Me, personally?

What drew you to Zen?

Me, personally?

I take things apart.  When I was very young my mother bought me a build-your-own-crystal-radio set.  I never opened the box.  But one day she brought an old radio home that didn't work and I spent hours taking it apart, piece by piece.  

Why Zen?  It is just that when you take it apart, there is nothing there, and you realize ah! What I took apart, and the taking it apart, that is not Zen.

Huang Po: Warrior's Pearl

The Reading:

Suppose a warrior, forgetting that he was already wearing his pearl on his forehead, were to seek for it elsewhere, he could travel the whole world without finding it.  But if someone who knew what was wrong were to point it out to him, the warrior would immediately realize that the pearl had been there all the time.


Discussion:

With one anecdote we see; nothing to seek, nothing to find; nothing to gain, nothing to realize.

Ummon's Rice Cake

The Reading:

Shoyoroku., CASE 78:  Ummon's "Rice Cake" – Hekiganroku Case 77
A monk asked Ummon, "What is meant by the pronouncement 'to go beyond the Buddha and
the patriarchs'?"  Ummon said, "Unrefined rice in a cheap cake."


Discussion:

There is always room for rice cakes.

A little project

I am working on a little project... a very short book on "not Zen."

I'm going to call it, Zen Revolution: Not Zen.

You know, for kids.

Ummon - Two Diseases

The Reading:

Shoyoroku, CASE 11:  Unmon's "Two Diseases"

Great Master Unmon said, "When the light does not penetrate, there are two diseases.
Everything is unclear and things hang before you – this is one disease.  Even after you have
realized the emptiness of all things, somehow you feel as if there were still something there.
This shows that the light has not yet penetrated thoroughly.

"Also there are two diseases concerning the Dharma-body.  You have reached the
Dharma-body, but you remain attached to the Dharma and cannot extinguish your own view;
therefore you lead a corrupt life around the Dharma-body – this is one disease.  Suppose you
have truly penetrated to the end, if you give up further efforts, it will not do.  You examine
yourself minutely and say you have no flaw -- this is nothing but a disease."



Discussion:

Ha!  No flaw!  So close, so far.