Independent states

Firewood turns into ash, and does not turn into firewood again. But do not suppose that the ash is after and the firewood is before. We must realize that the firewood is in the state of being firewood and has its before and after. Yet having this before and after, it is independent of them.

Eihei Dogen,

SHOBOGENJO GENJO KOAN

(From Taizan Maezumi Roshi's book, ''Appreciate your life''.

SHAMBALA PUBLICATIONS 2002)

What she has left...

''During a talk given in America in 1940, Paramahansa Yogananda said of his disciple Sri Gyanamata: 'Of all the women I have met in America, I think the one who has found highest favor with God is Sister Gyanamata.'

Eleven years later, at her funeral in Encinitas, California, he declared: ' A great saint has gone away... But she has left spiritual footprints... for all souls that are in despair; that they might trace her footsteps. Those spiritual footprints will always be here."

(''GOD ALONE, The Life and Letters of a Saint'', 

Sri Gyanamata. A disciple of Sri Paramahansa Yogananda, 

Self Realization Fellowship 1984)

A free enough joy

FOREWARNING

We do not want to be like Nietzsche, who went mad searching for just a few people to whom he could talk or who thought a bit like him. In our fight against all the

oppressive and repressive forces that we find around us, we know that through a plenitude of imposed suffering we find a free enough joy by which, across the crooked physiognomy of despair, we find enough of ourselves to make a minor celebration; at least finding a sufficient liberation to keep going in a perpetually renewable sense of total absurdity - the sense that cracks all 'personal' crises.

(The language of madness by David Cooper)

On desires

''All desires are for happiness. That is the goal of desire, isn't it? But how often does your desire lead you to the goal? 

Have you thought about the nature of desire? It simply means tomorrow and not now. But joy is never tomorrow; it is always now. Desires arise on their own without asking you. And when they come, what do you do with them? If you say that you do not want any desires, then that want becomes another desire.''

(''CELEBRATING SILENCE'' by his Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Jaico Publishing House 2005)

Το Μέγα Ανθισμένο Στολίδι

Μέσα σε κάθε άτομο,

ανάμεσα στα σμήνη του σύμπαντος,

κυλούν απέραντοι ωκεανοί

παγκόσμιων αστρικών συστημάτων.

Δαλάι Λάμα

Μερικές οδηγίες του Aikido, για την καθημερινή μας ζωή!

1. Έχετε συνείδηση του κόσμου του σώματός σας.

2. Απελευθερώστε την άχρηστη ένταση.

3. Αφήστε το βάρος του σώματός σας, να καταλαγιάσει στο χαμηλότερο φυσικό σημείο του.

4. Μείνετε σε εγρήγορση σκεπτόμενοι θετικά.

Έπειτα:

5. Καταλαγιάστε τον νου σας σε ένα σημείο στο υπογάστριο (ή Χάρα).

6. Διώξτε κάθε διανοητική, συναισθηματική και σωματική αίσθηση δύναμης και έντασης.

7. Συνειδητοποιήστε ότι το βάρος όλων των πραγμάτων βρίσκεται φυσικά στο κάτω μέρος τους.

8. Συνειδητοποιήστε ότι το ΚΙ εκτείνεται φυσικά στο άπειρο.

(''Τό KI στην καθημερινή ζωή'' από τον μάστερ του Αικίντο ΚΟΪΤΣΙ ΤΟΧΕΪ, Αθήνα 2001 σε μετάφραση και με σχόλια του Γρηγόρη Α. Μηλιαρέση)

Kαλός γεγενημένος

ΑΠΟΛΛΟΔΩΡΟΣ: '' Ἦσαν τοίνυν ἐκείνοι τοιοίδε τινές—μᾶλλον δ' ἐξ ἀρχῆς ὑμῖν ὡς ἐκεῖνος διηγεῖτο καί ἐγώ πειράσομαι διηγήσασθαι. Ἔφη γάρ οἱ Σωκράτη ἐντυχεῖν λελουμένον τε καί τάς βλαύτας ὑποδεδεμένον, ἅ ἐκείνος ὁλιγάκις έποῖει καί ἔρέσθαι αὐτόν ὅποι ἴοι οὔτω καλός γεγενημένος.''

