- www.zendust.org Great Vow and Heart of Wisdom
- https://www.norankzendo.org/schedule
- www.cloudmountain.org
- https://kunja.dhamma.org/
- List of nearby retreat centers: https://www.pathofsincerity.com/vipassana-meditation-retreat-oregon-united-states-asia-insight/#Retreats_near_Portland_Oregon
Once I saw this guy on a bridge about to jump. I said, “Don’t do it!” He said, “Nobody loves me.” I said, “God loves you. Do you believe in God?”
He said, “Yes.” I said, “Are you a Christian or a Jew?” He said, “A Christian.” I said, “Me, too! Protestant or Catholic?” He said, “Protestant.” I said, “Me, too! What franchise?” He said, “Baptist.” I said, “Me, too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?” He said, “Northern Baptist.” I said, “Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?”
He said, “Northern Conservative Baptist.” I said, “Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region, or Northern Conservative Baptist Eastern Region?” He said, “Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region.” I said, “Me, too!”
Northern Conservative†Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?” He said, “Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912.” I said, “Die, heretic!” And I pushed him over.
Emo Philips
*****************
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hide-and-seek/201303/top-10-zen-jokes
https://branchingstreams.sfzc.org/oryoki-instructions.html
The Eight Realizations of the Great Beings
Translation by Thich Nhat Hanh
https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/MN/MN61.html
“Whenever you want to do a bodily action, you should reflect on it: ‘This bodily action I want to do—would it lead to self-affliction, to the affliction of others, or to both? Would it be an unskillful bodily action, with painful consequences, painful results?’ If, on reflection, you know that it would lead to self-affliction, to the affliction of others, or to both; it would be an unskillful bodily action with painful consequences, painful results, then any bodily action of that sort is absolutely unfit for you to do. But if on reflection you know that it would not cause affliction… it would be a skillful bodily action with pleasant consequences, pleasant results, then any bodily action of that sort is fit for you to do.”
http://mindfulnessacademy.org/en/mindfulness-essentials/79-teachings/52-verses-gathas-for-mindfulness-practices
http://mindfulnessacademy.org/en/mindfulness-essentials/79-teachings/52-verses-gathas-for-mindfulness-practices
https://www.thedhamma.com/buddhaslists.pdf
http://buddhasutra.com/files/vimalakirti_nirdesa_sutra.htm
The Six Perfections – Milarepa
by Milarepa
For generosity, nothing to do,
Other than stop fixating on self.
For morality, nothing to do,
Other than stop being dishonest.
For patience, nothing to do,
Other than not fear what is ultimately true.
For effort, nothing to do,
Other than practice continuously.
For meditative stability, nothing to do,
Other than rest in presence.
For wisdom, nothing to do,
Other than know directly how things are.
With appreciate to Ven. Jeff.
“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.”
Mushin1: Mu can be translated into nothingness and none, and shin is kokoro. Combining together, literal translation is no- kokoro. However, in Zen context, mushin is considered as the highest mental state where one is free from all of the thoughts, and distractions, and reaches to the supreme concentration.
Source: japanhouse.illinios.edu
The Sayings of the Jewish Buddha
- If there is no self, whose arthritis is this?
- Be here now. Be someplace else later. Is that so complicated?
- Drink tea and nourish life; with the first sip, joy; with the second sip, satisfaction; with the third sip, peace; with the fourth, a Danish.
- Wherever you go, there you are.. Your luggage is another story.
- Accept misfortune as a blessing. Do not wish for perfect health, or a life without problems. What would you talk about?
- The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single Oy.
- There is no escaping karma. In a previous life, you never called, you never wrote, you never visited. And whose fault was that?
- Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then, what do you have? Bupkis.
- The Tao does not speak. The Tao does not blame. The Tao does not take sides. The Tao has no expectations. The Tao demands nothing of others. The Tao is not Jewish.
- Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out… Forget this and attaining Enlightenment will be the least of your problems.
- Let your mind be as a floating cloud. Let your stillness be as a wooded glen. And sit up straight. You’ll never meet the Buddha with such rounded shoulders.
