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Friday, July 24, 2015
Friday, June 19, 2015
Friday, June 12, 2015
Friday, June 5, 2015
Friday, May 29, 2015
Though there are Innumerable Paths, every Path is the Same.
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Sunday, May 24, 2015
The Moon in the Water... How can One pluck it Out ?
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Sunday, May 10, 2015
Monday, May 4, 2015
The Clouds are not the Sky
Finding this sentence was good to remind me what I tend to forget over and over and again. Clouded by thoughts, I stubbornly insist on thinking that I am my thoughts. Why would one insist on being thoughts when one is reality? Why would one insist on being a cage when one is the bird? Why would one insist on being a bird when one is the wide open sky ?
Friday, March 27, 2015
Despair / Enlightenment.
I am not a fan of Echkart Tolle. My girlfriend gave me his book and asked me to read it. That is the only reason why I am reading it. Regardless of my general dislike of his writings, the sentence above stroke a good cord inside of me. It seems to be true that despair itself is the seed of enlightenment. Two faces of the same moon.
Monday, March 9, 2015
Friday, February 27, 2015
Friday, February 20, 2015
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Friday, January 23, 2015
The Moons reflected in all Waters are one.
This verse belongs to the Song of
Enlightenment written by Yoka Genkaku. It is considered a fundamental text in
Zen studies. One of the basic themes in the poem is the relationship between
Buddha-nature and Self-nature. An also, I risk to say, between phenomenon and
numinous. This is when Aristotle and Plato hold hands. Aristotle mostly
inspired the scientific way of thinking while Plato gave some theoretical ground
for religious philosophy to rely upon.
However, Yoka Genkaku
in the song of Enlightenment does not concern itself with separation and
categories as western philosophy usually does. The preferred approach of zen is
to find communion among all beings, animate and inanimate, through our
commonalities.
The ultimate
meaning of the concept of “Emptiness” in Buddhism is that all beings are empty
of identity, because we are all together one sole being. Before the 20th
century, this was mostly a philosophical subject. With advent of Quantum physics
Emptiness became a scientific certainty. Religion and science found a common
ground. Belief and faith can be replaced by appreciation as it always being the
attempt of zen practice. When a zen practitioner bows to the Buddha statue, the
intent is actually to bow to the Buddha nature present in all individual selves.
Phenomena do not
occur independent from each other. Individuality is just a conceptual tool to
study and deal with the all-embracing, interconnected and interdependent
reality. The reflection in the water, all the myriad beings, is just perceived
as individuals due to the limitations of our human perception. Separation is an
illusion. As every piece of knowledge, that realization brings us freedom but
also bring us responsibility. It can set us free from loneliness and isolation.
However, it also brings the inescapable necessity of seeing your neighbor as yourself.
Therefore, you better love your neighbor as yourself as Jesus said.
Friday, January 9, 2015
#JeSuisCharlie / God is a Comedian
Zen has no gods. However, it intensely
focus on the godliness of all beings. The main goal of zen practice is to
unveil one’s eyes to realize such ever present godliness. This realization does
not come through the belief in doctrines nor through the faith in an imagined
God. For zen, every being (animated or inanimate) is sacred. However, such
sacredness comes as fruit of a peaceful rebellion against everything that is
so-called sacred. All of us reflect a truth that is one and the same for all. All
beings are together one sole being. Therefore, zen laughs at sacredness because
everything is sacred.
Only seemingly a paradox, Truth is to
be found through inquiry and doubt, through the realization that there is no
absolute truth. All truth is relative depending on how we reflect the same one
truth existent inside each other. The only absolute is relativism. Truth may be
only one. However, it manifests in a unique way through each one different
being. That is why zen laughs at absolutes.
If your belief and truth is shaken
by laughter, how strong and real is it? Laughter is the killer of false truths,
self-importance and delusion. Laughter is an awakening alarm from falsehood.
Laughter is only a threat if one is attached to false gods. If there is a god
in zen, and there is none, that god is laughter.
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