APOLLODORUS: ''Well, the tale of love was on this wise - But perhaps I had better begin at the beginning, and endeavour to give you the exact words of Aristodemus. He said that he met Socrates fresh from the bath and sandalled; and as the sight of sandals were unusual, he asked him whither he was going that he had been converted into such a beau."  

(ΠΛΑΤΩΝ, ''ΣΥΜΠΟΣΙΟΝ'')

Αποστόλου Παύλου, περί αγάπης

     (13.1) ἐὰν ταῖς γλώσσαις τῶν ἀνθρώπων λαλῶ καὶ τῶν ἀγγέλων, ἀγάπην δὲ μὴ ἔχω, γέγονα χαλκὸς ἠχῶν ἢ κύμβαλον ἀλαλάζον. (13.2) καὶ ἐὰν ἔχω προφητείαν καὶ εἰδῶ τὰ μυστήρια πάντα καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γνῶσιν καὶ ἐὰν ἔχω πᾶσαν τὴν πίστιν ὥστε ὄρη μεθιστάναι, ἀγάπην δὲ μὴ ἔχω, οὐθέν εἰμι. (13.3) κἂν ψωμίσω πάντα τὰ ὑπάρχοντά μου, καὶ ἐὰν παραδῶ τὸ σῶμα μου ἵνα καυθήσωμαι, ἀγάπην δὲ μὴ ἔχω, οὐδὲν ὠφελοῦμαι.

(13.4) ἡ ἀγάπη μακροθυμεῖ, χρηστεύεται, ἡ ἀγάπη οὐ ζηλοῖ, {ἡ ἀγάπη} οὐ περπερεύεται, οὐ φυσιοῦται, (13.5) οὐκ ἀσχημονεῖ, οὐ ζητεῖ τὰ ἑαυτῆς, οὐ παροξύνεται, οὐ λογίζεται τὸ κακόν, (13.6) οὐ χαίρει ἐπὶ τῇ ἀδικίᾳ, συγχαίρει δὲ τῇ ἀληθείᾳ· (13.7) πάντα στέγει, πάντα πιστεύει, πάντα ἐλπίζει, πάντα ὑπομένει.

(13.8) ἡ ἀγάπη οὐδέποτε πίπτει· εἴτε δὲ προφητεῖαι, καταργηθήσονται· εἴτε γλῶσσαι, παύσονται· εἴτε γνῶσις, καταργηθήσεται. (13.9) ἐκ μέρους γὰρ γινώσκομεν καὶ ἐκ μέρους προφητεύομεν· (13.10) ὅταν δὲ ἔλθῃ τὸ τέλειον, τὸ ἐκ μέρους καταργηθήσεται. (13.11) ὅτε ἤμην νήπιος, ἐλάλουν ὡς νήπιος, ἐφρόνουν ὡς νήπιος, ἐλογιζόμην ὡς νήπιος· ὅτε γέγονα ἀνήρ, κατήργηκα τὰ τοῦ νηπίου. (13.12) βλέπομεν γὰρ ἄρτι δι᾽ ἐσόπτρου ἐν αἰνίγματι, τότε δὲ πρόσωπον πρὸς πρόσωπον· ἄρτι γινώσκω ἐκ μέρους, τότε δὲ ἐπιγνώσομαι καθὼς καὶ ἐπεγνώσθην. (13.13) νυνὶ δὲ μένει πίστις, ἐλπίς, ἀγάπη, τὰ τρία ταῦτα· μείζων δὲ τούτων ἡ ἀγάπη.

Πρὸς Κορινθίους Α' 13

An aphorism on Empedocles

A poet and a politician, a physician and a philosopher,

a scientist and a seer, a showman and a charlatan.

R.D. McKirshan

Zen and the West

''Zen Buddhism presents a  surface so bizarre and irrational yet so colourful and striking, that some Westerners who approach it for the first time fail to make sense of it, while others, attracted to the surface, take it up in a purely frivolous and superficial spirit.

