A continuous dance
Posted on May 7th, 2008
by 
Laurens
Laurens
A continuous dance
but a continuous dance
of birth and death,
a dance of change.”
“It is only when we believe things
to be permanent
that we shut off
the possibility to learn from change.”
Who we really are
“Perhaps the deepest reason
why we are afraid of death
is because we do not know
who we are.”
“We are fragmented in so many different aspects.
We don’t know who we really are,
or what aspect of ourselves
we should identify with or believe in.
So many contradictory voices, dictates, and feelings
fight for control over our inner lives
that we find ourselves scattered everywhere,
in all directions,
leaving nobody at home.
Meditation, then,
is bringing the mind home.”
Sogyal Rinpoche
The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying
Something to ponder as new life is blossoming all around us (^-^).
Wishing you a beautiful day,
Laurens
Access: PublicWhat is Zen?
Posted on Mar 19th, 2008
by Laurens
Laurens
What is Zen?
"Zen arises spontaneously,
naturally,
out of the human heart.
It is not a special revelation
to any person,
class,
or nation."
"Zen is the essence
of Christianity,
of Buddhism,
of culture,
of all that is good
in the daily life
of ordinary people."
"Zen is looking at things
with the eye of God,
that is, becoming the thing's eyes
so that it looks at itself
with our eyes."
"In speaking of Zen,
it is necessary always to bear in mind
the difference between Zen
as a "system" of paradoxes
evolved in India and China
during a period of three thousand years,
and Zen as Zen,
that is, the spontaneous,
individually created
timeless activity-in-time
of an undivided mind-body."
"Zen speaks only of this moment.
Indeed, Zen is this moment speaking."
R.H. Blyth
Zen and Zen Classics
Some quotes of this original and inspiring book with beautiful illustrations by the editor, Frederick Franck.
From the introduction by Mr. Franck written in 1974:
"Zen is no longer an exotic import. If there ever was a Zen fad, it wore off long ago in the fifties and sixties and has been succeeded by newer fashions. It has survived, however, as an ever-deepening influence. In some form or another - often completely unrecognized - Zen ideas and Zen values have percolated and deeply affected Western consciousness. They are exerting a powerful, pervasive influence on the world view, the spiritual attitudes and the quality of religious experience of innumerable people of different religious affiliations or none"
Reginald Horace Blyth was born in London in 1898.
As a young man he moved to India, and in 1924 from India to Korea where he became deeply interested in Buddhism. It is here that he started his study of Zen under Kaiama Taizi Roshi.The study of Zen would remain his central concern for the rest of his life, and in 1940 he moved to Japan.
He started out teaching English, but when the war broke out in 1941 he was interned as an enemy alien. When the war ended he moved to Tokyo and after several positions at colleges and universities he became English tutor to the Imperial Crown Prince.
He died in 1964 at the age of sixty-six.
All that we behold
Is full of blessings.
Wishing you a beautiful day,
Laurens
Beginner's Mind
Posted on Feb 11th, 2008
by Laurens
Laurens
Beginner's mind
"The goal of practice is to always keep our beginner's mind.
The most important thing is not to be dualistic.
Our "original mind" includes everything within itself.
It is always rich and sufficient within itself.
You should not lose your self-sufficient state of mind.
This does not mean a closed mind,
but actually an empty mind and a ready mind.
If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything;
it is open to everything.
In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities;
in the expert's mind there are few.
There is no need to have a deep understanding of Zen.
Even though you read much Zen literature, you must read each sentence with a fresh mind. You should not say, "I know what Zen is," or "I have attained enlightenment."
This is also the real secret of the arts: always be a beginner.
Be very very careful about this point.
If you start to practice zazen, you will begin to appreciate your beginner's mind.
It is the secret of Zen practice."
Shunryu Suzuki
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind
When do you experience beginner's mind?
How does it feel?
Wishing you a beautiful day (^-^)!
