THE RINZAI WAY OF ZEN BUDDHISM

''The school of Zen associated with Rinzai (d. 866) is known

for its dynamic style and its emphasis on the body: all activity

can be meditation; wisdom must manifest in every action

of the realized person.

The Rinzai school became the dominant school of  Zen 

in China, and was eventually transmitted to Japan''.

(The Rinzai Zen Way, A Guide to Practice' by Meido Moore)

Μια για την Τίγρη και μια για το ΄Αλογο

Σαν την ανεπάρκεια του Τίγρη

και τα νυχτερινά μάτια του Αλόγου.

(Από ένα ποίημα του Taizen Deshimaru. Επιμέλεια Πέτρος Κουρόπουλος)

THE PRINCIPLES OF WELL-BEING

''According to the Indian tradition, the four primary objectives of human life are 
(1) DHARMA or performance of such rites as are conducive to the well-being of the individual as well as his society, (2) ARTHA or the collection of the means of livelihood,  (3) KAMA or the satisfaction of mundane desires (4) MOKSHA or the attainment of salvation. Good Health is considered to be the sine qua non of the achievement of all these four fold objectives.''

(Basic Principles of AYURVEDA,  Bhagwan Dash & Lalitesh Kashyap) 

Milarepa

"Η αρχική έμφυτη σοφία είναι το πεδίο του αρχέγονου βάθους.

Χωρίς 'εξωτερικό' ή 'εσωτερικό' είναι το πεδίο της επίγνωσης.

Χωρίς λαμπρότητα ή σκοτάδι είναι το πεδίο της ενόρασης.

Πανταχού παρόν και πανπεριεκτικό είναι το πεδίο της Ντάρμα.

Χωρίς αλλαγή ή μετάβαση είναι το πεδίο τής ύπαρξης.

Δίχως τέλος είναι το πεδίο της εμπειρίας.

Αυτά είναι τα έξι ακλόνητα πεδία της ουσίας."

(MILAREPA, A BIOGRAPHY by Rechung Dorje Dragpa, εκδόσεις Dharma)

ΟΙ ΔΕΚΑ ΕΙΚΟΝΕΣ ΤΟΥ ΖΕΝ ΠΡΙΝ ΚΑΙ ΜΕΤΑ...

BY KAKUAN, JAPAN, 12 A.D.               ΥΠΟ ΑΓΝΩΣΤΟΥ ΣΥΓΓΡΑΦΕΑ

                                                                                                             

1.The Search for the Bull.                   1.O Απειθάρχητος

                        

2.Discovering the Footprints.              2.Η Πειθαρχία Αρχίζει

3.Perceiving the Bull.                          3.Σε Χαλινάρι  

4.Catching the Bull                              4.Το Ζώο Στρέφεται                                                                         Υπακούοντας στη Διαταγή 
                                                                                                
5.Taming the Bull                                5.Το Δαμασμένο Ζώο 

6.Riding the Bull Home.                       6.Το Ζώο Ανεμπόδιστο

7.The Bull Transcended.                       7.Κατάσταση Ελευθερίας                                                             

8.Both Bull & Self Transcended.            8.Όλα Ξεχασμένα

9.Reaching the Source.                        9.Η Μοναχική Σελήνη   

10.In the World.                                 10.Χαμένα και τα Δύο

SHOBOGENZO

Μελέτη της Ντάρμα σημαίνει μελέτη του Εαυτού,

μελέτη του Εαυτού σημαίνει ξέχασμα του εαυτού,

ξέχασμα του εαυτού σημαίνει φώτιση μέσα από όλα τα πράγματα,

φώτιση μέσα από όλα τα πράγματα σημαίνει κατάργηση

της διάκρισης ανάμεσα στον εαυτό μας και τους άλλους.

(ΣΟΜΠΟΓΚΕΝΖΟ, ΔΙΔΑΣΚΑΛΙΕΣ ΤΟΥ ΣΟΤΟ ΖΕΝ από τον Eihei Dogen.

