Love is but a song to sing
Fear's the way we die
You can make the mountains ring
Or make the angels cry
Though the bird is on the wing
And you may not know why
Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another
Right now
Some may come and some may go
We shall surely pass
When the one that left us here
Returns for us at last
We are but a moment's sunlight
Fading in the grass
Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another
Right now
If you hear the song I sing
You will understand (listen!)
You hold the key to love and fear
All in your trembling hand
Just one key unlocks them both
It's there at your command
Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another
Right now
-- Chet Powers, The Youngbloods, "Get Together"
I asked: “Is this freedom from the five sense desires and the five hindrances the same as what the sutra schools are talking about? Does it mean we are to be practitioners of both the Mahayana and the Hinayana?”
Rujing said: “Descendants of ancestors should not exclude the teachings of either vehicle. If students ignore the Tathagata’s sacred teachings, how can they become the descendants of buddha ancestors?”
- Dogen and his teacher Rujing
Luminous is this mind,
Brightly shining, but it is
Colored by the attachments
That visit it.
This unlearned people do not
Really understand,
And so do not cultivate the
Mind.
Luminous is this mind,
Brightly shining,
And it is free of the
Attachments that visit it.
This the noble follower
Of the way really understands;
So for them there is
Cultivation of the mind.
- Anguttara Nikaya
If you only concentrate the mind and illuminate your inner being, then with the enlightened contemplation constantly brilliant, you will extirpate the three poisons and block out the six bandits. You will transcend the unenlightened state to the state of the sage. Enlightenment is in an instant.
- Shen-hsui (d. 706)
In the mountains,
A monk’s robe hangs
In the meditation hall.
Outside the window,
No one’s to be seen
Only birds skimming over the creek.
As I descend,
Dusk meets me halfway
Down the mountain road.
Still hearing the creek fall,
I hesitate, reluctant To leave these blue heights.
- Meng Hao-jan (689-740)
For zazen, a quiet room is appropriate. Drink and eat in moderation. Let go of all involvements and let myriad things rest. Do not think good or bad. Do not judge right or wrong. Stop conscious endeavor and analytic introspection. Do not try to become a buddha. How could being a buddha be limited to sitting or not sitting?
- Dogen (1200-1253)
The third one crooked,
The second one leaning
Bamboos have grown
By the stone steps of the garden.
Every year there are more of them,
Until now they are a forest
At the clack of a stone on a bamboo
Hsiang-yen shattered
The uncountable worlds,
But this garden
Continues in its green shade
Just as before
- Muso Soseki
@suzianne saidRegarding your first paragraph;
This same man also said: "The great question that has never been answered, and which I have not yet been able to answer, despite my thirty years of research into the feminine soul, is ‘What does a woman want?’"
As well as: “When one does not have what one wants, one must want what one has.”
And: “The more perfect a person is on the outside, the more demons they have o ...[text shortened]... ith this hilarious gem: "The discovery that she is castrated is a turning-point in a girl's growth."
A man was walking along a beach, and he came upon an old lamp lying amongst the seaweed and general flotsum. He picked up the lamp and rubbed it to try to give it a bit of a clean, and lo, a genie appeared before him, and the following dialogue took place;
Genie; 'You have rescued me from centuries of imprisonment in this lamp; ask me anything and it will be given to you.'
Man thinks for a moment; 'Build me a bridge of steel which spans every ocean, so that I may visit all places on earth.'
Genie; 'What you ask of me is impossible, there is not enough steel in the world to make such a bridge. Ask me anything but this and it will be given to you.'
Man; 'Okay, tell me what it is that women want.'
Genie;
'I reckon I can get the steel from China....'
Constantly be aware,
Without stopping.
When the aware mind is present,
It senses the formlessness of things.
Constantly see your body as empty
And quiet, inside and outside
Communing in sameness.
Plunge the body into the realm
Of reality, where there has
Never been any obstruction.
- Tao-hsin (580-651)
Xiangyan Zhixian studied at the assembly of Guishan Lingyou; Zen Master Dayuan said, “you are bright and knowledgeable. Say something about yourself before your parents were born, but don’t use words you have learned from sutras and commentaries.
Xiangyan tried and tried but could not say anything. He poured through the many books he had collected over the years but could not come up with anything. Deeply ashamed, he burned his books and said,
"A painting of a rice cake does not satisfy hunger.
I will be just a gruel monk, not expecting to understand buddha-dharma in this lifetime.”
A gruel monk means one who supports the assembly by cooking rice, an equivalent of our kitchen assistant. He followed this vow for years.
- Xiangyan and Guishan