction between the peaceful state of mind in meditation and the confused state of mind during daily life affairs. When the vigor of the discursive thoughts returns, aggravation and vexation reemerge. One aspires to maintain the peaceful state of mind found in meditation and this provides a strong motivating force for further practice. Eventually one will require a “no-method” method such as silent illumination to be able to stop the leaking of the mind both within meditation and in daily life.

“Leaking” refers to the motion of discursive thoughts and the accompanying vexation. It is as if there is a hole in the mind, just as in a leaky container. As long as the “hole” exists, one cannot stop either the flow of discursive thoughts or the resulting vexation. Consequently, the mind becomes gloomy, dull and unspontaneous. It flows all the time. We lack the power to fully control our mind and body; we are unable to prevent greed, hatred and ignorance from arising in response to external influences. The mind leaks.

The cessation of leaking is like fixing the hole in a broken container. The drops of liquid leak and drip slower and slower until the leaking ceases completely. This is how we understand the work of practice on the mind. The completion state is like that of the wooden spoon referred in the gongan about Master Qingping. In the state of no-leaking, discursive thought and its accompanying vexation have lost their power to self-generate and self-propagate. Confusion vanishes like random background noise dissipating. With the vexation removed, the mind becomes clear, bright and completely relieved, as if we have cast off a heavy load.

In the state of no-leaking, the mind switches from dualistic to non-dualistic perception, with no boundary and no opposition. One also appreciates the inconceivable, simultaneous existence of absolute independence and universal unification with all things. A person at this stage can use thoughts however they please, but discursive thoughts will not leak out and cause disturbance. Rather than removing thought, there is no leakage of thought.

The state of no-leaking is a clear-cut criterion regarding practice: the mind either leaks or has stopped leaking. If there is still a tiny “hole” in the mind, the leakage of discursive thoughts and vexations will continue, in the same way that water continues to drip and the container eventually loses its contents no matter how small the hole is. The state of complete relief and quiescence, and the termination of the self-generation and self-propagation of discursive thoughts and vexations, will not emerge. To understand cessation in terms of the cessation of leaking rather than the cessation of thoughts is far more accurate and reliable. When the “hole” has been mended, the mind can maintain its state of no-leaking, without regressing to the confusedstate. This is far better than the relief obtained through samadhi, where disturbances will return after the samadhi fades.

Initially, though, the state of no-leaking can collapse when the practitioner faces situations that arouse a strong sense of attachment. This is like a newly mended hole being tampered with through strong forces that cause the water to leak again. Therefore, the practitioner has to be very cautious in protecting the non-leaking mind when it is first formed. One can use precepts to protect against re-opening the hole in the mind. The mended container—the mind of no-leaking—can become stronger and stronger with further practice, until one day it is no longer shakable by even the most acute of life’s disturbances.

At this point, Master Hongzhi says, the practitioner can “accomplish his inheritance.” The mind “exists independently beyond all worldly matters, subtly with no dualistic oppositions. Totally impermeable without leaking, the mind is vast and meets no opposition.”

By Wing-shing Chan

Just looking

2010-04-29T20:43:00.006+02:00

Look directly at the thoughts
appearing and vanishing.

Then look directly at the
one who is apparently
looking at the thoughts.

Is anybody there?

Mind: Up and down

2010-04-23T15:50:00.004+02:00

The river of life
sometimes flows fast
and sometimes slowly.

The water sometimes
gets muddy and sometimes
is crystal clear.

Sometimes crosses the jungle
while others hides underground.

But it always ends up
in the ocean.

Shingon: Bijas

2010-04-04T16:21:00.003+02:00

Meditation techniques are useful
as long as we do not cling to them.

Form is emptiness,
emptiness is form.

Mushotoku: The Path of Not-Self

2010-03-25T23:35:00.004+01:00

While there is a Self
looking for enlightenment,
the Path is still hidden.

