Daily Zen

Zazen on the Mountain

Thu, 06 Feb 2025 08:00:00 +0000

Zazen on the Mountain The birds have vanished from the sky.Now the last cloud drains away.We sit together, the mountain and me,Until only the mountain remains.

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drifting petals

Wed, 05 Feb 2025 08:00:00 +0000

A man of the Way comes rappingAt my brushwood gate,Wants to discuss the essentials of Zen experience.Don’t take it wrong if this mountain monk’sToo lazy to open his mouth:Late spring warblers singing their heart out,A village of drifting petals.

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enter the path

Tue, 04 Feb 2025 08:00:00 +0000

It has been asked,“How should those who enter thepath apply their minds?”All things are originally uncreatedAnd presently undying. Just let your mind be free;You don’t have to restrain it.See directly and hear directly;Come directly and go directly.When you must go,Then go. When you must stay,Then stay.This is the true path.A scripture says, “Conditionalexistence is the […]

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essence of mind

Mon, 03 Feb 2025 08:00:00 +0000

Know the essence of mind.Its intrinsic essence is pure clarity.It is essentially the same as a Buddha.Know the functions of mind.Its functions produce the treasury of teachings.When its activity is always silent,Myriad illusions become suchness.

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Surrounded by pine

Sun, 02 Feb 2025 08:00:00 +0000

My hut isn’t quite six feet acrossSurrounded by pine, bamboos, and mountains,An old monk hardly has room for himselfMuch less for a visiting cloud.

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my mind is blank

Sat, 01 Feb 2025 08:00:00 +0000

Stripped of reason my mind is blankEmptied of being my nature is bareAt night my windows often breathe whiteThe moon and stream come right to the door.

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equanimity and non-contention

Fri, 31 Jan 2025 08:00:00 +0000

If you place your body in the realmOf equanimity and non-contention,And let your mind roam in theTerritory of evenness and non-disturbance,And water them every day withFair words and fine deeds of sage worthies,Then you are sure to progress.

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A Buddhist Retreat

Thu, 30 Jan 2025 08:00:00 +0000

A Buddhist Retreat Behind Broken-Mountain Temple In the pure morning, near the old temple,Where early sunlight points the tree-tops,My path has wound, through a sheltered hollowOf boughs and flowers, to a Buddhist retreat.Here birds are alive with mountain-light,And the mind touches peace in a pool,And a thousand sounds are quietedBy the breathing of a temple-bell.

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On Going to see a Taoist Master

Wed, 29 Jan 2025 08:00:00 +0000

On Going to see a Taoist Master A dog barking and the sound of water;Peach blossoms heavy with dew.In these deep woods, deer can be seen;At noon along the stream, I hear no bell.Wild bamboo divides gray clouds;Waterfalls hang from blue peaks.No one knows where you’ve gone;Disheartened, I lean against a second,Now a third pine.

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Seeking the Recluse

Tue, 28 Jan 2025 08:00:00 +0000

Seeking But Not Finding the Recluse Under the pineI ask the boy;He says: “My Mistress is goneTo gather herbs.I only knowShe’s in those mountains,In those deep clouds,But I don’t know where.”

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Cherry blossoms

Mon, 27 Jan 2025 08:00:00 +0000

Cherry blossoms filling the ground,Sunset filling my eyes:Blossoms vanished, spring old,I feel the passing years.When blossoms were at their finest I neglected to call.The blossoms did not betray me.I betrayed the blossoms.

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somber mist

Sun, 26 Jan 2025 08:00:00 +0000

Evening mountains veiled in somber mist;One path entering the wooded hill:The monk has gone off locking his pine door.From a bamboo pipe a lonely trickle of water flows

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on my zazen mat

Sat, 25 Jan 2025 08:00:00 +0000

Alone on my zazen matI forget the days as they passThe wisteria has grown thickOver the eaves of my hutThe subtle Way of BodhidharmaI never give it a thoughtDoes anyone know the truth of ZenOr what to ask about it?

