I AND THOU (Bernie Tetsugen Glassman RIP)

''The man who experiences has not part in the world. For it is 'in him' and not between him and the world that the experience arises.

 The world has no part in the experience. It permits itself to be experienced, but has no concern in the matter.''

(From the same book by Martin Buber)

Breath

The path of the secret empowerment is for the practices of channels, winds and essences and mantra recitation. The path of the wisdom-knowledge empowerment is the practice of the emptiness of the example wisdom, that leads the ultimate wisdom being to arise in your experience. 

The secret empowerment and the wisdom-knowledge empowerments are the completion stage with and without characteristics.

(Root text by PADMASAMBHAVA)

Magus

Αυτός πού ρίχνει τά ζάρια ή ό σαλτιμπάγκος τών λαικών πανηγυριών. Αυτή είναι η εξωτερική ερμηνεία, και έχει την ίδια αντιστοιχία μέ  τό πραγματικό συμβολικό νόημα που έχει και η χρησιμοποίηση του Ταρώ σαν μαντικό μέσο με το μυστικιστικό του νόημα, σύμφωνα με τη μυστική επιστήμη του συμβολισμού.

Θα ήθελα να προσθέσω ότι πολλοί ανεξάρτητοι μελετητές πάνω στο θέμα, ακολουθώντας το δικό τους φώς, έχουν παρουσιάσει μια σειρά από νοήματα σε σχέση με τους εικοσί δυό Μεγάλους Θριάμβους (Trionfi or Trumps) και το φώς τους είναι μερικές φορές υποβλητικό, αλλά δεν είναι το αληθινό φως. Για παράδειγμα, ο Ελιφάς Λεβί λέει ότι το χαρτί αυτό φανερώνει τη μονάδα που είναι η Μητέρα των αριθμών. Άλλοι λένε πώς είναι η Θεία Μονάδα και ένας από τους τελευταίους Γάλλους σχολιαστές υποστηρίζει ότι ο Μάγος αντιπροσωπεύει γενικά τη θέληση.

(Το κλειδί του Ταρώ- Arthur Waite σε μετάφραση ΑΝΔΡΕΑ ΤΣΑΚΑΛΗ, εκδόσεις "Πύρινος Κόσμος", 1980)

'Taming the ox' and its corresponding self defence technique

‘’Let’s look at karate again. The fact that people train in karate-do so assiduously, even in an age where the power of technology in the hands of the untrained has far outstripped the defensive or destructive capabilities of a trained karateka, should indicate to us that there is something more going in the precincts of karate dojo than you would expect.

   I have come to the conclusion that, despite its overtly physical nature, the study of karate-do is very much a thing of the mind, a psychological and spiritual journey as well as a physical one. This is the result of both my own experience studying the art and of the insights gained through trying to teach others the complexities of this Way.’’

 

(HERDING THE OX-THE MARTIAL ARTS AS MORAL METAPHOR

 by John J. Donahue, PhD)

THE ZEN PICTURES UP TO NO. 5

In reality, it's like looking at It from ABOVE.

I am not ''catching'' anything and especially-especially-I am not ''carrying'' anything, as well.

Tensionless is all there is (b)

At the end of the day, all he does is carry a bull

to his own ends and needs. 

Neither fuss and nor violence.

No one seen and no one heard.

Zen was always Zen.

Tensionless is all there is (a)

There is no tension anymore.

                   No more

                good and evil

                black and white

                up and down.

Victory for the man and the bull!

Ο ΑΣΠΡΟΣ ΣΚΥΛΟΣ ΛΕΕΙ:

'Ενας παλιάτσος περπατά δίπλα σε μια σειρά σταθμευμένα τάνκς.  Εκλογές τώρα;

'The degree of (economic) knowledge'

''It will be objected that I am trying to base a system on will, not on intellect. And that is one of the main reasons for my writing this treatise.

   The criminal classes have no intellectual interests. In proportion as people without intellectual interests they approach the criminal classes, and approach criminal psychology.

   No economic system is worth a hoot without 'good will'. No intellectual system of economics will function unless people are prepared to act on understanding.