Εκδόσεις Dharma)

THE DUDE AND THE ZEN MASTER

From  JEFF'S INTRODUCTION

So... my buddy Bernie Glassman says to me one day,

'' Did you know that the Dude in ' The Big Lebowski ' is

considered by many Buddhists to be a Zen master?''

I said,  ''What the fuck are talkin' about man?''

He said, ''Oh yeah.'' 

I said, 'You gotta be kidding  We never talked about Zen Buddhism

while we were making 'Lebowski'. The brothers never said anything about that.'' 

''Yeah,'' laughed Bernie, '' just look at their name- the Koan brothers.''

(From the book ''The Dude and the Zen Master'' by Jeff Bridges and Bernie Glassman)

Μια απόδοση του Jung

''Introjection of the Deities'' αποδίδεται ως ''Ενδοπροβολή των Θεοτήτων''.

The Serpent eats its tail.

Sakyamuni

''Perhaps the evolution of civilizations has brought us to a brink where confrontation with the absolute is no longer a responsibility or privilege of the elite, but a vital necessity for all.''


(Robert A.F. Thurman, ''The central philosophy of Tibet'')

A YAQUI WAY OF KNOWLEDGE

''Para mi recorrer los caminos que tienen corazon, cualquier camino

que tenga corazon. Por ahi yo recorro, y la unica prueba que vale es

arravesar todo su largo. Y or ahi recorro, mirando, sin aliento.

(''The Teachings of Don Juan'' by Carlos Castaneda)

''Εἰς ὕδωρ γράφω ... ''

Δέν είμαι ούτε ομιλητής ούτε κήρυκας.

Δεν έχω αποστολή να αλλάξω τον κόσμο.

Δεν έχω πρωτότυπα λόγια ή διδασκαλίες

να δώσω σε κανέναν. Αντανακλώ μόνο αυτό

που έχω βιώσει άμεσα.  Δεν με γοητεύουν οι

καινούργιες ιδέες ή δραστηριότητες. 'Ολος

ο ενθουσιασμός για κοσμική κατάκτηση έχει χαθεί.

                                 ΜΟΥΤΖΙ

PRARABDHA

''The Psychic force is not only the medium power. There is

also Claireaudience which is fortunetelling of course, but

with the absence of ego.''

 

 

Michael Hilary Hughes

Doubt and Zen

''The greater the doubt, the greater the awakening; the smaller the doubt, the smaller the awakening. No doubt, no awakening.''


Garma C.C. Chang, The practice of Zen

On excrement

''From Victorian times well into this century, American magazines carried advertisements extolling the advantages of 'silent flush' toilets. The idea was that if you were playing bridge with friends at home and the urge to excrete came you could excuse yourself with some polite lie about wanting to check on the canary, attend to the horrid task, and then return to the table without anyone knowing where you've been.   

 In his Enviromental Design classic 'The Bathroom' (1976), Alexander Kira notes the the tendency to label any book that discusses elimination as 'humour'. Another aspect of scatological repression is its link to the middle class. In 'Let Us Now Praise Famous Men' (1941), James Agee discusses 'the middle-class worship of sterility and worship-fear of its own excrement', suggesting that in this country at least, middle-class people are more anal than their lower-or upper-class compatriots.'' 

(The RE/Search GUIDE TO BODILY FLUIDS, by Paul Spinrad)

There is only now and it doesn't even exist

Όταν μιλάμε για το άχρονο, και βγάζουμε συμπεράσματα για τον Ζεν Βουδισμό, καλύτερα για όλους μας, είναι να σκεφτόμαστε την Πεμπτουσία του, δηλαδή: 

Σότο, Ρίνζαι, Ουμμόν, Χογκέν, Ικυό.

