Plastic Flowers, Plastic Mind

 

 

One Sunday, while Seung Sahn Soen-Sa was staying at the International Zen Center of New York, there was a big ceremony. Many Korean women came, with shopping bags full of food and presents. One woman brought a large bouquet of plastic flowers, which she smilingly presented to an American student of Soen-sa's. As quickly as he could, the student hid the flowers under a pile of coats. But soon another woman found them and, with the greatest delight, walked into the Dharma Room and put them in a vase on the altar.

The student was very upset. He went to Soen-sa and said, "Those plastic flowers are awful. Can't I take them off the altar and dump them somewhere?"

Soen-sa said, "It is your mind that is plastic. The whole universe is plastic." The student said, "What do you mean?"

Soen-sa said, "Buddha said, 'When one's mind is pure, the whole universe is pure;
When one's mind is tainted, the whole universe is tainted.' Every day we meet people who are unhappy. When their minds are sad, everything they see, hear, smell, taste, and touch is sad, the whole universe is sad. When the mind is happy, the whole universe is happy.

 

If you desire something, then you are attached to it. If you reject it, you are just as attached to it. Being attached to a thing means that it becomes a hindrance in your mind. So 'I don't like plastic' is the same as 'I like plastic'— both are attachments. You don't like plastic flowers, so your mind has become plastic, and the whole universe is plastic. Put it all down. Then you won't be hindered by anything. You won't care whether the flowers are plastic or real, whether they are on the altar or in the garbage pail. This is true freedom. A plastic flower is just a a plastic flower. A real flower is just a real flower. You mustn't be attached to name and form.

The student said, "But we are trying to make a beautiful Zen Center here, for all people. How can I not care? Those flowers spoil the whole room."

Soen-sa said, "If somebody gives real flowers to Buddha, Buddha is happy. If somebody else like plastic flowers and gives them to Buddha, Buddha is also happy. Budhha is not attached to name and form, he doesn't care whether the flowers are real or plastic, he only cares about the person's mind. These women who are offering plastic flowers have very pure minds, and their action is Bodhisattva action.

 

Your mind rejects plastic flowers, so you have separated the universe into good and bad, beautiful and ugly. So your action is not Bodhisattva action. Only keep Buddha's mind. Then you will have no hindrance. Real flowers are good; plastic flowers are good. This mind is like the great sea, into which all waters flow— the Hudson River, the Charles River, the Yellow River, Chinese water, American water, clean water, dirty water, salt water, clear water.

 

The sea doesn't say, 'Your water is dirty, you can't flow into me.' It accepts all waters and mixes them and all become sea. So if you keep the Buddha mind, your mind will be like the great sea. This is the great sea of enlightenment.

Different perspectives

One of the industrialist travelled for days by train and car and boat to one of the furthest islands in the nation. As he surveyed the bleak but beautiful inspiring landscape, he turned to a small house of zen master residing there for many years and asked: "You're very remote here, aren't you?" Master responded: "Remote from what?"

You Are Also Correct

Two monks who came out of a lecture by their master went on a hot debate regarding what they heard during the lecture. Each of them insited that his understanding was the correct one. To settle the dispute, they went to see the master for a judgement.
 

After hearing the argument put forth by the first monk, the master said, "You are correct!" The monk was overjoy. Casting a winner's glance at his friend, he left the room.
 

The second monk was upset and started to pour out what he thought to the master. After he finished, the master looked at him and said, "You are correct, too." Hearing this, the second monk brightened up and went away.
 

A third monk who was also in the room was greatly puzzled by what he saw. He said to the master, "I am confused, master! Their positions regarding the issue are completely opposite. They can't be both right! How could you say that they are both correct?"
 

The master smiled as he looked into the eyes of this third monk, "You are also correct!"

Don't let the cups drive you...enjoy the coffee instead

 

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university lecturer. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the lecturer went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups: porcelain, plastic, glass, some plain-looking and some expensive and exquisite, telling the...

m to help themselves to hot coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the lecturer said: "If you noticed, all the nice-looking, expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the better cups and are eyeing each other's cups."

"Now, if Life is coffee, then the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, but the quality of Life doesn't change." "Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee in it."

So folks, dont let the cups drive you...enjoy the coffee instead.

Chasing Meaningless Goals

A Zen master had a dog who used to sit by the roadside waiting for vehicles to come around. As soon as one came he would run down the road, barking loudly and trying to overtake it restlessly.

One day a neighbour asked the master "Do you think your dog is ever going to catch a car?"

The master replied, "That is not what bothers me. What really bothers me is what he would do or achieve if at all he ever caught one? "  Master smiled and went away conveying subtle and precise message.

stress management

A Zen Master when explaining stress management to an audience raised a glass of water and asked:

"How heavy is this glass of water?" Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g. The master replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it. If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm and neck. If I hold it for a day, you'll probably have to call an ambulance. In each case, it's the same little weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."

He continued, "And that's the way it is with our life. If we continue to carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, the burden becomes increasingly heavy and we won't be able to bear it" Better we learn to drop our burden regularly to maintain our well being"

Peace of Mind

Once Buddha was walking from one town to another town with a few of his followers. This was in the initial days. While they were traveling, they happened to pass a lake. They stopped there and Buddha told one of his disciples, “I am thirsty. Do get me some water from that lake there.”

