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March 19, 2015 - March 4, 2018
You must be true to your own way until at last you actually come to the point where you see it is necessary to forget all about yourself.
it is completely mistaken to think that whatever you do is Zen or that it does not matter whether you practice or not.
When you do something, just to do it should be your purpose.
When you forget all your dualistic ideas, everything becomes your teacher, and everything can be the object of worship.
the four Buddhist vows. These vows are: “Although sentient beings are innumerable, we vow to save them. Although our evil desires are limitless, we vow to be rid of them. Although the teaching is limitless, we vow to learn it all. Although Buddhism is unattainable, we vow to attain it.” If
It is not like going out in a shower in which you know when you get wet. In a fog, you do not know you are getting wet, but as you keep walking you get wet little by little.
When you get wet in a fog it is very difficult to dry yourself.
Parinirvana Sutra,
The most important thing is to forget all gaining ideas, all dualistic ideas. In other words, just practice zazen in a certain posture. Do not think about anything. Just remain on your cushion without expecting anything.
You should not see the railway track. If you look at the track you will become dizzy. Just appreciate the sights you see from the train.
There is no need to remember what I say; there is no need to understand what I say. You understand; you have full understanding within yourself. There
How flour becomes bread when put in the oven was for Buddha the most important thing. How we become enlightened was his main interest.
if you try to do zazen once a week, that will make you busy enough. Do not be too interested in Zen.
Just continue in your calm, ordinary practice and your character will be built up.
when your practice is calm and ordinary, everyday life itself is enlightenment.
The most important point in our practice is to have right or perfect effort. Right effort directed in the right direction is necessary.
Our effort in our practice should be directed from achievement to non-achievement.
If you do something in the spirit of non-achievement, there is a good quality in it. So just to do something without any particular effort is enough.
If your practice is good, without being aware of it you will become proud of your practice. That pride is extra. What you do is good, but something more is added to it. So you should get rid of that something which is extra.
When something is added, that is impure. When something becomes dualistic, that is not pure. If you think you will get something from practicing zazen, already you are involved in impure practice.
If enlightenment comes, it just comes. We should not attach to the attainment.
Just do it.
You think before you were born you were not here. But how is it possible for you to appear in this world, when there is no you? Because you are already there, you can appear in the world.
If we are looking at something, it can vanish from our sight, but if we do not try to see it, that something cannot vanish.
it is difficult to be concentrated on what we are doing. This is because before we act we think, and this thinking leaves some trace.
Relative mind is the mind which sets itself in relation to other things, thus limiting itself. It is this small mind which creates gaining ideas and leaves traces of itself.
In order not to leave any traces, when you do something, you should do it with your whole body and mind; you should be concentrated on what you do. You should do it completely, like a good bonfire. You should not be a smoky fire. You should burn yourself completely.
That is what Dogen meant when he said, “Ashes do not come back to firewood.”
If you practice zazen with your whole body and mind, even for a moment, that is zazen. So moment after moment you should devote yourself to your practice.
We should not attach to some fancy ideas or to some beautiful things. We should not seek for something good. The truth is always near at hand, within your reach.
Dogen-zenji said, “To give is nonattachment.”
we should forget, day by day, what we have done; this is true nonattachment.
the future is the future, the past is the past; now we should work on something new.
Our Soto way puts an emphasis on shikan taza, or “just sitting.”
just do it.
The best way is just to do it without having any joy in it, not even spiritual joy. This way is just to do it, forgetting your physical and mental feeling, forgetting all about yourself in your practice.
Shobogenzo (A Treasury of the True Dharma).
When you bow, you should just bow; when you sit, you should just sit; when you eat, you should just eat. If you do this, the universal nature is there. In Japanese we call it ichigyo-zammai, or “one-act samadhi.” Sammai (or samadhi) is “concentration.” Ichigyo is “one practice.”
nothing to do with Christianity or Shintoism or Hinduism. Our practice is for everyone.
When we forget ourselves, we actually are the true activity of the big existence, or reality itself. When we realize this fact, there is no problem whatsoever in this world, and we can enjoy our life without feeling any difficulties. The purpose of our practice is to be aware of this fact.
“People who know the state of emptiness will always be able to dissolve their problems by constancy.”
Instead of gathering knowledge, you should clear your mind. If your mind is clear, true knowledge is already yours.
accept things as they are,
we should not hoard knowledge; we should be free from our knowledge.
in constancy there is no particular effort involved—there is only the unchanging ability to accept things as they are.
patience can actually be nonacceptance.
they will always be able to dissolve their problems by constancy.
Even though clouds and lightning come, the sky is not disturbed.
When you listen to someone, you should give up all your preconceived ideas and your subjective opinions; you should just listen to him, just observe what his way is.
as a listener or a disciple, it is necessary to clear your mind of these various distortions.
