Conversation with Buddha

Dear Buddha,

Today I felt the desire to engage in a conversation with you....

In a few days I will be completing 56 magnificent years…The years of vivid emotions joy, innocence, love, hate, happiness, ego, sadness, fear, trial, error, success, failure, temptation etc., that I can’t deny nor ignore it. I see before me the faces of countless people, who remind me of ordinary and extraordinary events in my life.

The passage of time and your teaching has gradually helped me to see all these experiences in a clearer light and softens its significance realizing the meaning of impermanence and illusion. This introspective gaze made it possible a more serene and objective evaluation of my life I have met along the way.

On this beautiful day, I simply wish to express my warm gratitude to my parents, entire family and all friends for being in my life with their unconditional love.

I want to express my profound thanks to almighty for everything. For giving me countless lessons and opportunities to kindle my awareness. For giving me a chance and strength to stand up whenever I fall down. For giving me health and happiness. For giving me a most caring wife and awesome children. For giving me most loving family and true friends who stood by me in my darkest hours.

Most importantly for giving me precious gift of Free Will; the choice to accept or not to accept responsibility for where I am right now and where I am going next; the complete freedom and choice to change, alter and grow within.

Though there maybe times….I may digress and will leave your side while walking this mystical journey further; but I know that I will always come back to your path.

As someone rightly said “Man is immersed in time. He is born, lives and dies within time. Birth establishes one date, the first of his life, and death another, the last: defining the beginning and end of his existence on earth.”

I’m looking forward for the remaining years to walk with you holding my hand and guide me through your most divine teaching….

Timelessly yours,
Aditya

King of the Road: On Loneliness and Solitude

King of the Road: On Loneliness and Solitude
By Chuan Zhi     Feb 15, 2001  
   

Why should I feel alone? Is not our planet in the Milky Way?
- Henry David Thoreau: Walden: Solitude
 

Roger Miller, that lyrical genius from Texas, was propelled to stardom in 1965 when he released King of the Road, an album which showcased his most famous song of the same name. It begins "Trailers for sale or rent, Rooms to let - 50 cents. No phone, no pool, no pets. Ain't got no cigarettes. Ah but two hours of pushing broom buys an 8 by 12 four-bit room. He's a man of means by no means. King of the road."

Why should this song, inspired when Miller saw a hobo in an airport gift shop, have endeared itself to so many millions of us? No matter what our economic or religious backgrounds were, we all tuned in to listen to the contented account of this vagabond King of the Road. Was it that we had never before considered what a life of simplicity could do for us? Roger Miller made us think about our lives and that part of us that craves simplicity and the joyful freedom that it brings.

But if simplicity is so desirable, why do we strive so hard to lead such complicated lives? What one part of us craves, the other fears.

The King of the Road travelled his highway alone. Always we tend to equate being alone with being rejected and alienated. The song intrigued us because it was a testament to solitude - and solitude is the opposite of loneliness.

Loneliness doesn't like being alone. Solitude is delighted to be with itself. Why is it that we human beings are so ashamed or afraid to be alone with ourselves? We awake in the morning and the first thing we do is turn on the television whose job it is, we insist, to stay on until we are ready for sleep at the end of the day. Whether we watch it or not, we like to hear the voices and activities of other people. Somehow, even images from a cathode-ray tube comfort us.

When we stop to analyse our daily lives, we discover how many of our activities are constructed to assuage this fear of being alone. We wait in lines at restaurants and take several hours to eat a meal that we could quickly have prepared at home. We go out to crowded malls shopping for things we don't even need. We go to a book store to browse the shelves for half an hour and spend two hours in the coffee shop, chatting with strangers. We join clubs, social organizations, and religions for no other reason than to avoid being alone with ourselves and to gain a sense of belonging. Belonging to what?

The irony is that spiritual growth, that objective common to all religions, tells us to look inward and not outward … and this mandates that we somehow manage to transform those raging fears of loneliness into the tranquil love of solitude. Zen has a solution for us: it begins with simplifying our lives. When we are incessantly in motion - managing our households, taking care of our families, working at our demanding jobs - when every moment of our waking life is filled with activity there is no time for us to look inward. Something or someone clamours for our attention; and in a very real sense we are relieved to think that we have an excuse or a reason to divert our attention away from our spiritual needs.

We begin by examining each of our activities, and with fierce honesty ask ourselves if it’s one we need. If we can omit it, we do.

