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@rookie54 said

Be like an incense burner in an old shrine.

- Chinul (1205)

“Efface objects, but preserve the mind.”
This means that when we are practicing,
we contemplate all internal and external
sense-spheres as being void and calm.
We preserve only the one mind,
signaling solidarity and standing alone.

- Chinul (1205)

if it is bitter, spit it out

All people fundamentally
Possess the wisdom of
Bodhi-prajna.
If they cannot be
Awakened to it,
It is because their minds
Are under delusion.

You should know that
The Buddha nature of the
Ignorant and of the
Enlightened are the same,
The only difference being
That the former are deluded whereas
The latter are awakened to it.

- Altar Sutra

people who write poems
are somehow prone to do that
please don't judge them
it's just their tendency

If you understand the first word of Zen
You will know the last word.
The last word or the first word, is not a word.

- Wu-men

Internal and external are all the same essence.

This means that when we are practicing,
the mountains and rivers of the great earth,
the sun, the moon, the stars, and the constellations,
the internal body and the external world, as well as all dharmas,
are all viewed as being the same essence of the true mind.

That essence is clear,
empty and bright without a hair’s breadth of differentiation.
The world systems of the chiliocosm,
as numerous as the grains of sand,
have fused into one whole:
where would the deluded mind be able to arise?

Dharma Master Seng-chao said, “Heaven and earth and I have the same root.
The myriad things and I have the same essence.”

- Chinul (1205)

Without self there is no other ,without inside there is no outside,etc
This is referred to as Mutual Arising
And so even with this inescapable truth there is a middle way,
Be brave. Desire leads to suffering but to be truly human affords one at least the modest mouse of desires🙃

Evil
~ Mark Kozelek

Sad reminders of what seems years ago
Warm southern sun shines through
Station wagon windows like solar energy
And when in the night your brother turned to me
And said, "God, do you look evil in the dark?"
That made me feel good
Sad reminders of mid-west winter snow
Cold catholic church heaven in stained glass windows
Like rock candy and when on Sunday their daughter turned at me
And said, "Mom and dad, is it a boy or a girl?
Mom and dad, is it a he or a she?"
That made me feel good

A man was being chased by a tiger, he reached the edge of a cliff and started climbing down.
When he looked below he saw there was another tiger waiting for him below. Now stuck he looked right in front of him to find a berry growing from the cliffside right in front of him. So he ate it. Oh how sweet that berry tasted🙃

44
Fame or self: Which matters more?
Self or wealth: Which is more precious?
Gain or loss: Which is more painful?

He who is attached to things will suffer much.
He who saves will suffer heavy loss.
A contented man is never disappointed.
He who knows when to stop does not find himself in trouble.
He will stay forever safe.

@rookie54 said
44
Fame or self: Which matters more?
Self or wealth: Which is more precious?
Gain or loss: Which is more painful?

He who is attached to things will suffer much.
He who saves will suffer heavy loss.
A contented man is never disappointed.
He who knows when to stop does not find himself in trouble.
He will stay forever safe.

Substance and function are identical.
This means that when we are practicing,
although we conform with the true essence
which has the single taste of void-calmness,
numinous brightness is still concealed there.

- Chinul (1205)

@rookie54 said
44
Fame or self: Which matters more?
Self or wealth: Which is more precious?
Gain or loss: Which is more painful?

He who is attached to things will suffer much.
He who saves will suffer heavy loss.
A contented man is never disappointed.
He who knows when to stop does not find himself in trouble.
He will stay forever safe.

Cold night, no wind,
Bamboo making noises,
Noises far apart,
Now bunched together,
Filtering the pine-flanked lattice.
Listening with ears is less fine than
Listening with the mind.
Beside the lamp I lay
Aside the half scroll of sutra.

- Hsu-t’ang Chih-yu

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the mouse makes another clatter in the middle of the night
i am reminded that i am never alone