* zen
Dogen (1200-1253)
To transcend the world directly, to manifest the magnificence of the buddha ancestor's house-this is sitting in the meditation posture. To leap over the heads of outsiders and demons, and become a true person inside the buddha ancestor's room-this is sitting in the meditation posture. To sit in the meditation posture is to transcend the deepest and most intimate teaching of the buddha ancestors. Thus, buddha ancestors practice this way without needing to do anything else.
Know that the world of sitting practice is far different from other worlds. Clarify this for yourself, then activate the way-seeking mind, practice, enlightenment, and nirvana of the buddha ancestors. Study the world at the very moment of sitting. Is it vertical or horizontal? At the very moment of sitting, what is sitting? Is it an acrobat's graceful somersault or the rapid darting of a fish? Is it thinking or not thinking? Is it doing or not doing? Is it sitting within sitting? Is it sitting within body-mind? Is it sitting letting go of sitting within sitting, or letting go of sitting within body-mind? Investigate this in every possible way. Sit in the body's meditation posture. Sit in the mind's meditation posture. Sit in the meditation posture of letting go of body-mind.
Rujing, my late master, Old Buddha, said, "Practicing Zen is letting go of body and mind. It can only be done by wholeheartedly sitting; incense offering, bowing, chanting Buddha's name, repentance, and sutra reading are not pivotal."
My late master is the only one in four or five hundred years who has plucked out the eye of the buddha ancestors, and sat down inside that eye. There are few in China who can stand shoulder to shoulder with him. Perhaps, there are some who have understood that sitting is buddha-dharma and buddha-dharma is sitting. But there is no one else who has personally experienced that sitting is sitting, and so there is no one else who upholds buddha-dharma as buddha-dharma.
Thus, there is sitting with the mind, which is not the same as sitting with the body. There is sitting with the body, which is not the same as sitting with the mind. There is sitting letting go of body-mind, which is not the same as sitting letting go of body-mind. To get to this place is to be immersed in the practice and understanding of the buddha ancestors. Maintain this insight. Investigate this awareness.
Shakyamuni Buddha said to the assembly, "When you sit in the meditation posture, you realize samadhi in body and mind, and give rise to an awesome virtue that people respect. Like the sun illuminating and refreshing the world, this sitting removes obscurities from the mind and lightens the body so that exhaustion is set aside. Enlightenment becomes as natural as a dragon curled up at rest. A demon is frightened even by a picture of someone sitting in the meditation posture; how much more so by a living person who realizes the way sitting motionless and at ease." So, we know that the merit of such sitting is immeasurable. This ordinary everyday sitting is itself boundless joy.
Shakyamuni Buddha continued speaking to the assembly, "Therefore, you should sit in the meditation posture."
Then the Tathagata, the World-honored One, taught his disciples how to sit and said to them, "Some outsiders try to practice by standing on tiptoes, others by standing continuously, and still others by adopting the yogic posture of hooking their feet over their shoulders. These people develop unbalanced minds that founder in an ocean of delusion because their postures are unnatural. Why do I teach my disciples to sit up straight in the meditation posture?
"Because it is easy to regulate the mind when the body is upright. If the body is straight, the mind is not dull. Instead, the mind is forthright, the intention is true, and mindfulness is present. If the mind scatters or the body leans, gather together your body-mind and resume the upright posture. If you want to manifest samadhi and enter it, you should gather together all distracted thought and scattered mind within this posture. Practice in this way and you will manifest and intimately enter the king of samadhis."
Thus, we clearly know that sitting in the meditation posture is itself the king of samadhis. It is itself manifesting and intimately entering. All other samadhis serve the king of samadhis.
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Sitting in the meditation posture is a forthright body, a forthright mind, a forthright body-mind, a forthright buddha-ancestor, a forthright practice-realization, a forthright top of the head, and a forthright life stream. When you sit in the meditation posture, the skin, flesh, bones, and marrow of a human being are immediately vivid in the king of samadhis. The World Honored One taught humans and devas how to sit in this meditation posture. It is the mind seal correctly transmitted by the Seven Original Buddhas.
Shakyamuni Buddha sat in this meditation posture under the bodhi tree for fifty small eons, sixty great eons, and innumerable unclassifiable eons. Perhaps he sat for three weeks, or maybe for only a few hours. In any case, the Buddha's zazen is the turning of the wondrous wheel of dharma; in it is contained his lifetime guidance. Nothing is lacking. The yellow scrolls and red rolls of the sutras are all here. In this moment of sitting, buddha sees buddha and all beings attain buddhahood.
Soon after Bodhidharma, the First Chinese Ancestor, arrived from India, he sat zazen, facing the wall in the meditation posture for nine years at the Shaolin Temple, Shaoshi Peak of Mt. Song. Since then, the head and eyeball of his practice have prevailed all over China. Bodhidharma's life stream is just this sitting in the meditation posture. Before he came from India, people in China had not truly known sitting in the meditation posture. But after he arrived, they came to know it. Thus, for one lifetime, for myriad lifetimes, from head to toe, without leaving the monastery and without concern for other activities, wholeheartedly sit in the meditation posture day and night- this is the king of samadhis.