   People indifferent to the definition 'le droit de faire tout ce qui ne nuit pas aux autres' will DO anything about their economic knowledge, whatever be 'the degree of that knowledge.'

Ezra Pound, from ''ABC of Economics"

An Error

Ενίοτε πίστευα, ότι η Εύα έμεινε μόνη της στόν Παράδεισο και ότι έδιωξε τον Αδάμ εκ παραδρομής!

(Επίσης, καλή ανάπαυση Ξένια)

ΓΙΑ ΤΟΝ ΜΟΝΑΧΟ ΡΙΝΖΑΪ

Ο φόβος της δικής μου ιστορίας,

ο άνθρωπος

που μπαινοβγαίνει

με αθέλητη όρμή

ανάμεσα σε ημερομηνίες,

με εμμονές αδιάφορες

σε δίκη κοινής γνώμης,

χωρίς μιλιά ως όνειρο

χωρίς σώμα ως βάρος,

ο ανθρωπος αυτός δίχως σπίτι.  

The Den of Ten

Ανεβαίνω μια σκάλα, στεκόμαι στα μέσα και με χαιρετάω. Και εσύ είσαι άγνωστος κι εγώ είμαι ο κύριος Χιουζ παντού.

THE SUDDEN SCHOOL AND THE GRADUAL SCHOOL

At  that time the two schools, that of Hui-Neng of the South and Shen-hsiu of the North, flourished side by side. As the two schools were distinguished from each other by the names Sudden (the South) and Gradual (the North), the question of which sect

they should follow baffled certain scholars of the time.

 Seeing this the patriarch addressed the assembly as follows:

    '' So far as the dharma is concerned, there can be one school. If a distinction exists, it exists in the fact of the founder of one school is a northern man, while the other is a southerner. While there is only one dharma, some disciples realize it more quickly than others. The reason why the names Sudden and Gradual are given is that some disciples are superior to others in mental dispositions. So far as the dharma is concerned, the distinction of sudden and gradual does not exist.''

 

(The Sutra of Hui-Neng)

On practice

Dimitri: ''How does one discover this True Nature, the sages talk about, Michael?'

Hughes: ''Through trial and error.''

• 
  

Ο ταυρομάχος στη μοναξιά του

Είδα την κυρά-Μαρία στο καφέ και της είπα, "position me''.

Μου λεει λοιπόν η προφήτισα ότι ''είσαι πλέον

μόνος σου, αλλά σου αρέσει πολύ Αυτή!''

Ποιά αυτή; ''Ο Lex με την γριά σου ως ταυράκι!''

Τι θα κάνεις; ''Θα επιστρέφω από το επτά -που είναι κατοχυρωμένο όπως το πρωτάθλημα- στο πέντε, εσαεί.

Δεν έχει την πλάκα του ως είναι;

BODY AND MIND

'' Zen Master Hingen studied with Keishin Zenji. Once Keishin

      Zenji asked him, 'Joza, where do you go?'

   Hogen said 'I am making a pilgrimage aimlessly.'

   Keishin said 'What is the matter of your pilgrimage?''

   Hogen said 'I don't know.'

   Keishin said ' Not knowing is the most intimate.'

   Hogen suddenly attained great enlightenment.'  ''

Master Dogen said:

'If I were there I would have said to Priest Jizo, ' Not knowing is

the most intimate. Knowing is also the most intimate. Let's leave

intimacy for the most intimate. Then tell me: with what are you

the most intimate?'

Salaam Bombay

I am a muscular Hindu

in my Tibetan burial.

Vultures eat my flesh,

until not a single basket of it remains.

Then I jump into the Ancient city.

The ''linear'' model and the accusations

Closely related to the previous criticism was the charge that I denied any sort of spirituality to both children and early humans.

This, too, is an unfortunate misrepresentation of my work, based exactly on the notion that my model is merely linear. A few critics went apoplectic at my ''linear'' model and accused me of things slightly worse than well-poisoning...