The disciple walked up to the lake. When he reached it, he noticed that right at that moment, a bullock cart started crossing through the lake. As a result, the water became very muddy, very turbid. The disciple thought, “How can I give this muddy water to Buddha to drink!”

So he came back and told Buddha, “The water in there is very muddy. I don’t think it is fit to drink.” After about half an hour, again Buddha asked the same disciple to go back to the lake and get him some water to drink. The disciple obediently went back to the lake.

This time too he found that the lake was muddy. He returned and informed Buddha about the same. After sometime, again Buddha asked the same disciple to go back.

The disciple reached the lake to find the lake absolutely clean and clear with pure water in it. The mud had settled down and the water above it looked fit to be had. So he collected some water in a pot and brought it to Buddha.

Buddha looked at the water, and then he looked up at the disciple and said,” See what you did to make the water clean. You let it be…. and the mud settled down on its own – and you got clear water.

Your mind is also like that! When it is disturbed, just let it be. Give it a little time. It will settle down on its own. You don’t have to put in any effort to calm it down. It will happen. It is effortless.”

True Meaning of Zen and of Life

The students at No Wind Monastery were flabbergasted!  They could hardly believe what they had just heard.  Master Blusime, the greatest Zen Master since Dogen Zenji had just revealed what they never thought they would hear.  In their traditional morning congregation Master Blumise had said, "My most beloved family, I really need your help.  Yesterday evening a guest at our renowned monastery asked me a very good question.  He asked me, ‘What is the True Meaning of Zen?’ and asked if I could summarize it for him in just 3 words.  My loved ones, please help me as I don’t know what to reply.  I have asked the visitor to wait till the end of the week and then promised him my response.  So please, by the end of the week, in 3 words give me the definition of Zen.  The definition of Zen is also the definition of life.  I look to you for help in this great crisis that has befallen me and the reputation of our great institution is at stake.  Please save us from humiliation."

Master Blumise had just confessed that he had been stumped by a question!  That he did not know the answer and that too, to such a fundamental question.  Perhaps he was loosing his mind, maybe senility was setting in, maybe this was a test, maybe he was no longer enlightened and had fallen back into Maya (illusion), the rumors were thick in the air.  All the students had their take and all of them also saw this as a great opportunity to shine — to be the hero — to be the one who would save the day — all the students save one — our wise monk Tara.  Midst all the excitement and gossip stood Tara, every so often just having a big laugh whenever the conversation was breached in her presence.  She laughed and laughed all week in some secret delight, while the others mulled and mused the answer to this most interesting question.

Finally, the week ended and as requested by Master Blumise all the answers were written and submitted.  They were to be read out after the morning breakfast in the Great Hall.  The monks were anxious and excited… all but Tara, who continued to enjoy her private joke.  Some monks, irritated by her mysterious behavior, finally approached her and inquired into the reason for her weird demeanor. 

"The monastery is in trouble, Master Blumise has confessed he can’t answer the question of the visitor, this is a very serious situation for us and we have all worked very hard to solve this puzzle, but all week we have not seen you make any effort.  All you do is laugh and giggle constantly.  What is so funny?"

Tara, though, did not reply and shrugging her shoulders made off toward the Great Hall for the answer reading ceremony.

All is One:    Wrong

All is Nothing:    Wrong

Just be Yourself:    Wrong

Follow Your Heart:    Wrong

All is illusion:    Wrong

All is Love:    Wrong

Be Here Now:    Wrong

I am God:    Wrong

Zen is Zen:    Wrong

I am nobody:    Wrong

Bliss, Being, Consciousness:    Wrong

I am That:    Wrong

All is Mind:    Wrong

All is Emptiness:    Wrong

All is Buddha:    Wrong

All are Enlightened:    Wrong 

Tick Tack Toe:    Wrong

Then Finally….

I Don’t Know:    RIGHT

Tara had realized that Master Blumise was right all along when he said that the answer to the Question, "What is the True Definition of Zen?" was "I Don’t Know."  She also knew that the great master was far from loosing his mind.  Master Blumise bowed to Tara with a blissful smile for her right answer and Tara bowed back utterly grateful to her teacher for sharing his wisdom and love.

The True Meaning of Zen is also the True Meaning of Life.  If you can understand this answer completely you will understand all there is to understand.  You will understand the heart of Zen, you will understand the heart of meditation, you will understand what all the great teachers have been trying to teach mankind over the centuries.

Zen Koan

The master Bankei's talks were attended not only by Zen students but by persons of all ranks and sects. He never quoted sutras not indulged in scholastic dissertations. Instead, his words were spoken directly from his heart to the hearts of his listeners.

His large audience angered a priest of the Nichiren sect because the adherents had left to hear about Zen. The self-centered Nichiren priest came to the temple, determined to have a debate with Bankei.

"Hey, Zen teacher!" he called out. "Wait a minute. Whoever respects you will obey what you say, but a man like myself does not respect you. Can you make me obey you?"

"Come up beside me and I will show you," said Bankei.

Proudly the priest pushed his way through the crowd to the teacher.

Bankei smiled. "Come over to my left side."

The priest obeyed.

"No," said Bankei, "we may talk better if you are on the right side. Step over here."

The priest proudly stepped over to the right.

"You see," observed Bankei, "you are obeying me and I think you are a very gentle person. Now sit down and listen."