Warm regards,
Laurens
Tagged with: Zen, Japan, Buddhism, Beginner's Mind, Shunryu Suzuki, meditation, practice, open, mind
The present moment
Posted on Nov 17th, 2007
by Laurens
Laurens
The present moment
"There is surely nothing other than the single purpose of the present moment.
A man's whole life is a succesion of moment after moment.
If one fully understands the present moment,
there will be nothing else to do,
and nothing else to pursue.
Live being true to the single purpose of the present moment.
Everyone lets the present moment slip by,
then looks for it as though he thought it was somewhere else.
No one seems to have noticed this fact.
But grasping this firmly, one must pile experience upon experience.
And once one has come to this understanding
he will be a different person from that point on,
though he may not always bare it in mind.
When one understands this settling into single-mindedness well,
his affairs will thin out."
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
Hagakure, The Book of the Samurai
Translated by William Scott Wilson
Have you noticed?
And how often do you bare it in mind?
Wishing you a beautiful day,
Laurens
"There is surely nothing other than the single purpose of the present moment.
A man's whole life is a succesion of moment after moment.
If one fully understands the present moment,
there will be nothing else to do,
and nothing else to pursue.
Live being true to the single purpose of the present moment.
Everyone lets the present moment slip by,
then looks for it as though he thought it was somewhere else.
No one seems to have noticed this fact.
But grasping this firmly, one must pile experience upon experience.
And once one has come to this understanding
he will be a different person from that point on,
though he may not always bare it in mind.
When one understands this settling into single-mindedness well,
his affairs will thin out."
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
Hagakure, The Book of the Samurai
Translated by William Scott Wilson
Have you noticed?
And how often do you bare it in mind?
Wishing you a beautiful day,
Laurens
Japan's Spiritual Heart
Posted on Sep 30th, 2007
by Laurens
Laurens
The Essence of Shinto
"The union of the sacred and the mundane is a distinctive feature of Shinto.
Shinto is the consciousness underlying the Japanese mentality, the foundation for Japanese culture and values.
In Shinto, heaven, earth, and humanity are different manifestations of one life energy.
It can attune us to see the connection between the well-being of the natural world and our own spiritual well-being.
Many of its outward forms and practices are specific to Japan, but its essence is valid for all of humanity and very relevant to us in our present predicament.
Shinto's understanding of the intrinsic value of the natural world is linked to an emphasis on purification, which has a dual physical and spiritual significance.
Shinto sees everything in existence as generated by and transformed from the ultimate origin of life.
We have felt that plants and animals , as well as mountains and rivers, have lived with us and have been deeply connected to us. This love and reverence toward nature is a quality that should be reinstalled in our hearts, if we want mankind and earth to survive the ecological crisis that has resulted from excessive materialism.
This means that no creature can operate without regard for fellow-creatures. It can only exist and survive in a state of balance with other living organisms.
Nature is the constant interplay of living organisms. It is the continuous search for and restoration of balance."
Yamakage Motohisa
79th Grand Master of Yamakage Shinto
The Essence of Shinto
Japan's Spiritual Heart
A spiritual tradition that has so much more to offer than meets the eye.
Pregnant with subtleties and layers of depth.
Perhaps not unlike the culture of which it is supposed to constitute the heart.
Wishing you a beautiful day,
Laurens
"The union of the sacred and the mundane is a distinctive feature of Shinto.
Shinto is the consciousness underlying the Japanese mentality, the foundation for Japanese culture and values.
In Shinto, heaven, earth, and humanity are different manifestations of one life energy.
It can attune us to see the connection between the well-being of the natural world and our own spiritual well-being.
Many of its outward forms and practices are specific to Japan, but its essence is valid for all of humanity and very relevant to us in our present predicament.
Shinto's understanding of the intrinsic value of the natural world is linked to an emphasis on purification, which has a dual physical and spiritual significance.
Shinto sees everything in existence as generated by and transformed from the ultimate origin of life.
We have felt that plants and animals , as well as mountains and rivers, have lived with us and have been deeply connected to us. This love and reverence toward nature is a quality that should be reinstalled in our hearts, if we want mankind and earth to survive the ecological crisis that has resulted from excessive materialism.