(SEX, ECOLOGY, SPIRITUALITY - The Spirit of Evolution by KEN WILBER)

THE MURDER OF SITTING BULL

The historical accounts of the death of Sitting Bull present us with a narrative that flows smoothly from point to point, often glossing over some glaring discrepancies. These accounts are from a single source: Stanley Vestal, who, in 1930, came to Standing Rock Sioux  Reservation to look for descendants of Tatanka Iyotake (Sitting Bull). Wanting to write a biography of Sitting Bull he interviewed One Bull. When Sitting Bull walked toward the door of the cabin (outside of which the Metal Breasts, the Indian police were waiting), Crowfoot jumped up and picked up his weapon. He told his father he would protect him.‘’I will stand with you’’. At the door Sitting Bull paused, then turned around and sang a farewell song to his family. He sang ‘’I am a man and wherever I lie is my own...’’

 

 

(‘’SITTING BULL, His Life And Legacy’’ by Ernie Lapointe)

I AND TAO

‘’Chuang Tzu ‘s ontology establishes Tao as the ineffable and inexhaustible cosmic principle which is the progenitor of existential multiplicity and equality, thus generating a universe where all constituents of reality are distinct and interactive, yet hierarchically undifferentiated.

The religious quest is the task of restoring equality to a world rendered existentially unequal by the intellectual habits of objectification and utilization.’’

 

 

(From the same book, of the author of ‘’I and Thou’’ Martin Buber)

THELEMA

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

 

 

Frater Perdurabo (Aleister Crowley 1875-1947)

THE ELECT

To see the elect most joyfully refreshed

With every good thing and celestial manna,

And as an honest recompense rewarded

With riches, while the others, at the last,

Will be stripped bare. So reason has it that,

These labours once concluded, at this point

Each man shall have what’s due to him by fate.

Such was the bargain. How praiseworthy he

Who shall have persevered even to the end!

 

 

(from ALEISTER CROWLEY’s, ‘MAGICK, BOOK 4’)

The Issue at Hand (Genjokoan)

The term genjokoan seems to appear first in ninth-century China and is often used in Japanese Soto Zen to refer to present being as the topic of meditation or the issue of Zen. Gen means ‘manifestation’ or ‘present’, jo means ‘become’. Genjo means actuality- being as is, at hand, or accomplished, as of an accomplished fact. Koan is a common Zen word which is often left untranslated...

 

  

(Shobogenzo: Zen Essays by Dogen)

‘TERROR, TERROR’

The (reported) last words of Hakyu Taizan Maezumi Roshi.

 

KAHNU

Emptiness is filled by the nature of mind,

Don’t be saddened by detachment from the clusters,

How can you say Kahnu is not there?

Day by day he penetrates the triple world.

The ignorant one is distressed on seeing

the perishing of what is seen,

But how can a broken wave

make the ocean run dry?

Being ignorant people do not look closely-

They do not see the cream there within the milk.

No one who leaves the world comes back here,

Kahnu the yogi revels in such an existence.

 

 

(THE ECSTASY OF ENLIGHTENMENT, Teachings of Natural Tantra, by Thomas Cleary)

On the art of victory

That is why it is said that victory can be discerned but not manufactured.

 

(From ‘The Art of war’ by Sun Tzu,

Shambala Dragon Editions)

Ki for a hole

No flesh on the buttocks, having trouble walking. If one is diligent in danger, there is no great fault.

 

 

(THE TAOIST I CHING, translated by Thomas Cleary, 1986)

ΤHE MEANING OF MU

The meaning of the first koan of  "The Gateless Gate" is not whether a dog is a Buddha or not. Joshu is asking another question, namely whether Zen is Nihilism or not. The answer is in the negative.

In this writer's opinion, Zen starts as Buddhism with a 'nay'. The "Mu" that would normally signify a bellowing is now born into a majestic creature, Zen Buddhism itself.

ΘΕΛΩ

"Να με ακούς χωρίς να με κρίνεις.

Γιατί το ν' ακούς και το να κρίνεις είναι δύο

πράγματα διαφορετικά και συχνά ασύμβατα.

