Tongue Tied

Shuzan’s Bamboo Spatula

Master Shuzan held out his bamboo spatula and asked, “If you call this a bamboo spatula, you give umbrage (to the principle of Zen). If you call this no bamboo spatula, you violate the law (of common-sense). What will all of you call this?”


The Commentary

Should you call this a bamboo spatula, you would give umbrage. Should you call this no bamboo spatula, you would betray the law. Both to speak out will not do, and no word will be of any use either. Quickly say, quickly say!


The Verse
Bringing out the bamboo spatula,
Shuzan demanded the order of life or death.
Being put to either the umbrage or the betrayal,
Even Buddha and Patriarchs would beg for their lives.

A Scientific Heresy

"The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift."--Albert Einstein

A Puzzling State of Mind

Joshu asked Nansen, “What is the way?”

Nansen answered, “Your ordinary mind--that is the way.”

Joshu said, “Does it go in any particular direction?"

Nansen replied, “The more you seek after it, the more it runs away.”

Joshu: “Then how can you know it is the way?”

Nansen: “The way does not belong to knowing or not knowing. Knowing is illusion. Not knowing is lack of discrimination. When you get to this perplexed way, it is like the vastness of space, an unfathomable void, so how can it be this or that, yes or no?”

Upon this Joshu came to a sudden realization.

--As translated by R.H. Blyth

Zen Master Shunryu Suzuki reminds us what is true intuitive activity: "So even if the sun were to rise from the west, the Bodhisattva has only one way. His way is in each moment to express his nature and his sincerity."

Unseen Advantage

“I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.”― Groucho Marx

Waste Not

"Up to now in this country we are warned not to waste our time but we are brought up to waste our lives."--Eric Hoffer

What Is It?

What is meditation? To sincerely ask the question of yourself is the very act of meditating. It is not something you do for 30 minutes a day, but a practice that evokes awareness moment-by-moment. There is no escaping reality.

Krishnamurti explains...

But meditation is part of everyday existence; it is something that you have to do as you breathe, as you think, as you live, as you have delicate or brutal feelings. That is real meditation, and it is entirely different from systematized mediation which some of you so sedulously practice.

Like a good teacher, Krishnamurti leads you back to yourself. He is not a guru, but he does invite you to think over the question of what is meditation with him...

I would like, if I may, to go into this question of meditation, but please do not be mesmerized by my words. Don't become suddenly meditative; don't become very intent to discover what is the goal of true meditation. The meditation of which I speak has no goal, no end....

We are going on a journey together, and when on a journey you can take along only what is absolutely essential. The journey of which I am speaking is very swift, there is no abiding place, no stopping, no rest; it is an endless movement, and a mind that is burdened is not free to travel.

Krishnamurti adds the following warning...

A petty mind cannot take the journey into itself. But if through these words you are becoming aware of you own thoughts, your own state, then there is no guru.

In his talk, Krishnamurti then explores what meditation is not--it is not concentration, it is not some form of thought control, or the suppression of desires. It is not what is recognizable or known. He concludes that meditation is "the freeing of the mind from the known." He adds...

It is open, not to the sannyasis [a Hindu religious mendicant], not to the dehydrated human beings who have suppressed themselves and who no longer have any passion, but to everyone whose mind is in the state of meditation from moment to moment.

To more fully explore this question with Krishnamurti, see his Second Talk in Madras from his book The Revolution Within.

The Lone Crusader

Be a loner. That gives you time to wonder, to search for the truth. Have holy curiosity. Make your life worth living.--Albert Einstein

Like the crusader of medieval times, like Don Quixote himself, vow to live your life courageously. Hold high the banner of Truth as you set out to reclaim the world as your own.

Culture Wars

The difference between high culture and pop culture is that high culture is rooted in a lively and curious interest in reality as it is while pop culture is driven by a desperate need to escape that reality.

Do You Know The Way?

Instead of inquiring what is intelligence, let us discover for ourselves what are the hindrances placed upon the mind which prevent the full awakening of intelligence. If I were to give an explanation of what is intelligence, and you agreed with my explanation, your mind would make of it a well-defined system, and through fear would twist itself to fit into that system. But if each one can discover for himself the many impediments placed on the mind, then, through awareness, not through self-analysis, the mind will begin to liberate itself, thus awakening true intelligence which is life itself. —J. Krishnamurti

Homeward Bound

The true road to home has only two rules: begin and continue.