KOYBA

Μέ το αεροπλάνο μου

ακολουθώ μια ζούγκλα

μέσα στούς Τροπικούς.

Αυτή είναι η Αφρική,

αλλά ξέχασα ότι είμαι

ο Ιησούς Χριστός σκλάβος

και επίσης την μαύρη,

μαρμάρινη εκκλησία

που είχε μόλις κτιστεί.

The Possibility of a Rebirth

''Σύμφωνα με την διδασκαλία σοφών του Βουδδισμού και άλλων πολιτισμών, κατά την στιγμή του θανάτου ξεκινάμε την μεταβατική μας ύπαρξη, η οποία είναι το ενδιάμεσο βασίλειο μεταξύ θανάτου και επαναγέννησης.

Το βασίλειο αυτό είναι πολύ διαφορετικό από το φυσικό επίπεδο, αλλά από μια άποψη είναι ταυτόσημο. Γιατί όπως οι εδραιωμένες στο εγώ αντιλήψεις μας επηρεάζουν τον τρόπο με τον οποίο σχετιζόμαστε και αλληλεπιδρούμε με το περιβάλλον μας και τα γεγονότα αυτού του κόσμου, με παρόμοιο τρόπο το κάρμα μας, το οποίο απορρέει από την τελευταία και πολλές προηγούμενες υπάρξεις, επηρεάζει τον τρόπο με τον οποίο σχετιζόμαστε με τίς εμπειρίες μιας ενδιάμεσης ζωής.'' 

(Philip Kapleau, ''The Zen of Living and Dying'',  Shambala Publications,1989)

Kundalini Changes

''But why did I feel uneasy and depressed?  Instead of feeling exceedingly happy at my luck and blessing my stars, why had despondency overtaken me? 

I felt as if I were in imminent danger of something beyond my understanding and power, something intangible and mysterious, which I could neither grasp nor analyze. 

A heavy cloud of depression and gloom seemed to hang round me, rising from my own internal depths without relation to external circumstances. I did not feel I was the same man I had been a few days before, and a condition of horror, on account of the inexplicable change, began to settle on me, from which, try as I might, I could not make myself free by any effort of my will.'' 

(from the book '' LIVING WITH KUNDALINI, The Autobiography of Gopi Krishna'')

On Deity Figures

''To keep an eye on us.''

Michael Hughes

Full is empty

Full is empty, this is true,

You are me and I am you.

M. T. HEAD

(from the book ''UNTRAIN YOUR PARROT,  

And Other No Nonsense Instructions On The Path of Zen'',

by Elizabeth Hamilton, Shambala Publications 2017)

Haiku of '87

I jumped like a frog

in time,

and became a Messiah.

Beyond the rational mind

''When I first began to study Zen, my teacher gave me a koan, a Zen question, to answer:

'How do you go further from the top of a hundred foot pole?'

You can't use your rational mind to answer the koan-or any Zen question- in a logical way.

You might meditate a long time and come back to the Zen master and say,

'The answer is to live fully.'  ''

(from ''Instructions to the cook'' by Bernie Glassman & Rick Fields)

Για την Egyoku

Η έρευνα για τον εαυτό είναι σα να καθαρίζεις ένα δάσος από τα σκουπίδια.


(Η Wendy Egyoku Nakao είναι η ''ηγουμένη'' του Zen Center του Λος Άντζελες)

TRUNGPA'S LIFE AND VISION

''Master of meditation, artist, poet, social visionary- Chogyam Trungpa was all these and more. His work was unique in its emphasis on a secular rather than religious approach to spirituality. From his first years of teaching in Britain and the United States, Trungpa began making friends with his students in a completely free style, with few Buddhist references.

Among the practices that he encouraged his students to undertake were calligraphy, flower arranging, Japanese archery, tea ceremony, dance, theater, poetry, psychotherapy, elocution and translation. The sole strictly traditionally Buddhist discipline Chogyam Trungpa insisted upon, was sitting meditation.''

