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Stains from the Store Dog/Person Chao-Chou
One morning, a blood vessel in Jill Bolte Taylor's brain exploded. As a brain scientist, she realized she had a ringside seat to her own stroke. She watched as her brain functions shut down one by one: motion, speech, memory, self-awareness ...
Amazed to find herself alive, Taylor spent eight years recovering her ability to think, walk and talk. She has become a spokesperson for stroke recovery and for the possibility of coming back from brain injury stronger than before. In her case, although the stroke damaged the left side of her brain, her recovery unleashed a torrent of creative energy from her right.
So Chao-Chou is wondering . . . is Taylor's observations of her hardwiring (or rather softwiring) treading the same pathways that led the freshly awakened Tung-shan to compose the following verse after seeing his reflection in a stream?
Do not seek him anywhere else or he will run away from you. Now that I go on all alone. I meet him everywhere. He is even now what I am, I am even now not what he is. Only by understanding this way can there be a true union with the self.
A person who has awareness is very different from the principle behind rules. A person who has awareness has inner knowledge and acts in accordance with that, whereas rules are necessary when awareness is lacking. However, sometimes rules themselves can become a means of developing awareness. -Namkhai Norbu on Dzogchen (the practice of continuous presence)
Stilling the mind and opening the heart takes time. It can't be done hurriedly. It can't be forced. It takes all our attention and follows its own pace. . . . To see into the emptiness of the constructed small self is not easy. -words from the Zen Community of Oregon
Zazen is a matter of just doing it. . . . The preliminary method on the Way is the process of counting the breaths. . . . Sit with your back straight, and count "one" for the inhalation, "two" for the exhalation, "three" for the next inhalation, "four" for the next exhalation, and so on to "ten", and repeat. Don't go above "ten" because it is too difficult to keep track of higher numbers. You're not exercising your thinking faculty in this practice; you're developing your power to invest it something. . . . At first, has a beginner, you'll be conscious of each step in the procedure, but eventually you will become the procedure itself. The practice will do the practice. It takes time, and for months, perhaps, you will seem to spend your time dreaming rather than counting. This is normal. Your brain secret thoughts as your stomach secrets pepsin. Don't condemn yourself for this normal condition. -Robert Aitken from Taking the Path of Zen.
The Book of Serenity and Blue Cliff Record are complementary and naturally suggesting comparisons. The dominant mode of the Blue Cliff Record is Dharma combat- challenging, dynamic, full of put-downs and penetrating insightful wit. While such is not entirely absent from the Book of Serenity, its primary style is more gentle- subtle, literary, warm - hearted, "user-friendly." Hung-chih's verses are well worth sustained attention, subtly amplifying and deepening the main cases. Wan-sung's extended commentaries explicate the rich web allusions in the cases and verses, and his introductions aptly set tone and theme. As the reader settles further into this world of monks and adepts mutually exploring the life of the Way, the soulfulness of the old Chinese masters becomes apparent. -Book Review by Taigen Dan Leighton on Book of Serenity Translated by Thomas Cleary from The Eastern Buddhist New Series Vol. XXIV No. 1 SPRING 1991.
Can't find it here? Feel like browsing a larger selection? The boss man gave me a spot to showcase some favorites. Too bad he doesn't get the sale. But hey, it's all about helping you get what you need.