Ordinary mind: Wisdom

2010-03-19T20:57:00.001+01:00

Non-conceptual mind

Walking on the snow

2010-03-14T17:21:00.006+01:00

The white snow

and the trees

Now: This very moment

2010-02-28T19:20:00.002+01:00

If you think that the path
leads somewhere other
than NOW,
your mind
will not exit
samsara.

The old pine tree and the aurora: Dawning

2010-02-22T20:32:00.004+01:00

The old pine tree asked the squirrel:

¿What is the colour of mind?

Emptiness and clarity

2010-02-14T18:39:00.003+01:00

The grey clouds
talk to the snowy peaks,
while the white black hawk
takes an empty snapshot.

Freedom: Now

2010-02-06T23:27:00.004+01:00

Now is FRESH.

Now is ALIVE.

Now is UNBORN.

Now is ARTLESS.

Now is AWARENESS.

No-Mind: Calm and Clear

2010-01-31T01:09:00.002+01:00

Vast and Profound
is the No-Mind.

Infinite calm
and deep clarity.

Mushotoku

Mindfulness and awareness

2010-01-25T20:51:00.003+01:00

Even when the fog of drowsiness
impregnates the tranquil mind,
the tree of awareness
is rooted in the fertile
soil of mindfulness.

Consciousness and Subconsciousness

2010-01-17T20:25:00.012+01:00

Changing emotional and thought patterns
requires exploring the hidden face
of the iceberg of consciousness.

To set a course for enlightenment,
the weight of the habitual tendencies
must be controlled.

This is what
FACING the WALL
means.

The subconscious belief in a
SELF
must dissolve into the
ocean of
LUMINOUS EMPTINESS.

Then, and only then,
consciousness and subconsciousness
will turn into
AWARENESS.

The snow of purity: Impermanence

2010-01-12T02:43:00.003+01:00

Impermanent,
like the trace of a rabbit
on the snow,
like the footprints of a thought
in the mind.

Freedom: Spontaneity

2010-01-02T15:50:00.002+01:00

When thoughts become like leaves,
falling naturally from the tree,
mind is set free.

Merry Christmas and happy 2010.

2009-12-24T15:00:00.002+01:00

May your practice
allow your mind
to express its
own inherent

PEACE

LOVE

and CLARITY.

NAMASTE

Koyasan: Okunoin

2009-12-21T23:13:00.001+01:00

Peace

Freshness

Life

Satori: Now

2009-12-15T20:32:00.003+01:00

In the midst of turmoil,
find the silent center.

In the midst of calm,
find the moving core.

In the yes,
find the no.

Non-duality

Rinzai: Now

2009-12-11T00:21:00.002+01:00

Kenshou

Autumn: falling thoughts

2009-12-07T15:56:00.001+01:00

Let the fallen leaves of thought
flow down in the river of presence.

Temple: Discipline

2009-12-04T23:48:00.002+01:00

You have to go into the temple
to appreciate the freedom
outside of it.

Then discipline turns into
spontaneous presence:
Mushotoku.

Right Concentration: Laser

2009-12-01T00:20:00.002+01:00

Without right concentration
there is no right VIEW.

Self: The puppet Master

2009-11-24T15:24:00.002+01:00

Who is the one
pulling the strings
of your confused mind?

Who is the one
turning your mind
into a puppet ?

Who is this one
hiding behind the veil
of ignorance?

Tea: satori

2009-11-22T02:26:00.001+01:00

Use form and ritual
to find the formless
mind.

Now: Here

2009-11-17T23:35:00.002+01:00

Space-Time.

Like steps on the sand of space,
vanished by the wind of time.

Here-Now.

Wisdom and Compassion

2009-11-15T08:19:00.001+01:00

Let co-emergent wisdom
express as compassion
and satori will show up.

Aggregates and Self

2009-11-12T20:13:00.004+01:00

Which one is your SELF?