(FABRICE MIDAL, ''CHOGYAM TRUNGPA, HIS LIFE AND VISION'',

2OO4 SHAMBALA PUBLICATIONS)

Σαν ένα μνημόσυνο

Σαν ένα μνημόσυνο,

όπου ένας Βραχμάνος

εναποθέτει εκατοντάδες άσπρα γαρύφαλλα

σ’ έναν τάφο στην ακτή

της Santa Barbara.

ΤΙ ΕΙΝΑΙ ΨΥΧΟΦΥΣΙΚΗ;

Αρχικά, η Ψυχοφυσική ήταν ένα μικρό γραφείο πού ασχολείτο με την θεραπεία ψυχικών διαταραχών, πιο συγκεκριμένα, θεραπείας με τη χρήση ήχων χαμηλών συχνοτήτων. 

Τώρα πλέον η  Ψυχοφυσική έχει γιγαντωθεί. Ασχολείται και με άλλα πράγματα, εκτός από το προαναφερθέν.

Η έδρα για την Ψυχοφυσική είναι το Σαν Φρανσίσκο. όπου διατηρεί πλέον μεγάλα γραφεία.

H ADVAITA ΤΟΥ JEAN KLEIN

                                 
                                   ΔΥΟ ΜΕΡΕΣ ΜΑΖΙ ΤΟΥ

"Η ηρεμία, η ησυχία στην παρουσία του δεν είναι ανάμνηση ούτε προσδοκία. Πέφτει σαν καταχνιά πάνω στις χωριστικές γραμμές των αντικειμένων-σκέψεων και τα σβήνει απορροφώντας τα.'Υστερα, μέσα σ'αυτή την καταχνιά, τα λόγια δεν έχουν πλέον οξύτητα, χάνουν τα ψυχολογικά τους αποθέματα της επιθετικότητας, της άμυνας. Ακούγονται σαν τους ήχους του μωρού: ήχοι απλοί, αγνοί, πρωτόγνωροι, πρωτόφαντοι. Ήχοι αμιγείς, ανόθευτοι, αρχέγονοι ήχοι, πρωτογεννημένοι ήχοι, κυοφορούντες.

Δεν είναι ήχοι του νου, σκέψεις-νοήματα, συγκίνησες που έρχονται και φεύγουν αφήνοντας σε άδειο, κενό όπως πριν. Είναι καθάριες αίσθησες, θρόισμα φύλλων, φλοίσβος της θάλασσας, βροχή γλυκιά του χινοπώρου.'Ερχονται σαν αστραπές στη νύχτα του νου, δείχνουν προς την πηγή τους κι εξαφανίζονται σ' αυτήν."

(ADVAITA, ΤΕΧΝΗ ΚΑΙ ΚΑΛΛΟΣ:  
JEAN KLEIN,  A.K. COOMARASWAMY,  Ι.Ν. ΘΕΟΔΩΡΑΚΟΠΟΥΛΟΣ.  
Εκδόσεις Πύρινος Κόσμος 2014)

Bailemo todos la vaca loca

What is all this chitter chatter about the body vs. the mind? St. Augustine might have been right and I think he was.

Total Freedom

''Great sages of history have been ill-served in the presentation of their wisdom.

The best of these saints and savants -ancient Hindu and Jewish holy men, the Buddha, Confucius, Socrates, Jesus Christ, the Prophet Mohammed- left few significant writings.

Their truths were unfolded in profound discourses and sagacious dialogues- oral expositions transmitted to us in incomplete renderings. Thus only some verities are known; many have been lost. Those who seek the complete scheme, as originally presented, have to depend on unreliable intermediaries such as faith, interpretation, interpolation and reconstruction.''

