Intent
In the works of mankind, as in those of nature, it is really the motive which is chiefly worth attention. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
Basho’s 9th Century Message for Today
Basho was a master of the ninth century. One day he was sitting with his feet across the garden-path. A monk came along with a wheel-barrow. Tuck in your feet, said the monk. What has been extended cannot be retracted, answered Basho. What has been started cannot be stopped cried the monk who then pushed …
You Are The Buddha
There is no such person as Buddha. Buddha is simply a Sanskrit word meaning initiate. The Absolute is immanent in every man’s heart. This treasure of the heart is the only Buddha that exists. It is no use seeking Buddha outside your own nature. Prayer, scripture-reading, fasting, the observance of monastic rules all are useless. …
Unusual Way of Spiritual Practice
There is a characteristic of Zen which cannot be found in any other practice or in any religion. That is to say, its peculiar mode of expressing profound religious insight by such actions as the lifting up of a hair-brush, or by the tapping of the chair with a staff, or by a loud outcry, …
The Zen Master Eno
Eno was a great Zen master of the seventh century. He had lost his parents when he was young and earned his living by gathering firewood. One day when he was in the market-place he heard someone reading the Diamond Sutra. He asked where such books were to be had and was told, From Master …
What is Wisdom?
Shall I teach thee what is wisdom? To know what we know, and know what we do not know. That is wisdom. Confucius.
About Zen
Buddhist and non-Buddhist religions, lay stress on scriptural authority, that is holy books, writings, and doctrine. But Zen denounces all this on the grounds that words or characters can never adequately express religious truth, which can only be realized from within. Consequently Zen claims that the Enlightenment of Buddha has been handed down neither by …
Voltaire on the Beauty of Machines
When we see a beautiful machine, we say that there is a good engineer, and that this engineer has excellent judgment. The world is assuredly an admirable machine. Therefore there is in the world an admirable intelligence, wherever it may be. Yes. This argument is old, but none the worse for that. from Voltaire’s Philosophical …