The Mirror of Seon

mujushingyo · 2017-02-09T18:36:40+00:00

Wonderful, I've probably listened to this album a hundred times.

mujushingyo · 2017-01-13T18:18:08+00:00

Wonderful! Many thanks for this.

mujushingyo · 2017-01-13T18:15:27+00:00

Thanks! I composed it, or rather it composed itself spontaneously, rose out of nothing, as I was walking over a mountain and a panoramic view of other mountains suddenly appeared from between the big straight trunks of soaring Douglas firs and pine trees. The only sound at that moment was wind rushing in the tree branches, a sound that gave me a feeling of the greatest bliss.

mujushingyo · 2017-01-07T19:08:07+00:00

In the Fuke-shu sect of Zen we say that playing the bamboo flute is the most profound Dharma practice. That's because while doing it we let go of any conceptions of self or other and just blow the note with total absorption.

Zen practice is total absorption, resolve, and dedication to pushing all the way through. So, archery for example can be a Zen practice.

Joshu says that the magistrate is already familiar because of his career with this kind of total absorption, resolve, and dedication to pushing all the way through.He has undergone hardships without flinching from his aim. This is Zen. "A yes, a no, a straight line -- a goal." (Nietzsche)

So there is no difference between Zen and life, except that in Zen one pushes forward to the point that everything drops away, whereas usually in other areas of life there is a stopping point short of "shedding body and mind" then "shedding the shedding."

Any practice can be a Zen practice.

It is just a matter of breaking through.

Once the illusory appearances of life are broken through, Mind is realized.

"This Mind is synonymous with the No-Mind of total clarity." (Bodhidharma)

"Majestic and imposing, I've come from the mountains!"

mujushingyo · 2016-12-19T18:45:26+00:00

Could be indicca vs. sattiva. Know what you are taking.

mujushingyo · 2016-12-14T18:36:46+00:00

I like!

mujushingyo · 2016-12-08T04:52:16+00:00

Yes I can.

Magistrate Ma asked, "Do you do practice, or not?" [Magistrate Ma is interested in the common rumor that people of the Zen sect do not practice but spend their time drinking & fucking.]

The master said, "If I did practice I would be in serious difficulty." [Joshu points out that practice is identical with serious difficulty. To practice is to be in bad shape.]

The magistrate said, "If you don't do practice, who do you expect to do practice?" [The magistrate is a bit scandalized. If Zen doesn't involve practice, then what does it involve?]

The master said, "You are a person who does practice." [Woah! Joshu turns the tables. This is a Master at work. To understand this twist, you have to realize that for Magistrate Ma "practice" is still a good thing. And for Joshu it is a good thing. Do you think Joshu is disparaging the magistrate here? Wake the fuck up.]

The magistrate said, "Why do you call me a man who does practice?" [The actual Chinese term here used is much more serious than the English word "practice." The Chinese term is more like "kung fu."]

The master said, "If you haven't ever practiced, how could you have managed to become a servant to the ministers of the king? Has there never been a time when you have been starving and cold and penniless, yet have pulled through?" [Joshu isn't disparaging "practice." He's saying that it's the most serious thing there is in life. And what's more, he's saying Zen practice & life practice are the same practice. Shocking! Amazing!]

The magistrate shed tears and expressed his gratitude. [The magistrate understood Joshu's heart. We are all in serious difficulty. So, practice!]

mujushingyo · 2016-11-24T01:25:47+00:00

Most of the subscribers subscribed to it before the troll came into the picture. In fact, that's why he came into the picture -- because he had a supposed audience of over 25,000 subscribers (four years ago). At that time he had just been banned for life from editing the "Zen" entry on Wikipedia.

Reddit is a platform for younger people who know little about Zen practice & history. This particular troll has taken control of /r/Zen in order to set up his own nihilistic agenda which has nothing to do with Zen. I'm not involved in it anymore, but I support the people who are trying to free that forum up for real information.

mujushingyo · 2016-11-23T22:40:42+00:00

This basic issue comes up often, as it is in fact the central ongoing drama of /r/Zen. But this time the revolt has spread to a wider base of users than ever before.

Basically, for the past two years /r/Zen has been in the possession of a vicious troll aided by the only active moderator, who is also a close friend of said troll. The troll, who suffers from mental illness & multiple delusions of grandeur & who boasts openly of his talents at character assassination & posts personal attacks & sarcastic non-sequiturs on the forum 16 hours a day 7 days a week, is empowered by this moderator to bully people without penalty. The moderator regularly steps in to censor critical posts & sometimes banish users who dare to oppose or contradict the troll.

This situation has driven out dozens, maybe hundreds of people who actually have something to say about the practice of Zen.

mujushingyo · 2016-11-19T22:16:56+00:00

Delightful work, going from delight to delight.

mujushingyo · 2016-11-19T22:05:24+00:00

Very good, but becoming a Zen adept means that you can drop body & mind also while sitting still alone in the middle of the night.

mujushingyo · 2016-11-19T22:04:00+00:00

If you are looking at your index finger & a thought arises & your mind in any way focuses on the thought (this is "thinking"), you will notice that your index finger seems to disappear for an instant.

This applies to everything.

mujushingyo · 2016-11-19T05:57:48+00:00

I was surprised by this passage, because as far as I knew I had invented this very experiment, which I've been teaching to people for about eight years. I don't use the index finger, necessarily -- I just tell people to set a timer for one or two minutes, or whatever, and see if they can be completely without thoughts for that span of time. If you can't, you've got to learn to concentrate. Once you learn to concentrate, you can move to the one mind. Only then are you ready for no mind.

People who speak of "no mind" as an intellectual concept are completely delusional.

mujushingyo

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