suchness
May 16, 2010
The spiritual light shines alone,
Far transcending the senses
And their fields;
The essential substance is exposed,
Real and eternal.
It is not contained in written words.
The nature of mind has no defilement;
It is basically perfect and complete in itself.
Just get rid of delusive attachments,
And merge with realization of thusness.
– Pai-chang (720–814)
big mind
May 7, 2010
Deaf, he hears his own nature.
Blind, he sees his Original Mind.
The empty, clear moon
In the water rises
Where heart and mind are forgotten.
– Jungkwan Ilson (1533-1608)
let go
April 29, 2010
How shall I grasp it? Do not grasp it. That which remains when there is no more grasping is the Self.
– Panchadasi
observed freedom
March 13, 2010
All who are fortunate, set yourselves free
With the mind unbound by meditation,
And observe reality from a state of freedom.
– Godrakpa (1170-1249)
one and the same
February 18, 2010
While awakening from delusion is sudden, the transformation of an unenlightened person into an enlightened person is gradual. Sudden enlightenment means that although beings have been deluded from time without beginning, recognizing the four elements as their body and deluded thoughts as their mind and taking both together as constituting their self, when they meet a good friend who explains to them the meaning of the absolute and conditioned aspects of suchness, the nature and phenomenal appearance, the essence and its functioning, then they at once realize that their own marvelous awareness and vision is their true mind, that the mind, which is from the beginning empty and tranquil,boundless and formless, is the dharmakaya, that the nonduality of body and mind is their true self, and that they are no different from all Buddhas by even a hair.
– Tsung-mi
wake up
January 23, 2010
How many people have provoked the question, “What are you? What order of being do you belong to? What species do you represent?” Not, “Who are you?” with respect to name, origin, or ancestry, but “What are you?” Not Caesar, certainly. Not Napoleon, or even Socrates.
Only two: Jesus and Buddha. When the people carried their puzzlement to the Buddha himself, the answer he gave provided an identity for his entire message.
“Are you a god?” they asked. “No.” “An angel?” “No.” “A saint?” “No.” “Then what are you?”
Buddha answered, “I am awake.”
– Huston Smith, from “The World’s Religions”
You Are IT 