right TRACK!

[master of puppets]

Right track is zen.

If it is zen for me so fo everyone.
(joking)

I'm about to begin practicing.EMPTY MIND.

My question is if my mind is empty do eveything empty?

I'm glad I've find the right track, btw. namaste

[PadmaVonSamba]

if my mind is empty do eveything empty?

When your mind is empty
will it matter?

[Johnny Dangerous]

Mind is already empty and luminous.

[master of puppets]

if my mind is empty do eveything empty?

When your mind is empty
will it matter?

Back to the practice,
I see..

[master of puppets]

Mind is already empty and luminous.

Thank you, you are a friend.

[reiun]

I'm about to begin practicing.EMPTY MIND.

By master of puppets
Fri Feb 05, 2021 5:12 pm
Forum: Meditation
Re: have another question
Everything begin with the first step. Now I'm ready for it.
It took me so long to understand this.

Re: have a question
Post by master of puppets » Tue Feb 02, 2021 7:53 am
I don’t still start practicing. Yet no experience of it.
I just don’t think practicing and to be aware of the practice could happen be at the same time, at least technically.
Cause, if mind is like a baggage; that each time we hold on or put in something, there would/could be no place to know.
So, my simple answer is no.
We couldn’t be aware and aware of the awareness at the same time..

master of puppets
Re: Bodhidharma's Zen
Unread post by master of puppets » Sat Sep 19, 2020 8:50 am
When no thought being aware;
this alone itself is accelerated meditation
+ - = Neutral
Being neutral in all conditions is the result!

Unread post by master of puppets » Wed Sep 16, 2020 10:52 am
Whatever happens it is good.
my words
Please do share your words or any master's words which you like.

"If you don't understand by yourself, you'll have to find a teacher to get to the bottom of life and death." --Bodhidharma
from: The Zen Teachings of Bodhidharma. Translated by Red Pine. North Point Press, 1987. page 13

[FiveSkandhas]

Right track is zen.

If it is zen for me so fo everyone.
(joking)

I'm about to begin practicing.EMPTY MIND.

My question is if my mind is empty do eveything empty?

I'm glad I've find the right track, btw. namaste

What flavor? Rinzai? Soto? Something else?

Having spent several years of my life practicing at a Rinzai temple in Japan, I have a perhaps-unreasonable prejudice against Soto's "all zazen, all the time" approach. I feel it runs counter to the spirit of Bodhidharma and other early masters. But your mileage may certainly vary.

If you are going down the Zen road I highly recommend Master Bankei's writing on the "Unborn Mind." Then as a counterbalance, read his bitter but brilliant critic, Master Hakuin. My old faves.

[master of puppets]

Unborn Mind

namaste

[reiun]

"I would like to conclude this introduction by stressing this book is not meant to take the place of a teacher. As Hakuin said, even the most profound teachings and practices can, if applied inappropriately, become poison rather than nourishment. It is true that Zen is a path accomplished only through one’s own body-mind. But this is done in relationship with a qualified master whose existence manifests the embodied qualities of awakening . . .

"Even if someone reading this book happened to enter the gate of profound awakening without guidance or prior practice, the fact remains that it is only from a qualified teacher that affirmation of genuine kensho may be obtained. And it is only with a teacher’s guidance that one is likely to avoid the many pitfalls that lie along the subsequent post-kensho path of liberation. . .

"I often think that none of this should really need saying since the Zen tradition has always stressed the role of the teacher and the indispensable nature of that crucial human relationship. But it seems fashionable today to think that technology allows us to learn anything on our own. The truth is that we should affirm something quite different: technology doesn’t remove the need for a teacher, but in fact makes it possible for sincere Zen students to contact and meet face-to-face with Zen teachers in a manner that is almost effortless to what past generations endured . . ."

From: Hidden Zen, by Meido Moore. Shambala, 2020. Pages 20, 21

[FiveSkandhas]

Meido Moore

I keep seeing this fellow's name everywhere it seems. He's really stirred things up with "Hidden Zen."
Having looked at it a bit it seems to present the "physicality" of Rinzai in quite lucid detail.
When I was studying Rinzai my Teacher would occasionally toss out one or two such bodily tips and tricks at a time.
Almost as an afterthought, it seemed. Just enough so we wouldn't gorge ourselves on them. Like slipping the occasional bits of candy to a baby.
It's only when I saw all this sort of thing systematically presented in Moore's book that I realized there was this whole "bodywork" dimension to Rinzai that goes beyond "just sitting" or memorizing Koan capping-phrase "cheat sheet" manuals.
I wish I had had more time to practice that tradition before COVID came along and upended that cozy little world, at least for now. But after a year and a half away from Rinzai I find myself slipping into my old pure-land ways...