'Οταν μ' ακούς όπως εγώ θέλω να μ' ακούσεις,

ακούς τη φωνή και τα λόγια μου.

'Οταν με κρίνεις -εσύ όπως όλοι οι άλλοι-,

ακούς μόνο τα δικά σου λόγια, που καμιά

φορά δεν είναι καν δικά σου. Είναι λόγια 

που φτάνουν σ' εσένα με τη φωνή όσων σε έκριναν

και συνεχίζουν να σε κρίνουν χωρίς να 

σ' έχουν ακούσει πρώτα."

(Jorge Bucay,  'Quiero' 2017)

Movies, movies

My Self of long ago

in nature non existent

nowhere to go when dead

nothing at all.

1984

Δέκα χρόνια

"Δέκα χρόνια ζητούσε ο Καζαντζάκης από το Θεό του διορία, δέκα ακόμα χρόνια να τελέψει το Έργο του, να πει ό,τι είχε να πει "ν' αδειάσει". Να 'ρθει ο Χάρος να πάρει μονάχα ένα τσουβάλι κόκαλα. Δέκα χρόνια του έφταναν - έτσι νόμιζε)

(Ελένη Ν. Καζάντζάκη, από τον πρόλογο για το βιβλίο του συζύγου της. Γενεύη, 15 Ιουνίου 1961)

For poppies too

Ishi hitotsu shigure no niva no kei fukamu

3, 5, 7;  6 again!

(Poetry by Mitsu Suzuku and numbers by Zenetsu)

The mandala

As a rule a mandala (dkyji 'khor) is a strongly symmetrical diagram concentrated about a center; it is built up of concentric circles ('khor) and, in most cases, squares possessing the same center (dkyji).

In one text the center is said to correspond to nirvana and the circle to the world.

(" MANDALA, Sacred circle in Tibetan Buddhism"' by Martin Brauen)

The Mothers

Mephistopheles:    

A glowing tripod will finally show you

that you are in the deepest, most deepest ground.

By its light you will see the Mothers:

the one sits, others stand and walk,

as it may chance. Formation, transformation

the eternal mind's eternal recreation.

Covered in images of all creatures,

they do not see you, since they only see shades.

They hold your heart, since the danger is great,

and go straight to that tripod,

touch it with a key!

(From Goethe's "Faust")

Aghora

  "Ghora is darkness, the darkness of ignorance. Aghora means light, the absence of darkness.

Under the Tree of Knowledge is an Aghori, a follower of the path of Aghora. He has gone beyond ignorance thanks to the Flame of Knowledge which billows from the funeral pyre.

The funeral pyre is the ultimate reality, a continual reminder that everyone has to die.

  Knowledge of the ultimate reality of Death has taken the Aghori beyond the Eight Snares of Existence. The Aghori plays with the human skull, astonished by the uselesness of limited existence, knowing the whole world to be within him though he is not in the world."

("AGHORA, At the left hand of God"  by Robert E. Svoboda)

I sing the body electric

'This man was of wonderful vigor, calmness, beauty of

  person,

The shape of his head, the pale yellow and white of his

  hair and beard, the immeasurable meaning of his

  black eyes, the richness and breadth of his manners,

These I used to go and visit him to see, he was wise also,

He was six feet tall, he was over eighty years old, his sons

  were massive clean, bearded, tan faced, handsome,

They and his daughters loved him, all who saw him loved

  him,

They did not love him by allowance, they loved him with

  personal love,

He drank water only, the blood show'd like scarlet

  through the clear- brown skin of his face,

He was a frequent gunner and fisher, he sail'd his boat

  himself, he had a fine one presented to him by a ship-

  joiner, he had fowling-pieces presented to him by

  men who loved him,

When he went with his five sons and many grand-sons to

  hunt or fish, you would pick him out as the most

  beautiful and vigorous of the gang,

You would wish long and long to be with him, you

  would wish to sit by him in the boat that you and he

  might touch each other.'

