Since the enlightened man, like white clouds over green mountains, is not fettered by any state, there is no right or wrong in any of his actions. He flows along according to karmic affinities like a blue stream in a deep valley, which winds without obstructions...
Hear this truth… It’s simple – it takes a humble and grateful heart to embrace it, to practice it, to discover and live by its wisdom. It brings unending blessings and mountains of merit to the one who looks within and sees their own self nature for themselves. In...
Nisargadatta had a shift in consciousness just before his death. He truly realized “Anatta” (no self) exactly as the Buddha taught. Nisargadatta: “Whatever I had thought earlier has now changed. What is happening now is that even the slightest touch of individuality...
If you find yourself dwelling on everything butthe huatou (inquiry: what is this that sees and hears?’), pause and take in what has happened: the huatou has been evicted by diversions and needless thoughts. Recall the pointlessness and eventual utter boredom of...
During zazen, neither loathe nor be charmed by any of your thoughts. With your mind turned inward, look steadily into their source and the delusive feelings and perceptions in which they are rooted will evaporate. This is not yet Self-realization, however, even though...
CASE 2: Hyakujô and the Fox Whenever master Hyakujô delivered a sermon, an old man was always there listening with the monks. When they left, he left too. One day, however, he remained behind. The master asked him, “What man are you, standing in front of me?” The man...
CASE 1: Jôshû’s Dog The monk asked Jôshû in all earnestness, “Does a dog have Buddha nature or not?” Jôshû said, “Mu!” Mumon’s Commentary: For the practice of Zen, you must pass the barrier set up by the ancient masters of Zen. To attain to marvelous...
“A monk decides to meditate alone. Away from his monastery, he takes a boat and goes to the middle of the lake, closes his eyes and begins to meditate. After a few hours of unperturbed silence,he suddenly feels the blow of another boat hitting his. With his eyes...
The crazier the world gets, all that much more you need to understand how to get your mind right. If we want to get our minds right, we need to get to the business of finding our own mind and cleansing it well. Even though people are so good at locking up their own...
Zen master Bodhidharma said that the quickest and most effective way to awaken is to behold the mind. For the mind is the root of all things. He said that the mind has two aspects: one gets caught up in all the dramas of being a sentient being. It finds itself...