Let’s examine the common example of attending religious services. Do we go to the local Zendo or temple once or twice a week because we feel obliged to go? Or because we might otherwise feel guilty? Are we trying to prove to ourselves or to others that we are good Buddhists? Perhaps we spend an hour preparing ourselves for the occasion, an hour driving to the event in busy traffic, and an hour sitting in attendance - and all the while the chores we have postponed are weighing heavy on us … the laundry must be done, groceries bought, garbage taken out, email checked, phone calls returned, and bills paid. As we sit to meditate or to listen to a sermon, our minds are swirling with thoughts of neglected responsibilities and with those lingering traffic tensions. Stressed out, we're not prepared to meditate or, in any other way, to attend to our inner lives. When the service is over, we drive back home praying only that with a little luck we can still get all our chores done. It doesn't require much analysis to understand that we've wasted too much time and that our efforts have been counter-productive. But usually we don't stop to analyse anything. We continue to delude ourselves, following a program that on the surface appears to satisfy spiritual needs. In fact, our program has succeeded only in taking us farther away from our spiritual goal.

Zen requires that we simplify our religious practice as well as our lives. Instead of wasting time acquiring unnecessary material goods or postponing important domestic duties in order to participate in fruitless religious events, we can attend to what is truly important and then, when we do sit down to meditate, we can relax and be free of anxiety. The disciplines of material and social detachment are like any other disciplines.

As we strip away the layers of activity in our lives to the bare essentials, a whole new universe unfolds within us -- we become free of the burdens we carry and quickly discover the joys of solitude. We become an Independent Person on our Path, or as Miller put it, a King of the Road.

Trailers for sale or rent,
Rooms to let - 50 cents,
No phone, no pool, no pets,
Ain't got no cigarettes, ah but
Two hours of pushing broom
buys an 8 by 12 four-bit room
He's a man of means by no means
King of the road.

Third box car midnight train
Destination Bangor, Maine
Old worn-out suits and shoes,
Don't pay no union dues.
He smokes old stogies he has found
Short, but not too big around
He's a man of means by no means
King of the road

(He knows) Every engineer on every train
All of their children and all of their names
And every hang-out in every town
Every lock that ain't locked
When no one's around.

I say, Trailers for sale or rent,
Rooms to let - 50 cents,
No phone, no pool, no pets,
Ain't got no cigarettes.
I've got two hours of pushing broom
buys an 8 by 12 four-bit room
He's a man of means by no means
King of the road.

 

The original scribbling of the "King of the Road" lyrics by Roger Miller now hang in a shadow-box at the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Anecdote: A Collection of Moments

1- A student complained, “There is another student who is getting on my nerves. What should I do about it?” Master said, “Move your mind or Move your nerves.”

 

2- A student inquired, “Is meditation an art or a science?” Master answered, “It is approaching art with science and science with art.”

 

3-“What will be your legacy Master?” a student asked. Master replied, “All lived, All died, All are buried & All left without any possessions." "My legacy can not be different."

 

4- A student asked Master, “Is ignorance bliss?” Master answered, “Realize ignorance, you may find your own answer.”

 

5- “Today will be a historic day of my life” a student said in his speech. Master interrupted, “All days are historic...! Real art is in making it more memorable than historical.”

 

6- “What is greatness, Master?” asked a student. “Doing worthy acts and remain unconcerned if anyone notices” replied Master.

 

7- "Why is the Zen Way so difficult” asked a student. Master responded, “Contrary, the zen way is very easy, the followers are difficult.”

 

8- A student asked what is life?. Master said “See that mountain! Pick it up, hold it, play with it and put it back when you are tired.”

 

9- Several students were sitting around a fire when Master picked up some ashes and said to the students, “This is the ultimate truth of life.”

 

 10- Master, what is the key to understanding the Way of life? asked a student. Master told him “Look Within.”

 

 11- What is fear Master? asked a ...student. Master answered, “Fear is when after dark, all cats become tigers."

 

 12- A new student told Master “I have so many questions to ask you”. Master responded “And I have no answers to give you.”

 

 13- A student asked Master, “I saw a new cook in the kitchen. Is he permanent?” Master replied “No one is permanent, including me.”

 

 14- A student once told Master, “I have reached a subtle awareness of the truth.” Master shrugged his shoulders and said, “You will die peacefully.”

 

 15- A student asked Master, “How do I get rid of all my problems?” Master said, “I shall answer you when sun stop rising."

 

 16- “Master, what is the aim of Meditation?” a student asked. Master replied “To sit like a river, and walk like a mountain.”

 

 17- A student asked “What is wisdom?” Master said, "When a man falls do not abandon him, when he has power do not honor him."

 

18- “Master, would you prefer the flowers on the left side or the right side of the alter?” Master said, “I prefer to see them in garden.”

