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TO BE, OR
The beauty and the difficulty of being in the moment is the realization that there is no moment in which to be. When you ask what time it is, I can only answer by referring to what time it is not, for time must be relative to that which no longer exists, or has yet…
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UN4SEEN
Next week, somewhere, something will happen. Several people will say they foresaw it, others will be equally certain it was entirely unpredictable. The truth, of course, will be elusive allowing everyone the certainty of uncertainty. It would be so much easier if nothing happened but things never happen according to anyone’s overly simple plans.
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RINZAI’S ENLIGHTENMENT 正法眼蔵 二十七
If you ask your question you will find an answer but ask another and the stick will respond each time. If you seek another teacher will you change the question or the answer, and does it matter. Take up the stick, who will you strike, your teacher or yourself, and is there any real…
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MEMENTO VIVERE
The moment arrives suddenly and appears at your feet, threatening to trip you into the hole of time that marks the edge of this moment as it once did the one before this. If you stand perfectly still You may move forward with the easy grace of enlightenment.
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JIZO PLANTS THE FIELD
If you truly want to walk in the footsteps of the Buddha stand perfectly still and unmoving. If you truly want to comprehend the whole of the Dharma put down all of your books and scrolls, roll up your sleeves and plant the barren fields, clearing away rocks and stones. If you want to taste…
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TAKE WING
There comes a moment when, if our backs are turned, it will arrive and if we notice it will withdraw and hide in corners. We may see it in the periphery and sneak up on it. If we move quickly enough, we can snatch it up and watch it fly off into the morning.
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UMMON’S TWO SICKNESSES
If you truly believe that you will soon enough meet your teacher you must gather together all of your questions concerning the Dharma. Carry them with you at all times in a satchel thrown over your shoulder, for you will be allowed only a single meeting with the master. When you meet the master,…
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MOMENT(US) ARRIVAL
Sooner or later the moment arrives when there is no option left and you have to decide. There are never facts enough, or time – uncertainty is a most unwelcome companion. In this moment indecision is not an allowed outcome and every selection is at once right and wrong.
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ONLY NOW
Tomorrow, in all likelihood, the park will still be there, we will still be walking there, the Austrian Pines will still stare down at us on the path, and the cardinal will flash by, his cry for attention in a red blaze. Tomorrow all this will likely happen as it did yesterday and last week,…
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KANNON’S STATUE 鐵笛倒吹 語十八
If you meet the Bodhisattva, you don’t ask someone to carve the image from your mind. To the carver, she weighs but an ounce and can be carried on his fingertip but try to lift her and you will not be able to move her from her place. All Buddhas are one Buddha but his…
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an old writer and his words 