  The fact is that Zen, as Dr. Suzuki demonstrates, is an essential expression of Buddhism, and Buddhism is one of the most tremendous spiritual achievements in human history- an achievement that we Westerners have not yet fully grasped."

(''ZEN FOR THE WEST'' is an essay of  D.T Suzuki, from the book ''ZEN BUDDHISM'', Three Leaves Press, New York, 2006)

Hemisphere differences (what, where, how)

'' 'Psychiatrist debunks the left brain/right brain myth,' the headline proclaims.  Always interested to learn more, I read on only to discover that the psychiatrist in question is - myself. This puts its finger on the nub of the matter. I don't believe in the left brain/right brain myth. I believe in discovering the truth about hemisphere difference. There can be no question that it would be foolish to believe most of what has passed into popular culture on the topic of hemisphere difference.

And yet it would be just as foolish to believe that therefore there are no important hemisphere differences. There are massively important ones, which lie at the core of what it means to be a human being. It's just that we've been barking up the wrong tree.''

(''THE MASTER AND HIS EMISSARY- The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World'' by Iain McGilchrist, YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS, New Haven and London, 2009)

''Η ΧΑΡΑ ΕΙΝΑΙ ΓΙΑ ΟΛΟΥΣ''

''Γκουρού είναι εκείνος που διώχνει το σκοτάδι, εκείνος που σας ανοίγει την πόρτα. Εάν υποσχεθώ να σας ανοίξω μια πόρτα αύριο, ή αν την άνοιξα για κάποιον άλλον χθες, μας είναι εντελώς αδιάφορο. Μόνο αν σας ανοίξω μια πόρτα σήμερα έχει αξία.

Συχνά μου λένε ότι είμαι ένας ''μοντέρνος'' γκουρού. Η δική μου απάντηση είναι ότι δεν είμαι ούτε αρχαίος, ούτε της Νέας Εποχής, ούτε της Παλιάς. Είμαι σύγχρονος, όπως άλλωστε ήταν πάντα όλοι οι γκουρού. Μόνο οι ακαδημαικοί, οι σοφοί και οι θεολόγοι μπορούν να είναι αρχαίοι ή μοντέρνοι.''

(Από το βιβλίο τού Sadhguru, ''Inner engineering: A Yogi's Guide to Joy", Key Books 2016)

One Spring day in 1912...

"He wandered absent-minded, dreaming through the undergrowth and maze of briars, and suddenly found himself next to a huge old olive tree which he had never noticed before... The next thing he knew he was leaning back into the tree, standing on its gnarled roots his head popped against the branches...

An old sensation came over him so that he was fixed on the spot, breathless, his heart pounding. It was as though he were extended into another life, along time before, and that everything that had ever been lived or loved or suffered here was coming to him, storming him, demanding to live again in him... 'Time' ceased to exist; there was no distinction between what once was and now had come back, and the dark formless present. The entire atmosphere seemed animated unearthly to him, thrusting in on him incessantly. And yet this unknown life was close to him somehow; he had to take part in it."

(The poet Rainer-Maria Rilke, in the book, ZEN POEMS OF CHINA AND JAPAN, The Crane's Bill, 1973, GROVE PRESS, New York)

Shamanism and Wicca

''Μελετώντας κανείς το σαμανισμό αποκαλύπτει την καρδιά της μαγικής εμπειρίας και θρησκευτικής εμπειρίας γενικά, και πιο ειδικά της Γουίκα. Με την τελετουργία ως μέσο εισόδου στην τελετουργική συνείδηση, ο σαμάνος ή ο Γουικανός διαρκώς διευρύνει τη γνώση του και η γνώση του είναι δύναμη. Στις μέρες μας η Γουίκα είναι μια θρησκεία με πολλές παραλλαγές. Η Γουίκα, όπως και πολλές άλλες θρησκείες, αναγνωρίζει τη δυαδικότητα στο θείο. Τιμά τη Θεά και το Θεό."

(''WICCA, A GUIDE FOR THE SOLITARY PRACTITIONER'' 1988, Scott Cunningham, Llwellyn Publications Woodbury MN)

Approaching the Tao

IF YOU CANNOT REACH IT WITH YOUR MIND,

USE YOUR BODY.