This means that no creature can operate without regard for fellow-creatures. It can only exist and survive in a state of balance with other living organisms.
Nature is the constant interplay of living organisms. It is the continuous search for and restoration of balance."
Yamakage Motohisa
79th Grand Master of Yamakage Shinto
The Essence of Shinto
Japan's Spiritual Heart
A spiritual tradition that has so much more to offer than meets the eye.
Pregnant with subtleties and layers of depth.
Perhaps not unlike the culture of which it is supposed to constitute the heart.
Wishing you a beautiful day,
Laurens
Teaism and imperfection
Posted on Sep 15th, 2007
by Laurens
Laurens
Teaism and imperfection
"Teaism is a cult founded on the adoration of the beautiful
among the sordid facts of everyday existence.
It is essentially a worship of the Imperfect,
as it is a tender attempt to accomplish something possible
in this impossible thing we know as life.
.....
For life is an expression,
our unconscious actions the constant betrayal
of our innermost thought.
Perhaps we reveal ourselves too much in small things
because we have so little of the great to conceal.
The tiny incidents of daily rouitine
are as much a commentary of racial ideas
as the highest flight of philosophy or poetry."
Kakuzo Okakura
The Book of Tea
Something to reflect upon during your next cup of tea....
Wishing you a beautiful day,
Laurens
"Teaism is a cult founded on the adoration of the beautiful
among the sordid facts of everyday existence.
It is essentially a worship of the Imperfect,
as it is a tender attempt to accomplish something possible
in this impossible thing we know as life.
.....
For life is an expression,
our unconscious actions the constant betrayal
of our innermost thought.
Perhaps we reveal ourselves too much in small things
because we have so little of the great to conceal.
The tiny incidents of daily rouitine
are as much a commentary of racial ideas
as the highest flight of philosophy or poetry."
Kakuzo Okakura
The Book of Tea
Something to reflect upon during your next cup of tea....
Wishing you a beautiful day,
Laurens
May 1938
Posted on Aug 29th, 2007
by Laurens
Laurens
May 1938
'Looking for serenity
you have come
to the monastery.
Looking for serenity
I am leaving
the monastery.
Kwatz!
Stop running about seeking!
The dusty affairs of the world
fill the day,
fill the night.'
Soen Nakagawa
Endless Vow
The Zen Path of Soen Nakagawa
From the backcover:
"Soen Nakagawa Roshi (1907-1984) was an extraordinary Zen master and key figure in the transmission of Zen Buddhism from Japan to the Western world. A man of many faces, he was a simple Japanese monk, a world traveler, a spiritually realized being of the highest order, a poetic genius, a creator of dynamic calligraphy - and a notoriously eccentric teacher who, for example, was known to conduct 'tea ceremonies' using instant coffee and Styrofoam cups."
I was deeply moved and inspired by the beauty and energy that flow out of this book so generously. A Zen teacher of the highest order with such a wonderful way of expressing himself it makes you marvel.
Wishing you a beautiful day,
Laurens
'Looking for serenity
you have come
to the monastery.
Looking for serenity
I am leaving
the monastery.
Kwatz!
Stop running about seeking!
The dusty affairs of the world
fill the day,
fill the night.'
Soen Nakagawa
Endless Vow
The Zen Path of Soen Nakagawa
From the backcover:
"Soen Nakagawa Roshi (1907-1984) was an extraordinary Zen master and key figure in the transmission of Zen Buddhism from Japan to the Western world. A man of many faces, he was a simple Japanese monk, a world traveler, a spiritually realized being of the highest order, a poetic genius, a creator of dynamic calligraphy - and a notoriously eccentric teacher who, for example, was known to conduct 'tea ceremonies' using instant coffee and Styrofoam cups."
I was deeply moved and inspired by the beauty and energy that flow out of this book so generously. A Zen teacher of the highest order with such a wonderful way of expressing himself it makes you marvel.
