...

One day Xiangyan said to Guishan, “My mind is undifferentiated; I cannot speak. Can you explain this to me, Master?”

Guishan said, “I wouldn’t mind explaining it to you, but if I did, you would resent me.”

- Xiangyan and Guishan

Ashes Of Life

Love has gone and left me and the days are all alike;
Eat I must, and sleep I will,—and would that night were here!
But ah!—to lie awake and hear the slow hours strike!
Would that it were day again!—with twilight near!

Love has gone and left me and I don't know what to do;
This or that or what you will is all the same to me;
But all the things that I begin I leave before I'm through,—
There's little use in anything as far as I can see.

Love has gone and left me,—and the neighbors knock and borrow,
And life goes on forever like the gnawing of a mouse,—
And to-morrow and to-morrow and to-morrow and to-morrow
There's this little street and this little house.


Edna St. Vincent Millay

@Ghost-of-a-Duke
how is it that edna can see inside my soul???

@rookie54 said
@Ghost-of-a-Duke
how is it that edna can see inside my soul???

A bird in a secluded grove
sings like a flute.
Willows sway gracefully
with their golden threads.
The mountain valley grows
quieter as the clouds return.
A breeze brings along the
fragrance of the apricot flowers.
Sitting here a whole day in peace,
Till my mind is cleared of all cares,
I would tell you more,
but words fail.
If you come to this grove,
you will see yourself.
- Fa-yen

If you can put to rest
The mind that frantically seeks
From moment to moment,
You will be no different from old Shakyamuni Buddha.
- Lin Chi

constant anger at things uncontrollable is a curable cancer...

Were I possessed of the least knowledge, I would, when walking on the great way, fear only paths that lead astray.
The great way is easy, yet people prefer by-paths.

The court is corrupt,
The fields are overgrown with weeds,
The granaries are empty;
Yet there are those dressed in fineries,
With swords at their sides,
Filled with food and drink,
And possessed of too much wealth.
This is known as taking the lead in robbery.

Far indeed is this from the way.

- https://www.centertao.org/essays/tao-te-ching/dc-lau/#chapter-53

If you want to be happy
There’s no way better than the hermit’s
Flowers in the grove, endless brocade
Every single season’s colors new
Just sit beside the chasm
Turn your head, as the moon rolls by
Yet though I ought to be at joyous ease
I can’t stop thinking of the others.
- Shih-Te (c.730)

Green Mountains father white clouds:
White clouds are the children of mountains.
White clouds hang around all day.
Mostly the mountain doesn’t mind.
- Tung-shan Liang Chieh (807–869)

The heart of Buddhism
Nothing whatsoever should be clung to
As "I" or "mine."
- Buddhadasa Bhikkhu (1906-1993)

XXIV. THE JUDGMENT AT THE HOUSE OF GOD

First Peter 4:17 says, “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?” In this verse we can see that there are different governmental dealings of God. God deals with His house, that is, His children, in one way and at one time, and He deals with those who do not obey the gospel in another way and at another time. Although we have been saved and have become God’s household, God’s family, this does not mean that we shall never again be judged by God. On the contrary, this verse says that God’s judgment will begin at His house. If God were unjust in dealing with His own children, how could He judge the unbelievers and those who oppose Him? The principle here is that in order for God to be just in judging the unbelievers, He must firstly make a righteous judgment of His children.


Witness Lee

https://www.ministrybooks.org/books.cfm?cid=1F09

@sonship

Wrong thread.

Cliff Klingenhagen

Cliff Klingenhagen had me in to dine
With him one day; and after soup and meat,
And all the other things there were to eat,
Cliff took two glasses and filled one with wine
And one with wormwood. Then, without a sign
For me to choose at all, he took the draught
Of bitterness himself, and lightly quaffed
It off, and said the other one was mine.

And when I asked him what the deuce he meant
By doing that, he only looked at me
And grinned, and said it was a way of his.
And though I know the fellow, I have spent
Long time a-wondering when I shall be
As happy as Cliff Klingenhagen is.

Edwin Arlington Robinson

@Ghost-of-a-Duke
lovely poetry, and, inspiration...
thank you

It can be compared to the man in a dream
Who is still unaware that he is dreaming.
For once he realizes that it is a dream,
His dream will then change and melt away.
I see "myself" and do not see the dream,
And so consider "myself" to be awake
Not knowing what true awakening is.
Neither awakening nor dreaming exists.
- Su Shih (1037-1101)