IF YOU CANNOT REACH IT, WITH WITH YOUR

MIND NOR YOUR BODY,

CRAWL UNTIL YOU DO.

Η οφιολατρεία ανά τον κόσμο

 Ο ΟΦΙΣ : ΕΓΩ, ΤΟ ΑΠΑΝ

''Ο τρομερός θεός των Αζτέκων Κουετζαλκοάτλ ήταν ένας θεός-φίδι. Στην Αυστραλία υπήρχε η λατρεία του δαιμονικού φιδιού, την οργή του οποίου προσπαθούσαν να κατευνάσουν με διάφορες τελετές οι ιθαγενείς, οι Αμπορίτζιναλς, ένα έθιμο που συνεχίζεται ως σήμερα.

 Στην Αφρική το κέντρο της οφιολατρείας ήταν η Αίγυπτος. Επίσης στο Ουάυδαχ υπήρχε και ναός όπου φυλασσονταν πενήντα φίδια! Τέλος, στην Αμερική ορισμένες ινδιάνικες φυλές απέδιδαν στο φίδι τη δύναμη να ρυθμίζει τους ανέμους." 

(Από το ομώνυμο βιβλίο ''Οφιολατρεία'' του Χρήστου Ντικμπασάνη, Εκδόσεις Δαιδάλεος 2022)

A thought on ''No boundary''

The prospect of death is not a threat from within. Wilber is not referring to physical death, rather, as he puts it ''They (the mystics) don’t mean physically dead; they mean dead to the separate-self sense.'' 

The four Tantras of Yoga

...it is of importance for the student of history and of religious origins to know that the Lamas recognize four chief classes of yogic Tantras, which may be briefly described as follows: (1) Tantras expository of the Thatness, or Ultimate Truth, and (2) of the Occult, or Mystic, Sciences; (3) the Yogini, or Shakti, Tantras; and (4) the Kalachakra Tantras.

 According to lamaic tradition, the first class had origin 'in the east' (which probably refers to eastern Bengal) in the time of King Rab-sal (Rab-gsal), who is believed to have flourished before the beginning of the Christian era. The second class arose through Nagarjuna and his followers during the second and third century of the Christian era, 'in the south' (which refers to Southern India). The third class, to which this Book and Book IV are related, is traceable to a learned teacher called Lawapa, of Urgyan (or Odyana), the ancient name of a region now comprised within the territory of Afghanistan, 'in the west' of India. It was Padma Sambhava, also of Urgyan, who first introduced and popularized among the Tibetans this class of Tantras. Padma Sambhava, otherwise known by his followers as Guru Rinpoch'e, the 'Precious Guru', is credited with having had eight Indian gurus belonging to eight different Schools of Buddhism. ... The fourth class, consisting of the Kalachakra Tantras, is said to have originated 'in the north', in Shambala, and to have been introduced into India about A.D. 600.

(From ''Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines: Seven Books of Wisdom of the Great Path, according to the late Lama Kazi Dawa-Samdup's English rendering'' by W.Y. Evans-Wentz)

A Brother Comes Down from the Hills

"I had walked far and was seated on the side of the road, hot and exhausted, when I saw him...

... I was returning from the last farewell to the dearest friend I had in the world.

His eyes looked straight ahead and he seemed not to see me slumped there in the dust. There was an eagerness about him. He looked as though he might be sensing the approach of something with wings that might arrive and take him unaware, and more than anything he wanted to meet it and be caught up in the glory. I was hardly aware of this impression before it was gone and I thought perhaps the sun had touched my head and the whole thing, even the man himself, was an illusion.''

(From ''BEHOLD WE COME'', written by Nancy Fullwood)

Utentbe in the native American tradition

''These stories were formerly related at night in the circular assembly houses of the Miwok. Certain men versed in the myths often travelled from village to village, telling the tales in the assembly house of each village. 

Such a raconteur was known as an ''utentbe''... Each utentbe was paid for his services, his audience presenting him with baskets, beads, furs, and food. Thomas Williams, who was formerly an utentbe, said that the telling of myths took all night. Not infrequently the myth was chanted. Each myth, whether chanted or told in ordinary prose, was often accompanied by the songs of the various characters.''