- Deep inside you are ten thousand flowers. Each flower blossoms ten thousand times. Each blossom has ten thousand petals. You might want to see a specialist.
- Be aware of your body. Be aware of your perceptions. Keep in mind that not every physical sensation is a symptom of a terminal illness.
- The Torah says, Love your neighbor as yourself.. The Buddha says, There is no self. So … maybe we’re off the hook.
The Buddha said, “Subhuti, if, then, a man or
woman filled as many worlds as that with the seven
jewels and gave them as a gift to the tathagatas, the
arhans, the fully-enlightened ones, and a noble son
or daughter grasped but one four-line gatha of this
dharma teaching and made it known and explained
it to others, the body of merit produced as a result
would be immeasurably, infinitely greater.”
Brahmavihārās
- Maitri
- Karuna
- Sympathetic joy
- Equanimity
A monk asked, “When I wish to become a Buddhawhat then?”
Joshu said, “You have set yourself quite a task, haven’t you?”
The monk said, “When there is no effort-what then?”
Joshu said, “Then you are a Buddha already.”
*
A Zen student went to a temple and asked how long it would take him to gain enlightenment if he joined the temple.
“10 years,” said the Zen master.
“Well, how about if I really work hard and double my effort?”
“In that case, 20 years.”
*
These four, O Monks, are distortions of perception, distortions of thought distortions of view…
Sensing no change in the changing,
Sensing pleasure in suffering,
Assuming “self” where there’s no self,
Sensing the un-lovely as lovely —
Source: https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an04/an04.049.olen.html
Don’t recall
Don’t imagine
Don’t think
Don’t examine
Don’t control
Rest
Let go of what has passed
Let go of what may come
Let go of what is happening now
Don’t try to figure anything out
Don’t try to make anything happen
Relax, right now, and rest
Six Words of Advice
Six essential key points by Tilopa
Over ten years ago, one of my disciples in Vietnam had a stupa, a Buddhist shrine built for my ashes. I told her that I didn’t need a stupa for my ashes. I don’t want to be stuck in a stupa. I want to be everywhere.
“But,” she protested, “it’s already built!”
“In that case,” I said, “you’ll have to put an inscription on the front, saying, ‘I am not in here.’” It’s true. I won’t be there in the stupa.
Even if my body is cremated and the ashes are put in there, they aren’t me. I won’t be in there. Why would I want to be in there when outside it is so beautiful?
But in case some people misunderstand, I told her they might need to add another inscription, saying, “I am not out there either.” People won’t find me inside or outside the stupa. Yet they may still misunderstand.
So there may need to be a third inscription that reads, “If I am to be found anywhere, it is in your peaceful way of breathing and walking.”
That is my continuation. Even though we may never have met in person, if, when you breathe in, you find peace in your breathing, I am there with you.
~Thich Nhat Hanh
The Pointing-the-Staff Instruction
The Pointing-the-Staff Instruction
revealed by Nyangral Nyima Özer
It was at a time when the great master Padmasambhava was staying in Samyé. There was a man by the name of Ngok Sherab Gyalpo, sixty-one years old, who had not studied much, but was someone with exceptional faith and a deep devotion towards the master. Ngok was by Padmasambhava’s side for a whole year at the isolated hermitage of Drakpoche, but never once did he request a teaching, and nor did the master ever grant him one. When the year was up and the master was intending to leave, Ngok placed a ‘flower’ of one ounce of gold on a maṇḍala dish, and offered it to him with these words:
“Great master, I beg of you, think of me with all of your compassion. First, my learning is very meagre. Second, my intelligence is poor. Third, I have grown old; my body is failing. Great master, please, give me a teaching for an old person nearing death, a teaching that is easy to grasp, that answers every kind of question inner and outer, that is not difficult to experience directly, that has a view that is all-embracing, that is simple to put into practice, and that will really help me in the next life.”
The master carried a staff for walking. He lifted it and held it pointed at the old man’s heart while he gave the following instruction.
“Old man, listen. Look into this awareness of yours, the buddha mind. Look and see:
It has no form or shape. It has no colour.
There is no centre; there is no edge.