[Johnny Dangerous]

Meido Moore

I keep seeing this fellow's name everywhere it seems. He's really stirred things up with "Hidden Zen."
Having looked at it a bit it seems to present the "physicality" of Rinzai in quite lucid detail.
When I was studying Rinzai my Teacher would occasionally toss out one or two such bodily tips and tricks at a time.
Almost as an afterthought, it seemed. Just enough so we wouldn't gorge ourselves on them. Like slipping the occasional bits of candy to a baby.
It's only when I saw all this sort of thing systematically presented in Moore's book that I realized there was this whole "bodywork" dimension to Rinzai that goes beyond "just sitting" or memorizing Koan capping-phrase "cheat sheet" manuals.
I wish I had had more time to practice that tradition before COVID came along and upended that cozy little world, at least for now. But after a year and a half away from Rinzai I find myself slipping into my old pure-land ways...

Meido used to contribute to this forum pretty regularly, not sure if he is active right now or not.

[LastLegend]

Right track is zen.

If it is zen for me so fo everyone.
(joking)

I'm about to begin practicing.EMPTY MIND.

My question is if my mind is empty do eveything empty?

I'm glad I've find the right track, btw. namaste

Empty yet not confused, lost, or erred, or deluded. Sixth Patriarch said as the clear sky...no form or appearance though. This makes me wonder what luminous means? When eyes are closed, is it still luminous?

[FiveSkandhas]

Meido used to contribute to this forum pretty regularly, not sure if he is active right now or not.

Really? Wow. I would love to chat with him. I enjoyed his earlier book, the "Rinzai Zen Way", and the new text is certainly making a splash.

[reiun]

Meido used to contribute to this forum pretty regularly, not sure if he is active right now or not.

Yes, and Enver/mop and I knew him from Zenspace.

It seems he has retired from DW?

I follow him via Patreon subscription.

[LastLegend]

I'm about to begin practicing.EMPTY MIND.

By master of puppets
Fri Feb 05, 2021 5:12 pm
Forum: Meditation
Re: have another question
Everything begin with the first step. Now I'm ready for it.
It took me so long to understand this.

Re: have a question
Post by master of puppets » Tue Feb 02, 2021 7:53 am
I don’t still start practicing. Yet no experience of it.
I just don’t think practicing and to be aware of the practice could happen be at the same time, at least technically.
Cause, if mind is like a baggage; that each time we hold on or put in something, there would/could be no place to know.
So, my simple answer is no.
We couldn’t be aware and aware of the awareness at the same time..

master of puppets
Re: Bodhidharma's Zen
Unread post by master of puppets » Sat Sep 19, 2020 8:50 am
When no thought being aware;
this alone itself is accelerated meditation
+ - = Neutral
Being neutral in all conditions is the result!

Unread post by master of puppets » Wed Sep 16, 2020 10:52 am
Whatever happens it is good.
my words
Please do share your words or any master's words which you like.

"If you don't understand by yourself, you'll have to find a teacher to get to the bottom of life and death." --Bodhidharma
from: The Zen Teachings of Bodhidharma. Translated by Red Pine. North Point Press, 1987. page 13

In another translation of Red Pine’s Platform Sutra, “Good Dharma friends” is used...in Vietnamese “Thiện Tri Thức.” In Sanskrit, it is Kalyàna-mitta. This is different from a teacher.

[reiun]

Really? Wow. I would love to chat with him. I enjoyed his earlier book, the "Rinzai Zen Way", and the new text is certainly making a splash.

Korinji Rinzai Zen Community Contact

[reiun]

I'm about to begin practicing.EMPTY MIND.

By master of puppets
Fri Feb 05, 2021 5:12 pm
Forum: Meditation
Re: have another question
Everything begin with the first step. Now I'm ready for it.
It took me so long to understand this.

Re: have a question
Post by master of puppets » Tue Feb 02, 2021 7:53 am
I don’t still start practicing. Yet no experience of it.
I just don’t think practicing and to be aware of the practice could happen be at the same time, at least technically.
Cause, if mind is like a baggage; that each time we hold on or put in something, there would/could be no place to know.
So, my simple answer is no.
We couldn’t be aware and aware of the awareness at the same time..

master of puppets
Re: Bodhidharma's Zen
Unread post by master of puppets » Sat Sep 19, 2020 8:50 am
When no thought being aware;
this alone itself is accelerated meditation
+ - = Neutral
Being neutral in all conditions is the result!

Unread post by master of puppets » Wed Sep 16, 2020 10:52 am
Whatever happens it is good.
my words
Please do share your words or any master's words which you like.

