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#2114 - Friday, April 16, 2005 - Editor: michael

  http://meditation.dk/Mystics.html

We are Godīs bliss, for in us He enjoyeth without end.

Lady Julian    

When thou standest still from the thinking of self and the willing of self;
when both thy intellect and will are quiet and passive to the expressions
of the eternal world and spirit, and when thy soul is winged up and above
that which is temporal, the outward senses and the imagination being locked
up by holy abstraction, then the Eternal Hearing, Seeing and Speaking will be revealed in thee, and so God appeareth in thee and whispered to thy spirit. Blessed art thou, therefore, if thou canst stand still from thy self-thinking and self-willing and canst stop the wheel of thy imagination and senses.


Jacob Boehme  

http://meditation.dk/WhatIsMeditation.html   I

n every human being there is a natural inborn ability to fall into a state of peace
and happiness. Here there are no borders, no problems & no time.
It can almost happen everywhere.

You look out of the window - you watch the sunset over the ocean or you walk in busy streets.

Often this peek-point feeling comes when you least expect it.

The state could be defined as an Alerted State of Happy Oblivion.

This is Godīs gift to mankind. He has genetically engineered us in such a way that we all within us have a Meditation Matrix

You can go through a whole life without knowing this enormous potential inside you. But once the switch is turned, the Matrix unfolds the process - intelligently and automaticly - like digestion. And then - like in the morning when you wake from sleep - you wake from the state of being awake.

This super-awake sleep is Timeless Paradise within Man.

The Meditation Matrix grows like Zen-grass:

Sitting quietly - the Grass grows - Spring comes by itself.
                                                                               Zen-poem


[editor's note: there is more text at the above link.]

***************************************************

There is no greater mystery than this -
that being the Reality ourselves, we seek to gain Reality. 
We think that there is something binding our reality and
that it must be destroyed before the reality is gained.

It is ridiculous!

A day will dawn when you will yourself laugh at your effort.
That which is on the day of laughter is also now.

Ramana Maharshi

***************************************************

 
Read one of the most beautiful and most significant Zen story: 10 BULLS
by Kakuan

Transcribed by Nyogen Sensaki and Paul Reps
Illustrated by Tomikichiro Tokuriki

The bull is the eternal principle of life, truth in action. The ten bulls represent sequent steps in the realization of one's true nature.
This sequence is as potent today as it was when Kakuan (1100-1200) developed it from earlier works and made his paintings of the bull.


Taken from the book:
Zen Flesh, Zen bones
compiled by Paul Reps, Anchor books, NY

ZIP file
Download and read later


 
  1. The Search for the Bull

In the pasture of this world, I endlessly push aside the tall grasses in search of the bull. Following unnamed rivers, lost upon the interpenetrating paths of distant mountains, My strength failing and my vitality exhausted, I cannot find the bull. I only hear the locusts chirring through the forest at night

Comment: The bull never has been lost. What need is there to search? Only because of separation from my true nature, I fail to find him. In the confusion of the senses I lose even his tracks. Far from home, I see many cross-roads, but which way is the right one I know not. Greed and fear, good and bad, entangle me.

bull1.GIF (2784 bytes)

 
  2. Discovering the Footprints

Along the riverbank under the trees, I discover footprints! Even under the fragrant grass I see his prints. Deep in remote mountains they are found. These traces no more can be hidden than one's nose, looking heavenward.

Comment: Understanding the teaching, I see the footprints of the bull. Then I learn that, just as many utensils are made from one metal, so too are myriad entities made of the fabric of self. Unless I discriminate, how will I perceive the true from the untrue? Not yet having entered the gate, nevertheless I have discerned the path.

bull2.GIF (2002 bytes)

 
  3. Perceiving the Bull

I hear the song of the nightingale. The sun is warm, the wind is mild, willows are green along the shore,
Here no bull can hide! What artist can draw that massive head, those majestic horns?

Comment: When one hears the voice, one can sense its source. As soon as the six senses merge, the gate is entered. Wherever one enters one sees the head of the bull! This unity is like salt in water, like colour in dyestuff. The slightest thing is not apart from self.

bull3.GIF (2491 bytes)

 
  4. Catching the Bull

I seize him with a terrific struggle. His great will and power are inexhaustible. He charges to the high plateau far above the cloud-mists, Or in an impenetrable ravine he stands.

Comment: He dwelt in the forest a long time, but I caught him today! Infatuation for scenery interferes with his direction. Longing for sweeter grass, he wanders away. His mind still is stubborn and unbridled. If I wish him to submit, I must raise my whip.

bull5.GIF (2393 bytes)  
  5. Taming the Bull

The whip and rope are necessary, Else he might stray off down some dusty road. Being well trained, he becomes naturally gentle. Then, unfettered, he obeys his master.

Comment: When one thought arises, another thought follows. When the first thought springs from enlightenment, all subsequent thoughts are true. Through delusion, one makes everything untrue. Delusion is not caused by objectivity; it is the result of subjectivity. Hold the nose-ring tight and do not allow even a doubt.

bull5.GIF (2393 bytes)

 
  6. Riding the Bull Home

Mounting the bull, slowly I return homeward. The voice of my flute intones through the evening. Measuring with hand-beats the pulsating harmony,
I direct the endless rhythm. Whoever hears this melody will join me.

Comment: This struggle is over; gain and loss are assimilated. I sing the song of the village woodsman, and play the tunes of the children. Astride the bull, I observe the clouds above. Onward I go, no matter who may wish to call me back.

bull6.GIF (2179 bytes)

 
  7. The Bull Transcended

Astride the bull, I reach home. I am serene. The bull too can rest. The dawn has come. In blissful repose,
Within my thatched dwelling I have abandoned the whip and rope.

Comment: All is one law, not two. We only make the bull a temporary subject. It is as the relation of rabbit and trap, of fish and net. It is as gold and dross, or the moon emerging from a cloud. One path of clear light travels on throughout endless time.

bull7.GIF (2485 bytes)

 
  8. Both Bull and Self Transcended

Whip, rope, person, and bull -- all merge in No-Thing. This heaven is so vast no message can stain it. How may a snowflake exist in a raging fire?
Here are the footprints of the patriarchs.

Comment: Mediocrity is gone. Mind is clear of limitation. I seek no state of enlightenment.
Neither do I remain where no enlightenment exists. Since I linger in neither condition, eyes cannot see me. If hundreds of birds strew my path with flowers, such praise would be meaningless.

bull8.GIF (1309 bytes)

 
  9. Reaching the Source
Too many steps have been taken returning to the root and the source. Better to have been blind and deaf from the beginning! Dwelling in one's true abode, unconcerned with that without -- The river flows tranquilly on and the flowers are red.

Comment: From the beginning, truth is clear. Poised in silence, I observe the forms of integration and disintegration. One who is not attached to "form" need not be "reformed." The water is emerald, the mountain is indigo, and I see that which is creating and that which is destroying.

bull9.GIF (2808 bytes)

 
  10. In the World

Barefooted and naked of breast, I mingle with the people of the world. My clothes are ragged and dust-laden, and I am ever blissful. I use no magic to extend my life; Now, before me, the dead trees become alive.

Comment: Inside my gate, a thousand sages do not know me. The beauty of my garden is invisible. Why should one search for the footprints of the patriarchs? I go to the market place with my wine bottle and return home with my staff. I visit the wineshop and the market, and everyone I look upon becomes enlightened.

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