THE TEN OXHERDING PAINTINGS Zen Talks by Thích Phước Tịnh Edited by Karen Hilsber Translated By Sister Ðẳng Nghiêm CHAPTER ONE (of six) We see that the mind is always chattering. It is always wandering, but if we take a moment and we are aware of that, then we see that the chattering of our mind is something that comes and goes, and meanwhile we dwell in the mind of imperturbability. We recognize the chattering and then it just vanishes. So there is no linear progression where you go from step one to step two to step seven. The question is whether you can recognize it and live it. The old people say, you stand right on this ground and here comes the Buddha. You don’t need to go anywhere. The Zen way is direct and powerful. It shows us exactly where the buddhahood is in us. If we have strong faith and we use our Buddha eye, then we use the energy of recognition and awareness to shine light on every aspect of our lives. In this world there is no joy and no attraction as strong as the joy and the attraction of practice. You could be a president, but would you be happy? No. The Buddha said that even if you were the owner of this planet, if you were the king of heaven, if you were to possess all the cosmos, none of it would be equal to the joy of one who has entered the stream. What does it mean to be a stream enterer? A stream enterer is a person who has dharma eyes that are open, a person who realizes what no-birth and no-death is and what is coming and what is going. That person is able to come back to himself or herself to recognize the buddhahood within. Doing this, we can be imperturbable in our lives so that we can just let ourselves go toward death as if being pulled by a magnet. Nothing can resist that magnet. There is nobody, not even someone with great position or fame, who can resist death. All of us are going in the same direction. All of us are going to die. We just do not know when or how. (To be continued) Posted by Gioi Tre May Tu - Compassionate Cloud Association Mailing Address: 9353 Bolsa Ave. #I13 Westminster CA 92683 Tel: (714) 858-8704 or (310) 985-0908 Email: gioitremaytu@yahoo Facebook: Gioi Tre May Tu Website: gioitremaytu
Posted on: Fri, 21 Jun 2013 23:29:58 +0000
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