The sound of emptiness

2009-11-05T21:11:00.001+01:00

Hui Neng asked the novice:

Under which bell hides the empty nut?

Karma: Past actions and Future effects

2009-10-30T20:23:00.002+01:00

Our actions have non-immediate effects,

which we can call karma.

Karma are the traces of past actions

in the present moment.

Action can only take place now,

at the present moment.

We should not wander in the imaginary past:

we should be aware right NOW.

Consciousness plays around the present moment towards the future:

Awareness is always NOW.

Hell: Confusion and suffering

2009-10-23T01:41:00.000+02:00

Confused mind is hell.

Mental disturbances are demons.

Ignorance is the root of suffering.

Dispel the fog of ignorance,

and hell will turn into heaven.

The tree of life

2009-10-18T21:04:00.000+02:00

Duality is the quality of the world of action.

Non-duality is the characteristic of the world of emanation.

The essence of mind is beyond duality and non-duality.

Suffering: First Noble Truth

2009-10-14T23:22:00.001+02:00

Is internet a source of suffering?

Your Self states: Yes, it is.

Is your Self the root of suffering?

Your Self says: No, I am not.

Who is asking these questions?

Your Self whispers: I am not.

A No-melody appears from nowhere,

and it goes: Clinging, clinging, clinging;

That´s the root of the tree of confusion,

that yields the bitter fruit of suffering.

Fear: Ego

2009-10-09T16:32:00.001+02:00

What are you scared of?

Look at the subject who fears.

Is it different from the object of fear?

Is the fearing process distinct from

the subject and object of fear?

Ordinary Mind: freedom

2009-10-02T00:34:00.000+02:00

Fettered mind worries about its destiny.

Ordinary mind enjoys flowing.

Should space worry about the fate of clouds?

Should unborn mind worry about the appearance of thoughts?

Pyramidion: Buddha Nature

2009-09-27T16:09:00.002+02:00

Compassion: Patience

2009-09-20T17:15:00.001+02:00

If you really want to help other people

to abandon suffering

turning confusion into wisdom,

be patient.

Compassion without patience,

is as useless as wisdom

without skilful means

or a car without gas.

Compassion without wisdom

turns into masochism.

Patience without intelligence

turns into permissiveness.

Faith without intelligence

degenerates into fanaticism;

Intelligence without compassion

turns into cunningness.

Supernova: The beginning

2009-09-15T00:13:00.001+02:00

Let your old habits explode,

let your old dogmas blast,

and awareness will shine.

Let the old I explode

then the MINE will blast

and satori will show up.

Mushotoku

Selflessness: Unmasking

2009-09-11T20:59:00.002+02:00

Take the mask off.

What do you see NOW?

There is not a YOU

Satori: Crossing the river

2009-09-03T22:38:00.002+02:00

The mind is fresh and pure,
the water too.

The water is moving,
the mind too.

The rocks are still,
the mind too.

Do not build a bridge
to get to the other shore.

Get into the water,
get wet and see its nature.

Satori is unexpected,
like slipping into the water.

CHOFF

Appearances: Dreamlike

2009-08-28T00:07:00.003+02:00

Hui Neng asked himself:

Does the mind go towards the apparent object
or does the apparent object comes to the mind?

And the mountain replied:

Neither does the mind go to the apparent object,
nor does the apparent object comes to the mind.

MU

Utterly releasing: Awareness

2009-08-16T20:10:00.004+02:00

The nature of rivers is to flow down, towards the ocean.

The nature of conceptual mind is consciousness.

The nature of rain is to fall down.

The nature of non-conceptual mind is awareness.

Both rivers and clouds are made out of water.

Mind is both conceptual and non-conceptual.

What do you see: consciousness or awareness?

Zen 10 Ox-herding pictures: 6- Getting free of hindrance

2009-08-14T00:22:00.006+02:00

Traditional poem:

Sleeping contentedly under the sky,
the buffalo needs the whip nevermore.
The boy, sitting under the pine tree,
starts to play a peaceful, happy tune.

