Lao-tzu

Consider the world light,
And the spirit is not burdened;
Consider the myriad things slight,
And the mind is not confused.
Consider life and death equal,
And the intellect is not afraid;
Consider change as sameness,
And clarity is not obscured.

Ikkyu

The ways of proclaiming
The Mind all vary,
But the same heavenly truth
Can be seen
In each and every one.

Ziye

When ice on the pond is three feet thick
And white snow stretches a thousand miles,
My heart will still be like the pine and cypress,
But your heart, what will it be?

Chugan Engetsu

I think of the past, when together we roamed
Rivers and lakes, rootless as duckweed;
Each floating with the current that
Was borne eastward home across the sea.
What together and apart we cherish
Has no limit
Isn’t it just what exists in wordlessness?

Tonna

Under evergreens
I walk along a pathway
Now gone to sight
Beneath autumn leaves strewn there
By winter’s mountain winds.

Domet, December 31st, 2011

Han Shan Te Ch’ing

If you can see a thought as it arises
This awareness will at once destroy it.
Whatever state of mind should come,
Sweep it away, put it down.

Both good and evil states
Can be transformed by mind.
Sacred and profane appear
In accordance with thoughts.

Osho

When I say “become water” I mean become a flow; don’t remain stagnant. Move, and move like water. Lao Tzu says: The way of the Tao is a watercourse way. It moves like water. What is the movement of water? or of a river? The movement has a few beautiful things about it. One, it always moves towards the depth, it always searches for the lowest ground. It is non-ambitious; it never hankers to be the first, it wants to be the last. Remember, Jesus says: Those who are the last here will be the first in my kingdom of God. He is talking about the watercourse way of Tao–not mentioning it, but talking about it. Be the last, be non-ambitious. Ambition means going uphill. Water goes down, it searches for the lowest ground, it wants to be a nonentity. It does not want to declare itself unique, exceptional, extraordinary. It has no ego idea.

Take it Easy, Volume 1 Chapter 14

 

Hmmm..

The woman in this image has a faint smile on her face. In fact she is just watching the antics of the mind–not judging, not trying to stop them, not identified, just watching as if they were traffic on the road, or ripples on the surface of a pond. And the antics of the mind are slightly amusing, as it jumps up and down and twists this way and that, trying to get your attention and seduce you into the game. To develop the knack of taking a distance from the mind is one of the greatest blessings. It is what meditation is all about really–not chanting a mantra, or repeating an affirmation, but just watching, as if the mind belongs to somebody else. You are ready to take this distance now, and to watch the show without getting caught up in the drama. Indulge yourself in the simple freedom of Turning In whenever you can, and the knack of meditation will grow and deepen in you….

Wen-siang

While everyone else
Is so busy striving,
The lone traveler
Is at ease by himself.
He’s been living outside of convention
For a long time now;
In his pouch there is nothing at all.
When he walks,
He takes a cane for a companion;
When he talks,
He has the rocks for an audience.
If you ask him what his religion is,
When hungry it’s a bowl of rice.

Shen-hui

Seeing into Nothingness
This is the true seeing,
The eternal seeing