... Bonus 1 ....... Contents ...
 |
| 34. To you, aiming at the ultimate way of life, as taught by Zen |
It has to be that way, but it can be any way possible.
Nothing has to be done in any special way, but it has to be done in the best and highest way.
Sen-no-Rikyu once told a carpenter to nail a nail into a pillar. Thinking this way and that way for quite a while, Sen-no-Rikyu finally points to the exact spot. The carpenter made a sign in that spot and took a break. After the break though, he doesn't find his sign anymore. Again Sen-no-Rikyu thinks a lot and finally points again to a spot, "here, this is the right spot." Looking at the spot closely, it turned out to be exactly the same spot that the carpenter had left his sign on before.
In the midst of pure formlessness there has to be an ultimate aim. In the same way, among the facial expression of human beings there are some which can be called ultimate expressions.
"Mystical power" means that the expression on your face isn't out of focus.
We always seem to think that we are controlled by our deluded feelings, and that we can't do anyhting about it. We think that there is a constant fight between the Buddha-Dharma and our deluded feelings.
But this is not the case. Buddha-Dharma teaches that there is absolutely no difference between us and Buddha. And the Dharma is manifest in all phenomena.
The Buddha-Dharma teaches us the lines in the hands of practice.
Practice means the whole-hearted inquiery, "what can I do on the Buddhaway here and now?"
Looking up and down, left and right, the important point is not to lose sight of the here and now.
The essence of the activity of Buddhas and patriarchs, the activity of the essence of patriarchs and Buddhas is what is called the "soft spot".
Good and bad exist only in this moment, but in this moment there is the eternally good and the eternally bad.
All we do has to fill the whole universe. This moment is eternal - and here we have to give ourselves to whole-hearted practice of the way.
Our effort has to circle around the question: what has to be encountered with what?
"Giving" has to have an aim too. Don't give the keys and the gun to the robber. You have to have courage as well as wisdom when you give.
To study the impermance of all phenomena means to study each sinlge moment without losing your aim.
"How about that in this case?" - to study impermance means to inquire and experiment like this in each single case of daily life. Impermance doesn't just mean that all of us will die.
Just like a burning flame, our human form is change each single moment. It's just that our bodies seem to keep more or less the same shape all the time.
All things are contained right in the midst of non-existence.
Nirvana means "unborn-undying".
The basic spirit of Buddhism is: "no individuals!"
The absence of the ego in Buddhism doesn't imply absentmindedness. Quite the opposite, the Bodhisattva practice of Mahayana Buddhism means to be aware of everything. Hinayana Buddhism is looking for idiots. Mahayana Buddhism transforms idiots through practice.
A picture that is only a picture "somehow" is useless.
The practice of the Buddhaway means to develope an attitude.
Don't run around like a rodeo horse. Walk like an ox!
The question of Mahayana Buddhism is your attitude of life.
Even with a cup of tea it makes a great difference if you just let it slip out of your hand, or if you put it back into place properly.
In all your actions, excercising them properly right to the end should be your basic attitude. If your mind is absent even for an instant, you are dead.
The point is to arrange sinews and muscels properly. You have to become a person without gaps. For this, your sinews and muscels have to be balanced with the right tension and order.
"How do I look like in the eyes of mankind?" - this is a another question we have to inquire about. "How do I look like in the eyes of the rich?", "...and how in those of the poor?", "how does a westerner see me?", "how about a communist?", "how about the president?" - you need to possess something that won't peel off from whichever direction you examine it.
If you don't take care, you will become a superflous Buddhist.
What is the Buddha-Dharma about? About being pulled by Buddha in all of the aspects of daily life!
You should only go for the eternal way. "Eternal way" - that means continous practice of that which is good for nothing.
It's not enough to hit the mark only once.
Having achieved 100% last year doesn't count anything - you have to hit the mark right now.
"Don't waste your thoughts thinking about past and future
be completely free in this single moment!"
Just eat the rice gruel. When you "just do" something, there are no people of higher or lower rank, there are no smart or stupid persons. No delusion, no satori.
"Just doing" is the essence of the Buddhaway, but it seems that it is exactly this "just doing" that no one in the world understands.
Everybody is suffering because they are wearing their life-views inside out. To save suffering beings means to let them reflect once more, on a firm, unshakeable fundament, on their view of life. To take a look on life from this firm, unshakeable fundament is what is meant by the wisdom of Buddha.
Buddhaway means to believe (i.e. clarify) what is clear right from the start. It means to think not-thinking.
... Bonus 1 ....... Contents ...