My words:

Mushotoku,
the old Patriarch is HERE,
right NOW, by the pine tree;
NOW, you are HERE too.

Insight has turned into WISDOM,
and mind is CALM and CLEAR,
FREE from hopes and fears,
no longer fettered by CLINGING
and CRAVING.

This is a stage where SATORI
has been polished, and mind
dwells in PEACE and BLISS,
even in the midst of turmoil.

Mind rests in a SELFLESS state,
which is its natural state,
fresh, artless and unbound.

This is the old Patriarch,
NOW, beyond past, present
and future, right HERE.

Watching: "I" and "Mine"

2009-08-03T12:18:00.006+02:00

Stick a bunch of memories,
together with some hopes and fears,
using the craving-clinging glue
and the heap called "I" appears.

This "I" has some likes and dislikes,
and labels as "Mine" some objects and ideas,
clinging to and identifying with them,
so "not-Mine" is also born.

Take a closer look at this ghostly "I",
and his fellow shadow called "Mine",
and tell me what you find,
if there is anything left.

Not Now: Now

2009-07-25T00:26:00.004+02:00

Neither NOW,
nor Not NOW.
Neither NOW and Not NOW,
nor none of them.

Cracking the clinging to words,
facing the wall of the screen,
full of tweets and written thoughts,
while listening to Enya.

A perfect mirror of alaya consciousness,
reflecting atavic hopes and fears,
empty of self entity:
MUGA

Wisdom: Now

2009-07-14T15:40:00.005+02:00

There is no such thing as ancient wisdom.

Wisdom is a quality of the mind established
in the NOW.

It is freshness, sharpness and clarity.

Ancient knowledge is a dim shadow of Wisdom,
pointing out to it.

Now: Pond of manifestation

2009-07-06T23:31:00.002+02:00

Diving into the pond of emptiness,
No-self comes out.

Diving into the pond of clarity,
spontaneous action takes place.

Now, at this no-moment,
the diver is self-liberated.

Jump without fear,
into the pond of nowness.

Right Now,
the only existing moment.

Well: Washing the bowl

2009-06-30T22:30:00.002+02:00

Wash the bowl of consciousness
into the well of awareness.

Wash it time after time,
until it vanishes into clarity.

Wash it again and again,
so it disappears into emptiness.

Then, and only then,
you can take the kesa off.

Mushotoku

Flowing: Down

2009-06-24T19:05:00.002+02:00

The water of pure awareness,
is always flowing down,
down towards the lake of calmness,
down to the ocean of clarity.

There is no river without water,
there is no life without flowage.
Consciousness is the flowage,
the flowage of the unborn mind.

When there is clinging and fixation,
mind is freezing,
and suffering comes up;
Flowing down.

Walking on the edge: Hell´s peak

2009-06-08T23:39:00.002+02:00

Keep full attention,
as if you were walking on the edge.

In fact,
we are all always walking on the edge.

If you slip down,
you are stuck either in samsara or nirvana.

Every step,
must be a clear step.

Mushotoku: Climbing

2009-06-02T23:45:00.008+02:00

Climbing up the mountain,
enjoying the view,
and then going down.

In fact, there is nobody
climbing up, enjoying the view
and going down.

There is not even a mountain;
only an ascribed climber
climbing an ascribed mountain.

Mushotoku

Taking vows: Yes you can

2009-05-25T22:59:00.004+02:00

Are you ready to take the vows?

Buddha Mind is the only witness.

If you say yes, that is a YES.

The bodhi Tree is waiting,
patiently, so make sure you
are ready to renounce to
samsaric view.

Wrath: eliminating obstacles

2009-05-20T00:39:00.002+02:00

If there is wisdom, there is dharma.

If there is ignorance, there is karma.

Choose.

Wesak: Enlightenment

2009-05-09T21:15:00.005+02:00

Full Mind,
empty and clear.