Wishing you a beautiful day,
Laurens
Exploring what is hidden
Posted on Aug 6th, 2007
by Laurens
Laurens
Exploring what is hidden
"Our meditation begins to investigate
what is hidden.
We go from the level of concept
to the level of direct experience,
whether it's bodily sensations
or sight or sound
or smell or taste;
we begin to experience
the nature and process
of thoughts and emotions,
rather than being identified
with their contents.
As we connect
with what we are experiencing
in each moment,
we begin to discover some things
that may have been previously hidden or obscure."
Joseph Goldstein
Seeking the Heart of Wisdom
by Joseph Goldstein & Jack Kornfield
What have you discovered?
Wishing you a beautiful day,
Laurens
"Our meditation begins to investigate
what is hidden.
We go from the level of concept
to the level of direct experience,
whether it's bodily sensations
or sight or sound
or smell or taste;
we begin to experience
the nature and process
of thoughts and emotions,
rather than being identified
with their contents.
As we connect
with what we are experiencing
in each moment,
we begin to discover some things
that may have been previously hidden or obscure."
Joseph Goldstein
Seeking the Heart of Wisdom
by Joseph Goldstein & Jack Kornfield
What have you discovered?
Wishing you a beautiful day,
Laurens
Tagged with: Meditation, Vipassana, Concepts, Direct experience, Joseph Goldstein, Jack Kornfield, Exploring, Hidden, Buddhism
God as Reality
Posted on Jul 27th, 2007
by Laurens
Laurens
God as Reality
"God is as concrete as the concrete under your feet
and as insubstantial as the memory of your first kiss."
Brad Warner
Sit Down and Shut Up
Another quote about God, this time by a Japanese philosopher called Nishida Kitaro:
"I have argued that nature and spirit
are not two completely different kinds of reality.
The distinction between them results from differing ways of looking
at one and the same reality.
Anyone who deeply comprehends nature
discerns a spiritual unity at its base.
Moreover, complete, true spirit is united with nature;
only one reality exists in the universe.
And as I said before,
this sole reality is both infinite opposition and conflict
and infinite unity.
It is an independent, self-fulfilled, infinite activity.
We call the base of this infinite activity God.
God is not something that transcends reality,
God is the base of reality.
God is that which dissolves the distinction
between subjectivity and objectivity
and unites spirit and nature.
Regardless of the historical age or the cultural group,
everyone has a word for "God."
Due to differences in the level of knowledge
and the diversity of demands,
the word is interpreted in a variety of ways.
God is the great spirit of the universe.
How can we verify the existence of God in facts of our own direct experience?
An infinite power is hidden
even in our small chests
that are restricted by time and space;
the infinite unifying power of reality
is latent within us.
Possessing this power,
we can search for the truth of the universe
in learning,
we can express the true meaning of reality
in art,
and we can know the foundation of reality that forms the universe
in the depths of our hearts --
we can grasp the true face of God.
The infinitely free activity of the human heart
proves God directly.
As Jakob Boehme said,
we see God with a "reversed eye".
Nishida Kitaro
An Inquiry into the Good
translated by Masao Abe & Christopher Ives
God as Reality (Chapter)
Some interesting thoughts and perspectives on an interesting subject.
Verifying God in the facts of our own direct experience,
the concrete under our feet,
and the memory of our first kiss.
Wishing you a beautiful day (^-^),
Laurens
"God is as concrete as the concrete under your feet
and as insubstantial as the memory of your first kiss."
Brad Warner
Sit Down and Shut Up
Another quote about God, this time by a Japanese philosopher called Nishida Kitaro:
"I have argued that nature and spirit
are not two completely different kinds of reality.
The distinction between them results from differing ways of looking
at one and the same reality.
Anyone who deeply comprehends nature
discerns a spiritual unity at its base.
Moreover, complete, true spirit is united with nature;
only one reality exists in the universe.
And as I said before,
this sole reality is both infinite opposition and conflict
and infinite unity.
It is an independent, self-fulfilled, infinite activity.
We call the base of this infinite activity God.