(From ''NATIVE AMERICAN MYTHS", Collected 1636-1919, Rosalind Kerven,1988)

''ΔΕΙΧΝΟΝΤΑΣ ΤΗ ΣΕΛΗΝΗ'' ΚΑΙ ''ΣΙΒΑ ΣΟΥΤΡΑ'', ΑΠΟ ΜΙΑ ΣΥΓΚΡΙΤΙΚΗ ΑΠΟΨΗ

Σίβα Σούτρα

''Η Θεια Χαρη λειτουργεί πάνω σε αυτόν που βαδίζει προς την αυτογνωσία και τη θέωση. Σαν ενέργεια Θεού απελευθερώνει την ατομική συνείδηση με τούς τρείς τρόπους που περιγράφονται στη Siva Sutra. Η  Θεία Χαρη παρουσιάζεται είτε άμεσα, είτε μέσα από την καθοδήγηση των ιερών γραφών και των φωτισμένων δασκάλων."

Δείχνοντας τη Σελήνη

''¨Οταν θέλεις να νoίωθεις άνεση και ανεμελιά, να ταξιδεύες στις Τέσσερις Θάλασσες σαν σύννεφο που επιπλέει. Να προσαρμόζεσαι στις περιστάσεις και να μην ανησυχείς για τα αποτελέσματα. Στο φως της καθημερινής ζωής καθάρισε το νου σου και ποτέ μην αναλύεις τις δραστηριότητες με όρους ανοησίας και σοφίας. Αυτό είναι όλο."

(''Δείχνοντας τη Σελήνη"  ΚΕΔΡΟΣ 1995  και ''Siva Sutra Vimarsini τού Ksemaraja'',  ΕΛΛΗΝΟ-ΙΝΔΙΚΗ ΕΤΑΙΡΕΙΑ, ΑΘΗΝΑ 2015)   

Old mean Ed Gein

''Dear Mister Manson, have you heard of or seen

A man of Wisconsin by the name of Ed Gein?

You helped me discover the Beatles and Stones,

But he turned me on to the beauty of bones.

At Sixteen my feelings for you haven't changed

But Ed Gein has shown me the meaning of strange.

I'm doing a term paper on him for school

How could he be such a square and so cool?''

[From ''CIVILISATION AND ITS DISCOTHEQUES'' (1987), by THE FIBONACCIS]

What the word 'Sensei' means

"In your study of Karate, no one will be more important to you than your teacher, your sensei. The word is made up of two ideograms, sen, which means 'ahead' or 'precede' and sei, which means 'life'. Put together they create a new word that means 'one who is ahead of you in life'. Your sensei, your teacher, is your elder and is deserving of respect.''

(''The Empty Hand, A KARATE WORKBOOK by Rui Umezawa, WEATHERHILL- New York - Tokyo 2001)

The Trickster

 "From the furthest Eastern clime

  Came the Ass in olden time,

  Comely, sturdy for the road,

  Fit to bear a heavy load.

Sing then loudly master Ass,

Let the tempting tidbit pass:

You shall have no lack of hay

And of oats find good supply.

Say Amen, Amen, good ass,

Now you've had your fill of game;

Ancient paths are left behind:

Sing Amen with gladsome mind.''

(Tertillian, Apologetica adversus gentes. From the book ''FOUR ARCHETYPES'' by C.G. JUNG. 1969 Princeton University Press)

The Tao and the monarch

''The ruler who wants to be above the people must speak of himself as below them. If he wants to be ahead of the people, he must keep himself behind them. Thus when the sage is above, the people do not feel him as a burden; When he is ahead, the people do not feel him as a hindrance."

(ALAN WATTS, ''NATURE, MAN AND WOMAN'')

A stage of growth

"Beyond the collective consciousness of humanity there is the all-embracing ocean of Universal Intelligence. Our evolution, taking place within the limitations of human intelligence, in order to reach the realm of Wholeness, must transcend the frontiers of its own past. The human dimension, which is the divine limitation, merely represents a stage of growth of the Spirit in its expansion towards the Supreme Understanding."