 

19- A student asked a zen master: "How will you be, when death arrives?" The master said: "When served tea, I take tea. When served a meal, I take a meal."

20- “What is the nature of the tree” asked a student. Master said, “Spring and Fall."

21- “Those new students are lazy!” said a senior student. Master said, “Yes! don't you think, they are almost as bad as the students who judge others.”

22- “I am feeling better today, I just wasn’t myself yesterday.” said a student. Master replied, “Oh, who are you today?”   

23- “What is failure Master?” asked a student. Master answered, “It is a cup of bitter tea. Not tasty, but sometimes necessary to drink.”                  

24- A student inquired, “How do I know if I am making proper efforts?” Master said, “if you are doing proper, question or doubt will never arise!”        

25- “Master, what is compassion?” Master responded, “Ask someone who is in need of  some.”                   

26- Master was told there some wild bears roaming the temple grounds. “Wild? Get them in the meditation hall immediately if they are savage than human being”   

27-  “Do you think you are still young” asked a student. Master answered, “Children who think are cute. Adults who think or wish are fools. Learn to accept reality!”    

28- “All the things are properly washed in temple” a student declared. Master asked, “Did you wash your mind too?”                 

29- “What is the greatest struggle we face” asked a student. Master responded, “Defeating self ego, self image and illussion.”

30- “When I will one with the universe” asked a student. Master responded, “When you stop thinking.”                 

31- “Is it important to be humble?” inquired a student. Master said, “Yes, if you love your self."

32- “What is the secret of enlightenment?” asked a student. Master responded, “Shut your eyes, shut your mind and shut your mouth.”                 

Zen is Understanding Yourself

One day a student from Chicago came to the Providence Zen Center and asked Seung Sahn Soen-Sa, “What is Zen?”

Soen-sa held his Zen stick above his head and said, “Do you understand?”

The student said, “I don’t know.”

Soen-sa said, “This don’t know mind is you. Zen is understanding yourself.”

“What do you understand about me? Teach me.”

Soen-sa said, “In a cookie factory, different cookies are baked in the shape of animals, cars, people, and airplanes. They all have different names and forms, but they are all made from the same dough, and they all taste the same.

“In the same way, all things in the universe – the sun, the moon, the stars, mountains, rivers, people, and so forth – have different names and forms, but they are all made from the same substance. The universe is organized into pairs of opposites: light and darkness, man and woman, sound and silence, good and bad. But all these opposites are mutual, because they are made from the same substance. Their names and their forms are different, but their substance is the same. Names and forms are made by your thinking. If you are not thinking and have no attachment to name and form, then all substance is one. Your don’t know mind cuts off all thinking. This is your substance. The substance of this Zen stick and your own substance are the same. You are this stick; this stick is you.”

The student said, “Some philosophers say this substance is energy, or mind, or God, or matter. Which is the truth?”

Soen-sa said, “Four blind men went to the zoo and visited the elephant. One blind man touched its side and said, ‘The elephant is like a wall.’ The next blind man touched its trunk and said, ‘The elephant is like a snake.’ The next blind man touched its leg and said, ‘The elephant is like a column.’ The last blind man touched its tail and said, ‘The elephant is like a broom.’ Then the four blind men started to fight, each one believing that his opinion was the right one. Each only understood the part he had touched; none of them understood the whole.

“Substance has no name and no form. Energy, mind, God, and matter are all name and form. Substance is the Absolute. Having name and form is having opposites. So the whole world is like the blind men fighting among themselves. Not understanding yourself is not understanding the truth. That is why there is fighting among ourselves. If all the people in the world understood themselves, they would attain the Absolute. Then the world would be at peace. World peace is Zen.”

The student said, “How can practicing Zen make world peace?”

Soen-sa said, “People desire money, fame, sex, food, and rest. All this desire is thinking. Thinking is suffering. Suffering means no world peace. Not thinking is not suffering. Not suffering means world peace. World peace is the Absolute. The Absolute is I.”

The student said, “How can I understand the Absolute?”

Soen-sa said, “You must first understand yourself.”

“How can I understand myself?”

Soen-sa held up the Zen stick and said, “Do you see this?”

He then quickly hit the table with the stick and said, “Do you hear this? This stick, this sound, your mind – are they the same or different?”

The student said, “The same.”

Soen-sa said, “If you say they are the same, I will hit you thirty times. If you say they are different, I will still hit you thirty times. Why?”

The student was silent.

Soen-sa shouted, “KATZ!!!” Then he said, “Spring comes, the grass grows by itself.”

Zen Fundamentals can Change Person's Life

The study of Zen has spread quickly throughout the world. People are looking for a sense of peace, a new outlook on life. Zen accomplishes this through meditation and direct experience of the world.