(from the book ''TOTAL FREEDOM'' - THE ESSENTIAL KRISHNAMURTI, Harper Collins Publishers)

THERE IS NO GOD BUT GOD

''The Sufi tradition is like a vast garden in which are cultivated many flowers of different scents and colors, each sweet and beautiful, each reflecting one aspect of the garden of paradise, and each with its own particular form.

There are certain Sufi writings that are primarily practical and operative, others that express the metaphysical and cosmological doctrines of the tradition, and yet another group that makes use of parables to convey the message of Sufism. Moreover, although the inner reality of Sufism is everywhere the same, containing and reflecting the very heart of the Islamic message, its modes of expression have taken into consideration the artistic possibilities of the peoples whom they have addressed and the genius of the language they have employed.''

(from the book FAKHRUDIN IRAQI, 'Divine Flashes', Paulist Press 1982)

Body and Mind (the problem about cognition)

The body never lied, like the mind always did...

Για μια δύναμη που χάθηκε στην Κύπρο

Τό Ταό κι η θάλασσα,

Καρυωτάκης στην Πρεβεζα.

Αχάμ Σιβοχάμ.

DAI-O KOKUSI's ''Regarding Zen''

Υπάρχει μια πραγματικότητα που προυπήρχε του ουρανού και της γης,

πράγματι δεν έχει μορφή, ούτε και όνομα

Τα μάτια δεν καταφέρνουν να τη δουν,

δεν έχει φωνή για να την ακούσουν τα αυτιά.

Το να την αποκαλέσουμε Νου ή Βούδα παραβιάζει τη φύση της,

γιατί τότε γίνεται σαν φανταστικό λουλούδι στον αέρα:

δεν είναι ούτε Νούς ούτε Βούδας.

Απόλυτα γαλήνια κι όμως μ' ένα μυστηριώδη τρόπο φωτεινή,

αφήνεται να γίνει ορατή μόνο από κείνον που έχει καθαρό μάτι.

Αληθινά είναι η Ντάρμα πέραν της μορφής και του ήχου,

είναι το Ταό που δέν έχει σχέση με λόγια.

Επιθυμώντας να ξυπνήσει τον τυφλό,

ο Βούδας άφησε να εκπορευτούν λόγια από το χρυσαφένιο στόμα του:

από τότε ο ουρανός και η γη γέμισαν από πυκνά βάτα.

Ω άξιοι φίλοι μου που μαζευτήκατε εδώ,

αν επιθυμείτε να ακούσετε την καραυνοβόλα φωνή του Ντάρμα,

εξαντλείστε τα λόγια σας αδειάστε τις σκέψεις σας

γιατί μόνο τότε θα μπορέσετε να αναγνωρίσετε αυτήν τη Μία Ουσία.

Ο αδελφός Χούι λεέι: ''Το Ντάρμα του Βούδα

δεν πρέπει να αφήνεται σε απλά ανθρώπινα αισθήματα''.

(From D.T. Suzuki's ''Zen Buddhist Stories'')

From TRACTATUS LOGICO - PHILOSOPHICUS

It used to be said that God could create

anything except what would be contrary

to the laws of logic.

The truth is that we could not say what an

''illogical'' world would look like.

Ludwig Wittgenstein in 1922

'ANTE ...'

Επειδή νομίζω ότι ο συλλογισμός είναι σωστός: Ένα πέταγμα της πεταλούδας στην Κίνα, ίσως πράγματι, να πρακαλεί σεισμό στην Αθήνα...

What is my Problem?

''Your problem Dimitri, is that you have no problems.''

Michael Hilary Hughes

MY LIFE WAS AS A SYMBOL

Astride the bull, I reach home.

I am serene.

The bull too can rest.

The dawn has come. In blissful repose,

Within my thatched dwelling I have abandoned 

     the whip and rope.

AN INTRODUCTION TO TRANSPERSONAL PSYCHIATRY

''Transpersonal psychiatry, therefore, is psychiatry that seeks to foster development,

correct developmental arrests, and heal traumas at all levels of development, including

transpersonal levels. 

