Stonehouse

Case 7 of the Gateless Gate: A monk asked Master Zhaozhou: "I have just entered the monastery. Please teach me." Zhaozhou asked a question of his own: "Have you eaten your rice porridge?" The monk replied: "I have." Zhaozhou said: "Then you had better wash your bowl." At that moment the monk understood the Way. A dunce once searched for a fire with a lighted lantern. Had he known what fire was, He could have cooked his rice much sooner. The marvelous expanse of the Way is there in washing the bowl. What else can a sage do but attend to this ordinary moment?

Welcome et salut, friend. I called Montreal home for about 4 years while I studied at McGill. Love the city - though the winters are tough. I'll bet your therapy has assisted more than a few bruised bottoms and sprained ankles, hmm? I practice Tai Chi, but I'm hoping to get into medical Chi Gong. I was thinking Baduanjin - do you recommend any other? My Tai Chi teacher is showing us five animals, but I'm having trouble finding a uniform set of instructions online. Anyway, please be welcome here! Stonehouse

The Case Priest Jianyuan of Tan once accompanied his teacher, Daowu, on a condolence call to a family funeral. When they arrived, he tapped the coffin and said, “Is this life, or is this death?” Daowu said, “I won’t say life, I won’t say death.” Jianyuan said, “Why won’t you say?” Daowu said, “I won’t say, I won’t say.” On their way back Jianyuan said, “You should say it quickly for me, teacher, or I will hit you.” Daowu said, “Hit me if you will, but I will not say.” Jianyuan hit him. After returning to the monastery Daowu said to Jianyuan, “You should take leave for a while; I’m afraid if the head monk finds out about this he will make trouble for you.” After Daowu passed away, Jianyuan went to see Daowu’s successor Shishuang, told him the story, and asked for guidance.Shishuang said, “I won’t say life, I won’t say death.” Jianyuan said, “Why won’t you say it?” Shishuang said, “I won’t say, I won’t say.” Jianyuan immediately realized it. From Master Dogen's 300 Koan Shobogenzo, Case 29 Verse In arriving not an atom is added, Thus life is called “the unborn.” In departing not a particle is lost, Thus death is called “the unextinguished.” Commentary by Stonehouse Life and death are nothing but movement within the vast and inconceivable flow of the Way. Like Sunlight and Cloud Shadow. Like a flame that burns in the night. Phenomenon are always changing, always between one state and another. It’s not the same little flame in every moment, nor is it necessarily a different flame. To say it is the same flame is wrong. To say it is a different flame is also wrong. In the same way, we’re born and we die, but we also persist and continue. This paradox underlies all human experience. Everything is impermanent and subject to constant change. From this impermanence all suffering arises. Yet everything is also unchanging and undying, springing from the Unborn. There is not an atom or molecule in your body right now that is the same as it was at the moment of your birth, and yet these atoms and molecules in your blood and bones were present to witness the creation of the universe. The Heart-mind is in constant, dynamic equilibrium with the universe. The universe passes through us and is us. So what do you call the self? What is Jianyuan calling the self? Alive or Dead? Will you dare say?

This is my experience as well. Before I started my career in law, I did Olympic Lifting and Bodyweight fitness. After a couple years of desk work, I feel like a pale shadow of my former self. The strongest argument for the reality of Chi is the absolute sense of spiritual weakness I feel working 9-10 hours a day in an arid cubicle. This is something I intend to fix this year as I transition out of law and into a career in counselling. Lots of time to get back into the gym. I'm going to start nice and slow.

I practice sitting meditation as recommended by Dogen Zenji of the Soto School. I would like take up a physical practice as well, like Tai Chi or another martial art that puts health and mental cultivation at the forefront. I see that there are Yang Tai Chi classses at my local cultural centre. I am definitely thinking of pulling the trigger on them. My partner practicies Aikido and enjoys it as well.

Revenge. Justice. I know a little about these things from my time as a lawyer. These are worldly treasures people seem to want for themselves, but few consider if they are willing to pay the worldly cost of them. This tired skinbag will just try and be of use, and direct his modest efforts in that direction. Call me thrifty.

Hello there friends, I'm coming to the Tao as a student in the Soto Zen School, Shunryu Suzuki Lineage. I recently returned from a residential retreat centered on the theme of the Taoist hermits and their writings, in the context of the writings of Chan Master Shitou Xiqian. I really enjoyed the retreat and I left wanting to know more about the Tao Te Ching, the Zhuangzi and onwards. I look forward to learning from you all!

That's a really kind thing to say, Roger. I look forward to my time here.