Even though there is much curiosity regarding Zen, people remain skeptical. It is often seen as a fad, although its practice has lasted throughout countless centuries. People wonder what benefits Zen study truly has.

The truth is Zen fundamentals can change your life. How? Here are ten life-changing behaviors that Zen fundamentals can instill in your life.

1. Identify your values. As you study your thoughts, you will find patterns in what your mind is drawn to. These are your values, what is most important in your life. This can include your family, your religion, healthy living, kindness to others, or environmental awareness. There are no right or wrong answers, just be honest with yourself and your values will become clear.
2. Embrace your values. Once you are aware of your values, it is far easier to live according to them. When faced with a decision, you can compare it to your values, and see if it will bring you closer to living your values, or will draw you away.
3. Develop inner peace. Zen mind does not struggle. It accepts life as it truly is. A rock is a rock. It will remain that way no matter how much you worry, wish, or pressure it into changing. The things your mind worries about are the same way. Accept things for how they are, and do not waste time or energy fretting over things you dislike.
4. Energize for change. Seemingly contradictory to point #3, Zen mind can give you extra energy for change. You are not wasting energy fighting against the inevitable. As above, there is a large rock in your way. You have three options: run into the rock repeatedly, agonize about the rock being in the way, or find a way around the rock. Before Zen, most people choose one of the first two options. With Zen mind, you accept the rock for what it is: an obstacle. You accept that you cannot go through it. You do not panic, and waste time and energy worrying about the obstacle. You instead make your own path around the obstacle, either over the rock, around the rock, or under the rock.
5. Enhance knowledge of yourself. As you practice Zen, you will spend a fair amount of time in meditation, listening to your mind ramble. In time, you learn what quiets your mind, and puts you at peace. Listening to the same fears repeating themselves in your mind will soon inspire you to change what is causing those fears. You realize, for example, that your job is a large source of anxiety, and it is time for a change. Without meditation, we tend to ignore what our mind is telling us, and remain locked into our old patterns of doing things.
6. Gain confidence. As you reflect on your inner self, you become conscious of who you really are. You learn what makes you happy, what is beneficial to your life. You bypass the fears and anxieties of your mind, and do what needs to be done. You walk boldly, live passionately. The opinions of others do not matter, because you know you are doing what is right.
7. Appreciate life. You accept life as it is. Starry evenings, a stroll by the river, or a night of solitude each have their own unique characteristics to be appreciated. Mundane activities, such as household chores or doctor’s appointments, also hold their own charm. Observing the quiet details of life lends value to the less appealing aspects, and brings peace and joy in commonplace tasks.
8. Increase consideration for others. Each person on this Earth is interconnected. We are all searching for peace, contentedness, and a meaningful life. It is much harder to be angry at the person who cut you off in traffic when you realize they are on the same path, just at a different point in their journey.
9. Simplify your life. Meditation helps you differentiate between needs and wants. Needs are the basics for survival, such as air, food, water, clothing, and shelter. Wants are designer jeans, the latest electronic gadget, or a mansion. You learn that you can live without the latest, greatest thing. You begin to use your stuff as tools on your journey, and not as status symbols or emotional crutches. The same holds true for your commitments. Your to-do list can be culled down to the necessities, such as caring for your family, providing for needs, and fulfilling activities. It is far easier to say no to another commitment, when your plate is full of the things you love and require.
10. Cultivate a giving spirit. When you are living the best life you can, your heart fills with joy. You are doing what you were put on this earth to do, and doing it to the best of your ability. Your life is simple, you are living your values, and you have a clear mind. You can then give to others with a loving spirit, to help them along their path.

There are countless more ways that Zen fundamentals can benefit you. Experience the life changing advantages of a Zen mind, through simple meditation and appreciating life to the fullest. Have you found that Zen has changed your life? What benefits have you gained through Zen study? Stop by and let me know. I’d enjoy hearing what Zen has done in your life.

By Kimberlee Ferrell

Faith Mind

Verses On the Faith Mind

Translated by Richard B. Clarke

The Great Way is not difficult

for those who have no preferences.

When love and hate are both absent

everything becomes clear and undisguised.

Make the smallest distinction, however

and heaven and earth are set infinitely apart.

If you wish to see the truth

then hold no opinions for or against anything.

To set up what you like against what you dislike

is the disease of the mind.

When the deep meaning of things is not understood

the mind's essential peace is disturbed to no avail.

The Way is perfect like vast space

where nothing is lacking and nothing is in excess.

Indeed, it is due to our choosing to accept or reject

that we do not see the true nature of things.