 It extends the standard biopsychosocial model of psychiatry to a biopsychosocial-spiritual one in which the later stages of human development are concerned with development beyond, or transcendent of, the individual. The meanings of the terms transpersonal and spiritual must be sharply differentiated from the meaning of the term religious.

 Religious refers to the belief system of a specific group, whose members usually gather 

around specific contents and contexts that contain some transpersonal elements. 

 Spiritual refers to the realm of the human spirit, that part of humanity that is not limited to bodily experience.''

(Excerpt from the book ''TEXTBOOK OF TRANSPERSONAL PSYCHIATRY AND PSYCHOLOGY'', edited by Bruce W. Scotton M.D., Allan B. Chinen M.D., John R. Battista M.D.)

ABOUT A VOID...

... and why it is Friday!

After the party, we still belong to history.

And why after a 7 on the Richter scale, in Cali, I don't care what,

I still prove my specialness as a 5 on the Ox scale.

The Equanimity Game

''When force of circumstance upsets your equanimity, lose no time in recovering your self-control, and do not remain out of tune longer than you can help. Habitual recurrence to the harmony will increase your mastery of it.''

(Marcus Aurelius, from THE LITTLE BOOK OF STOICISM by Jonas Salzgeber)

MUSEUM WITHOUT WALLS

''A Romanesque crucifix was not regarded by its contemporaries as a work of sculpture;

nor Cimabue's 'Madonna' as a picture. Even Pheidias'  'Pallas Athene' was not primarily a statue.

So vital is the part played by the art museum in our approach to works of art to-day that

we find it difficult to realize that no museums exist, none has ever existed, in lands where the civilization of modern Europe is, or was, unknown; and that even amongst us,

they have existed barely two hundred years.''

(Andre Malraux, ''The Voices of Silence'', Bollingen Series XXIV)

''Creating health'' by Deepak Chopra

What shall we conclude from the title of this famous doctor's book? 

That, we create the disease, as well, as its cure?

The Great Mother

''When analytical psychology speaks of the primordial image or archetype of the Great Mother, it is referring, not to any concrete image existing in space and time, but to an inward image at work in the human psyche. The symbolic expression of this psychic phenomenon is to be found in the figures of the Great Goddess represented in the myths and artistic creations of mankind.''

(From Erich Neumann's ''The Great Mother-An Analysis of The Archetype'')

THE ROLE OF NUMINOUS EXPERIENCE IN INDIVIDUATION

''In a letter to P.W. Martin, the founder of the International Study Center of Applied Psychology in Oxted, England, Jung confirmed the central significance of numinous experience in his life and work:

    It always seemed to me as if the real milestones were:

    certain symbolic events characterized by a strong

    emotional tone. You are quite right, the main interest

    of my work is not concerned with the treatment of

    neuroses but rather with the approach to the numinous.

    But the fact is that the approach to the numinous

    is the real therapy and inasmuch as you attain to

    the numinous experiences you are released from the curse

    of pathology. Even the very disease takes on a numinous

    character.''

(from ''The Principle of Individuation, Toward the Development of Human Consciousness'' by Murray Stein)

From 101 ZEN STORIES

WHAT ARE YOU DOING! WHAT ARE YOU SAYING!

In modern times a great deal of nonsense is talked about masters and disciples, and about the inheritance of a master's teaching by favorite pupils, entitling them to pass the truth on to their adherents. 

Of course Zen should be imparted in this way, from heart to heart, and in the past it was really accomplished. Silence and humility reigned rather than profession and assertion. The one who received such a teaching kept the matter hidden even after

twenty years.

Not until another discovered through his own need that a real master was at hand was it learned that the teaching had been imparted, and even then the occasion arose quite naturally and the teaching made the way in its own right. Under no circumstance did the teacher even claim ''I am the successor of So-and-so.'' Such a claim would prove quite the contrary.