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the universe is still

Fri, 24 Jan 2025 08:00:00 +0000

Right among the people coming and goingI have a place to stayI shut the gate even in the daytimeAnd feel as though I had boughtWo-chu the great mountainAnd had it with me in town.Never since I was born have ILiked to argue, mouth full of blood.My mouth is made fast to heaven and earthSo the […]

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self-nature

Thu, 23 Jan 2025 08:00:00 +0000

The self-nature of suchness gives rise to thoughts. But even though the six sense-faculties see, hear, sense, and know, it is not tainted by the myriad images. The true nature is constantly free and self-reliant.

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silent illumination

Wed, 22 Jan 2025 08:00:00 +0000

When silent illumination is complete,The lotus will blossom, andThe dreamer will awaken. The hundred rivers flow to the ocean,The thousand mountainsFace the loftiest peak. Like the goose preferring milk to water,Like a busy bee gathering pollen,When Silent IlluminationReaches the ultimate,I carry on the original tradition. This practice is called Silent Illumination.It penetrates from the deepest […]

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The Dharma

Tue, 21 Jan 2025 08:01:00 +0000

The Dharma is devoid of words or appearances, but it is not separate from words and appearances. If you abandon words you are subject to distorted views and defilements; if you grasp at words, you are deluded as to the truth.

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Song of the Grass Roof Hermitage

Mon, 20 Jan 2025 08:00:00 +0000

Song of the Grass Roof Hermitage I’ve built a grass hutWhere there’s nothing of valueAfter eating, I relax and enjoy a nap.When it was completed, fresh weeds appeared.Now it’s been lived inCovered by weeds. The person in the hutLives here calmly,Not stuck to inside, outside,Or in between.Places worldly people live,He doesn’t live.Realms worldly people love,He […]

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Meditating deeply

Sun, 19 Jan 2025 08:00:00 +0000

Meditating deeply upon dharma,Reach the depth of the source.Branching streams cannotCompare to this source!Sitting alone in great silenceEven though the heavens turnAnd the earth is upset,You will not even wink.

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turn our minds around

Sat, 18 Jan 2025 08:00:00 +0000

Q: By what expedient means can we turn our minds around instantly to realize our inherent essence? A: It is just your own mind; what further expedient means would you apply? If you apply expedient means to go on to seek intellectual understanding, this is like wanting to see your own eyes because you think […]

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fine silvery stream

Fri, 17 Jan 2025 08:00:00 +0000

Be soft in your practice. Think of the method as a fine silvery stream, not a raging waterfall. Follow the stream, have faith in its course. It will go its own way, meandering here, trickling there. It will find the grooves, the cracks, the crevices. Just follow it. Never let it out of your sight. […]

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authentic tradition

Thu, 16 Jan 2025 08:00:00 +0000

Now, all ancestors and all buddhas who unfold buddha-dharma have made it the true path of enlightenment to sit upright practicing in the midst of self-fulfilling samadhi. Those who attained enlightenment in India and China followed this way. It was done so because teachers and disciples personally transmitted this excellent method as the essence of […]

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Awakening

Wed, 15 Jan 2025 08:00:00 +0000

When I was a young man, at the beginning of my life, I looked at nature and saw that all things are subject to decay and death and thus to sorrow. The thought came to me that I myself was of such a nature. I was the same as all created things. I too would […]

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Zen mind

Wed, 15 Jan 2025 08:00:00 +0000

Zen mind is not Zen mind. That is, if you are attached to Zen mind,Then you have a problem, And your way is very narrow. Throwing away Zen mind Is correct Zen mind. Only keep the question, “What is the best way of helping other people?”

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not knowing

Tue, 14 Jan 2025 08:00:00 +0000

Some people, not knowing the essential emptiness of good and evil, think practical cultivation of mind means to sit rigidly immobile, subduing mind and body, like a rock placed on top of grass. This is ludicrous. That is why it is said that followers cut off confusion in every state of mind, yet the mind […]

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