Meet me in the Zendo (Full Version)

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zenmember -> Meet me in the Zendo (2/26/2007 9:07:11 AM)

This group is intended to provide a space for visitors to express their desire that compassion and loving kindness be practised by all sentient beings. The path to peace begins in every heart. The greatest gift we ever received was the ability to love ourselves and share that love with others. There is no greater miracle than a person being everything he or she can be.
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Hildegard -> RE: Meet me in the Zendo (2/26/2007 12:19:41 PM)

Welcome to the forum, Richard! Thank you for starting this candle group. I think we all, or most of us, can make the wisdom in your words our own regardless of tradition. Living in the "now" and being aware of the connection with all (at least much of the time) help me to move through everyday life awake and grateful for what is.
Wishing you everything good,
Edda



taniguce -> RE: Meet me in the Zendo (2/26/2007 2:43:52 PM)

Thank you Richard for such a lovely way of how we should all live our lives.  Your candle group is just beautiul.  I lit a candle in your group.

gassho,
Emy (taniguce)



zenmember -> RE: Meet me in the Zendo (3/5/2007 8:21:05 AM)

Thank you Taniguce, for visiting the zendo candle group. The words of my candles came to me like a thunderbolt; Ten years ago as I lit a josh stick while entering the zendo of Shokoji temple in Hiroshima, Japan. I repeat them daily in the hope that all will see their meaning.
Please visit and light a candle as often as you like.



zenmember -> RE: Meet me in the Zendo (3/9/2007 7:28:28 AM)

There is a mirror in my garden with a branch in front of it.  Every day there is a cardinal that comes to the branch to see the red bird in the mirror.  Sometimes they fight, sometimes they play; but mostly they appear to just enjoy each others company.  Is not our purpose in life to be happy?   [:-]



zenmember -> RE: Meet me in the Zendo (3/9/2007 10:49:44 AM)

Nearly thirty years ago I went snorkling in the Red Sea above the coastal reef of Saudi Arabia.  It was magnificent and magical; to see co-existance, segregation and synergy all in the same glance/instance.

Was this coincidence of projected imagination?

If you agree, please light a candle in the "zendo" to express your gratitude



radishwoman -> RE: Meet me in the Zendo (3/11/2007 7:25:32 PM)

Richard...this is lovely. I have been meditating with a Buddhist group here and it has added a new dimension to my path. Sue McMurray, Durham NC USA



zenmember -> RE: Meet me in the Zendo (3/12/2007 6:49:14 AM)

Sue;

Thanks for lighting a candle in the zendo; it adds to the light of the world.

gassho,
Richard



zenmember -> RE: Meet me in the Zendo (3/12/2007 7:02:07 AM)

Laurel;

Thanks for lighting a candle in the zendo; it adds to the light of the world.

gassho,
Richard



zenmember -> RE: Meet me in the Zendo (3/12/2007 7:12:09 AM)

What brings freedom from fear—and I assure you the freedom is complete—is to be aware of fear without the word, without trying to deny or escape from fear, without wanting to be in some other state. If with complete attention you are aware of the fact that there is fear, then you will find that the observer and the observed are one: there is no division between them. There is no observer who says, “I am afraid”; there is only fear, without the word which indicates that state. The mind is no longer escaping, no longer seeking to get rid of fear, no longer trying to find the cause, and therefore it is no longer a slave to words. There is only a movement of learning, which is the outcome of innocence, and an innocent mind has no fear. -jkrishnamurti.org



Hildegard -> RE: Meet me in the Zendo (3/12/2007 11:27:23 AM)

Thank you, Richard, for bringing so many words of wisdom to the forum. I can always do with some inspiration and ideas how to deal with the daily challenges that come along,
Edda



zenmember -> RE: Meet me in the Zendo (3/19/2007 6:49:21 AM)

I wonder if you have ever walked along a crowded street, or a lonely road, and just looked at things without thought? There is a state of observation without the interference of thought. Though you are aware of everything about you, and you recognize the person, the mountain, the tree, or the oncoming car, yet the mind is not functioning in the usual pattern of thought. I don’t know if this has ever happened to you. Do try it sometime when you are driving or walking. Just look without thought; observe without the reaction which breeds thought. Though you recognize color and form, though you see the stream, the car, the bus, there is no reaction, but merely negative observation; and that very state of so-called negative observation is action. Such a mind can utilize knowledge in carrying out what it has to do, but it is free of thought in the sense that it is not functioning in terms of reaction. With such a mind—a mind that is attentive without reaction— Is this possible ?? Expect that everyone is doing their job without fail, it will seem like a miracle. gassho,