The Zen master Mu-nan had only one successor. His name was Shoju. After Shoju had completed his study of Zen, Mu-nan called him into his room. ''I am getting old,'' he said,''and as far as I know, Shoju, you are the only one who will carry on this teaching. Here is a book.  It has been passed down from master to master for seven generations. I also have added many points according to my understanding. The book is very valuable, and I am giving it to you to represent your successorship.''

''If the book is such an important thing, you had better keep it,'' Shoju replied.'' I received your Zen without writing and am satisfied with it as it is.'' 

''I know that,'' said Mu-nan. '' Even so, this work has been carried from master to master for seven generations, so you may keep it as a symbol of having received the teaching. Here.'' 

The two happened to be talking before a brazier. 

The instant Shoju felt the book on his hands he thrust it into the flaming coals. He had no lust for possessions. Mu-nan, who never had been angry before, yelled: ''What are you doing!'' Shoju shouted back :''What are you saying!''


(from the book, ZEN FLESH, ZEN BONES, compiled by Paul Reps and Nyogen Senzaki)

CLONING THE BUDDHA

''In February 1997, the announcement of the birth of a sheep named Dolly - the world's first cloned mammal - provoked a firestorm of controversy. Could the same technique be used to make genetic copies of humans? Would the coming millennium see the realization of Aldous Huxley's 'Brave New World' - a fictional dystopia in which batches of identical human embryos are grown in state-run 'hatcheries'?

  In December 1997, an eccentric physicist-turned-gene doctor named Richard Seed announced on national radio that he intended to open a human cloning clinic in the Chicago area. ''Clones are going to be fun,'' he later blithely commented to an audience at a Chicago law school symposium on reproduction. ''I can't wait to make two or three of my own self.''

(From ''Cloning the Buddha - The Moral Impact of Biotechnology'' by Richard Heinberg) 

WHAT IS WABI SABI?

''Wabi sabi is fundamental to the aesthetic sense and gentle nature of Japanese people. It is a world view that guides the way they experience life, although it is rarely discussed. Its influence is everywhere, and yet it is nowhere to be seen. People instinctively know what the concept of wabi sabi represents, but few can articulate that.

  Wabi sabi is a fascinating enigma, which promises to whisper potent wisdom to those who slow down enough to investigate, and approach with an open heart.''

(Beth Kempton: WABI SABI, JAPANESE WISDOM FOR A PERFECTLY IMPERFECT LIFE)

The Koans in the Soto sect of Zen

Assuming you solve ''Amban's Addition'', the last koan of the book ''Zen Flesh, Zen Bones'', you also solve the koan which precedes it, ''One road of Kembo''.

ON ZEN AND THE PLASMATIC SPHERES

  ''Υπάρχει μια φράση: 'Ρίξε μια σφαίρα σε ένα ορμητικό ρεύμα και δεν θα σταματήσει ποτέ'. Τούτο σημαίνει ότι αν ρίξεις μιά σφαίρα στα ορμητικά νερά ενός ποταμού, θα κινηθεί επιπλέοντας στα κύματα και δε θα σταματήσει πουθενά.''

("THE UNFETTERED MIND'' by Takuan Soho, 1995)

AS TO A COMPARATIVE RELIGION STUDY

''It has been said that no man understands any one religion until he has studied two. It might be further said that no man understands any one religion until he has reasonably studied all, and compiled from them a 'common denominator' of essential principles.''

 

(From CHRISTMAS HUMPHREY's  'Studies in the Middle Way',

1984, The Buddhist Society London)

Zoroastrianism

'' The most important of all outstanding facts of Iranian history is the religious reform brought about Zarathustra. He was the first man we know who gave a definitely moral character and direction to religion, and at the same time preached the doctrine of monotheism, which offered an eternal foundation of reality to goodness as an ideal of perfection...