Shambhala as a concept has been heavily muddied by western esotericism and the popular imagination. Like many other realms and world systems in Buddhist cosmologies, Shambhala is not a physical place so much as an idea which might be helpful to shape attitudes around practice. It is not some place to go find. It's a place to create here and now, and to have faith that such a place can exist. As Shambhala (The Buddhist Association formed by Chogyam Trungpa) says: Shambhala is the nation you can claim if you consider yourself a warrior for peace, compassion and liberation of all beings. In the same way, when a student of Zen receives Jukai or Shukkai Tokudo (The precepts) they receive the Bloodline - their blood is now the blood of all Buddhas and Ancestors through all time and Universes. This doesn't involve a blood transfusion, but it changes the heart. To be of Shambhala or the Pure Lands in your heart is to be softened and changed. It's magic of the heart.

Different styles, same practice.

The Way is never apart from this very place. Why leave behind the place where you are to wander in vain through the red dust of other lands? If you make one misstep, you stumble past what is directly in front of you...

It's really fantastic because each chapter takes only a few short minutes to read through, making it perfect to read while your tea steeps in the morning. In my lineage the sign of a long and healthy practice is owning an extremely delapidated copy of it. This is a fun little Lion's Roar article about someone's copy.

Sorry to hear about your injuries. I am recovering from a less serious - but humbling - injury myself. It has been a gift, in that I have been forced to meet my body and apologize to it for my ingratitude and abusive behavior. Welcome back. I look forward to your contributions.

Thumbs are helpful when measuring fabric or wood. Less helpful when measuring people.

As the Patriarch Huineng said: It's not that the mirror or the self are illusions - the mirror and the self are part of the complete expression of the Way. It is only in wholehearted engagement and inspection of this self through concentrated practice that we may see through to the absolulte interconnectedness of all things. The Conventional is the gate through which the Absolute is realized. The ordinary way is the Way. Marblehead points right at this when he says: To quote Shitou Xiqian in "Harmony of Difference and Equality" Or, as Dogen concludes from this in his "Genjo Koan"

Hi Cedartree, I am a formal student of the Soto School, which is primarily defined by our practice of Shikantaza. I'm not a transmitted teacher, however, just to be clear. If you have any questions please feel free to ask. In my own words - the Way is all pervasive, it cannot be faced or turned away from. It is fully actualized in each moment. That being said, the Way is not manifested without practice, not attained without realization. This being the case, attentiveness to the experience of being alive here and now is being attentive to the complete manifestation of the Way. If one person for even one moment practices attentiveness in correct upright posture, this practice includes all beings and permeates all time. Enlightenment is not elsewhere or somewhere in the future. It is within you, right now, and fully manifested when you devote yourself even for a moment to the Way, which is not other than the direct experience of your life right now.

Let's assume the world is not real. What is real? Is nothing real? In that case, upon what are you hanging your hat with this word reality?

There are a few slogans in the Tibetan Mind Trainings of Lojong that articulate this idea of "starting over" in each moment: but... and, of course or

Emptiness is discussed differently depending on the school or even the lineage within the school. Although I know very little about Taoism, what I have learned so far accords nicely with what has been taught to me by my teachers in the Soto School of Zen Buddhism. Instead of embarassing myself with my own awkward interpretations, I would just like to offer a passage from a poem titled "Song of the Grass-Roof Hermitage" by Shitou Xiqian, an Ancestor in my lineage and student of the last Patriarch, Huineng, who is credited with articulating our school's undersetanding of Emptiness. This poem is chanted now and again in our Monasteries, and it's the best way I've ever heard emptiness discussed. Another passage that I have found helpful is from "Genjo Koan" by the Founder of our School, Dogen Zenji: More recently, Translator and teacher Kaz Tanahashi has translated Shunyata as "Boundlessness." This is a helpful pointer, but maybe a bit too on the nose. The point is, all dharmas are marked by emptiness, which is to say that they are not separate but are all part of the dynamic flow of existence, the Way, which is fully realized in each moment. Thus to practice one thing is to practice completely. Even to say this is to defile such practice with words. I hope I have contributed in some way. If what I have said doesn't accord with your understanding, please forget it.

I learned the hard way that stretching/exercise is not an optional activity if one is concerned with any kind of physical health. I have spent the last few years working extraordinarily long hours at a desk job, and my reward was muscle wasting down the left side of my body. I'm seeing a physiotherapist for exercises, massage and accupuncture, all of which has helped immensely. At the centre of my treatment is a regimen of squats and leg bridges intended to return muscle mass and correct the imbalanced caused by my poor work posture. I wish I had been more attentive to my body this past few years, rather than fixated on foolish pursuits.

I am reminded of the passage above. Words like "compassion" and "justice" and "benevolence" are just snares to help find the Way. When these words are given flesh and bones and dressed up as the Way, then clever people can twist and turn them to suit their fancies. The hint is when you try to dine on justice, and taste only trap.

Thanks for the welcome and the information, Marblehead.