Until Death Do Us Part

It is a strange truth that the Angel of Death is more merciful than most of humanity. For the Angel of Death comes to put an end to human suffering while humanity often increases it.

Beside Oneself

“A human being is part of a whole, called by us the 'Universe,' a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest--a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”—Albert Einstein

The above quote is best understood in conjunction with Donald Hoffman's observations on the phenomenon of human consciousness: Do We See Reality As It Is?

The Exception to the Rule

“The great majority of men and women, in ordinary times, pass through life without ever contemplating or criticizing, as a whole, either their own conditions or those of the world at large.

"They find themselves born into a certain place in society, and they accept what each day brings forth, without any effort of thought beyond what the immediate present requires. Almost as instinctively as the beasts of the field, they seek the satisfaction of the needs of the moment, without much forethought, and without considering that by sufficient effort the whole conditions of their lives could be changed.

"A certain percentage, guided by personal ambition, make the effort of thought and will which is necessary to place themselves among the more fortunate members of the community; but very few among these are seriously concerned to secure for all the advantages which they seek for themselves.

"It is only a few rare and exceptional men who have that kind of love toward mankind at large that makes them unable to endure patiently the general mass of evil and suffering, regardless of any relation it may have to their own lives.”—Bertrand Russell

Strive to be the exception rather than the rule.

Pause A Moment

Eric Hoffer understood that our demand for immediate gratification in all things undermines our creative human potential. He points out that the action that occurs instantly is "characteristic of the animal world, where action follows perception with the swiftness of a chemical reaction."

Man, on the other hand, is a defective animal. It is because man had to compensate for his lack of inborn skills and sharp instincts that he became a creator.

"In man," Eric Hoffer writes, "because of his rudimentary instincts, there is a pause of faltering and groping, and this pause is the seedbed of images, longings, forebodings and irritations which are the warp and woof of the creative process."

It is the pause that matters most. Hoffer quotes Peter Ulich in order to underline the social and creative significance of the pause:

"Rarely is anything more important for the rise of civilization than the human capacity to put an interval between stimulus and action. For within this interval grow deliberation, perspective, objectivity--all the higher achievements of the reflective mind."

In other words, creativity is dependent upon "the damming up of impulses and cravings." By however much we act immediately on our impulses, by so much do we fall short of our creative human potential.

On the other hand, a lengthening of the pause between desire and action increases the likelihood of a truly creative response.

A lengthening of the pause may open the door to creativity, but only hard work will bring our talents to fruition. Hoffer had little faith in spontaneity and inspiration as the driving forces behind a great achievement. "Creative people believe in hard work," he writes. "At the core of every genuine talent there is an awareness of the effort and difficulties inherent in any achievement, and the confidence that by persistence and patience something worthwhile will be realized."

Hoffer also wryly added that "it needs great effort to make an achievement seem effortless."

The Times They Are A Changing

It is probably true that most people dislike change.

However, what people are usually referring to when they say that they do not like change is that they do not like change for the worse. Rather than risking change that may have a negative impact on their lives, they resist change of any kind.

Unfortunately, in seeking safety in the "status quo," these people often sacrifice change for the better as well.

What's more, change is happening all the time and much of it is not in our control. Ultimately, it is how we respond to change that is going to determine our attitude toward life.

Most of us respond enthusiastically to positive change--a higher paying job, a new romantic partner, an improvement in our health, etc. It is the unpleasant changes in our lives that pose a challenge. 

Whether or not we heed the admonition to "do as a wise man should and prepare for ill and not for good," I have found the following suggestions helpful for navigating the turbulent waters of unexpected change:

• Hope for a better future. Hope can steel the human spirit when faced with challenging circumstances. It is important to remember that all change is transitory and that, if you play your cards right, you will have statistics on your side that things will improve.

• Play your cards right. If you are going to hope for a better future, it follows that it is vital that you make the right choices in your life. Sometimes the situation will call for action. Sometimes it may require you to hunker down and weather the storm.
  

• Have an unshakable conviction in the ultimate meaning of life. It is easier to accept your fate if you intuitively know that there is an ultimate meaning to your existence.

One of the benefits of steering by these guidelines when you are faced with unwelcome change is that you will grow more confident in your ability to handle whatever challenges the future holds for you. You will learn to sense the possibilities in change--even in change for the worse.

In other words, to paraphrase the poet William Ernest Henley, you will be the master of your fate and the captain of your soul.

Pastimes

A nostalgic view of the past is a consolation prize given to those who did not have the awareness to appreciate the event when it was actually happening.