   When I conceived of Thee, O Mazda, as the first and last, as the most adorable One, as The Father of Good Thought, as the creator of Truth and Right, as the Lord Judge of our actions in life, then I made a place for Thee in my very eyes.''

(THE DIVINE SONGS OF ZARATHUSTRA, 
D.J. Irani and Sir Rabindranath Tagore, 

First published in 1924, Kessinger Publishing)

Ο ΙΗΣΟΥΣ ΤΗΣ ΝIΝΕΥH

- Was koan 49 of the book ''Zen Flesh, Zen Bones'', written by Mumon? Did it even belong to the Mumonkan?

- YES. 

 

This is how ''The Gateless Gate''(Mumonkan), enters one into Zen Buddhism, as a koan even, and not through the Mu. 

THE CUP OF HUMANITY

''The philosophy of tea is not mere aestheticism

in the ordinary acceptance of the term, for it expresses

conjointly with ethics and religion our whole point of view

about man and nature. It is hygiene, for it enforces

cleanliness; it is economics, for it shows comfort in simplicity

rather than in the complex and costly; it is moral geometry,

inasmuch as it defines our sense of proportion to the universe.

It represents the true spirit of eastern democracy by making

its votaries aristocrats in taste.''

('' The Book of Tea'' by Okakura Kakuzo)

The Lord Bum

A special transmission outside the scriptures.

Not depending on written words.

Directly pointing to the human heart,

Seeing into its nature and becoming Buddha.

(from ''Gentling the Bull, The Ten Bull Pictures- a Spiritual Journey'' by the Venerable Myokyo-ni)

Περί του μυστηρίου των αντιθέτων

There is a secretary in Zurich,

she is a bookeeper of mine.

she translates the green and blue in German,

and she is also the owner of an electronic mysterium.

THE WORLD ACCORDING TO KATHY ACKER

This is a flower.

Golden bracelets lie around

corpses' arms.

Thick black bracelets,

studded with silver, around

their ankles.

(From Kathy Acker's book,  BLOOD AND GUTS IN HIGH SCHOOL, a novel. 1978)

The doctrine of no-mind

The nature of the Mind when understood,

No human speech can compass or disclose,

Enlightenment is naught to be attained,

And he that gains it does not say he knows.

(The Zen Teaching of Huang Po, translated by John Blofeld, Grove Press 1958)

POUR LA PETITE JEUESE

                               I became

                          the discriminating avenger

                                of those 

                              I love or hate.  

IS BODHIDARMA HUMAN?

Buddhism came to China 2,000 years ago. As early as A.D. 65, a community of Buddhist monks was reported living under royal patronage in the northern part of Kiangsu Province, not far from the birthplace of Confucius, and the first monks had probably arrived a hundred years earlier. Since then, tens of thousands of Indian and Central Asian monks have journeyed to China by land and sea, bu mong those who brought the teachings of the Buddha to China, none has had the impact comparable to that of Bodhidarma.

( ''The Zen Teaching of Bodhidarma, translated by Red Pine, NORTH POINT PRESS)

CONVERSATIONS WITH THE SPIRIT WORLD

''All went smoothly until I came to the religious orientations of the Vietnamese people and read that the third-largest religious movement after Roman Catholicism and Buddhism, was a denomination known as the Cao Dai. I read that this was, broadly speaking, an amalgam of Eastern and Western faiths and that one of its three major saints was the French poet-novelist-playwright Victor Hugo (1802-1885).

  The Cao Dai spirit of Victor Hugo evolved from communications originating with an entity that initially called itself Nguyet-Tam-Chon-Nhon but later stated that it was, in fact, the spirit of the famous Victor Hugo.

 One of the many messages received by the Caodaists from the alleged spirit of Victor Hugo speaks eloquently of beauty, divine peace and harmony, science and wisdom, as well as of the spirit's perception that there are... other universes than ours in the infinite.''

(from John Chambers' ''Victor Hugo's Conversations with the Spirit World'')