Full Moon,
you can see it.

Gautama, you reached it
without a rocket.

NOW,
here you are.

Satori: Beyond the three times

2009-04-19T21:08:00.003+02:00

Past is Now.

Present is Now.

Future is Now.

Now is the essence of mind.

Mumonkan: Go

2009-04-09T21:08:00.002+02:00

Can you cross the No-gate to the No-mind?

Zen 10 Ox-herding pictures: 5- Tamed

2009-03-31T23:17:00.003+02:00

Traditional Poem:

Under the green poplar, by the ancient stream,
the buffalo moves in harmony with nature.
Returning at sunset over the fragrant meadow,
the buffalo follows the boy, who has dropped his rope.

My words:

Now your karmic imprints are being quickly cleansed,
and there is no need to use artificial mindfulness.
Mind is free from the impulse of bad habits,
even though a few of them still remain.

Life becomes spontaneous practice,
while satori manifests effortlessly.
There is a sense of natural freedom,
and boy and bull become one.

As long as we follow the stream of the lineage,
we can never get lost in confusion again.
The stream leads us towards the patriarch,
under the shadow of the tree of compassion.

Eating the grass of bliss,
mind is already tamed.
Mushotoku,
Hishiryo.

Mindfulness: clarity

2009-03-31T22:52:00.003+02:00

Looking at the words coming out,
silently and clearly,
from the depths of the empty mind,
how blissful it is!

Looking at the unborn words passing by,
harmoniously,
vanishing into clarity,
what a joy!

Looking at the looker,

and seeing only Mind,
non-dual empty Mind,
amazing!

Vimalakirti: Doubt and certainty

2009-03-22T18:56:00.004+01:00

Look into the nature of doubt:
isn´t it like the nature of certainty?

Who is this one who doubts?
isn´t it the same one that feels certain?

When doubt shows up, let it pass:
it is just one form of clarity.

When certainty arises, let it go:
it is just another form of clarity.

If there was no doubt,
there would be no certainty.

Do not refuse the doubting mind;
do not cling to the certain mind.

Hishiryo

Shingon: Kongo kai mandala

2009-03-17T21:00:00.001+01:00

Shingon: Mikkyo

2009-03-06T00:22:00.003+01:00

Hui Neng asked to Kukai:

- Are the eight One and the same?

Kukai replied:

- One is the eight.

Desire: Fuel

2009-02-28T21:40:00.004+01:00

Do not reject desire,
but do not cling to the objects.

Desire can boost your mind,
if you know how to use it properly.

The stronger the desire,
the higher the power of mind.

When you see the real face of desire,
you can burn your karma.

This is not an advice for the weak,
because it is a dangerous road.

Attraction and repulsion
are the two faces of desire.

Samsaric mind is a mind
fettered by craving and clinging.

Nirvanic mind is a mind
knowing its own face.

Mushotoku

Musashi: Wrath and Tengu

2009-02-20T22:42:00.006+01:00

Riding on your back,
flying in the dark sky,
I can break the fetters
of ignorance and pain.

Take me to the mountain,
to the mountain of clarity,
where I can stand by the pillar,
by the pillar of rigour.

Now you are one with me,
I am one with you;
your sharp fangs of compassion,
suck the suffering of demons.

Let´s take a blissful ride,
around this world of confusion,
and bite the fortunate ones
craving for satori.

We will use the sword of wisdom
to cut the throat of ignorance.
We will show the entrance
to the sound of silence.

Mushotoku: Flowing

2009-02-13T20:47:00.004+01:00

Awareness flows,
like an eagle in the sky.

Thoughts appear from the base,
and they are certainly self-liberated.

Enjoy the beauty, and the ugliness too:
two faces of the same old coin of duality.

The six consciousnesses are your servants,
when the seventh turns into awareness.

Flow like a river, and let the all-ground
take you in an eternal blissful trip.

Mushotoku