There is nothing to be added
One day Banzan was walking through a market. He overheard a customer say to the butcher, "Give me the best piece of meat you have." "Everything in my shop is the best," replied the butcher. "You can not find any piece of meat that is not the best." At these words, Banzan was enlightened.
Just what is an arhat
Arhat, or Arahant in Pali, is a term you hear a lot in Buddhism. Someone who has achieved liberation. But what does it actually mean? Well the etymology is ambigous. The traditional school reports arhat as meaning: one who is worthy. But apparently, recent research suggests that it is cognate with sanskrit Arihan: one who kills or destroys enemies. The Tibetan translation of Arhat – dgra bcom pa – means: one who has destroyed the foes of afflictions. […]
Stumbling along the path
Just because we've had an awakening of sorts doesn't mean that we've been transfigured. It's a long journey. In astrological symbolism we reverse the wheel in Libra, transform the emotional nature in Scorpio, silence our thoughts in Sagittarius and become transfigured in Capricorn. I think people misunderstand the concept of sudden enlightenment. Satori itself is sudden and fully transformative, but getting to that point can take lifetimes. Buddha himself after making his vow when he first saw Dipankara took a number of lifetimes. To think that people don't stumble along the path is naive. We do, we say things that [...]
Life is not two
If you are thinking of practicing in order to look for the Way, you will only get farther and farther away from it. It is as if, while walking the Way and being right in the middle of it, you start looking around for it, wondering where it is.
More brain matter
In a Zen master the alpha blocking produced by the first noise lasts only two seconds. If the noise is repeated at 15 second intervals, we find that in the normal subject there is virtually no alpha blocking remaining by the fifth successive noise.
Nothing is
Seeing into my mind, I wipe the floor. Grasping the moment, I read sutras.
The Great Doubt
Beyond pleasure and pain what do we know?
My deluded cat
My cat is an illusion.
God is Nothing Special
Up in smoke
What is mindfulness?
He who can see inaction in action, and inaction in action is the wisest among men. He is a saint, even though he still acts.