(''Enlightenment: Beyond Traditions'', by Aziz Kristof and Houman Emami, 1999)

I WANT TO BE, TIBETAN

I'm a Tibetan

My skin is the colour of ancient bronze

but

My favorite colour is dark red

I'm a Tibetan

The teachings of my ancestors are engraved on my bones

The sound of horses' hooves flows in my veins

Fragrant barley ale fills up both my eyes

Enchanting gesar flowers bloom on my body

I'm a Tibetan

Tibetan: a name which is matched by reality

Tibetan: standing on the earth, touching the heavens

Remember

Don't ask me for my surname

My surname is not Li, my surname is not Wang

If you insist on asking for my surname

I'll tell you I am a follower of the Buddha

I am a strong nation blessed by the Tibetan gods

My left shoulder is a hawk

My right shoulder is a yak

My body is a lamp under the statue of the Buddha, never extinguished.

Anonymous

Μόνο μία γεύση

"Το Χρυσό Λουλούδι είναι φως. Τί είναι το φως; 

Το φως αυτό συμβολίζεται με το Χρυσό Λουλούδι, το οποίο κρύβει μέσα του τη λέξη 'φως'. Αυτή είναι η απόλυτη ενότητα και η αληθινή δύναμη τού αρχέγονου υπερβατικού μεγαλείου. Αυτό είναι στο οποίο αναφέρεται το ρητό: 'Τό μέταλλο στην πηγή του νερού δεν έχει παρά μόνο μία γεύση.'

(''Το Μυστικό του Χρυσού Λουλουδιού - ΄Η Πρακτική Αλχημεία τών Αθανάτων της Ανατολής", σε μετάφραση Κωνσταντίνου Αναστασόπουλου. 

Εκδόσεις  Δαιδάλεος, Μάρτιος 2022)

No effort

Now the bull may saunter through the hill forests,

Or else walk the much travelled roads, covered in dust.

Never will he touch fodder from another man's meadow.

Coming or going requires no effort- the bull quietly carries the man.

(From ''Gentling the Bull - Comments taken from talks by the Venerable Myokyo-ni.''

PUBLISHED IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE ZEN CENTRE, LONDON, 1988)

Experiencing Life

Kalachakra is a meditative perception. One lives within a spectrum of life, penetrating other life forms, and at the same time one is being penetrated by others. However, one perceives the spectrum of life, not directly, but through the eyes of thought. Thus one is likely to miss out on the innateness of life as it pulsates.

(Kalachakra Meditations, ''Based on the discussion between J. Krishnamurti and David Bohm, in THE ENDING OF TIME''. Edited by Ramesh Grover, New Age Books 2006)

''Όλοι είναι μαθητές...''

 ΑΠΟΣΠΑΣΜΑ ΑΠΟ ΜΙΑ ΔΗΛΩΣΗ ΤΟΥ ΘΙΒΕΤΑΝΟΥ

"Είναι αρκετό να πω ότι είμαι ένας Θιβετανός, μαθητής ορισμένου βαθμού και αυτό δε σας λέει παρά λίγα γιατί όλοι είναι μαθητές, από τον πιο ταπεινό ζηλωτή μέχρι και πέρα από τον ίδιο τον Χριστό".

(Από το ''Η ΕΒΔΟΜΗ ΑΚΤΙΝΑ, ΑΠΟΚΑΛΥΠΤΕΙ ΤΗ ΝΕΑ ΕΠΟΧΗ'' της Αλίκης Α. Μπέιλι,  ''Από τα Κείμενα της Αλίκης Α. Μπέιλι και του Θιβετανού Διδασκάλου Djwhal Khul''. LUCIS PUBLISHING COMPANY, New York 1995)

The eternal reenactment

''Some speak of cosmic nights and cosmic days. And that at this very moment there is at one place a cosmic night and at another a cosmic day. The divine drama, the divine symphony is eternally reenacted and there has never been and there can never be an epoch without creation. The Absolute eternally meditates within Itself and is joyous of Its expression.''

