Zen Essence (eBook)

Thomas Cleary (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2000 | 1. Auflage
136 Seiten
Shambhala (Verlag)
978-0-8348-2927-5 (ISBN)

Infos

Drawn from the records of Chinese Zen masters of the Tang and Song dynasties, this collection may surprise some readers. In contrast to the popular image of Zen as an authoritarian, monastic tradition deeply rooted in Asian culture, these passages portray Zen as remarkably flexible, adaptive to contemporary and individual needs, and transcending cultural boundaries.

The readings contained in Zen Essence emphasize that the practice of Zen requires consciousness alone and does not depend on a background in Zen Buddhism and Asian culture. The true essence of Zen resides in the relationship between mind and culture, whatever that culture might be. This unique collection of writings creates a picture of Zen not as a religion or philosophy, but as a practical science of freedom.

Textauszug

ZENMASTER LINJI

TruePerception and Understanding
Peoplewho study Buddhism should seek real, true perception and understanding for now.If you attain real, true perception and understanding, birth and death don'taffect you—,you are free to go or stay. You needn't seek wonders, for wonderscome of themselves.

Self-confidence
WhatI point out to you is only that you shouldn't allow yourselves to be confusedby others. Act when you need to, without further hesitation or doubt.

Peopletoday can't do this—,what is their affliction? Their affliction is in theirlack of self-confidence.

Ifyou do not spontaneously trust yourself sufficiently, you will be in a franticstate, pursuing all sorts of objects and being changed by those objects, unableto be independent.

BuddhaWithin
Thereis no stability in the world, it is like a house on fire. This is not a placewhere you can stay for a long time. The murderous demon of impermanence isinstantaneous, and it does not choose between the upper and lower classes, orbetween the old and the young.

Ifyou want to be no different from the buddhas and Zen masters, just don't seekexternally.

Thepure light in a moment of awareness in your mind is the Buddha's essence withinyou. The nondiscriminating light in a moment of awareness in your mind is theBuddha's wisdom within you. The undifferentiated light in a moment of awarenessin your mind is the Buddha's manifestation within you.

NoObsessions
Itis most urgent that you seek real, true perception and understanding, so youcan be free in the world and not be confused by ordinary spiritualists.

Itis best to have no obsessions. Just don't be contrived. Simply be normal.

Youimpulsively seek elsewhere, looking to others for your own hands and feet. Thisis already mistaken.

TheMind Ground
Themind ground can go into the ordinary, into the holy, into the pure, into thedefiled, into the real, into the conventional, but it is not your'real' or 'conventional,' 'ordinary' or'holy.' It can put labels on all the real and conventional, theordinary and holy, but the real and conventional, the ordinary and holy, cannotput labels on someone in the mind ground. If you can get it, use it, withoutputting any more labels on it.

UnderstandingPeople
Whenfollowers of Zen come to see me, I have already understood them completely. Howcan I do this? Simply because my perception is independent—,externally I do notgrasp the ordinary or the holy, internally I do not dwell on the fundamental. Isee all the way through and do not doubt or err anymore.

Autonomy
Justbe autonomous wherever you are, and right there is realization. Situations thatcome up cannot change you. Even if you have bad habits, you will spontaneouslybe liberated from them.

SpiritualDilettantes
Zenstudents today are totally unaware of truth. They are like foraging goats thatpick up whatever they bump into. They do not distinguish between the servantand the master, or between the guest and the host.

Peoplelike this enter Zen with distorted minds, and are unable to enter effectivelyinto dynamic situations. They may be called true initiates, but actually theyare really mundane people.

Thosewho really leave attachments must master real, true perception to distinguishthe enlightened from the obsessed, the genuine from the artificial, theunregenerate from the sage.

Ifyou can make these discernments, you can be said to have really left...

Produkt-Details

• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Religion / Theologie ► Buddhismus
• ISBN-10: 0-8348-2927-4 / 0834829274
• ISBN-13: 978-0-8348-2927-5 / 9780834829275