Zen Snippets

Zen Snippets

Here are some bits of wisdom that have helped along the path

So don't be in a hurry and try to push or rush your practice. Do your meditation gently and gradually step by step. In regard to peacefulness, if you become peaceful, then accept it; if you don't become peaceful, then accept that also. That's the nature of the mind. We must find our our own practice and persistently keep at it.

-Ajahn Chah, "Bodhinyana"

A Gatha
One, seven, three, five---
The truth you search for cannot be grasped.
As night advances, a bright moon
illuminates the whole ocean;
The dragon’s jewels are found in every wave.
Looking for the moon, it is here,
in this wave, in the next.

Xuedou Zongxian

A.D. 980-1052

The deep sky
never obstructs
the floating white clouds.

The reply Shitou Ziquian gave to Daowu when the latter asked him about the meaning of the buddhadharma.

Tips For Practicing Mindfulness

When possible, do just one thing at a time.
Pay full attention to what you are doing.
When the mind wanders from what you are doing, bring it back.
Repeat step number three several billion times.
Investigate your distractions.

If we can learn to allow the breath to unfold naturally, without tampering with it, then in time we may be able to do that with other aspects of our experience: we might learn to let the feelings be, let the mind be.

If you've sat with the breath for even a few minutes, you've seen that this practice is an open invitation for everything inside you to come up.

from Breath by Breath, by Larry Rosenberg

To practice Zen means to realize one’s existence moment after moment, rather than letting life unravel in regret of the past and daydreaming of the future.

Peter Matthiesen, Nine-Headed Dragon River

The main point is that we all need to be reminded and encouraged to relax with whatever arises and bring whatever we encounter to the path.

...the truth is that things don't really get solved. They come together and they fall apart. Then they come together again and fall apart again. It's just like that. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen: room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy.

There's a slogan in the Mahayana teachings that says, "Drive all blames into oneself." The essence of this slogan is, "When it hurts so bad, it's because I am hanging on so tight." It's not saying that we should beat ourselves up. It's not advocating martyrdom. What it implies is that pain comes from holding on so tightly to having it our own way and that one of the main exits we take when we find ourselves uncomfortable, when we find ourselves in an unwanted situation or an unwanted place, is to blame.

From Pema Chodron, When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times.

Instructions For Life

This is what The Dalai Lama has to say on the millennium.

Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
Follow the three Rs:

Respect for self,
Respect for others, and
Responsibility for all your actions.

Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
Spend some time alone every day.
Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.
Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time.
A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don't bring up the past.
Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality.
Be gentle with the earth.
Once a year, go someplace you've never been before.
Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.

The Path with a Heart

Anything is one of a million paths. Therefore you must always keep in mind that a path is only a path; if you feel you should not follow it, you must not stay with it under any conditions. To have such clarity you must lead a disciplined life. Only then will you know that any path is only a path, and there is no affront, to oneself or to another, in dropping it if that is what your heart tells you to do. But your decision to keep on the path or to leave it must be free of fear or ambition.

I warn you, look at every path closely and deliberately. Try it as many times as you think necessary, Then ask yourself, and yourself alone, one question. This question is one that only a very old man asks. My benefactor told me about it once when I was very young, and my blood was too vigorous for me to understand it. Now I understand it. I will tell you what it is: Does this path have a heart?

All paths are the same: they lead nowhere. They are paths going through the bush, or into the bush. In my own life I could say I have traversed long, long paths, but I am not anywhere. My benefactor's question has meaning now. Does this path have a heart? If it does, the path is good; if it doesn't, it is of no use.

Both paths lead nowhere; but one has a heart; the other doesn't. One makes for a joyful journey; as long as you follow it, you are one with it. The other makes you curse your life. One makes you strong; the other weakens you. The trouble is that nobody asks the question; and when a man finally realizes that he has taken a path without a heart, the path is ready to kill him. At that point very few men can stop to deliberate, and leave the path. A path without heart is never enjoyable. You have to work hard even to take it. On the other hand, a path with heart is easy; it does not make you work at liking it.

For me there is only the traveling on paths that have heart, on any path that may have heart. There I travel, and the only worth while challenge is to traverse its full length. And there I travel looking, looking, breathlessly.
Don Juan, A Yaqui Warrior, as told to Carlos Castaneda

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Here are some bits of wisdom that have helped along the path
	So don't be in a hurry and try to push or rush your practice. Do your meditation gently and gradually step by step. In regard to peacefulness, if you become peaceful, then accept it; if you don't become peaceful, then accept that also. That's the nature of the mind. We must find our our own practice and persistently keep at it. -Ajahn Chah, "Bodhinyana"
A Gatha One, seven, three, five--- The truth you search for cannot be grasped. As night advances, a bright moon illuminates the whole ocean; The dragon’s jewels are found in every wave. Looking for the moon, it is here, in this wave, in the next. Xuedou Zongxian A.D. 980-1052		The deep sky never obstructs the floating white clouds. The reply Shitou Ziquian gave to Daowu when the latter asked him about the meaning of the buddhadharma.
Tips For Practicing Mindfulness When possible, do just one thing at a time. Pay full attention to what you are doing. When the mind wanders from what you are doing, bring it back. Repeat step number three several billion times. Investigate your distractions. If we can learn to allow the breath to unfold naturally, without tampering with it, then in time we may be able to do that with other aspects of our experience: we might learn to let the feelings be, let the mind be. If you've sat with the breath for even a few minutes, you've seen that this practice is an open invitation for everything inside you to come up. from Breath by Breath, by Larry Rosenberg
To practice Zen means to realize one’s existence moment after moment, rather than letting life unravel in regret of the past and daydreaming of the future. Peter Matthiesen, Nine-Headed Dragon River
	The main point is that we all need to be reminded and encouraged to relax with whatever arises and bring whatever we encounter to the path. ...the truth is that things don't really get solved. They come together and they fall apart. Then they come together again and fall apart again. It's just like that. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen: room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy. There's a slogan in the Mahayana teachings that says, "Drive all blames into oneself." The essence of this slogan is, "When it hurts so bad, it's because I am hanging on so tight." It's not saying that we should beat ourselves up. It's not advocating martyrdom. What it implies is that pain comes from holding on so tightly to having it our own way and that one of the main exits we take when we find ourselves uncomfortable, when we find ourselves in an unwanted situation or an unwanted place, is to blame. From Pema Chodron, When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times.