(from Walt Whitman's  'I sing the body electric')

Pansofic Theocracy

Γιατί είναι σπάνιο σε μια Δημοκρατία να υπάρχει ταυτόχρονα και μια θεοκρατική κοινωνία;

Δεν έχω προβλημα με κάθε ένα ξεχωριστά, αλλά και τα δύο μαζί δεν γίνεται να υπάρχουν στην Ευρώπη του 21ου Αιώνα. Όπως έχει αποδείξει η Ιστορία (στο Θιβέτ και σε άλλα μέρη), αυτό δεν είναι δυνατόν. Ο φόβος μυρίζεται τον κίνδυνο και χάνεται έτσι, πολλές φορές, η έννοια της εθνικής κυριαρχίας.

 Αλλά ακόμα και στην Ινδία, όπου θρησκείες και δημοκρατική διακυβέρνηση προσπαθούν να συνυπάρξουν, εκεί, πρώτον, το στοίχημα δεν έχει παιχτεί και δεύτερον έχει αρχίσει ήδη και χάνεται σε πολλές θρησκευτικές φυλές με αποτέλεσμα την απώλεια αυτών των ιδίων. Φτάνουμε δε και στην Ελλάδα όπου η θρησκευτική προκατάληψη ανθεί (μέχρι θανάτου πολλές φορές), με αποτέλεσμα μια κρίση που δεν είναι οικονομική και μόνον πια. Η αριστερή κυβερνηση και οι συν αυτώ το έχουν, πλέον, κάνει τουμπεκί με την Εκκλησία, ενώ άλλα είχαν υποσχεθεί.

 Τιθεται πλέον ένα σαφές ερώτημα: Δημοκρατία ή δικτατορία στα πιστεύω των ανθρώπων;

The return of Dionysus

"According to the doctrine of the Tantras, the cult of Shiva-Dionysus and the practices of Tantrism are the only ways open to mankind in the Age of Conflicts -in which we are at present- to approach the divine. Without a return to the respect of nature and to the practice of erotico-magic rites allowing the self-realization of man in harmony with all the others forms of being, the overall destruction of the human species cannot be long delayed. Only the followers of the god will survive to give birth to a human race."

("'GODS OF LOVE AND ECSTASY, The traditions of Shiva and Dionysus" by Alain Daniélou)

What substances? What ideas!

Many of us do know (intuitively if not instinctively) what a psychological idea is and how it operates. However, when psychiatric substances and ideas mingle we all become confused as to how the idea will finally prevail. Paradigms of "an idea over a dosage of chemicals" become polluted because of technology, as well. Otherwise, yes sir, I could have used a glass of wine. Like Zenists do.

Mistakes in practice

"It is when your practice is rather greedy that you become discouraged with it.

So you should be grateful that you have a sign or warning signal to show you the weak point in your practice."

(from Shunryu Suzuki Roshi's book  ZEN MIND, BEGINNER'S MIND)

Ascetic ideals

What is the meaning of ascetic ideals? - In the case of artists they mean nothing or too many things; in the case of philosophers and scholars something like a sense and instinct for the most favourable preconditions of higher spiriruality;  … in the case of the physiologically deformed and deranged (the majority of mortals) an attempt to see themselves as ‘too good’ for this world, a saintly form of debauch, their chief weapon against slow pain and boredom; ... in the case of saints, finally, a pretext of hibernation, their novissima gloriae cupido*, their repose in nothingness (''God''), their form of madness. That the ascetic ideal has meant so many things to man, however, is an expression of the basic fact of the human will, its horror vacui. It needs a goal- and it will rather will nothingness than not will.

FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE, On the genealogy of morals

*newest lust for glory

Behind the screen

  The only true reason Michael Hilary Hughes was “infamous”

in earth-cum-Hollywood, is not because he disliked Jesus and Dascalos or some other Guruic Hinduists for that matter (reference to Ram Dass).
 Indeed in his unique manner, he preceded, foresaw and mediated on their success and Spiritual fulfillment.

 Therefore, there’s nothing -nobody really- to conjoin or unite. It was all a happening, all was one and all was Art.  

WHAT IS THAT SUBTLE CHANGE IN CONSCIOUSNESS WHICH ALWAYS EXISTS WITHIN US?