(KYRIAKOS C. MARKIDES, ''FIRE IN THE HEART,  Healers, Sages and Mystics''.  Arcana 1991)

''Oύτε μια στιγμή''

1. Αντίληψη του Δρόμου μέσω της Καθημερινής Ζωής

Υπήρχε κάποτε ένας νεαρός δάσκαλος Λονγκ Ταν, ο οποίος επισκέφθηκε τον δάσκαλο Ντάο Γου. ''Από τον τόπο απ' όπου έρχομαι'', είπε ο νεαρός Λονγκ Ταν," ποτέ δεν κατάλαβα ότι εσύ ήσουν που προκαλούσες τις εφέσεις μου αντί για εμένα."

"Στον τόπο απ' όπου έρχεσαι'', απάντησε ο δάσκαλος, "δεν υπήρξε, ούτε μια στιγμή που να μην προκαλούσα τις εφέσεις σου."

(''Δείχνοντας τη Σελήνη, 100 Κοάν από τους Κινέζους Δασκάλους", μετάφραση Ανδρέας Λυμπερόπουλος,      ΚΕΔΡΟΣ 1995)

Minimum foothold

"Respecting the further questions you ask, let me, in the first place, answer generally that the Japanese policy should be that of keeping Americans and Europeans as much as possible at arm's length.

In presence of the more powerful races your position is one of chronic danger, and you should take every precaution to give as little foothold as possible to foreigners.''

(from ''Japan, an attempt at interpretation'', by Lafcadio Hearn, Amazon Fulfillment Press)

Ego as the enemy

'Tis a common proof, that lowliness is young ambition's ladder.

(from ''Julius Caesar'' by William Shakespeare)

Attention and zazen

'In the broad sense zazen embraces more than just correct sitting. To enter fully into every action with total attention and clear awareness is no less zazen.''

(From ''The three pillars of Zen'' by Roshi Philip Kapleau, Anchor Books) 

The climb of the renunciates

I raised the Indian flag atop Arunachala,

I was with fifty seven gods once more,

and on the Divine for the second time.

A medium in between

Energy attracts more energy. Become a vessel-empty, filled, overflowing. When you feel now it is too much, unbearable, bow down to earth. Kiss the earth and remain silent there, as if you are pouring the energy into the earth. Take from the sky; give back to the earth. You become just a medium in between.

(''From Chaos to Cosmos'' by Osho, Diamond Pocket books, 2000) 

Living the life

Shall I fall on bended knees and wait for someone to bless me with happiness and a life of golden dreams?   No.

I shall run into the desert of life with my arms open, sometimes falling, sometimes stumbling, but always picking myself up, a thousand times if necessary.

Often life will burn me; often life will caress me tenderly. Many of my days shall be haunted by complications and obstacles, and there will be moments so beautiful that my soul shall weep in ecstasy. I shall be a witness, but never shall I run or turn from life.

(From 'Sannyasa Darshan' by Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati, YOGA PUBLICATIONS TRUST, India 1991)

explore

         Eyes.   & we

remember:yes;we playedwith a piece of when

till it rolled behind forever,we touched a shy

animal called where and she disappeared.

(from "ΧΑΙΡΕ" by E E Cummings, Liveright, New York)

Umile ed alta più che creatura

Vergine Madre, figlia del tuo Figlio,

umile ed alta più che creatura,

termine fisso d' eterno consiglio,

tu se' colei che l'umana natura

nobilitasti si, che il suo Fattore

non disdegnò di farsi sua fattura.

Nel ventre tuo si raccese l'amore,

per lo cui cui caldo nell'eterna pace

Cosi è germinato questo fiore.

Qui sei a noi meridiana face

di caritate, e giuso intra i mortali,

sei di speranza fontana vivace.

Donna, sei tanto grande e tanto vali,

che qual vuol grazia ed a te non ricorre,

Sua disïanza vuol volar senz'ali.

La tua benignità non pur soccore

a chi domanda, ma molte fiate

liberamente al domandar precorre.

In te misericordia, in te pietate,

in te magnificenza, in te s'aduna

quantuque in creatura è di bontate.

(Dante, Paradiso, XXXIII)