We don’t have to define reality

Leopard

We don’t have to define reality
We don’t even need to see things as they are.
We don’t need to do anything.
Just this.
That’s it.

Naturally,
We already see things as they are,
Effortlessly,
It’s our natural intelligence,
(It’s not ‘ours’)
And wrong concepts are naturally dropped,
(Or maybe they are not).

Reality shines through all of this.
How could it not?

Zen Teachings: The Four Kinds of Spiritual People

buddha silver

“There are four kinds of people who study.
The highest are those with practice, with understanding, and with realization.
Next are those with understanding, and with realization but without practice.
Next are those with practice and understanding but without realization.
Lowest are those with practice, but without understanding or realization.”

Zen Dawn, J. C. Cleary

Practice, understanding and realisation are all important, but we can deduce from the quote above that of these realisation is the most important. Next in importance is understanding, and least important is practice.

How can this be? How can understanding be more important than practice? Isn’t it often said that an drop of practice is worth an ocean of theory?
Continue reading

That ancient path

dawn-190053_1280

In seeking it, it is lost.
In loosing it, it is found.

If you never heard of it, you would never seek it;
If you never sought it, you would (probably) never find it.

Thus the importance of hearing about it.
Thus the importance of seeking it.
Thus the importance of letting it go.
Thus the importance of finding
That which was always here.

Peace and blessings

Sudden vs gradual enlightenment

pine cone

First there was the gradual path, the progressive path: I could, through practice, become enlightened.

Then there was the instant path, the sudden path: I could, through a flash of insight, become enlightened.

Now, I am happily lost. Continue reading

Dalai Lama: end suffering by developing insight

(Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)
(Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

The following excerpt is taken from the book “How to see yourself as you really are” by the Dalai Lama:

What makes all this trouble in the world? Our own counterproductive emotions. Once they are generated, they harm us both superficially and deeply. These afflictive emotions accomplish nothing but trouble from beginning to end. If we tried to counteract each and every one individually, we would find ourselves in an endless struggle. So what is the root cause of afflictive emotions that we can address more fruitfully? Continue reading