"The Self."

 A quick 'question and answer' between Michael and Dimitri.

SHINE ON YOU DIMITRIOS

It is not just crazy, it is simply a diamond:

It is also a sutra, and the final Return.

Visceral!

I KNOW YOU KNOW. I KNOW, ALSO, YOU ARE LOOKING IN THE WRONG PLACE FOR THE MAN YOU ARE LOOKING FOR: IT IS JUST A SALVATION OR ANY A SUBSTITUTE FOR YOURS! I AM TOO VISCERAL. 

I AM NOT IN YOUR BYZANTIUM AND I AM NOT YOUR BISON MAN.

UN GRIDO BELISSIMO

"Fourteen"* is for the Lord and the Lord is free.


*the age of fourteen was a crucial one for the blogger.

What if it is a 5 to a 3 ?

Which one is more potent in my full of psychology and psychiatry life? 

Let's see How it Works:

We have an experientially-psychically, induced 'Thud' which, however, is not adequately explained through objective experience. It is, obviously, an "ID" explosion of sorts which can lead directly to Enlightenment, if contained, through work and an adequate pharmaceutical assistance on the spot! Unfortunately, in my case, it has atrophied through neglect. As a consequence I have to go through chronic madness, sadness and incompleteness. 

Nevertheless, memories of fun times, along with the MASTER'S teaching do remain, including Psychiatry, anti-psychotic pills right and left, along with some unfinished psychotherapy.

Time proves a healer, however, for this Enlightenment experience, which remains  Id-in- a-hibernetic state. Suddenly all of the experience, time and space, comes together through PEN AND NEEDLE (2013).

Then all the TELEVISION "5s"' of the WORLD fall on to the empirical-Pavlovian even, I might say, level, of my conscious mind.

What shall we call THIS ?  "Then unfettered he obeys his master", perhaps? Look at the Zen experience; it looks like the "taming". Really..., after 10 years?

The real-real SHOCKER in the story is:  I am finally with the Michael Hughes of old.

Dare now to raise a finger, and old Gutei will chop it off.

Tibet

Where is Tibet? It can be difficult to locate even in a bookshop. Uncertain or nervous booksellers rarely seem to know what to do with books on Tibet. Some stick them straight onto the 'China' shelf. Some, aware that this is an unpopular strategy among many outside China, find a corner somewhere in 'Asia, General'. Others transcend the whole geographical issue by putting their books on Tibet on the "Buddhism" shelves, allowing Tibet to float entirely free of complicated questions of politics and place. And there's a certain university library in London where it has become customary to deface the sign on the shelves containing books on Tibet: 'China' is scratched and 'Tibet' written under it; then somebody else comes and scratches out 'Tibet' and writes 'China' again. And so on. The plight of these books is indicative of the confusion surrounding the status of Tibet itself.

(Sam Van Schaik, "TIBET, A History")

Lumpenectomy

A white face, clear characteristics, very placid.

Under it, the mouth, gnawing teeth, as if the face, the man above,

perceives it for the first time.

For the two tough

Mindfulness is the skill of thinking you are doing something when you are doing nothing. One of the good things about mindfulness is that you get to do a lot of sitting down.

Sitting down is good for the mind because so much positive energy is stored in the lap. People who practice mindfulness first find somewhere quiet to sit down. Zenetsu is sitting down in Exarchia, Athens, the hub of clear thinking amid a revolution.

DIMITRI AND YIANNI

WHAT MONTH IS FEBRUARY?

I even forget when Spring begins.

Ο Γέρων

'Οταν εμφανίζονται πολλοί γέροι σε ένα μέρος, είναι σημάδι καλό ή και κακό;

Ο Ψυχοφυσικάριος

Living Enlightenment objectively means, like, a 4.9 earthquake in Athens instead of the Big One in L.A?

The spirit Michael does not want only to prove but act upon as well.  

Giving hope to those who need it, instead of terror to those who don't.

Isn't this what action on the Transpersonal level -but really, really personal- is about?

A good mother

Sasha, a friend, is now in her 80s. I am glad she's well in health.