God is not something that transcends reality,
God is the base of reality.
God is that which dissolves the distinction
between subjectivity and objectivity
and unites spirit and nature.
Regardless of the historical age or the cultural group,
everyone has a word for "God."
Due to differences in the level of knowledge
and the diversity of demands,
the word is interpreted in a variety of ways.
God is the great spirit of the universe.
How can we verify the existence of God in facts of our own direct experience?
An infinite power is hidden
even in our small chests
that are restricted by time and space;
the infinite unifying power of reality
is latent within us.
Possessing this power,
we can search for the truth of the universe
in learning,
we can express the true meaning of reality
in art,
and we can know the foundation of reality that forms the universe
in the depths of our hearts --
we can grasp the true face of God.
The infinitely free activity of the human heart
proves God directly.
As Jakob Boehme said,
we see God with a "reversed eye".
Nishida Kitaro
An Inquiry into the Good
translated by Masao Abe & Christopher Ives
God as Reality (Chapter)
Some interesting thoughts and perspectives on an interesting subject.
Verifying God in the facts of our own direct experience,
the concrete under our feet,
and the memory of our first kiss.
Wishing you a beautiful day (^-^),
Laurens
Tagged with: God, Reality, Direct experience, Zen, Buddhism, Brad Warner, Nishida Kitaro, Spirit, Concrete, First Kiss
Mind Training
Posted on Jul 12th, 2007
by Laurens
Laurens
"Mental cultivation, or mind training,
is the essence of the Buddhist path of practice.
We are not talking about manipulating our everyday experiences of consiousness
in some purposeful fashion.
In a way, we are trying to bypass that mind
and access a state of consciousness that is undeluded
precisely because there is a sense of perspicacity or clarity within it already.
According to Buddhist thinking,
such deliberate maneuvers would still stem from everyday consciousness
that is not at all that conscious,
due to the delusions that we constantly carry around and reinforce,
producing diminished awareness and a dull, incapacitated mind.
There is another way of being ourselves.
We are not at all familiar with this other way in our normal state of consciousness, because we perceive and experience things
from a limited, myopic, egotistic perspective.
In fact, this is the only way the deluded consciousness
will ever be able to perceive things.
Through mental cultivation, we can rise above deluded, egotistic perception.
This is the attainment of wisdom consciousness,
a level of consciousness that is literally lit up or illuminated
so that our ability to perceive things increases exponentially."
Traleg Kyabgon
Mind at Ease
Self-Liberation through Mahamudra Meditation
Must admit my mind seems a bit dull and incapacitated today.
I was kinda hoping it was the night shifts I've been working this week.
Maybe not.
Who couldn't use some illumination and clarity?
Wishing you a beautiful day,
Laurens
is the essence of the Buddhist path of practice.
We are not talking about manipulating our everyday experiences of consiousness
in some purposeful fashion.
In a way, we are trying to bypass that mind
and access a state of consciousness that is undeluded
precisely because there is a sense of perspicacity or clarity within it already.
According to Buddhist thinking,
such deliberate maneuvers would still stem from everyday consciousness
that is not at all that conscious,
due to the delusions that we constantly carry around and reinforce,
producing diminished awareness and a dull, incapacitated mind.
There is another way of being ourselves.
We are not at all familiar with this other way in our normal state of consciousness, because we perceive and experience things
from a limited, myopic, egotistic perspective.
In fact, this is the only way the deluded consciousness
will ever be able to perceive things.
Through mental cultivation, we can rise above deluded, egotistic perception.
This is the attainment of wisdom consciousness,
a level of consciousness that is literally lit up or illuminated
so that our ability to perceive things increases exponentially."
Traleg Kyabgon
Mind at Ease
Self-Liberation through Mahamudra Meditation
Must admit my mind seems a bit dull and incapacitated today.
I was kinda hoping it was the night shifts I've been working this week.
Maybe not.
Who couldn't use some illumination and clarity?
Wishing you a beautiful day,
Laurens
Buddhism
May 2008