Merry Christmas and happy 2010.

May your practice
allow your mind
to express its
own inherent

PEACE

LOVE

and CLARITY.

NAMASTE

Koyasan: Okunoin

Peace

Freshness

Life

Satori: Now

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

Kenshou

Autumn: falling thoughts

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

Temple: Discipline

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

Then discipline turns into
spontaneous presence:
Mushotoku.

Right Concentration: Laser

Without right concentration
there is no right VIEW.

Self: The puppet Master

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

Use form and ritual
to find the formless
mind.

Now: Here

Space-Time.

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

Here-Now.

Wisdom and Compassion

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

Aggregates and Self

Which one is your SELF?

The sound of emptiness

Hui Neng asked the novice:

Under which bell hides the empty nut?

Karma: Past actions and Future effects

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

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

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

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

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

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

Compassion: Patience

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

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

Take the mask off.

What do you see NOW?

There is not a YOU

Satori: Crossing the river

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

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

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

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"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

If there is wisdom, there is dharma.

If there is ignorance, there is karma.

Choose.

Wesak: Enlightenment

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

Past is Now.

Present is Now.

Future is Now.

Now is the essence of mind.

Mumonkan: Go

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

Zen 10 Ox-herding pictures: 5- Tamed

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

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

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

Shingon: Mikkyo

Hui Neng asked to Kukai:

- Are the eight One and the same?

Kukai replied:

- One is the eight.

Desire: Fuel

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