Playing with Perspectives

[UnbornTao]

Edited May 25 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

Quote

Students today cannot grasp that names and words do not constitute understanding. They copy the words of some old fellow, long dead, into a great book and hold that therein is contained the secret and ultimate, and treasure it at their sacred possession. What a great error! Blind idiots, what juice are they looking for in those dry bones? Such as these do not know good from bad, pore over the meaning of Sutras and Treatises and speculate about them. It is like taking a clod of dung, putting it into one's mouth and spitting it out again, then handing it on to another.

– Rinzai.

 

Edited May 25 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

 

[UnbornTao]

Quote

Tokusan was studying Zen under Ryutan. One night he came to Ryutan and asked many questions. The teacher said: "The night is getting old. Why don't you retire?"

So Tokusan bowed and opened the screen to go out, observing:

"It is very dark outside."

Ryutan offered Tokusan a lighted candle to find his way. Just as Tokusan received it, Ryutan blew it out. At that moment the mind of Tokusan was opened.

- Zen Flesh, Zen Bones by Paul Reps.

 

Edited May 30 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

 

Edited May 25 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

Quote

It's beautiful to be alone. To be alone does not mean to be lonely. It means the mind is not influenced and contaminated by society.

– J. Krishnamurti.

 

Edited May 25 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

Here's a challenge for you: do not swear for a month. 

Edited May 30 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

Make decisions deliberately, or you will likely default to the most comfortable option. Do not be passive or complacent. The operative verb here is make -- a decision is created.

Edited May 25 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

Activities that create unnecessary suffering:

1. Resisting your experience
2. Comparing your experience to a future, so-called better one
3. Comparing your life and self to those of others
4. Identifying with meaningless or trivial things
5. Pursuing ideals
6. Desiring what you don’t have
7. Living as if your thinking and actions were inconsequential

Edited Saturday at 01:23 PM by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

 

Edited January 23, 2023 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

 

[UnbornTao]

 

Edited May 26 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

Any activity can be enjoyed when carried out mindfully, as opposed to resisted--even if subtly. There is a richness to life that doesn’t depend on external events but arises from being fully present.

What's your experience like when you allow yourself to delve into it? How does this affect your state?

Being aware of, and sensitive to, one’s experience also enhances your performance.

Edited June 1 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

Quote

If you limit your choice only to what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want, and all that is left is a compromise.

― Robert Fritz

 

Edited May 26 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

Why do we pursue constant entertainment nowadays? What is boredom?

What function does this need--and often, addiction-- serve? What do you gain by being entertained and distracted all the time?

What begins to surface in your experience when you allow yourself to simply be--when you permit the mundane? What if you stay with the present moment--utterly undistracted--for a while?

Why is it that, in the absence of distraction, a subtle uneasiness or discomfort so often arises?

Edited June 16 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

What does it take to forgive?

Edited May 25 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

The truth of the matter is infinitely more fascinating than any fantasy.

Edited September 27, 2023 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

Who or what might you be unconsciously holding responsible for your learning? What would it take for you to stand on your own two feet--so that your learning no longer depends on something external to you?

Can you see that whenever learning truly happened for you, you were the source of it? You were the one making the connections, investigating, struggling, and wanting to understand. There’s no way around this principle.

Edited May 27 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

Less inauthenticity means more of you. As a contrasting example, recall your experience as a kid - when you were naturally more authentic, before you got completely caught up in the social world. It was a freeing and joyful experience - more present, alive, open. And yet, that state arose from being free of a complex conceptual matrix and self-image. As adults, aligning ourselves with this principle means becoming less - dropping pretense and recognizing and letting go of anything that isn’t aligned with our most honest experience of ourselves in this moment, whatever that may be.

Edited July 8 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

Quote

No matter what a deluded man may think he is perceiving, 
he is really seeing Brahman and nothing else but Brahman.

- Shankara

 

Edited May 26 by UnbornTao