Live neither in the entanglements of outer things,

nor in inner feelings of emptiness.

Be serene in the oneness of things

and such erroneous views will disappear by themselves.

When you try to stop activity to achieve passivity

your very effort fills you with activity.

As long as you remain in one extreme or the other

you will never know Oneness.

Those who do not live in the single Way

fail in both activity and passivity,

assertion and denial. To deny the reality of things

to assert the emptiness of things is to miss their reality.

The more you talk and think about it,

the further astray you wander from the truth.

Stop talking and thinking,

and there is nothing you will not be able to know.

To return to the root is to find the meaning,

but to pursue appearances is to miss the source.

At the moment of inner enlightenment

there is a going beyond appearance and emptiness.

The changes that appear to occur in the empty world

we call real only because of our ignorance.

Do not search for the truth;

only cease to cherish opinions.

Do not remain in the dualistic state

avoid such pursuits carefully.

If there is even a trace of this and that, of right and wrong,

the Mind-essence will be lost in confusion.

Although all dualities come from the One,

do not be attached even to this One.

When the mind exists undisturbed in the Way,

nothing in the world can offend,

and when a thing can no longer offend, it ceases to exist in the old way.

When no discriminating thoughts arise, the old mind ceases to exist.

When thought objects vanish, the thinking-subject vanishes,

as when the mind vanishes, objects vanish.

Things are objects because of the subject (mind);

he mind (subject) is such because of things (object).

Understand the relativity of these two

and the basic reality: the unity of emptiness.

In this Emptiness the two are indistinguishable

and each contains in itself the whole world.

If you do not discriminate between coarse and fine

you will not be tempted to prejudice and opinion.

To live in the Great Way

is neither easy nor difficult,

but those with limited views

and fearful and irresolute: the faster they hurry, the slower they go,

and clinging (attachment) cannot be limited;

even to be attached to the idea of enlightenment is to go astray.

Just let things be in their own way

and there will be neither coming nor going.

Obey the nature of things (your own nature),

and you will walk freely and undisturbed.

When thought is in bondage the truth is hidden,

for everything is murky and unclear,

and the burdensome practice of judging brings annoyance and weariness.

What benefit can be derived from distinctions and separations?

If you wish to move in the One Way

do not dislike even the world of senses and ideas.

Indeed, to accept them fully

is identical with true Enlightenment.

The wise man strives to no goals

but the foolish man fetters himself.

This is one Dharma, not many: distinctions arise

from the clinging needs of the ignorant.

To seek Mind with the (discriminating) mind

is the greatest of all mistakes.

Rest and unrest derive from illusion;

with enlightenment there is no liking and disliking.

All dualities come from

ignorant inference.

They are like dreams of flowers in the air:

foolish to try to grasp them.

Gain and loss, right and wrong:

such thoughts must finally be abolished at once.

If the eye never sleeps,

all dreams will naturally cease.

If the mind makes no discriminations,

the ten thousand things are as they are, of single essence.

To understand the mystery of this One-essence

is to be release from all entanglements.

When all things are seen equally

the timeless Self-essence is reached.

No comparisons or analogies are possible

in this causeless, relationless state.

Consider movement stationary and the stationary in motion,

both movement and rest disappear.

When such dualities cease to exist

Oneness itself cannot exist.

To this ultimate finality

no law or description applies.

For the unified mind in accord with the Way

all self-centered straining ceases.

Doubts and irresolution's vanish

and life in true faith is possible.

With a single stroke we are freed from bondage;

nothing clings to us and we hold to nothing.

All is empty , clear, self-illuminating,

with no exertion of the mind's power.

Here thought, feeling, knowledge, and imagination

are of no value.

In this world of Suchness

there is neither self nor other-than-self

To come directly into harmony with this reality

just simply say when doubt arises, 'Not two.'

In this 'no two' nothing is separate,

nothing excluded.

No matter when or where,

enlightenment means entering this truth.

And this truth is beyond extension or diminution in time or space;

in it a single thought is ten thousand years.

Emptiness here, Emptiness there,

but the infinite universe stands always before your eyes.

Infinitely large and infinitely small;

no difference, for definitions have vanished

and no boundaries are seen.

So too with Being

and non-Being.

Don't waste time in doubts and arguments

that have nothing to do with this.

One thing, all things:

move among and intermingle, without distinction.

To live in this realization

is to be without anxiety about non-perfection.

To live in this faith is the road to non-duality,

Because the non-dual is one with the trusting mind.

Words! The Way is beyond language,

for in it there is

                           no yesterday

                           no tomorrow

                       no today.