Presented to the assembly of Yoshimine Temple 1244
Zen Master Dogen
Edited by Kazuaki Tanahashi
*
Most of what we have read or heard about sitting meditation has come from contemporary vehicles for Buddhism. This lovely piece, King of Samadhis, helps communicate the direct teaching of sitting meditation expounded hundreds of years ago to monks in Dogen's assembly. Within this short piece we are encouraged to investigate for ourselves what sitting is and isn't. There are questions to explore, but there is also a very clear explanation of the value of the posture itself and the process.
We are next connected to Dogen's own teacher, Ruling, and his own words on sitting meditation. There is a deep sense of continuity established between our own attempts at sitting and the long line of those who have gone before us, sitting in the same posture, with the same intent. Beginners and Zen masters alike are all sitting in the same posture.
"The primary point of awareness for those who practice the way is to be free from the idea of the self. To be free from the idea of the self means not to be attached to the self. Without being free from self, the way of buddha ancestors cannot be attained, even if you master the words of ancient teachers and continue sitting like iron or stone for a thousand lifetimes in myriad eons. Further, mastering the expedient and complete teachings or exoteric and esoteric teachings without being free from attachment to the self would be like counting another's wealth without owning half a penny for oneself."
Dogen from Informal Talks
Then the words from Shakyamuni himself affirms sitting practice as the core of the path to enlightenment; it is the very process he transmitted to his disciples and to us generations later.
Ending with Bodhidharma and his commitment to sitting, we come full circle to experience the richness of practice, the depth of our sitting and the many others who join us each day. The next time we wonder why sitting, recall how many have gone before us into the unknown asking the same timeless questions and join the fearless explorers who just never gave up. We too are part of this timeless tradition.
furia innebuneste
"Anger is a whirlwind that extinguishes the lamp of the mind."
-- Meher Baba
* atrbutele lui D sunt infinite
mentioned are only a few. Wherever you find strength, or beauty, or
spiritual power, you may be sure that these have sprung from a spark
of my essence.
-Bhagavad Gita 10:40-41
* mistica
with filth whose noxious odor is intolerable. Reviled you will shut
your senses to the offensive sight. In the like manner, stay away from
abomination of sin that may deface your purity. The Lord shall bless
you with much bounty; therefore let not the cares of this world drive
your peace away.
* self si Dumnezeu
fearless and deathless. That is Brahman, the supreme."
-Chandogya Upanisha
* caracterul se deduce
As water changes according to the soil through which it flows,
so a man assimilates the character of his associates.
By knowing his thoughts, a man's mind is discovered.
By knowing his associates, his character is revealed.
* supremul
He is the lord of all, the great seer
Who dwells forever in the cosmic womb.
May he purify our consciousness!
O Lord, in whom alone we can find peace,
May we see your divine Self and be freed
From all impure thoughts and all fear.
-Shvetashvatara Upanishad
* foamea influenteaza conceptia
listen, take hunger to heart, don't regard it with such contempt.
Everything unsweet is made sweet by hunger:
without hunger even delicacies have no savor.
* omul fara dumnezeu e homeless
the eternal Brahman. But those who do not seek to serve are without a
home in this world.
-Bhagavad Gita 4:31
* echilibru interior
source of joy and fulfillment they no longer seek happiness from the
external world. They have nothing to gain or lose by any action;
neither people nor things can affect their security.
-Bhagavad Gita
* dimineata
potential miracle and celebrate it, or to choose complaint and
control.
* treptele proectului
* recunoscatori
Grateful
Everyday is a blessing, and in each moment there are many things that
we can be grateful for. The world opens up to us when we live in a
space of gratitude. In essence, gratitude has a snowball effect. When
we are appreciative and express that gratitude, the universe glows a
bit brighter and showers us with even more blessings.
There is always something to be grateful for, even when life seems
hard. When times are tough, whether we are having a bad day or stuck
in what may feel like an endless rut, it can be difficult to take the
time to feel grateful. Yet, that is when gratitude can be most
important. If we can look at our lives, during periods of challenge,
and find something to be grateful for, then we can transform our
realities in an instant. There are blessings to be found everywhere.
When we are focusing on what is negative, our abundance can be easy to
miss. Instead, choosing to find what already exists in our lives that
we can appreciate can change what we see in our world. We start to
notice one blessing, and then another.
When we constantly choose to be grateful, we notice that every breath
is a miracle and each smile becomes a gift. We begin to understand
that difficulties are also invaluable lessons. The sun is always
shining for us when we are grateful, even if it is hidden behind
clouds on a rainy day. A simple sandwich becomes a feast, and a
trinket is transformed into a treasure. Living in a state of gratitude
allows us to spread our abundance because that is the energy that we
emanate from our beings. Because the world reflects back to us what we
embody, the additional blessings that inevitably flow our way give us
even more to be grateful for. The universe wants to shower us with
blessings. The more we appreciate life, the more life appreciates and
bestows us with more goodness.
* Groaza distruge selful
state of awe, disappears. Levels of awe may be measured by the degree
to which the self has disappeared; some people are at a higer level of
awe than others.
The effect of intimacy, by contrast, is alertness; those who are
intimate, are alert. A person who is fully intimate, could be thrown
into a fire, and the intimacy would not be disturbed.
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