Hildegard -> RE: Meet me in the Zendo (3/20/2007 11:42:12 PM)

Richard, I have been thinking about what you have written. I don't know if one can not think in some way while awake. I probably end up thinking about not thinking. When I meditate (Centering Prayer) thoughts come and go, I strive not to hang on to them. We are taught to let them pass like boats on a river and not jump into the boat. In the course of the day I can simply see without judging, experiencing what I see "as is". I am sure this is not quite what you have in mind, but it is what is possible for me now.
With every good wish,
Edda



zenmember -> RE: Meet me in the Zendo (3/27/2007 6:23:57 PM)

Ah, yes !

Is observation thought??

During meditation, thoughts arise (the boat metaphor works for me). If you let the boat drift by, have you done any thinking?
Similarly, during walking meditation, images pass by. If you have not done anything to judge, categorize, label,etc.; have you done any thinking ??
 
I believe this is what Krishnamurti has in mind.  Our thought attached to images or thoughts are not "thinking" as the image/thought passes by & the "thought" goes with it since it no longer has any menaing. Unless of course, you give it meaning by virtue of thinking about it (ie expending energy).
 
Once again we are saying the same thing with diferent words



Hildegard -> RE: Meet me in the Zendo (3/27/2007 6:51:55 PM)

Richard, thank you for your comments which I truly appreciate. Actually, in Centering Prayer the term "thought" is very encompassing including anything we can get "attached" to including sounds, feelings, memories,etc. as well as thoughts the way we usually understand them.  So we ARE talking about the same or similar things in different words.
Edda



zenmember -> RE: Meet me in the Zendo (3/29/2007 7:05:52 AM)

Dear Edde;
Have you done any thinking if you didn't get attached ??

gassho, [8|] rj



Hildegard -> RE: Meet me in the Zendo (3/29/2007 3:43:11 PM)

Dear Richard, you make me smile! I looked up "think" in my big Randomhouse Dictionary and it gave me 17 definitions, all of which imply an activity. The noun "thought", also the past tense of think, is defined as the product of such activity. So, unless I get hooked on a thought and, in a way, reopen what has been completed, I am not thinking, when I let my thoughts pass by! So, I think, we agree!

(I  like glossaries in the back of well-written books since the same word can be defined in different ways and I prefer not to be left guessing what the writer means.)

With every good wish,
Edda



zenmember -> RE: Meet me in the Zendo (3/30/2007 6:46:11 PM)

"If your meditation is only a personal matter, a thing which you personally enjoy, then it is not meditation. Meditation implies a complete radical change of the mind and the heart. This is only possible when there is this extraordinary sense of inward silence, and that alone brings about the religious mind. That mind knows what is sacred."

- J Krishnamurti / Beyond Violence (133)[image]http://www.jkrishnamurti.org/images/px_trans.gif[/image]



Hildegard -> RE: Meet me in the Zendo (3/30/2007 11:16:46 PM)

Thank you, Richard, for this quote. I quite agree, meditation, when applied to the receptive form of prayer we practise, is not for our personal satisfaction, but to open ourselves to being changed. It is the intention to be present to Ultimate Reality - God in our terminology - regardless of what it feels like that is important. There is often a honeymoon of feeling very peaceful at the beginning. Later, when things get dry, it requires discipline, but with time we do change. Others may notice it before we do ourselves. Our actions are then meant to flow from that inner silence.
Again, thank you for this exchange.
Edda



zenmember -> RE: Meet me in the Zendo (5/29/2007 7:04:04 AM)


We all go to the same sea with our own little containers: some with a cup, some with a bucket, some with a barrel. We gather water and come home. I call my friend:

"Hey, did you get some seawater?"
"Yes."
"How is it?"
"Oh, it’s in the shape of a mug."
"How could that be? See, I got some and it’s in the shape of a bucket!"

      Another will say, "You’re both fools. It’s only in the shape of a test tube."

They are all talking about the containers, not about the contained.
 
"Unity need not be brought. It is already there. It has but to be recognized."
                                                                          — by Swami Satchidananda



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