To begin with, it doesn’t come from anywhere—it’s empty.
In the meantime, it doesn’t stay anywhere—it’s empty.
In the end, it doesn’t go anywhere—it’s empty.
Being empty, it does not exist in any way at all,
Yet there is a clarity, a knowing,
And when you see this and you recognize it,
What you’re recognizing is your own true nature.
You’re getting just how everything is.
You’re seeing the very nature itself of mind.
You’re grasping, once and for all, why things are as they are.
And you are answering questions—about anything that’s possible to know.
Now since this rigpa awareness, the buddha mind, doesn’t exist as some thing, it’s just naturally present and it’s there, inside you.
You’re never going to find it somewhere else.
And so the ultimate truth of things is easy to experience directly.
This nature of mind has nothing to do with subject and object,
It transcends theories like eternity or nothingness.
There isn’t anything to get enlightened—
Even a buddha is just our own awareness, naturally awake.
And there is nothing that goes to the hell realms,
Because awareness is immaculate in itself.
Not that there is any practice to do,
Because rigpa’s very nature is to illuminate itself.
This view of great perfection, you have it within you,
So be absolutely certain about it, and don’t look anywhere else.
Once you realize the view like this, and you want to put it into practice,
It doesn’t matter where you are, your body becomes your retreat hut.
Then outwardly, whatever experiences come up, it’s fine.
It’s only appearances appearing,
Emptiness being empty.
So leave them be, without adding complications.
That way, appearances are freed to become your helpers,
And you practise by turning them into the path. Then,
Inwardly, the thoughts and tiny stirrings in your mind,
Whatever they may be, have no essence at all—they’re empty.
They arise, are noticed and just evaporate quite naturally.
By coming back to the clear, stable nature of mind,
Thoughts and stirrings turn into your path:
Then it is easy to practise.
Secretly, whatever troubling emotions and reactions crop up,
Just look right into them, and they’ll fall away, leaving no trace.
The emotion is immediately freed, by itself.
Practising this is easy as well.
If you able to practise just like this,
When you meditate, you’re not bound to formal sessions.
By seeing everything as an ally, a support,
Your practice experiences won’t chop and change,
The natural way of being becomes an uninterrupted flow,
And your actions are unlimited in scope.
In fact, whatever you’re doing, you are always dwelling in that ultimate natural state.
Then you’ll realize that your body may be old,
But the buddha mind never ages:
It doesn’t differentiate between young and old.
The true nature of things is free of distinctions, so
Once you see you have rigpa’s wisdom naturally within you,
Notions like ‘sharp’ or ‘dim-witted’ become irrelevant.
When you understand that you actually possess this true nature
Which is beyond all categories and prejudice,
Labels like ‘learned’ and ‘ignorant’ are meaningless.
This body, home to your mind, is only borrowed and will fall apart,
But the wisdom of your awareness is the dharmakāya that never ceases.
So when you have attained an unwavering stability,
Whether your life is long or short makes no difference.
So old man,
Practise this, the real truth of everything,
And take the practice deep into your heart.
Don’t mix up the words and what they mean.
Never be without your best friend, diligence.
Embrace everything with the sheen of mindfulness.
Don’t go for senseless chatter and troublesome gossip.
Don’t get entangled in unwholesome thinking.
Don’t get too tied up in family problems.
Don’t overdo craving for food and drink.
Set your mind on a plain and simple death.
You’ve not long left now, so focus and apply yourself!
That is my instruction for an old person, getting close to death.
So this is what to do!
While he was giving this advice, the great master kept pointing his staff at the old man’s heart, and so it became known as ‘The Pointing-the-Staff-at-the-Old-Man Instruction’. In fact, Ngok Sherab Gyalpo was liberated; he attained siddhis. For the benefit of future generations, the Lady of Kharchen committed this teaching to writing, and it is also known as ‘The Pointing the Staff Instruction’.
Sealed! Sealed! Sealed!
© Rigpa Translations 2016. With many thanks to Alak Zenkar Rinpoche and credit to Erik Pema Kunsang for his pioneering early translation. Published on Lotsawa House with permission, 2020.