buddhism

dirt beneath these nails…

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dirty nails

Awake in the world
What is this meditation?
Dirt beneath these nails

~j

“A long time ago in China, a Zen student asked if any of the sages had ever fallen into hell.  His teacher answered that they are the first to go there!  The shocked student asked, ‘But if they are enlightened, why would they fall into hell?’  The teacher looked at the student and with a smile said, ‘If I didn’t fall into hell, how could I help you?’  Do you see what he is doing here?  He completely reverses the student’s problem, saying this is not about the student’s idea of purity, but about helping and caring.  That is what’s important.  He’s saying that you have to get your hands dirty; you have to dig right in.  Just as you are, without some special robe or degree or twenty years of meditation practice.  Just as you are, you can help.”

~ Roshi Pat Enkyo O’Hara
from the chapter “Living In The Suffering World”
from her book, “MOST INTIMATE: A Zen Approach To Life’s Challenges”

one earth, one sangha…

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LightColorTree2 (2)

 

hello dear friends ~

please check out One Earth Sangha and read about their post The Earth as Witness: International Dharma Teachers’ Statement on Climate Change.  if this speaks to you, please sign as either a Dharma Teacher or Sangha Member.  if you do not belong to a sangha, you can still provide your name, email and where you are from.

here touching the Earth
awakening to Her breath
there is no other

~j
January 22, 2014

the illusion of security and the reality of Life…

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ENSO 2014

From the wisdom of Alan Watts ~

“There is a contradiction in wanting to be perfectly secure in a universe whose very nature is momentariness and fluidity. But the contradiction lies a little deeper than the mere conflict between the desire for security and the fact of change. If I want to be secure, that is, protected from the flux of life, I am wanting to be separate from life. Yet it is this very sense of separateness which makes me feel insecure. To be secure means to isolate and fortify the “I,” but it is just the feeling of being an isolated “I” which makes me feel lonely and afraid. In other words, the more security I can get, the more I shall want.
 
To put it still more plainly: the desire for security and the feeling of insecurity are the same thing. To hold your breath is to lose your breath. A society based on the quest for security is nothing but a breath-retention contest in which everyone is as taut as a drum and as purple as a beet.”
 
~ Alan Watts

awake in the world…

~ jaysen ~ Leave a comment

dirty nails

awake in the world
what is this meditation?
dirt beneath these nails

~j

December 31, 2013

 

commentary:
solitary enlightenment is darkness
and being awake when others are asleep is a nightmare for the Heart of Love
meditation, contemplation, and prayer are all good
but to Love is to get one’s hands dirty
working for the benefit of all beings
off the mat and into the world, as it is said
this is the path of the Bodhisattva, this is the journey of a Warrior for Love

~j

just This…

~ jaysen ~ 2 Comments

THIS Enso

is it possible for us to find happiness with just this?

with just this moment as it is?
with its frailty, its delicate and persistent heartache?
with its sadness and weight?
can i see also resilient beauty hiding in forms masked?
can i hear music that speaks of Love as no word can?
can i see life in death and wholeness in what otherwise feels broken and sick?

is it possible for me to find happiness with just this?

this is the beginning of our practice

this is our path

~j