Fearlessness: Rigpa

Lion´s Gaze

Fudoshin: Taia

If you can cut the odour of your thoughts,
your Mind becomes Taia.

¿Can you smell them with your ears?

Takuan: Kill Buddha

Unless you kill all your concepts
and images about Buda and Buddhism,
you will never see your real face.

Things are not what they seem,
and you are not who you THINK you are:
be fearless and face reality.

You can keep dreaming and imagining,
or you can LIVE according to true reality:
it is up to you.

So, please, KILL BUDDHA.

Only Mind: Takuan

Loneliness is the perfume of ego,
the price to pay for confusing emptiness
with a non-existent subject.

Separation is the noise of ego,
mistaking luminosity
as objects.

Dismember the non-existent skandas,
squeeze them out,
and drink the nectar of self-liberation.

Only then, Mind will shine radiantly,
and Bliss and freedom
will become your companions.

Ambush the five thieves,
in the dark of the night,
and cut their throats silently.

Then consciousness will turn
into awareness, and the thieves
will become your servants.

Takuan: Katana and paintbrush

Your mind is the sword of wisdom,
that cuts ignorance dispelling it,
and penetrates the darkness
of your five skandas.

Your mind is the brush of creativity,
that expresses the sound of light,
and draws the lines
of luminous emptiness.

Warriror, fight for your life,
don´t let the demon of laziness
turn your bliss into suffering,
your bravery into cowardice.

Zen is for you,
but only if you dare.
Wake up and fight,
fight your own convictions.

Don´t worry if you are scared;
fear is not bad.
But don´t cling to fear,
just let it flow and cut.

Are you ready, warrior?
I´m waiting for you,
just behind the mirror,
the mirror of your mind.

Are you ready, monk?
Your real face is waiting,
just behind your mask.
No fear, No death.

ZAZEN: Looking for the Master

Are you looking for someone to follow to, or for someone who will help you to learn?

Do you want someone to adulate you, or someone who shows you your own flaws and how to get rid of them?

Are you looking for a "certified" master, or for someone who knows his own mind?

Are you ready to face your dark side, or do you fear facing the wall?

Are you looking for a living encyclopedia, or for a living mind?

Are you looking for a "pollitically correct" teacher, or for a true master?

Are you looking for someone who will teach you the "ritual Zen", or for Zen?

Depending on what you are looking for, you will find one thing or the other.

So, make sure you are looking for the right thing.

The Zen of Takuan

I´m a samurai
disguised as a monk.

I never liked protocol,
but I had to pay the tribute.

I´m calling you from afar,
so you can hear my no-voice.

Listen brother,
listen with your eyes.

Watch brother,
watch with your tongue.

Smell brother,
smell with your hands.

Taste brother,
taste with your ears.

Touch brother,
touch with your nose.

If you can do that,
I´ll call you friend.

If you can do that,
I´ll bow down to you.

If you can do that,
buddha will vanish.

If you can do that,
you will know who I am.

If you can do that,
you and I are not two.