"If you don't understand by yourself, you'll have to find a teacher to get to the bottom of life and death." --Bodhidharma
from: The Zen Teachings of Bodhidharma. Translated by Red Pine. North Point Press, 1987. page 13

In another translation of Red Pine’s Platform Sutra, “Good Dharma friends” is used...in Vietnamese “Thiện Tri Thức.” In Sanskrit, it is Kalyàna-mitta. This is different from a teacher.

Once again, I have no idea of what you are talking about, or how it is a relevant reply.

[LastLegend]

"If you don't understand by yourself, you'll have to find a teacher to get to the bottom of life and death." --Bodhidharma
from: The Zen Teachings of Bodhidharma. Translated by Red Pine. North Point Press, 1987. page 13

In another translation of Red Pine’s Platform Sutra, “Good Dharma friends” is used...in Vietnamese “Thiện Tri Thức.” In Sanskrit, it is Kalyàna-mitta. This is different from a teacher.

Once again, I have no idea of what you are talking about, or how it is a relevant reply.

Well...here is a passage so you can compare to Bodhidharma’s:

Page 13.
Hui-neng then yelled out, “Good friends! You already possess the prajna wisdom of enlightenment! But because your minds are deluded, you can’t understand by yourselves. You need to find a truly good friend to show you the way to see your nature. Good friends, buddha nature isn’t different for the ignorant and the wise. It’s just that people are deluded or awake. When people are deluded, they’re ignorant. When they wake up, they become wise.

Page 29.



31. Good friends, when I was with Master Hung-jen, as soon as I heard his words, I experienced a great realization, and I saw the original nature of reality directly. Therefore, I am passing on this teaching to later generations so that those who study the Way will realize enlightenment directly and so that those who contemplate the mind will realize their original nature directly. If you are unable to realize this by yourselves, you need to find a truly good friend to point out the way to see your nature.
And what do I mean by a ‘truly good friend’? Someone who understands the teaching of the Supreme Vehicle and who points directly to the true path is a truly good friend, a great intermediary, a guide who helps people see their nature. All good teachings can only come about due to truly good friends.
The buddhas of the Three Periods and the twelve divisions of the Canon are fully present in this nature of yours. If you can’t

realize this by yourselves, you need to find a good friend to show you how to see your nature. But if you realize this by yourselves, you don’t need to look for a good friend somewhere else. And if someone insists that you have to find a good friend somewhere else before you attain liberation, that place doesn’t exist. You will attain liberation when you meet the good friend inside your own mind. But as long as your mind is full of confusion, delusion, and mistaken views, even the instruction of an external good friend won’t be able to save you.
If you can’t realize this by yourself, the moment you give rise to the light of prajna, all your delusions will vanish in a flash. This is your truest friend. With one realization you reach the stage of buddhahood. Use this wisdom to illuminate the land of the mind of your nature. And when inside and outside are perfectly clear, you will know your own mind. And once you know your own mind, you will be free. And once you have gained your freedom, this is the samadhi of prajna. And the realization of the samadhi of prajna is no-thought.
And what do we mean by ‘no-thought’? The teaching of no- thought means to see all dharmas without being attached to any dharma, to reach everywhere without being attached anywhere, to keep your nature pure, so that when the Six Thieves pass through the Six Gates, they neither avoid nor are corrupted by the Six Realms of Sensation but come and go freely. This is the samadhi of prajna. Freedom and liberation constitute the practice of no-thought. But if you don’t think any thoughts at all, the moment you make your thoughts stop, you’re imprisoned by dharmas. We call this a ‘onesided view.

https://terebess.hu/zen/platform-sutra.pdf

[reiun]

Well...here is a passage so you can compare to Bodhidharma’s:

Page 13.
Hui-neng then yelled out, "Good friends, when I was with Master Hung-jen, as soon as I heard his words, I experienced a great realization, and I saw the original nature of reality directly. Therefore, I am passing on this teaching to later generations so that those who study the Way will realize enlightenment directly and so that those who contemplate the mind will realize their original nature directly. If you are unable to realize this by yourselves, you need to find a truly good friend to point out the way to see your nature.
And what do I mean by a ‘truly good friend’? Someone who understands the teaching of the Supreme Vehicle and who points directly to the true path is a truly good friend, a great intermediary, a guide who helps people see their nature. All good teachings can only come about due to truly good friends.
https://terebess.hu/zen/platform-sutra.pdf

This just reinforces the teaching of Bodhidharma and Meido.

I think what you are arguing to the contrary is that you (or master of puppets) can proceed without a teacher, no problem.

[Genjo Conan]

I have a perhaps-unreasonable prejudice against Soto's "all zazen, all the time" approach.

This has not, in fact, been the approach at any of the Soto temples at which I've practiced.