Saturday, April 30, 2011

Stillness


"The practice of true reality
is simply to sit serenely
in silent introspection.
When you have fathomed this,
you cannot be turned around
by external causes
and conditions.
This empty,
wide open mind is subtly
and correctly illuminating."
Buddhist monk
(1091–1157)

"Men cannot see their reflection in running water, but only in still water. Only that which is itself still can still the seekers of stillness...if water derives lucidity from stillness, how much more the faculties of the mind! The mind of the sage, being in repose, becomes the mirror of the universe."
(4th century BCE)

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Eternity

"Underneath the superficial self, which pays attention to this and that, there is another self more really us than I. And the more you become aware of the unknown self — if you become aware of it — the more you realize that it is inseparably connected with everything else that is. You are a function of this total galaxy, bounded by the Milky Way, and this galaxy is a function of all other galaxies. You are that vast thing that you see far, far off with great telescopes. You look and look, and one day you are going to wake up and say, "Why, that's me!" And in knowing that, you know that you never die. You are the eternal thing that comes and goes that appears — now as John Jones, now as Mary Smith, now as Betty Brown — and so it goes, forever and ever and ever."
(1915 - 1973)

“Our theories of the eternal
are as valuable as are
those which a chick
which has not broken
its way through its shell
might form of
the outside world.”
(563-483 B.C.)

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Stones and Percepions


"It may seem ironic or contradictory
that detailed pictures of so-called
reality become vehicles for moving
us beyond ordinary perceptions."

"Bells and stones have voices,
but unless they are struck,
they will not sound."



Monday, April 25, 2011

Inner Depth


"The inner - what is it?
if not intensified sky ..."
(1875 - 1926)

"Deep in the mountain
is an old pond.
Deep or shallow,
its bottom has never been seen."
(1931 - 2009)

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Anicca / Mi rtag pa / Mujō


"We are like the spider.
We weave our life and
then move along in it.
We are like the dreamer
who dreams and then
lives in the dream.
This is true for
the entire universe."

"All formations are transient (anicca)"
- Buddha Sakyamuni
(563 - 483 B.C)

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Energy


"In Aboriginal philosophy,
existence consists of energy.
All things are animate,
imbued with spirit
and in constant motion...
[this] leads to a holistic
and cyclical view of the world."
- Marie Battiste

"The pulse of life
demands an unendng
stream of vital energy
to keep it going."
The Language of the Goddess

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Snowflakes and Zen

"No snowflake ever falls in the wrong place."
-Zen proverb

Monk: "What is Zen?"
Tosu (Zen Master): "Zen."
Zen and Japanese Culture